If the latest offerings from the rumor mill prove to be true, Apple may finally be warming up to the idea of including Blu-ray support in its products, starting with iTunes. Apparently iTunes 9 will be released some time in September, and will include support for the optical disc format that Steve Jobs has referred to as "a bag of hurt."
According to Boy Genius Report, iTunes 9 will include the ability to organize iPhone and iPod touch applications, finally eliminating the slow tap-and-drag process users work with now. The app will apparently also include Twitter, Facebook and Last.fm support, although there isn't any information yet on exactly how those services will integrate with iTunes.
Blu-ray support in iTunes won't be of much value without matching support in Apple's computers, and it looks like AppleInsider thinks that might be on the way, too. The Mac rumor site offered up a hint that Blu-ray could be coming to the iMac soon -- but that information came in the form of "cryptic tips from people often familiar with the Mac maker's future product initiatives."
While many Mac users would like to see built-in Blu-ray support come to the Mac, a set of rumors without substantial sources amounts to little more than speculation and wishful thinking. If, however, Blu-ray support is coming soon, Mac users will be able to use the technology to do more than watch movies; they'll also have the ability to back up more data on a single disc Blu-ray storage capacities start at 25GB, and DVD tops out at 4.7GB.