At today’s keynote event, Steve Jobs announced the upcoming availability of iOS 4.1 for the iPhone and iPod touch. Jobs noted that the long running proximity sensor, Bluetooth, and iPhone 3G performance bugs that have been raised by users will be fixed in this update.

New features to iOS 4.1 include High Dynamic Range photos, HD video upload over Wi-Fi, TV show rentals, and Apple’s Game Center will make its official debut.

High Dynamic Range photos are photos created using 3 separate photos captured in quick succession at varying exposure levels. The photos are then combined using some complex algorithms to create an enhanced composite photo. Game Center, which was first introduced earlier this year, will officially be included in iOS 4.1 and allows gamers to invite others to play, post scores to online leaderboards, and more.

iOS 4.1 will be available next week for iPhone and iPod touch and will be a free update.

Jobs also revealed that iOS 4.2 will be released in November, finally bringing iOS 4.x support to the iPad. The free update will include wireless printing as well as a new feature called AirPlay, which replaces AirTunes. AirPlay will offer streaming of video, music, and photos. iOS 4.2 will be compatible with the iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone.

Update: While Apple’s U.S. and many other sites simply states that iOS 4.1 is coming soon, some international sites such as the Spanish one note that will become available next Wednesday, September 8th.

Ping is a social network for music that will help users discover new music, allowing users to follow favorite artists and friends. Ping will also create a custom chart showing music selections based on those followed. Users can choose to allow others to follow them automatically or by approval. There are over 160 million iTunes users, all of whom will be able to sign up for the new Ping service immediately.

Apple today introduced iTunes 10 with Ping, a new music-oriented social network for following your favorite artists and friends to discover what music they’re talking about, listening to and downloading. iTunes Ping lets you post your thoughts and opinions, your favorite albums and songs, the music you’ve downloaded from iTunes, plus view concert listings and tell your friends which concerts you plan to attend. iTunes 10 also features HD TV show rentals for just 99 cents an episode and AirPlay wireless music playback.

In a demonstration, Jobs showed how users can post videos and photos to the service, as well as search concert information and tag concerts attended. Ping will be included in the iTunes app on the iPhone and iPod touch.

iTunes 10 will be available later today as a free download.

Unlike the previous Apple TV, the new model will not have any significant internal storage, relying on streaming content only. Additionally, media can no longer be purchased but only rented. First-run HD movies can be rented for $4.99 on the day the DVD is released. Renting HD TV shows will cost $.99. At launch, only ABC and Fox will offer their HD shows for rental at this price.

Apple today announced the new Apple TV which offers the simplest way to watch your favorite HD movies and TV shows on your HD TV for the breakthrough price of just $99. Apple TV users can choose from the largest online selection of HD movies to rent, including first run movies for just $4.99, and the largest online selection of HD TV show episodes to rent from ABC, ABC Family, Fox, Disney Channel and BBC America for just 99 cents.

Apple TV also streams content from Netflix, YouTube, Flickr and MobileMe, as well as music, photos and videos from PCs and Macs to your HD TV. Enjoy gorgeous slideshows of your photos on your HD TV using Apple TV’s selection of built-in slideshows. Apple TV has built-in HDMI, Wi-Fi, Ethernet and an internal power supply for easy set-up, and features silent, cool, very low power operation in an enclosure that’s less than four inches square – 80 percent smaller than the previous generation.

The new Apple TV’s support for Netflix’s streaming service allows subscribers on a DVD rental plan costing $8.99 or more per month to access streaming content for no additional charge. Apple TV users will also be able to stream content from YouTube, Flickr, and MobileMe.

Apple’s new AirPlay, which replaces AirTunes, will allow the streaming of content from an iOS device to an Apple TV. During the keynote, Jobs demonstrated streaming a movie from an iPad to an Apple TV over a Wi-Fi network.

Apple TV content will be available in six countries to start, with more coming later this year. The new Apple TV, priced at $99, comes with a remote control and will be available starting in about four weeks, with pre-orders starting today.

The new iPod shuffle will see the return of buttons and will still include the VoiceOver feature that debuted in the last Shuffle model. It also has playlists capability and will take advantage of the Genius Playlists recently introduced. It will have 15 hours of battery life and will come in 5 colors: silver, pink, gold, blue, and green. The 2 GB Shuffle will cost $49.

The iPod nano has also been updated, removing the click wheel and adding a multi-touch interface to reduce the device’s overall size. The new nano is 46% smaller than its predecessor and will have 24-hour battery life.

