By AppleInsider Staff

Published: 04:30 PM EST (01:30 PM PST)

With a few short days before Apple's iPad goes on sale to the masses in the U.S., Apple has released iTunes 9.1 bringing the ability to sync with the new device.

The update is available direct from Apple or via Software Update. It weighs in at 102.1MB. iTunes 9.1, according to Apple, has "several new features and improvements," including the ability to:

• Sync with iPad to enjoy your favorite music, movies, TV shows, books and more on the go
  
• Organize and sync books you've downloaded from iBooks on iPad or added to your iTunes library
  
• Rename, rearrange, or remove Genius Mixes

On Monday, details of iTunes 9.1 were revealed, as the new software replaces the existing "Audiobooks" section in the iTunes Source list with the more broad "Books" category. Users will can sort and sync books they purchase through the iBookstore on the iPad when connected to the iTunes desktop client via a USB cable.

The update also improves the "Genius Mixes" feature introduced with iTunes 9 last September. The feature automatically creates a playlist of content using the results of over 27 million music libraries featuring more than 54 billion songs submitted and analyzed by Genius.<

The last update for iTunes, version 9.0.3, came in early February. It provided a number of bug fixes, including the resolution of problems recognizing when an iPod is connected and issues with syncing some smart playlists and podcasts.

Last October, iTunes 9.0.2 added compatibility with the Apple TV 3.0 update, allowing users to share their content with the set top box device. The update also disabled the ability of the Palm Pre to sync with the iTunes desktop client.

Also released Tuesday was QuickTime 7.6.6 for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and Windows 7, Vista, and XP. It features a number of security-related fixes and can be downloaded direct from Apple.