It looks like Apple decided to really revamp things and link its services and users to the world. A new report, only days after the company’s WWDC, claims that Apple is shutting down Ping, the music-focused social networking service.
Earlier this week, Apple announced it chose Facebook for a deeper integration with its devices. Some said it was a slap in Google’s face, not to mention the company also announced it was dropping Google Maps in favor of self branded software. Plus, as a new report shows, Apple is working on making the company leaner. Part of that strategy is shutting down Ping.
Although Apple hoped Ping will get traction with users, the reality showed it was quite the opposite. The music-focused social networking service that Apple launched in relation to iTunes 10 almost two years ago failed to get traction with users. Now, Apple isn’t the company to drag on a service when it’s obvious it’s not delivering results.
A report from All Things D says that Apple will shut down Ping with the next release of iTunes, version 11. At the moment, Ping remains functional both in iOS 5 and in iTunes 10.6.3, but not in the latest iOS version. Experts can tell for sure if that’s a sign of Ping’s demise or not.
At an All Things Digital D Conference this Tuesday evening, Apple CEO Tim Cook seemed inclined to kill Ping. “We tried Ping and I think the customer voted and said this isn’t something I want to put a lot of energy into” explained the CEO. He was asked if the company will kill Ping, but Tim Cook didn’t seem to have a certain answer.
When Ping was first launched, Apple’s aim was to make the social network a real contender of Facebook and Twitter. In fact, the pitch described Ping as “Facebook and Twitter meet iTunes”. Truth be told, in the beginning the service looked quite enticing: you could follow your favorite artists, share the songs you like, get concert information from your favorite artists and broadcast iTunes purchases. Soon after the launch, both artists and users chose Facebook and Twitter over Ping.
