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Apple releases iTunes 10.5 with support for iOS 5 wireless syncing

Apple on Tuesday released iTunes 10.5 for both Mac and PC, bringing with it support for wirelessly syncing with devices running the soon-to-be-released iOS 5.

iTunes 10.5 is now available as a direct download from Apple. The company noted in the release notes that iTunes 10.5 no longer requires or includes QuickTime.

The full list of features, according to Apple, includes:

  • iTunes in the Cloud. iTunes now stores your music and TV purchases in iCloud and makes them available on your devices anywhere, any time, at no additional cost.
  • Automatic Downloads. Purchase music from any device or computer and automatically download a copy to your PC and iOS devices.
  • Download Previous Purchases. Download your past music, TV, app, and book purchases again, at no additional cost. Previous purchases may be unavailable if they are no longer on the iTunes Store.
  • Sync with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 5.
  • Wi-Fi Syncing. Automatically sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iTunes any time they're both on the same Wi-Fi network.

The release of iTunes 10.5 comes one day ahead of the public release of iOS 5 for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Users will be required to upgrade to iTunes 10.5 before they can upgrade their portable device to iOS 5.

Developers were supplied with the gold master build of iOS 5 after Apple's media event to introduce the iPhone 4S last week. A software gold master is typically identical to the final software released to the public.

Not yet a part of iTunes 10.5 is the new iTunes Match service. iTunes Match is Apple's new $24.99-per-year service that will allow users to match up their personal library of songs with Apple's high-quality tracks available on iTunes. By paying for the subscription service, songs obtained through places other than the iTunes Music Store, such as from a ripped CD, will become authorized iTunes songs that can be re-downloaded on other devices through iCloud.