A day after Apple's big press event, and a slew of announcements, what's everyone talking about? Ping -- a new feature that helps turn Apple's iTunes content store into a quasi-social network. At first glance, Ping left some in the media underwhelmed. "I would have expected more from Apple with this first attempt at building a community around iTunes," writes PCWorld's Ian Paul. "It's not all bad, but if Ping doesn't improve soon this music-oriented social network will bomb faster than an American Idol wannabe." GigaOm's Om Malik, however, christens Ping …

At a much-hyped (aren't they always?) media event on Wednesday, Steve Jobs did exactly what everyone was expecting him to do: debut the latest version of Apple TV. "It's now a streaming-focused device with an [sic] in a small matte black enclosure we're calling 'the hockey puck,' Engadget reports. It has HDMI, Ethernet, optical audio, and USB plugs around back, and 802.11n for the cable haters. "Inside there ain't much -- there's no local storage, which makes this thing an entirely different beast than old Apple TVs," Engadget adds. Meanwhile, "Those new streaming HD TV rentals from …

Google using Gmail to advance its social strategy will be nothing less than a "permanent failure," argues TechCrunch contributor Adam Rifkin. "There is a basic, fundamental, deep-seeded inability [on Google's part] to put things together in a contextually graceful way that makes sense to actual (non-Googler) users," Rifkin rants. As best we can tell, however, Rifkin bases his entire theory on a single incident, which involved his own Gmail service being interrupted after he failed to pay some extra storage fees. "When I failed to understand the procedure for the annual renewal, Google shut off my extra …

In anticipation of an Apple media presentation at 1 p.m., impatient industry watchers spent the morning trying to predict the big news. "The invite ... shows a guitar, which usually suggests music, but that hasn't stopped the buzz about video," wrote paidContent.       "Apple Inc., preparing to announce a new set-top box that delivers video to consumers' TVs, will include programming from Netflix Inc.," assured Bloomberg, citing three people with knowledge of the plans. "The streaming service would be available on the revamped version of Apple TV."    Indeed, "As part of …

Well, this is awkward. Flash on Android devices -- which Google and others have touted as a competitive advantage over rival Apple devices -- is "shockingly bad." Or at least according to GigaOm's NewTeeVee blog. "While trying to watch videos from ABC.com, Fox.com and Metacafe on the handset, [NewTeeVee contributor Kevin Tofel] found that videos were slow to load, if they loaded at all, leading to an overall very inconsistent experience while using his Android device for video. While trying to load an episode of Wipeout on ABC's mobile site, he received an error message urging him …

These days, there's a gift card for just about everything. But news that Facebook 'Credits' cards are coming to Target stores nationwide is a big deal because, well, anything Facebook does is a big deal. As USAToday reports, "Facebook is banking that a sizable chunk of its 500 million members will purchase the cards and use them on their favorite social games, applications and virtual goods." The gift cards will be available in values of $15, $25 and $50 at all of Target's 1,750 retail stores and at Target.com. Not an exclusive deal, additional national retailers are …

Amazon is developing a subscription service to deliver TV shows and movies directly to consumers, sources tell The Wall Street Journal. Such a service would compete directly with rival offerings from Apple, Netflix, and (most likely) Google. "The Internet retailer has in recent weeks pitched a Web-based subscription service to several major media companies," reports The Journal. They include NBC Universal, Time Warner, News Corp, and Viacom, say sources. "Amazon's subscription push is a challenge to rivals such as Netflix and Google as they race to dominate digital delivery of TV shows and films, encroaching on turf …