Apple Inc. will release a revamped version of iTunes by the end of this year. The alleged iTunes 11 is meant to meet user needs more closely than the current version, while stepping further ahead of growing competition.

Apple representatives, according to Bloomberg - whose identities have been kept anonymous - mentioned several problems of the current iTunes that will be fixed in the new version. Together with introducing iPhone 5 and Apple iTV, Apple is going to bring the "largest changes to the world’s biggest music store since its 2003 debut," the sources said.

The new features of the overhauled iTunes are claimed to be: easier content discovery, greater capacity for sharing music and videos; and more flexible downloading of applications across Apple gadgets.

Apple is seeking to provide improved media sharing and data management by integrating iTunes with iCloud file storage service. This integration will allow users to access all of their files, including iTunes' music and videos, from one central source using different Apple gadgets.

Furthermore, iTunes is being re-designed to be more "tightly integrated" with the two leading social network companies, Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. 9to5mac.com speculates that "sharing will most likely happen through Twitter and Facebook" especially since Apple has already partnered with them to share files in iOS 6 and Mountain Lion.

Moreover, this may be more enticing for users, as it will give them the freedom to share music with friends, which according to Digital Trends will "increase music discovery."

A presence of iTunes in Asia is also expected with the opening of digital stores in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and nine other markets.

However, iTunes is not alone. While iTunes has created a healthy $1.9 billion for Apple in only the last quarter, Spotify in partnership with Yahoo is on the rise. Digital Trends states that "Spotify has the largest library of songs of any streaming service, with 16 million tracks..." - making it iTunes' biggest competitor.

Nonetheless, iTunes remains ahead of Spotify, having made available to users, 28 million songs and 45,000 movies available. However, the question remains unanswered if iTunes will provide a music subscription service similar to that of Spotify's. A number of music labels and other users highly anticipate this feature to be added to iTunes.

As for the change in iTunes, anxious users will have to wait and see what Apple's recently acquired Chomp has re-designed.