Business Bytes
Renee Oricchio

What About That Other Ping?

 

So, there's Apple's new social network for iTunes called Ping. It was just announced this week and as Steve Jobs himself described it; it's "like Facebook and Twitter meet iTunes."

We all know how this goes. Jobs launched it, so count on Ping to be Webster's newest verb by Friday. (As in, "let me ping you that song" or "what's the name of that new group? Can you ping it to me later?").

But wasn't there already a Ping brand out there? What about the golf brand, Ping?

It turns out, Apple has already cut a deal with the owner of the Ping name in golf. Ping's parent company, Karsten Manufactoring, has even put out a press release blessing Apple's new music endeavor.

"Like Ping, Apple carries a reputation for innovation and quality."

- John Solheim, CEO of Karsten Management

 

Renee Oricchio is a technology writer and former supervising news producer for CNN Financial News. She has been covering the computer industry since 1987. @oricchio