Today I’m releasing Billboard 0.9.5, an iTunes controller and status display (for Intel and PowerPC Macs running Tiger or better)
This release brings two major new features; window view, and the Browser. Now you can easily toggle Billboard out of fullscreen, throw it in a corner of your monitor and get some work done while still seeing your album art beautifully displayed. The new Browser lets you search your music library, add tracks to a target playlist (”iTunes DJ”, for example), switch the current playlist, and more. Additionally, it features enhanced support for iTunes’ built-in “Radio Tuner”, allowing you to easily peruse the many great stations provided, and mark favorites. Also, when pulling album art for radio streams, Billboard will now try to locate the correct song duration as well, which makes for an even more seamless internet radio experience. (Album art and song durations are courtesy of Amazon.com)
The Browser, in combination with Kiosk mode, turns your mac into the perfect digital jukebox. Users can search your music library, find the song they like, and add it to the playlist (of your choosing), all without having full access to your computer.
There are a number of smaller improvements in this release which add up to create a more polished experience. Album art is now displayed in the dock icon by default. You can now edit star ratings directly from Billboard. The iTunes and Amazon store buttons have now been consolidated into a contextual “links” button which includes searches of Wikipedia, MySpace, and more. And that new links button is displayed as part of the new control bar, which provides a cleaner interface for scrubbing through songs, as well as volume and other playback controls.
And in addition to all of that, there are several new features that were spurred on by user suggestions. Some of these I had already been considering and decided to ultimately implement because people asked for them. These new features include: Smarter use of the space on vertically oriented monitors, ratings for the different angles album-art is displayed at, various improvements to the VirtualDJ, and lastly, the ability to select a font for the main Billboard status display. So remember, if you have a suggestion, don’t hesitate to send it my way. It just might make it into the next release!
Screenshots of Billboard in fullscreen, with the Browser Open, on vertically and horizontally oriented monitors:
And don’t forget; as a thank-you to everyone who has sent in feedback, during this public beta period you can pre-purchase Billboard 1.0 for USD $9.95, that’s 50% off the final price of $19.95!
