Without any clues that Apple was working on a new iTunes build, everyone was surprised to see Software Update listing iTunes 8.0.2 in the middle of the night. The new version of Apple's media player addresses issues with connectivity and MP3 playback, and improves accessibility with VoiceOver.

With the release of iTunes 8, Apple's popular media player application added some cool new features, such as Genius playlist creation, a Genius side-bar (which recommends music one might like), a new Grid View, improved accessibility, HD TV shows – now viewable on your Mac too, while the music visualizer also got a few new themes. Both iTunes 8 and iTunes U are now accessible with VoiceOver on your Mac.

The new Grid view added in iTunes 8 allows for more advanced browsing. Users are able to see their iTunes library using cover art. When they select Artists, Genres, or Composers, iTunes automatically creates groups of albums based on their selection.

Just like iTunes 8.0.1, which was a maintenance update, iTunes 8.0.2 improves stability and performance, providing a number of important bug fixes, Apple says. Those include:

• Addresses a quality issue creating MP3s on some computers.
• Fixes a connectivity issue with the iTunes Store when using some Internet proxies with Mac OS X.
• Improves accessibility with VoiceOver.

VoiceOver is a feature built into Apple's Mac OS X since version 10.4 Tiger. With VoiceOver, one can access the Macintosh, by using speech and the keyboard. The feature is designed to increase accessibility for those with impaired vision, as it reads aloud the contents of files including web pages, Mail messages, and word processing files.

VoiceOver provides a comprehensive audible description of one's workspace, and includes a rich set of keyboard commands that allow users to navigate the Mac OS X interface and interact with application and system controls. Apple's move to integrate this feature with iTunes has been lauded by company watchers and non profit organizations.

There are two ways to download the new version of iTunes: either fire up Software Update from the Apple Menu, and choose iTunes 8.0.2 (60.3 MB), or use the link below to grab the standalone installer.

Download iTunes (Free)