Steve Jobs reveals the new faces of the iPod family today in San Francisco / AFP Source: AFP

Ping is the newest feature for iTunes, creating a social network for music / AP Source: AP

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Apple's range of iPods changed shape, colour and size today as the company's CEO Steve Jobs revealed the company's biggest makeover of its nine-year-old gadget.

He also brought social networking to iTunes with Ping, a new feature that will let people "follow" friends, musicians and others, similar to the way Facebook and Twitter work.

Mr Jobs revealed the new iPod design one by one at a press conference at the Buena Yerba Centre for the Arts in San Francisco.

The iPod Nano, one of the most popular iPod products in the Apple portfolio, has lost the traditional click wheel and now features a multi-touch screen which can be oriented to any angle with a two-finger swipe.

It is 46 per cent smaller and 42 per cent lighter, features a clip similar to the iPod Shuffle so it can be worn on  clothing and is available in seven colours, although memory is limited to either 8GB or 16GB.

The iPod Touch has also been refereshed and has inherited the iPhone 4's front-facing camera and Face Time feature.

Like iPhone 4, it can also shoot HD video 720p and edited and shared from the device using the iMovie app.

Follow friends

The only iPod to take a step back was the iPod Shuffle, which returned to its original square shape, although it still comes with the Voice Over feature, which lets users hear the name of songs and playlists.

All of the new iPods would go on sale from next week.

More tantalising for Apple fans was Mr Jobs' announcement of a new version of iTunes, which he described as “Facebook and Twitter meets iTunes”.

He said Ping was a social network built around music that allowed users to follow friends and artists and see what songs they were listening to and buying.

It would also help users find out about upcoming concerts and if their friends were attending them.

Mr Jobs also announced a new version of Apple TV.

The new device is a quarter the size of the original and users will be able to rent movies and TV shows to view rather then an outright purchase and download.

Mr Jobs revealed ABC and Fox TV networks had already opted into the new rental model and was hoping other networks would get on board in the near future.

Powerful device

He also said iPhone users will be getting a software update that offers the ability to upload high-definition video over Wi-Fi. And when people take photos, the new software will save three slightly different copies that, when combined, make for a sharper image.

The new software is version 4.1 of the iOS system. It will be available next week for free, initially for Apple Inc's iPhone and iPod Touch.

The iPad currently runs an older version, though Mr Jobs said an update coming in November will add such features as wireless printing to Apple's tablet computer.

Apple had been criticised for making a powerful device but hobbling it by not including any ports for USB devices such as printers or thumb drives.