Excited about your new Facebook page but don’t know what’s next?  What does a truly advanced company look like in social business?  They can say yes to seven or more of these ten criteria.

We’ve been interviewing the most sophisticated brands in the world when it comes to social business for our upcoming report on “Enterprise Social Strategists Role”.  We’ve come to learn which companies are advanced and why.  Secondly, I meet a variety of companies who tell me they are “Very advanced, having done this for a few years, and have dozens of Facebook efforts” but when I ask them some specific questions on their sophistication, they often retract their statement.

How to tell if your Company is Advanced: 10 Criteria Of Social Business Maturity.
Corporations that have these and other following elements in place, may truly be sophisticated when it comes to social business:

1. Clear understanding of their customers socialgraphics. Clear understanding of how their customers use social media by knowing the socialgraphics of your customers.  Granular knowledge of where their customers are, which behaviors they use, who they trust for information, and how they influence their peers in the context of their own products.
   The true test? Your company can adjust budgets of your integrated social strategy based on data –not gut feel.
2. Your organization is in Hub and Spoke, Dandelion, or Holistic formation. Social technologies enable all employees that want to talk to customers to do so.  This means a massive change inside of your organization to get ready.  Your company is sophisticated if you’ve organized in the Hub and Spoke, Dandelion, or Holistic and all employees clearly know their role, process, and contact points.
   The true test? A product crises has emerged on YouTube on a Friday evening before a three day weekend and you can sleep peacefully.
3. Corporate website integration: Social sign on. When customers come to the corporate site, they can see which one of their friends uses which product, and what they think about it.  Common technologies would include OpenID, Facebook Connect, and other social sign on technologies.
   The true test? You can disable your corporate registration page and use social logins instead.
4. Personalized corporate website based on social data. When a prospect (someone who’s never logged into you website before) arrives to your corporate website, they receive a customized experience based on their social IDs.  This would be based on Social CRM infrastructure, social sign on technology and a large inventory of personalized content.
   The true test? The voices of the consumers real world friends emerge above that of the brand right on the corporate website, see Levi’s foray.
5. Thriving advocacy program: customers are actively selling on your behalf. The sophisticated marketing program isn’t really the company talking much at all, instead they’ve a thriving advocacy program and word of mouth program that encourages customers to recruit prospects for them –all unpaid.  Learn how to do this, by reading this piece on Forbes.
   The true test? most leads are coming in through existing customers –not your sales team.
6. A community of customers supports each other, reducing support center calls. A company that has a thriving branded community where customers are self-supporting each other with little aid from the brand or the support team is a sign of a sophisticated social support program.
   The true test? A majority of customer support issues are resolved by community faster, with greater satisfaction than your dedicated support team.
7. Anticipation of prospects and customers using Social CRM technology.  Brands can anticipate before a customer has a problem, or grab leads “right out of the air” by using brand monitoring software, intelligent keyword monitoring and responding to be faster than real time using Social CRM strategies.
   The true test? sales and marketing are getting leads before the consideration phase, and the support team reduces inbound calls by triggering the community to resolve a potential issue before it’s escalated.
8. Innovation of new products with customers using web collaboration.  Companies that use these same tools to glean input from customers (ethnographic data collection) or create private communities, or use collaboration and innovation tools like Ideastorm or Uservoice and build new products and services demonstrate true sophistication.
   The true test? faster time to market on products because consumers have dictated the specifications, and less inventory as the product is built on spec.
9. Supply chain is influenced by social data in real time. Social media isn’t just about marketing and support, but is very valuable in listening to customer signals then to anticipate which products, services, and teams should be when and where.
   The true test? Your company is sophisticated if you’re using social data to adjust your supply chain in real time based on customer signals from checkins, tweets, and plancasts.
10. Real time reporting of revenues, costs and efficiency:  I’ve met with some of the most advanced teams, and they have clear reporting and can measure the increased revenues (over the total cost of the program) to tell their executives the true ROI of their business program.
    The true test? Real time dashboard measures the health of all social channels revenues, CSAT, sentiment and overall program costs.

We’ve done research on the roadmap for companies to reach these 10 levels of nirvana, but have found few companies that have done a few, or even a majority of them. If you know of any companies that have achieved five out of ten of these criteria, we’d love to know, please leave a comment.

Thank you, Indonesia! Koprol is experiencing amazing growth. 106,750 new users in a 7 day span, and daily signups are still increasing.

