Hints From iTunes 7.1 (International Movies and AppleTV Games )

Following an examination of iTunes 7.1, some have found hidden gems in the software that indicate or otherwise confirm earlier suspicions about where Apple is heading.

International Movies
iLounge took an in-depth look at the release, and found support for ratings tags for Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom in addition to the United States for movies and TV shows (when applicable). This find could serve as additional fuel for previous rumors that cited Spring 2007 as the launch for the expansion of iTunes in Europe beyond music.

Apple TV Games
More than two dozen text strings hidden in iTunes 7.1 related to game management with the Apple TV have been found and reported by various sites. The strings, such as "Are you sure you want to sync games? All existing games on the Apple TV XXX will be replaced with games from this iTunes library." and "Some of the games in your iTunes library were not copied to the Apple TV XXX because they cannot be played on this Apple TV." are further confirmation of comments by PopCap VP Greg Canessa indicating that the Apple TV would indeed support games.

Rumors regarding Apple's interest in the gaming market received a kick-start in December when Prudential analyst Jesse Tortora released a research note stating that he believed Apple would have to offer some sort of console gaming device in order to compete against offerings from Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo.