Apple has launched a social network called Ping dedicated to the music fans, part of the latest version of the iTunes software, informs BBC News Online. Ping social network allows users to build their online friends system, similar to Twitter.
The peculiarity of the network, which resembles a lot with MySpace also, owned by News Corportion, is that the new social service allows a playlist consisting of songs listened by a user’s friends. According to market analysts, Apple’s new service competes directly with MySpace network.
“It is a social network dedicated to all music. We believe it will become popular very quickly, because 160 million people can use starting today (Wednesday)” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s leader, at the launch event of the new online service.
The new service will be available through the iTunes 10 program on different computers (Mac and PC), and also through the iTunes application on the iPhone and iPod Touch. The analysts at market research firm CCS Insight said that Apple’s initiative is “an ambitious move” and that the new network will be a challenge for MySpace, but also for other social networks.
“MySpace needs to consider what this release means for them. Probably soon Ping will be a strong competitor of MySpace” said Michael Gartenberg, a partner at market research company Altimeter. Ping comes with the iTunes 10 software and allows uthe sers to build playlists based on the musical preferences of their friends, but also they can be connected to their favorite artists’ related news.
Ping – experts say – could be a serious challenge to MySpace. “It’s a social network built around music” – said Steve Jobbs in San Francisco, where Apple’s new product launched yesterday.
MySpace was – until now – was the “traditional” place where musicians presented their music, but lately the site has stagnated. The Blog called Boing Boing writes about the new release that will demolish MySpace and remains to be seen whether Facebook will be affected negative by this site. Facebook has 500 million users and right now I can hardly believe that could be a network in this world that could dethrone Facebook. In my opinion, it is the best social network which exists today and with all the purchases and the alliances, Facebook will become stronger and stronger.
We don’t exactly what are the thoughts of Steve Jobs and his company, but if you ask me, this will not be a competitor neither for Facebook, nor for Twitter. Ping network has indeed similarities, even Mr Jobs said one time that this looks a lot like Facebook, but until Ping will threaten the position held on market by Facebook, there is a long way. And when it comes to Twitter, this social network which allows you to send short messages and to follow the persons you like will also not face a competition from Ping, because Ping it’s about music after all, not about necessary sending messages and letting people to follow or following people.
If you connect to Ping, you have to register and create an account. There you will see that you can follow your preferred artists, which can let you follow them or not. They have this possibility. You can find more about them, read news about them and even get in touch with them, by adding them (if they approve) to your circle of friends. This can contain 10 friends of yours. Everything that you do will be available for the friends that are in your circle. So in total, the number of the people which can form a circle is of 11, with you included.
But Apple representatives say they do not want to take the users from other networks. “Facebook is about life, Ping – about music,” says the co-founder of Apple – Steve Wozniak. The users will be able to create new service profiles, see what music their friends listen and see what concerts they attend. Related to this, Steve made a presentation where he was surprised too to find that he is going to a concert in September. Of course, the audience laughed. That was only for presentation. I hope that no one stole the password of Mr Steve Jobs, otherwise he should have known that he is attending a concert in September. Just joking.
Some of the facilities already exist on other networks, but Apple has – at present – the largest online music service. Steve also presented the new set of iPods players. Players that you can use to listen to music from iTunes 10. See, everything is connected when it comes to Apple.
Jobs says the new social network called Ping wants to be a combination of Facebook, Twitter and iTunes, but “there is no Facebook, no Twitter, Apple created something new. Music is all that matters” describes Steve Jobs’ new social network with which the company hopes to stir interest in a larger number of 160 million iTunes users, reports AFP. If the social network will be popular, then this could bring more users towards iTunes 10 and this will make Apple happy.
Ping will allow users to create detailed profiles on iTunes, profiles which will include lists of friends, their musical preferences, and the concerts they go to. Until now, nothing spectacular. Let’s see the reaction of the iTunes users.
Analysts quoted by AFP said the new network will not be a serious competitor to Facebook, but MySpace has been recently rebranded as an online community focused on music. Music is the heart of the new Ping networks, and Apple thinks that people will be interested in testing it.
At the same event, iPod range has received the most consistent “facelift” so far, the new iPod Touch allows video telephony, with video camera on the front of the device, but also on the back , it was presented a touchscreen version of the iPod Nano ($ 149) in USA, and the smallest iPod Shuffle, which costs 49 dollars.
