Tim Cook says Apple might kill Ping; tie Facebook deeper into iOS

Tim Cook interviewed with All Things D’s Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg and while he held on to his usual guarded self, he also let out a few tid bits that we might be able to look forward to from Apple. According to Mashable, Cook said that Apple’s relationship with Facebook is very strong and that they plan to do more with the social network. Apple users should stay tuned. What he could have meant was that Apple might integrate Facebook into iOS 6 just like they did with Twitter in iOS 5 and OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. When it was announced that Apple would tie Twitter in to iOS 5, it of course made sense, however, there was a fair amount of surprise that it wasn’t Facebook that was integrated.

Tim Cook at D10 . Image credit: Engadget

Tim Cook also hinted at the fact that Apple might kill off Ping, the music based social network that they launched in September of 2010. He said, “We tried Ping and I think the customer voted and said this isn’t something I want to put a lot of energy into.” However, when he was asked straight up whether Apple would kill Ping, he said that he didn’t know and that they would have to look into that. Ping went past 1 million users in the first few days of their launch, however, the enthusiasm faded pretty quickly. The service allowed to you follow friends and check out what music they were listening to. If Apple is indeed integrating Facebook into iOS (and potentially Mac OS X), it might be as good a time as any to do away with Ping.

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Cook also said that unlike Ping, users have taken a strong liking to Siri and that Apple plans to bring big improvements to the voice assistant. He said the prospects for Siri are unbelievable and that Apple users will be pleased with what the company will bring to Siri. Cook also talked about Apple’s product secrecy policy and how open they will be with information on their suppliers’ practices, particularly those in Asia. He was asked if Apple would ever open a factory in the US and move their assembly line to domestic turf and he said that they would consider it if a fundamental change happened to the education system in the United States. He revealed nothing on the rumours flying around of Apple developing their own tv but said that the company’s relationship with Hollywood was good. He also said that Apple has the best phone in the market. Furthermore, he talked about the role of Steve Jobs in his life and how profound his influence was in Cook’s life and career.