This growth is caused by our huge campaign all over Indonesia, that includes the Pintu Ungu online campaign 2 weeks ago, and the Yahoo! Koprol ad on major television stations since last week. And we're not done yet.

Expect more growth from a new Nexian phone campaign that was just officially announced today on a full page ad on Kompas. Yup, Nexian launched NX-821 that includes a custom Koprol app and a free CD from Nidji!

Four times more active

Signups are great, but even better is activity. People are not just signing up on Koprol, but also using it a lot! We got so much active users on Koprol that some of you may experience slowness yesterday (Wednesday).

Yes, we went over capacity. Sorry!

Fortunately it's OK now. Our devteam worked overtime and did some magic to improve the codes and restore stability. We will soon get more servers too

To show how overloaded we are, look at the growth chart below. Daily unique users multiplied 4 times compared to just couple of weeks ago.

Keep it up, Indonesia. More people on Koprol, more fun we'll have

The Top 50 Apps program started with the aim of discovering and shining the spotlight on popular web and mobile applications from Asia. When we closed polling on Aug 31, we had received over 100 nominations from 10 countries.

Voting took place from July 22 to Aug 31. Thousands of users and readers voted and commented on their favorite app.

See who made it to be Asia’s Top 50 Apps in the list below. While the Top 50 poll was a test of popularity, the next stage will demand more than that. In the next stage of the competition, the Top 10 apps will be selected based on merit by our internal panel of judges (announcing shortly). So what does it take to be Asia’s Top 10 Apps?

Catch the Top 10 Apps at Accelerate 2010, Asia’s largest innovation conference on Sept 22-23. Book by 31 Aug for more than 30% off tickets. Use promo code ‘E27EARLY’.

We present to you, the Top 50 Apps in Asia (in alphabetical order)

123Passport Photo
8Squirrels
adadiskon
BukuQ
buUuk
Cacoo
Creately
eevent
elevyn
FlickEvents
FlutterScape
Foound
Gamelan
Gantibaju
ideaken
InSync
Kaskus
KayaKarya
Koprol
Lang-8
LewatMana.com
MainMusik.com
Max99
Mig33
Movreak
PandaForm
PassWindow
PicLyf
Questetra BPM Suite
Quik
ResumeTracker
secondCRM
Sekai Camera
SG NextBus
ShowNearby
Singpath
SocialWalk
stictok
Suzerein KPI Matrix
Tapp
Tokobagus
Tokopedia
Tuitwit
TwitCasting
Twt140
Urbanesia
Voicetap
WaveSecure
Wego
Zopim

Note: If you’re part of the Top 50 Apps list and haven’t sent us your high-res logo and your product description in 100 words, please do so immediately. This will ensure accurate description of your product in the Top 50 Apps directory that will be given to over 4000 attendees to SingTel iLuminate and Accelerate 2010.

Ever since it became stable enough to use on a day-to-day basis on a Mac last year, Google Chrome has been my browser of choice. Other browsers have been adding some nice features — but Chrome keeps adding them faster. And today on its second birthday, that rate of change isn’t slowing down.

Google has officially rolled out Chrome 6 as the latest stable version of the browser today. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone using the dev or beta builds of the browser, but it’s nonetheless an important mark as it means it’s stable enough for mass consumption.

Remember that it was just two years ago when Google surprised the world by announcing a new browser (a little early) via a comic. The next day, we got the first shots of what the browser would look like — and it was released as a beta for Windows users. It actually looks pretty much the same today, but it’s now much, much faster (and when it launched it was already faster than most browsers out there).

Google says that Chrome today is a full three times faster when it comes to JavaScript performance versus Chrome circa 2008. The rapid speed increases have also undoubtedly pushed rival browsers to become faster, so we’ve all benefited.

Arguably more important to me is that despite adding all the new features – and extensions — Chrome still seems lightweight today. I fondly remember the good old days of 2004 when I first started using Firefox as my main browser and thinking how fresh and lightweight it felt compared to the atrocity that was IE. Firefox, sadly, got bloated over the years. So far, Chrome hasn’t put on the same weight. Here’s hoping it never does.

As I said, Chrome is also showing no signs of slowing down from a development standpoint. The browser is already in the process of morphing into version 7 as well. Chromium, the open source browser that Chrome is based on, has been hit version 7 a couple weeks ago — and the dev build of Chrome just went 7 as well. Google has said they hope to iterate every six weeks going forward.

