iTunes 9 Rumors

I’ve been seeing some screenshots around the web regarding the next version of iTunes expected to be announced at Apple’s September event.  Though this event has been predictable each year, it has yet to be officially announced at the time of this post.  One of the features that interests me is the social networking  aspects.  Nothing specific was mentioned but ties to Facebook were evident in the screenshots, which makes me wonder if they would have iTunes able to update your status with what is currently playing.  That is a fairly simple example that is mimicked in IM clients.  I would like to see them really push the potential and perhaps have you able to stream your library or set playlists with Facebook friends as you can with people on your own LAN, just now over the Internet with select people you choose.  That would be something truly innovative and really add a lot to the way we discover and enjoy music.

Facebook’s ambition

Recently there was some news in regard to Facebook interested in making its status update system more robust and accessible through APIs for developers and presumably users.  This is a direct shot against Twitter and their own system of micro-blogging.  The question that comes to mind though is the sense of community between services and if there is a brand loyalty or do people just see these tools as a means to an end.  I think the majority of people do in fact use these services to stay in contact and if their contacts  aren’t on a particular service then it won’t catch on in that social circle.

 

With that said, both have an immense following with Facebook currently around 200 million users with Twitter being much less than that but growing by leaps and bounds and attracting many from the mainstream.  Facebook of course using its leverage on its other social networking features and user base will try to capitalize on the market, but does that necessarily mean that it will push out Twitter?