New version of MiniPlayer and more with Apple iTunes update

You can call it bloatware but this latest Apple iTunes update might be just what you need. The revamped MiniPlayer on the iTunes version 11.0.3 now lets you appreciate album art even more. You also get a progress bar built right into it and you can view songs in the album or playlist or search through your library all from that little square player.

Other incremental updates for this iTunes version include being able to see album art in Song View as well as support for multiple disc albums. There are also said to be search performance and sorting improvements, particularly to help those with large libraries.

Apple celebrates 50 Billion App downloads

Apple today announced that customers have downloaded over 50 billion apps* from the revolutionary App Store. Customers are downloading more than 800 apps per second at a rate of over two billion apps per month on the App Store. The 50 billionth app was Say the Same Thing by Space Inch, LLC, which was downloaded by Brandon Ashmore from Mentor, Ohio who received a $10,000 App Store Gift Card to commemorate this historic milestone. 

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The Apple Beat: Wish List for iOS 7

Great Scott!: With iOS proponent Scott Forstall gone from Apple, what direction with the valuable iOS take?By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Apple's yearly WWDC (World Wide Developers Conference) is a month away and we're sure to see the latest features and builds of Mac OS X and iOS. Studying the current mobile landscape and features available to competing smartphone and tablet platforms, I've compiled a personal wish list of features I hope to see on iOS 7.

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Converse like a local with ABBYY PhraseBooks for iOS

Want to be a smooth operator in six different languages or at least be able to ask someone where the bathroom is when traveling? ABBYY has released the illustrated digital PhraseBooks app for iOS devices.

It helps tourists communicate in various languages—English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, and Russian—and learn common phrases they would need on their trips. PhraseBooks divides content into 11 topics with special Useful Words section for each group. You’ll hear the phrases being pronounced by native speakers and view rather amusing visuals that describe the phrases. The ABBYY PhraseBooks is available for $9.99 USD on the App Store and you can learn more information about the app here.