The nano’s new touch interface is similar to that of other iOS devices with a home screen populated with icons to access photos, artists, playlists, control playback, and more. The display’s orientation can be manually rotated to accommodate the device’s position when clipped to clothing. The nano will come in graphite, pink, blue, silver, green, gold, and a Product Red version will also be offered. It will cost $149 for 8 GB and $179 for 16 GB.

Finally, the next generation of the iPod touch includes the Retina Display with 324 pixels per inch that made its debut on the iPhone 4. The new iPod touch will also get Apple’s A4 chip, a 3-axis gyroscope, a rear-facing camera that can record HD video, and a front-facing camera that will work with Facetime. The iPod touch will have iOS 4.1 with Apple’s Game Center and will offer 40 hours of music playback battery life. The iPod touch will cost $229 for the 8 GB model, $299 for 32 GB, and $399 for 64 GB.

All new iPod models will be available starting next week and are available for pre-order on Apple’s site today.

• Game Center—Experience social gaming on your iPod touch or iPhone.
• Support for iTunes HD TV show and movie rentals—Choose from the largest selection of HD TV shows and movies and rent them right on your iPod touch or iPhone (U.S. only).
• iTunes Ping—New social discovery features in iTunes available on iPhone and iPod touch.
• iOS 4 features—iOS 4.1 also includes all the great features from iOS 4: multitasking, folders, create playlists, iBooks, enhanced mail, Home screen wallpaper, gift apps, and more.

iOS 4 will be available as a free download for all iPod touch (second, third, and fourth generation), iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 4 owners. Not all features are compatible with all devices. For more information, visit www.apple.com/ipodtouch/software-update/or www.apple.com/iphone/softwareupdate/.

• iTunes Ping—New social network devoted entirely to music.
• iTunes HD TV show and movie rentals—Choose from the largest selection of commercial-free HD TV shows and movies available to rent and stream on demand (TV show rentals available in the U.S. only).
• AirPlay—Stream music and videos wirelessly to Apple TV from iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Coming soon.

Visit www.apple.com/itunes for an overview of iTunes features. iTunes marketing assets can be found in the iPod family channel asset kit.

• Streamlined design—Less than four inches square, 80 percent smaller, quieter, and more energy efficient.
• iTunes HD TV show and movie rentals—Choose from the largest selection of commercial-free HD TV shows and movies available to rent and stream on demand to an HDTV (TV show rentals available in the U.S. only).
• Streaming-based design—Movies, TV shows, photos, and Internet content stream wirelessly to Apple TV.
• Netflix streaming—U.S. Netflix subscribers can access the Netflix streaming catalog.

• iPod shuffle—New design with clickable buttons, VoiceOver, and Genius Mixes.
• iPod nano—New, smaller design with built-in clip, Multi-Touch display, and six bright colors.
• iPod touch—Now with FaceTime, Retina display, HD video recording, Game Center, and iOS 4.1.

The first tweet offers a model number of MC572LL/A for the U.S. version of the new Apple TV and claims that it will not ship immediately.
Our sources say new Apple TV (not iTV) is coming, but not shipping yet. Product code is Apple TV – USA MC572 LL/A.

The second tweet claims confirmation that a revised iPod touch will debut today but that none of the new products are expected to ship immediately.
The source also said that it doesn’t look like anything will be shipping immediately, and 4th gen touches are definitely coming too.

No word on when Apple plans to begin shipping the new products is given, although the company has been known to pre-announce products by anywhere from a few days to several weeks or more.

Australian Macworld correctly predicted the date of the most recent MacBook Pro refresh in April. A month later, the site also shared information from the same source offering a model number for an expected MacBook Air refresh, although the site hedged a bit on firm identification of the product associated with the model number by suggesting that it could be an LCD display. While the source’s model number information did turn out to be correct, it was in fact a revised MacBook that was released the following week.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple will launch its 99-cent TV show rentals through the iTunes Store tomorrow, with Fox and ABC set to serve as launch partners for delivering content. A report earlier today had indicated that Walt Disney (which owns ABC) was on board with that plan and that News Corp. (which owns Fox) was undecided but leaning toward participating.
As part of the Apple event Wednesday, News Corp.’s Fox and Walt Disney’s ABC networks are slated to be announced as offering 99-cent rentals of television shows through the iTunes store, according to people familiar with the matter.

According to the report, Fox’s participation will be limited in duration, at least to start, and will be limited to shows such as Glee, Bones, and Lie to Me for which it owns both the production and broadcasting rights.

Echoing the report from earlier today, the new article claims that a number of News Corp. executives are uneasy about Apple’s plan, fearing a disruption of the traditional television business. The company ultimately agreed to go along with Apple, however, as an experiment in alternative means for delivering content to consumers and in order to win goodwill with Apple to set stage for partnerships in other digital content ventures.