Apple’s Ping debuted on Wednesday with the release of iTunes 10. The social network for music looked pretty impressive during Apple’s Special Event and sent record numbers to the unrelated ping.fm. In practice though, Ping’s had a rough start.

Initially Ping allowed users to use Facebook Connect to find friends that were also using the service, but as of Thursday morning the Facebook connect option was gone. AllthingsD reported that Facebook turned off Apple’s access to the friend finding features in the API due to the high volume of requests. Normally special permission to access this feature is not required, but the load that 160 million iTunes users can put API requires a special deal and preparation.

Now reports are coming out, just the second morning after launch, that the service is already crammed full of spammers. I decided to check out these claims myself, clicked into U2’s profile page and expanded one comment thread:

Four out of the eight visible posts are spam. Michael is very persistant … even after Christine and Juan recommended he go to hell. There seems to be a complete lack of a spam filter at this point. At least there are lots of opportunities to get a free iPhone (Don’t actually try to get a free iPhone this way, it won’t work).

We will see if Apple can get this all ironed out. How are you using Ping? Are you using Ping? What can we expect to hear tomorrow?

If you were already a member of the Apple family before today you had the unique opportunity to live stream the Apple Special event. I tuned into the event on my iPad and was immediately impressed with the pre-event production values. The number of cameras and the way they panned the crowd reminded me of an award show. Instead of focusing on celebrities the cameras were turned to all the different apple devices audience members were using. They did show a lot on the Woz though. Now, having access to this live stream made me think for a brief moment that I should live blog the event … but only for a brief moment.

Many rumors were confirmed today. Steve Jobs presented some iOS updates, including 4.1 which will be coming next week and 4.2 which will be out in November with an iPad focus. One of the bigger updates coming next week is the inclusion of HDR photography which actually takes three images; one in normal mode, one over exposed and one under exposed. Then the images are combined to optimize the image. Both the normal image and the optimized image will be saved in your pictures. Next weeks update will also see bug fixes, HD video upload over WiFi, TV Show rentals and Game Center. iOS 4.2 will finally bring the iPad up to speed introducing a couple handy features including wireless printing and AirPlay which will allow you to stream content to your Apple TV.

The iPod line was refreshed from head to toe. The Shuffle has buttons again and is smaller than ever. The Nano had a drastic change, switching to a small multi touch display and including many features from the Shuffle including the clip. As expected the iPod Touch is taking on many iPhone featurs including cameras for face time and a retina display. The Touch will also take advantage of all the iOS updates. Each device boasts enhanced batter life.

We were expecting some kind of move from iTunes toward the cloud and social. What we got was the introduction of iTunes 10 and Ping, “Facebook and Twitter meet iTunes” the music social network. iTunes appeared simplified and streamlined many of the social features mimicked the kind of interactions we can expect on Facebook, but oriented around music. iTunes 10 and Ping will be available to today so you can jump in to the music social network with two feet.

The second generation of Apple TV debuted and was presented as a “hobby” but kept its old name. This version of the product boasted a much smaller form factor than the previous generation, almost a quarter of the size, and a much smaller price tag, $99. This generation ignores storage and focuses on a rental model for content. First run movies will cost $4.99 per rental and HD TV shows will be $.99 although only two studios have signed on for that pricing model, FOX and ABC. Jobs did promise that others will follow. The Netflix integration appeared seamless and superior to the experience on PS3 or XBOX 360 and the AirPlay feature in iOS 4.2 will allow smooth media transitions between iOS devices and Apple TV.

The whole event can be watched here (assuming you have a Apple device to watch it on) including a closing set by Coldplay’s lead singer, Chris Martin, who at one point was commended to play “another one” by Steve Jobs.

Did anything surprise you from the announcements today? Was anything missing?