New social network quickly drops Facebook ties

Links to Facebook have been excluded from Ping because of "onerous terms," according to Apple CEO Steve Jobs. When Ping was launched yesterday, it was promoted as having Facebook Connect support; the language is still present on Apple's official page. For a short time on Wednesday night, the option existed to invite new friends to Ping through Facebook.

Ping is now effectively devoid of hooks to other social networks however, including even Twitter. In an interview Jobs explains that Apple spoke with Facebook about partnership opportunities, but that the talks ultimately produced nothing. Facebook was after "onerous terms that we could not agree to," according to the executive.

Though not describing what the terms were, Jobs suggests that Facebook Connect could be implemented as genuine option in the future. "We could [add it], I guess," he comments. Some executives at Facebook are reportedly angry, however, at how similar Ping is to their site in terms of look and layout.

Jobs also remarks that Ping could be the most important thing to come out of yesterday's Apple announcements, despite some other major shifts. The company overhauled the Apple TV, for example, and made the iPod nano a touch-based device. The iPad should also become a more practical handheld with the advent of iOS 4.2.

by MacNN Staff