Rumor has it that iTunes will soon be overhauled, possibly resulting in full integration with the company’s upcoming cloud-based storage service, iCloud, reports "Digital Trends" (http://macte.ch/FoqI9). If an overhaul is planned, it's about time.

According to a post on iDownloadBlog, iTunes “will be revamped from the ground up,” resulting in a slicker and cleaner interface compared to previous versions. “The basic layout of the iTunes UI hasn’t changed since the first version,” the post says. “This new update will have a completely different UI and better iCloud integration. So we’re not looking at a simple lick of paint here; more of a total rebuild."

iTunes needs a major overhaul or else a new name. In fact, it should be broken up into several different apps as has happened on iOS devices.

When iTunes was launched in 1999, it was a simple music player with the ability to do MP3 conversions. Now iTunes is houses music, movies, shows, podcasts and audiobooks. It's the conduit to your iPhone, iPod and iPad. And it's a link to an online store for buying media. iTunes is no longer a properly descriptive name. iMedia, perhaps?

Better yet, iTunes on the Mac should be broken up. It's gotten a bit bulky and cumbersome.

On my iPad there's the Video app (for movies I've bought online and self-made videos), the iPod app (for all my music), iTunes (the online store) and the App Store (for buying apps). (The iPod app also has music videos listed, but it seems to me they should show up in the Video app.)

It's time for iTunes on the Mac to follow this pattern. And I think it will very, very soon. After all, Apple is slowly merging the two operating systems into one...

-- Dennis Sellers