These next few months are going to be arguably the most interesting times for the browser yet. The Chrome Web Store will soon open, bringing tightly integrated web-based apps into the browser. And then, of course, Chrome OS is due before the end of the year.

Happy birthday Chrome.

Chrome then:

Chrome now:

Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, you want the worldwide web to be just a few clicks away, all the time. Because you never know when you’ll need to traverse the cyber world, Globe has got your ideal travel buddy: the Globe Tattoo MyFi, the latest in a slew of cool innovations that’ll have the gadget geek in you salivating.

The Globe Tattoo MyFi is an all-in-one wireless modem/router that enables you to share your internet access with up to five WiFi-capable access devices as far as 100 meters away. With your MyFi, you can web-connect all your favorite gadgets to the internet so you can surf using your laptop, iPhone, iPad and even your iPod Touch. And because the MyFi is mobile, you’re not tied down to one location; you’re free to wander up to 100 meters away as long as there is a Globe 3G signal. Other WiFi routers keep you chained to one place, denying you the mobility and functionality that are your top must-haves.

You can get the Globe Tattoo MyFi now by signing up for a monthly Globe Tattoo Broadband plan for as low as P499 per month and then choosing to get this router instead of the usual USB stick; the MyFi will cost just an extra P 250 per month for 24 months and will already do double-duty as both your modem and WiFi router. It’s the most affordable share-able postpaid broadband service you’ll find anywhere in the country. Now if you’d rather go prepaid, you can still get the MyFi for a single upfront payment of P 7000 from Globe. And once you’ve got your MyFi, just plug it in and you can surf at speeds up to 3mbps!

Globe Head of Broadband and Landline Marketing Dong Ronquillo says, “We recognize that our customers have very full, busy lives and they need a brand that will keep up with them anytime and anywhere. With the Globe Tattoo MyFi, you get all access, on the go, just the way you like it. No one else in the country offers this kind of mobile innovation, and Globe Tattoo will continue to innovate to bring exciting new services and products to our customers.”

With Globe Tattoo MyFi, you’ll be ahead of the pack with the newest, hippest mobile broadband gadget only from Globe. Now you can live your fast-paced life exactly the way you want it. Now, you can easily stand out and make your mark!

Globe MyFi Frequently Asked Questions:

What are Globe’s current plans/ rates for MyFi?

- The MyFi device can be availed on Postpaid by simply adding P250/month on a Tattoo Postpaid plan, either Plan 499 or Plan 999.
- To avail of a Myfi on Prepaid, just get one for P7000 outright payment.

What are the advantages of having a MyFi?

- Globe Tattoo MyFi allows you to have just ONE internet source for all your Wi-Fi-capable devices. Now you can go online on your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and laptop with just one device!
- It’s truly mobile!
- Globe Tattoo MyFi allows you to maximize your internet connection because it’s share-able for up to 5 users!
- When plugged, share your internet for up to 100m, when using battery, up to 30m! Battery lasts 3 hours.
- The most affordable modem & router-in-one device!


What are the available designs for the MyFi?

- There are currently 3 available, limited-edition designs to choose from:



Is the MyFi available to existing Tattoo Postpaid subscribers?

- The MyFi is currently not available to old Tattoo postpaid subscribers, but we are looking at this possibility in the future. In the meantime, you may get a Prepaid one.

Is the MyFi available to current Tattoo Prepaid subscribers?

- All Tattoo prepaid subscribers can avail of the MyFi device by just paying a one-time price of P7000.

What is the advantage of getting the Postpaid MyFi over the Prepaid one?

- Getting the Postpaid option will save you P1000 off the Prepaid price of P7000 because P250/month X 24 = P6000.

Is the MyFi locked to Globe?

- Yes, the MyFi device is locked to Globe.

Where can I get myself a MyFi?

- You can get a MyFi device in the Globe Store nearest you.

Is Globe the first network provider to offer this revolutionary device?

- Other providers have made their own routers available, but the Globe Tattoo MyFi is the only one who can give you full mobility, functionality and style at the same time.

Does the MyFi device have a lock-in period?

- For the Postpaid MyFi, the lock-in period is 24 months, along with your Tattoo subscription.
The Prepaid MyFi does nto have a lock-in period.

If I get a MyFi device, do I still get the Tattoo stick?

- When you avail of the MyFi device by paying the additional P250, you no longer get the Tattoo stick. The MyFi functions as both a modem and a router so you no longer need the stick.


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Disclosure: Author is a forum administrator of myGlobe, a website of Globe Telecom.

