Apple announced yesterday (September 1st) that it will be introducing a social network integrated into iTunes called Ping, which allows users to 'follow' artists and fellow music fans.
Ping has been designed to enable the 160 million users of iTunes to connect with one another, create playlists, discover new music and broadcast their opinions.
The service will be available on iPhones and iPod touches, as well as home computers.
Steve Jobs, chief executive of Apple, stated that the information and users' updates will appear in a long stream similar to the way in which Facebook and Twitter work.
He said: "This is a social network all about music. It's Facebook meets Twitter meets iTunes."
The firm also announced at the press conference in San Francisco that it would be launching a smaller and cheaper version of its Apple TV box, which will allow users to rent TV shows and movies.
A new iPod Touch was unveiled will now have front and rear-facing cameras, of which the latter can record HD video content.
Social networking is being extended further onto the iPad, as Twitter has announced a new app that allows its users to share content with their 'followers' via the tablet device.
