Apple has launched a new "iTunes Latino" section in its U.S. iTunes store, just as some users are discovering that upgrading the software inadvertently relocates them to France...or Denmark...or Sweden.

The Unoffical Apple Weblog reports this morning that a bug in recent versions of iTunes (the most recent is 7.0.2) moves users from wherever they may live to some other country - there are distinct iTunes stores for 21 different countries. "I was Chinese when I installed 7.0.2," laughs one upgrader on TUAW. Says another: "I upgraded and wound up in France. Worst part was I didn't realize I was browsing in French until I tried to buy something." TUAW notes that the problem is easy to resolve simply by selecting the correct country from a drop down menu on the iTunes home page.

But it does remind The Browser of a pet peeve: the seemingly never-ending stream of bulky iTunes upgrades, each of which comes with new quirks (and/or "digital rights management" restrictions) along with the nifty new features. This bother anyone else?

Speaking of new features: the launch of "iTunes Latino" is a move calculated to appeal to the 29 million U.S. residents that speak Spanish in the home. Sure, iTunes has long had "Latin" as a genre in the store, but the new section is free standing - a link right up there at the top of the iTunes home page along with Podcasts, TV Shows, Movies, and Music Videos. VNUNet reports on the deal, noting that "Apple has also partnered with Spanish-language TV networks Telemundo and Mun2 to provide TV shows for its download media store." Reuters has Apple iTunes VP Eddy Cue arguing that "the Latin market is vast and largely untapped by online entertainment merchants."

Hopefully, the Spanish speaking U.S. residents who upgrade to the latest iTunes version will be able to find their way back home from Denmark, or France, or China....