Vlingo today added voice support to Foursquare on Android handsets, allowing Foursquare users to check in, find friends and send shouts through speech-to-text. The updated version of Vlingo, available in the Android Market, can also be used to update a user’s social status on Facebook, Twitter or both at the same time.

The implementation of the new voice feature is well done and takes advantage of Android’s ability to use home screen widgets. From a hands-free perspective, Vlingo requires a minimum of button presses, although in the future, I’d love to see the app simply stop listening once it detects silence for a second or two, much as Android’s native voice-to-text features work. All in all, the use of voice for even short bursts of texts often trumps pecking on a software keyboard, so the new Vlingo version will appeal to many. As mobile broadband latency decreases with next-generation networks, voice apps like Vlingo are sure to get faster.

Although the voice-integration with Foursquare is only for Android devices at present, Vlingo says that versions for Symbian S60, BlackBerry and iOS are coming soon. Vlingo is based in Cambridge, Mass. and has raised $26.5 million in funding since 2006 from Charles River Ventures, Sigma Partners and Yahoo!

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):

Is Speech-Recognition Technology Finally Ready for Prime Time?

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Thanks to a partnership with Vlingo, owners of Android 2.0 or higher-equipped phones can now check in to Foursquare and update their status on Facebook and Twitter simply by speaking into their phones.

To try it out, download the free Vlingo app to your Android handset.

Using your voice, you can then update your location status on Foursquare by saying “check into Logan Airport”, locate your friends with commands like “where are my friends?” and “who’s nearby?” as well as send shout-outs to your buddies (e.g. “shout at Logan Airport waiting to board a plane to San Francisco”).

That’s not all though. The latest version of the Vlingo app also lets users share the service with their friends with the click of a button and also update their status on Facebook, Twitter and/or Foursquare at the same time by saying “social update” and speaking the message.

Previous Vlingo features remain, too: you can still use the app to send text and email messages, search the web, use Google maps and more.

As for BlackBerry, iPhone and Nokia S60 users – they’ll have to be patient for a while before they can start updating their status and locations with their voice.

Vlingo says it plans to roll out this functionality to other supported platforms in a future release but didn’t mention specific dates.

Do you consider voice-driven applications to be an ideal way to interact with mobile apps on your phone? Why (not)?

In a surprisingly quick and even stealthy move, AOL has renewed and expanded its search agreement with Google, even though many had expected there to be more competitive bidding throughout the fall to win the deal.

The five-year partnership to provide search technology and search advertising by powering AOL Search is more wide-ranging than the one it replaces, also including improved search products, global search, mobile search and also a video distribution arrangement with YouTube, which could evolve over time to include content partnerships.

“We have tried to make a deal that has 100 percent alignment on what we each do best,” said AOL CEO Tim Armstrong in an interview last night with Boomtown. “At the end of the day, Google checked all the boxes.”

The search partnership between AOL (AOL) and Google (GOOG)–the third since 2002 actually–was set to run out December 19.

Thus, AOL had been talking for months with a number of new partner possibilities, especially with Microsoft (MSFT) about using its Bing search service for AOL.

Microsoft has been trying to improve its market share with the innovative Bing and it has made great strides.

But, despite a valiant effort so far, is still the No. 3 search engine with about 11 percent of the market share, according to the latest comScore (SCOR) report for July, compared to 66 percent for Google and 17 percent for Yahoo (YHOO).

Adding AOL would have been a plus for Microsoft, since it has a 2.3 percent share.

But Armstrong said a deal was worked out early once AOL got what it wanted from Google, which certainly had the inside track in terms of experience in working with AOL.

Nonetheless, AOL had started the process of reevaluating who it would pick to serve its search needs late last summer and had planned for a process to last closer to when the Google deal expired.

In April, Armstrong said, AOL reengaged with all potential partners worldwide, which he said numbered a half-dozen.

He declined to name them, but sources said the other companies included Yahoo, as well as China’s Baidu.

The talks with Google were turbocharged when Armstrong–who ironically was one of the key Google execs negotiating the first AOL deal, when he headed U.S. ad sales there–met with Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin at the Allen & Co. conference earlier this summer in Sun Valley, Idaho.

The deal moved quickly after that, with Armstrong wanting AOL to get access to the search innovation pipeline at Google, rather than just receive a more basic product.

He would not say if Google guaranteed search ad revenues in the deal, but sources said it has similar terms to the previous deal, which did include them.

