With the launch of new social-networking service designed specially for music fans, Apple has thrown down the challenge to Facebook and Twitter. Ping is a social music discovery service built in to iTunes software of Apple. iTunes is used by more than 160 million people to organize their music library.

To outline the new approach to music, Chief executive of Apple, Steve Jobs used a special press conference at Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco.  “One of the biggest things we focus on with iTunes is discovery. There are more than 12 million songs to choose from, so how do you find new stuff?,” asked Jobs.

Ping is a social network which is all about music and it is similar to Facebook and Twitter meeting iTunes. Fans can follow their favorite artists and friends and find out what music they like and what are they downloading. Steve Jobs also revealed a new compact set-top box for Apple TV, it can stream content like music, movies and TV shows.

Previously Jobs had dismissed the Apple TV has now agreed that people loved the device and had only sold in modest numbers. According to the feedback from users, the company created the set top box according to the needs of customers.

Mobile operator Orange launched high definition phone calls nationwide today. Trial was announced in June, the technology is more than double frequency range available for voice calls, but Orange says there will be no impact on mobile network’s performance.

The new method of encoding speech is designed to isolate voice sounds from the noise of background. Most of the users will need to buy a new handset, and for the existing customers Orange is offering free service. New technology is already being installed in some of the handsets of Nokia and Sony. Customers who are using Nokia X6, Nokia 5230, Nokia E5 and Samsung Omnia Pro already have the technology in their devices.

Chief executive of Everything Everywhere, Tom Alexander said, “Although what we use our mobile handsets for has evolved significantly in the past few years, the way we make mobile calls hasn’t changed a great deal since the 1990s. We’re offering customers a revolutionary new calling experience.” Everything Everywhere is a company which runs Orange in UK.

A new version of Apple TV has been introduced by Apple Inc on Wednesday which included the shows from two networks. It has been struggling to win over a media industry and losing control over the pricing of the programs.

With the new Apple TV users can rent TV shows like “Glee”, “Modern Family” for only 99 cents along with partnership of Walt Disney Co’s ABC and Fox. But other media like NBC Universal, CBS corp, Viacom Inc are not present in the list.

According to media executives, entertainment industry is concerned about the terms Apple is seeking for rental deals. They are saying that Apple is asking for deal which would allow it to keep almost 30 percent of the rental fee. This revenue sharing is similar to the agreements that Apple has struck for movie downloads and TV show from iTunes. According to executives iTunes downloads cost $1.99 to $2.99 and they are not ready to go down for 99 cents.

A new music and video download service will be launched by Sony Corp in a challenge to compete with Apple Inc. This announcement is all set to be made in Berlin on Wednesday at the IFA technology show. This incident will coincide with a scheduled media event by Apple on the same day in US.

This service will operate across internet connected devices like Walkman music player, Vaio computers, Bravia televisions, Blu-ray players and Sony Ericsson cell phones but it will be available only after next year according to the reports. Sony’s president Howard Stringer has put in lot of efforts to develop the products which take the advantage of rich portfolio of music and film. Video on demand service has been launched by the company in US this year.

For all these years, Sony wasn’t successful in gaining ground on Apple in download market. On Wednesday, Apple is expected to unveil a redesigned iPod in a media event and also it will announce the new TV project which will be called as Apple TV.

A new Xbox 360 controller has been announced by Major Nelson YouTube today and it is due for later this year. Though it is not a radical change, there are some points which should be for the better. The important change will be to the neglected D-pad

New changes made to Xbox 360 controller hope to bring the pride back into the D-pad and making it more usable. From now on the D-pad will rise up about a quarter of an inch. Since it is only quarter inch, it may not be noticeable but fighting game fans should appreciate this change and this time it will factor more heavily into designers’ control schemes.

The new feature of the controller will also include a deeper concave design on analog sticks, you will find monochrome look on the buttons now which will match the silver and black colors. This new controller will be packed with play and charge rechargeable battery kit and will cost $64.99. The device is expected hit the market from November 9. Once the current stock is sold, current Xbox 360 controller will be replaced. It is expected to release in February in Europe.