iTunes 10: The New Features on Ping Social Networking

iTunes 10 is one of the major releases from today's Apple Keynote address and is one that affects all "i" users in a more broad way as iTunes now the top online media store and has an estimated 160 million accounts, according to Steve Jobs.  What Apple is trying to do with iTunes 10 is shift it away from the simple model it had previously as a music player into an integrated system where online commerce, social networking, and home use are somehow all integrated into one.  Part of this comes from the popularity that iTunes has received as a digital media retailer and Apple wants to further integrate this into people's daily technology use.  Here is a look at the top features that are being included with the newest incarnation called iTunes 10.

• New Logo – iTunes 10 now includes a new logo, which is part of Apple's attempt to separate this newest iTunes update from the model previous.  This new iTunes logo may be a small thing but is characteristic of the new approach they are taking with iTunes 10.  This new iTunes 10 logo may also be a way of abandoning the old CD appearance as they are trying to further shift media consumption to a purely digital environment.

• Ping – Ping is going to mark the new iTunes social networking feature that essentially allows you to monitor your friends purchases and activities while also keeping up with commercial news that you may want in this forum, such as concert dates.  Steve Jobs is trying to state that Ping will be "Facebook and Twitter meets iTunes," and you will create public profiles within the iTunes Ping in the same way that you would with other social networking sites.  You will be able to watch people closely, choose how private or public you want your information and profile to be, and even "follow" people as you do in Twitter.  This will further integrate social networking into anything that Apple does, and be a major step for the further commercialization of communication and digital identity.  iTunes Ping is also intended to drive selections toward you by creating personalized "top ten lists" for you. The iTunes Ping feature will also be available right from your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad and will be available to all 160 million iTunes users.

• As part of this iTunes 10 Ping experience will be general artist info and pages, taken right out of the model used in MySpace and Pure Volume.  Here you will be able to keep up on artist info and purchase music from them, all while interacting with your own profile and friends list.  This can be informational as artists are likely to share a great deal of information here, but it will remain a commercial platform.
• The display in iTunes will take an overhaul with iTunes 10 in that it will allow for art to displayed in their general columns.  If you have more than five tracks by the same artist their will be album art displayed by the program.
• Tunes 10 will be available for free later in the day, Wednesday September 1st.