The video part of the deal puts AOL content more prominently on YouTube and presumably it will be better programmed. AOL and Google will share ad revenue on the premium videos.

The mobile details are still being worked out, but will likely be served via Google’s mobile technology from its AdMob acquisition.

Armstrong admitted Google had the advantage from the start, especially since it knew how AOL Search performed, although early talks between the companies were initially rocky.

Perhaps that was due to the massive writedown in 2009 of the $1 billion investment Google–a key part of its previous search deal–had made in 2005 for a five percent stake in AOL, when it was still owned by Time Warner (TWX).

Armstrong also noted he wanted to avoid a lot of attention and uncertainty a bidding war would surely create.

“We had a no drama policy on this,” said Armstrong. “And, as it turned out, this was not a single, not a double, not a triple, but a home run for us.”

Here is an detail-free–with promise of more to come–8-K filing AOL submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission on its new deal with the Silicon Valley search behemoth:

Here is the official press release on the new Google-AOL deal:

AOL AND GOOGLE RENEW AND EXPAND GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. and NEW YORK, NY–September 2, 2010–Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) today announced a five-year renewal and expansion of one of the largest and longest-standing partnerships in Internet history. The global alliance, which has at its core Google’s provision of search services to AOL’s content network and properties, in exchange for a revenue-sharing arrangement between AOL and Google, will be expanded to include mobile search and YouTube.

“Today is another important step in the turnaround of AOL,” said Tim Armstrong, AOL’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “AOL users will be getting a better search and search ads experience from the best search company in the world–Google. After nearly a decade-long partnership in search, we’re looking forward to expanding our global relationship to mobile search and YouTube. All aspects of our partnership will be improved by this deal.”

“We’re excited to deepen our partnership. This agreement combines Google’s expertise in search and advertising with AOL’s strength in online content,” said Eric Schmidt, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Google. “It’s particularly exciting to see our relationship expand into video and mobile. These areas are now at the heart of users’ online experiences and at the core of both of our businesses.”

The partnership includes a broad range of features that will improve and expand the products and services offered to consumers.

· Search Products: Google will provide AOL with additional features and enhancement to its leading Web search products that will improve the consumer search experience across AOL’s network of sites.

· Advertising Products: Google will provide AOL with best-in-class ad formats, giving AOL consumers a better, more relevant ad experience.

· Mobile Search: As AOL renews its focus on mobile apps and content, the companies will work together to expand the alliance to cover mobile search.

· YouTube: AOL and YouTube have agreed to a content partnership that will bring AOL’s video content to YouTube.

· Global Focus: The alliance is international in scope and will provide improved experiences to AOL’s worldwide audience.

As the fugitive businessman Asil Nadir flew back to Britain from his North Cyprus bolt-hole last week, Sean O'Neill, the crime editor of The Times, scooped Fleet Street by being the only print journalist on the plane. Yet those searching Google for the latest on the breaking story that morning would have found no sign of O'Neill's exclusive – only follow-up stories by rival news organisations such as The Guardian and ITN.

App store analytics provider Distimo yesterday published its latest report, once again zooming in on the pricing of mobile applications across a variety of platforms.

Consistent with its previous findings, Google’s Android Market has by far the largest share of free applications available compared to other mobile app store, but the gap is also widening.

In July 2010, 60% of all applications on Android Market were free of charge, representing an increase of 3% since May 2010 when it was 57%.

As you can tell from the graph below, that share is more than double the share of free apps on other mobile app stores, with the exception of Palm’s App Catalog (albeit barely).

The share of free applications is smallest on Windows Marketplace for Mobile (22%), followed by the Apple App Store for iPad (26%) and RIM’s BlackBerry App World (26%).

(click image for full size)

Let’s take a closer look at the prices of paid apps across mobile application stores.

Distimo posits that the average price of the 100 most popular apps in Android Market and Palm’s App Catalog is higher than the average price of the entire catalogue of applications.

While the average price of all applications is only 16% higher in the Apple App Store for iPad than in the App Store for iPhone, the average price of the 100 most popular applications is nearly three times as high in the former.

More than 60% of applications are priced below or equal to $2 in the App Store for iPhone, Android Market, Nokia’s Ovi Store and Palm’s App Catalog. The proportion of applications priced
below or equal to $2 is much lower in the App Store for iPad and Windows Marketplace for Mobile.

Notably, it seems prices of apps for iOS devices are on the rise. The proportion of paid applications priced below $1 on the Apple App Store for iPad and Apple App Store for iPhone has decreased in both in July 2010, from 30% to 25% and from 49% to 45%, respectively.

