Edible Apple

Initially acquired in 2006, Apple hasn’t done much with its iTun.es URL – until now. 9to5Mac noticedover the weekend that Apple has started using the url as a link shortener for Ping tweets.

When Apple first announced its Ping/Twitter integration, it was using Twitter’s default t.co shortener but now iTun.es is in full effect. If you recall, it was about a month ago when news broke of Apple and Twitter’s partnershipwhereby iTunes users can share their favorite music and song previews with their friends via Twitter, all from within iTunes.

On Ping you can easily link to your Twitter account to instantly find Ping users among the people you already follow on Twitter.

Once you’ve linked the accounts, whenever you Post, Like, Review, or tell your friends why you purchased a song or album on Ping, this activity will also be tweeted to your Twitter followers – complete with playable song previews and links to purchase and download music from iTunes.

When you click on a Tweet that’s sent via Ping or that contains an iTunes link, you’ll see the song or album in Twitter’s details pane, with the ability to listen to song previews from iTunes, making the experience even richer.