Apple's new music-related social network, Ping, is not tied in to Facebook because the website demanded "onerous terms" that Steve Jobs said his company could not agree to.

Screenshot from Follow Music and People with Ping video tutorial
With yesterday's release of iTunes 10, Apple also deployed a new music-focused social network feature known as Ping. When it initially launched yesterday, users creating...

A day after the new cloud-based Apple TV was unveiled, two patent applications from Apple describe methods to improve the experience of over-the-air syncing, and browsing of Internet-based content.

While the new Apple TV was given the coveted "one more thing" slot in Steve Jobs' keynote Wednesday, the product will "continue to play second fiddle" to the iPods that were introduced, analysts on Wall Street believe.

Tonight Twitter released a new update to their popular Twitter application that makes it a Universal app with native support for the iPad's large display. While native support has been a long requested feature for the official Twitter app, the compa...

Apple has posted the full stream for today's Media event. While the stream had been available for Mac OS X 10.6 and iOS users immediately after the broadcast, it is now provided in multiple formats that can be viewed cross platform on both ...

After minor delays, Apple's latest version of iTunes is ready for download.

Apple has finally posted the iTunes 10 release for download. iTunes 10 was introduced today during the keynote event. The new version of the media management application features a streamlined interface and a new networking feature called P...

Amazon challenged Apple by announcing 99-cent video purchases the same day Apple announced rentals.

Apple has unveiled a webpage dedicated to iOS 4.2 for the iPad. During today’s keynote presentation Steve Jobs said that iOS 4.2 will be the first version of iOS 4 to run on iPad and will be available in November.

The page discusses the familiar features of iOS 4.0 including, multitasking, folders, improved Mail, keyboard and dictionary enhancements and better enterprise support. Additionally the page offers details on some iOS 4.2 specific features such wireless printing and AirPlay.

Also not mentioned during today’s keynote was the addition of searching text on webpages which will be available in iOS 4.2, according to Apple: “In Safari, easily find and highlight specific words and phrases on large web pages.”

Registered iPhone developers have also been given the final version—Golden Master—of iOS 4.1 which is due to be out next week.

2010 iPod Family in Packaging

Today Apple announced a flurry of new and updated products, for details on each of Apple’s announcements see the relevant articles:

• Apple Introduces All New iPod Shuffle
• Apple Shows Off All New iPod Nano With Multi-Touch
• Apple Releases Second Generation Apple TV
• Apple Revamps iPod Touch Now Featuring FaceTime
• iTunes 10 Now Available With Ping
• iOS 4.1 Release Set for September 8, 4.2 Coming November

After the launch of multiple products there is always a discovery period of titbits of information about the products, here’s what’s of interest so far:

• Apple has entered into a license agreement with golf equipment maker PING to use the name for its new music discovery social network iTunes Ping.
• Apple’s iPod touch advert is now online, as well as the iPod nano one.
• Apple’s iPod classic was ignored during today’s keynote but remains on sale, for now.
• According to the Apple TV tech specs page it runs on Apple’s A4 processor. John Gruber speculates that the Apple TV does indeed run a version of iOS.
• Due to the size of the camera the iPod touches still photo size is only 960×720.
• iTunes remains Apple’s user interface playground and the window controls (close/minimise/mini player) are vertically orientated.
• The iPod nano no longer has a camera and can no longer play video.
• Apple has posted an iPod + iTunes timeline page on its website.

iPod nano (sixth generation)

During the keynote Apple’s Steve Jobs rattled off lots of facts and figures:

• 11.7 billion songs downloaded from iTunes
• 6.5 billion apps downloaded from the App Store, that’s 200 per second
• 450 million TV shows downloaded from iTunes store
• 100 million movies downloaded
• 35 million books downloaded
• 12 million songs available through iTunes store
• 1.5 billion game and entertainment titles downloaded to iPod touch
• 250,000 apps available from App Store, 25,000 for the iPad
• Apple has sold 275 million iPods since October 2001
• 120 million iOS devices sold so far, 230,000 new activations a day
• iTunes has 160 million accounts with credit cards registered and 1-click
• 23 countries for iTunes music downloads
• Apple has exactly 300 retail stores in 10 countries, Covent Garden was the 300th
• One million visitors enter the doors of an Apple store every day

During today’s keynote presentation Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced that iOS 4.1 for the iPhone and iPod touch will be available next week. The date of September 8 is clearly visible on Apple’s Spanish website which would indicate that the release is set for a week from now.

iOS 4.1 which has been in developers hands since mid-June brings a number of fixes and enhancements to the iPhone. During the keynote Apple labelled the major featues as: proximity sensor fix, Bluetooth improvements, speed improvements on iPhone 3G, HD video upload to YouTube via Wi-Fi, TV show rentals and the inclusion of Game Center. Apple has also added a high dynamic range photo option to the iPhone 4 camera.