(click image for full size)

(click image for full size)

After a week of painful teasing, Samsung has come clean about its Galaxy Tab 7-inch Android tablet. We got the nitty gritty specs, along with some quality time with the device, and we like what we're seeing on both fronts. Follow along after the break as we break it all down, including some hot hot video of the thing in action!

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Tab preview

Samsung Galaxy Tab preview originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 05:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google and AOL have signed a deal that extends the search and advertising partnership between the two companies for another five years. The agreement also includes mobile search and adds a content sharing partnership with YouTube.

In a statement, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong said, “After nearly a decade-long partnership in search, we’re looking forward to expanding our global relationship to mobile search and YouTube. All aspects of our partnership will be improved by this deal.”

The extension of the deal wasn’t a given by any means; the $1 billion investment Google made in AOL back in 2005 proved to be disastrous financially. Further, Microsoft has been aggressively making deals to grow marketshare for Bing, most notably with Yahoo, which now sees Bing powering Yahoo search and its related advertising.

With the renewed AOL deal, Google locks up about 2.3% of the search market according to the most recent numbers from comScore. Google currently has 65.8% of the market, while Microsoft has 27.1% between Bing and Yahoo.

Beyond web search, today’s deal also broadens Google’s reach on mobile and gets additional premium content onto YouTube –- both of which are currently high priorities for the company, as CEO Eric Schmidt noted in his statement on the deal. “It’s particularly exciting to see our relationship expand into video and mobile. These areas are now at the heart of users’ online experiences and at the core of both of our businesses,” he said.

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Reviews: Bing, Google, YouTube

More About: aol, Google, Search

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Yesterday, at the Apple music event in San Francisco, I had a short chat with Apple CEO Steve Jobs, as he strolled through the demo room for the media, just after he had announced various updates for the iPod, Apple TV and iTunes onstage.

One of the those was the introduction of a new social network for music called Ping that Apple (AAPL) has integrated within iTunes 10 and which looks an awful lot like the experience you get on Facebook.

Essentially, it is a vertical version–in this case for music–of the powerful social networking site.

Facebook has noodled for years about creating its own social music offering, including doing a partnership with Lala, which was bought by Apple last year and shuttered in June.

But its efforts have largely gone nowhere.

And Facebook is nowhere on Ping too. Currently, there is no linking, sharing or participation of any kind with Facebook–or Twitter or MySpace either–on Ping, which will work only on the iTunes software on computers, iPhones and iPods.

When I asked Jobs about that, he said Apple had indeed held talks with Facebook about a variety of unspecified partnerships related to Ping, but the discussions had gone nowhere.

The reason, according to Jobs: Facebook wanted “onerous terms that we could not agree to.”

Definition, according to an online dictionary: “Involving an amount of effort and difficulty that is oppressively burdensome; Involving heavy obligations.”

Jobs did not elaborate on those troublesome terms and also would not say if Ping would incorporate Facebook Connect–which would make it much easier to find friends to share music with.

“We could, I guess,” he shrugged.

And when I asked how to find friends, Jobs offered, noting iTunes had 160 million users across the globe: “You can type their names into search or send them emails inviting them to join.”

Okay, although being more open would work too!

As MediaMemo’s Peter Kafka noted:

“Maybe Apple plans on joining the rest of the Web, via an open API that will let Facebook, Twitter et al–maybe even the to-be-launched Google (GOOG) music service–play nicely with Ping. We’ll see.”

Facebook–including some execs who are definitely irked about how closely Ping resembles Facebook, right down to the blue color scheme–hopes so.

Consider the statement issued by Facebook to me–after attempts to get it verbally failed, due ironically to several dropped connections on the iPhone of the exec I spoke to:

“Facebook believes in connecting people with their interests and we’ve partnered with innovative developers around the world who share this vision. Facebook and Apple have cooperated successfully in the past to offer people great social experiences and we look forward to doing so in the future.”

In other words: Zing, Ping.

In any case, Jobs said he had great hopes for the social music service, adding that Ping could be the most significant thing to come out of yesterday’s announcements.

But soon enough, he moved right onto the new iPods, declaring enthusiastically: “Isn’t the Nano amazing?”

While the majority of us have only had luck creating semi-discernable square-like objects on an Etch-A-Sketch, artist George Vlosich has mastered the childhood toy. See some of his incredible work below:

More at Odd Mods.

Love toys? So do we.

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