Apple also discussed the upcoming iOS 4.2 update which will be the first version of iOS 4 capable of running on the iPad. In the keynote Steve Jobs gave a demo of iOS 4.2 running on the iPad and ran through just two features. With iOS 4.2 the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch will now be able to print wirelessly to printers. AirPlay will also be available on iOS 4.2 which allows streaming of music, video and photos.

The new, smaller Apple TV announced Wednesday will stream 720p HD video thanks to the same custom-built ARM A4 processor found inside the iPhone 4, iPad and the new iPod touch.

During today's media event, Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced two new commercials, one each for the new iPod touch and iPod nano. Apple has now posted the commercials to its product-specific sites, as well as its YouTube page.


i...

Apple's upgraded wireless media streaming feature, now known as AirPlay, will soon offer video and photo streaming to Apple TV directly from iOS 4.2 devices, and allows users to send music and album art to third-party hardware.

Apple announced Wednesday that iOS 4.1 will fix proximity sensor and Bluetooth issues, and will add a new feature allowing users to take high dynamic range photographs that produce stunning pictures. The new software will ship Wednesday, Sept. 8 for the iPhone and iPod touch [Updated with HDR photos and details].

The new 2010 iPod Touch has been revealed, including features that were expected but not included on the 2009 model. At just 7.2mm thick, the new Touch has shed some of its bulk including that rounded back many users complained about. A new microphone is included to support FaceTime, but should also work with other [...]

Apple has finally taken the Apple TV out of ‘hobby’ status and loaded it up with features that will appeal to a wider audience. The new AppleTV model shrinks from 7″ square, for the previous model, to just 3.9″ square and slightly less than 1″ tall. In sharp contrast to the older model, which was [...]

iTunes 10 with Ping a music-orientated social network

Apple has today made available a whole new version of iTunes. iTunes 10 includes Ping, a new music-oriented social network for following your favorite artists and friends to discover what music they’re talking about, listening to and downloading. iTunes Ping lets you post your thoughts and opinions, your favorite albums and songs, the music you’ve downloaded from iTunes, plus view concert listings and tell your friends which concerts you plan to attend.

“iTunes is the number one music community in the world, with over 160 million iTunes users in 23 countries, and now we’re adding social networking with Ping,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “With Ping you can follow your favorite artists and friends and join a worldwide conversation with music’s most passionate fans.”

Ping lets you follow your favorite artists to see what they’re up to, check out photos and videos they’ve posted, see their tour dates and read comments about other artists and albums they’re listening to. You can also create a profile on iTunes to let your friends know who you’re following, what you’re listening to and which concerts you’re going to. There’s no better way to discover new music than to find out what your friends are listening to, and Ping’s Recent Activity feed shows you their posts about artists, albums, songs and concerts, plus a consolidated Top 10 list of the songs and albums your friends and the artists you follow are downloading from iTunes. In addition to using Ping on your desktop computer, you can take it with you on your iPhone or iPod touch, so you’re always plugged into your personal music scene.

iTunes 10 also features AirPlay wireless music playback to listen to your music on remote speakers using Apple’s AirPort Express® base station. In addition, AirPlay now works without AirPort Express, using speakers, receivers and stereo systems from companies including Bowers & Wilkins, JBL, Denon and iHome.

Fourth generation iPod touch with FaceTime

Alongside refreshes of the iPod nano and shuffle Apple also updated the flagship iPod touch. The iPod touch now features a whole new look and includes the high-resolution Retina Display, Apple’s A4 chip, 3-axis gyro, iOS 4.1 and Game Center. The iPod touch now features front and rear cameras with the ability to FaceTime over Wi-Fi and HD video recording.

“We’ve put our most advanced technology inside the new iPod touch,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Whether you’re listening to music, playing games, making FaceTime video calls, browsing the web, capturing HD video or watching TV shows and movies, the new iPod touch with its Retina display, A4 chip and 3-axis gyro is more fun than ever.”

The new iPod touch will be available next week for a suggested price of $229 (£189) for the 8GB model, $299 (£249) for the 32GB model and $399 (£329) for the 64GB model.