Apple has been making the transition from the Desktop to the laptop in an ultra accelerated manner, the Macbooks, the iPod, the iPhone and now the iPad has contributed to this transformation, the reborn of the Mac as an alternative to Windows PCs, dull smartphones without style, just uncool tools to make phone calls.

But the transformation hasn’t been a miracle, it’s been the hard work of a bunch of bright minds at the hand of Steve Jobs, the perfect timing and the support of millions of fans willing to buy Apple’s cool and innovative products, it hasn’t been a mere coincidence.

But with this type of success there is a enormous pressure from rivals trying to take away the bread from the table, forcing Apple to keep launching quick, smart and effective strategies not only to gain users from other mobile platforms, but to stay on top of the innovation cycle and that’s the main reason behind the Lala.com, the Intrinsity, PA Semi and Quattro Mobile acquisitions, it’s mandatory to innovate at a faster/quicker pace or get burned into the obsolescence by rivals, something that Apple is not ready to do, it won’t let rivals pass by and make fun of it. This time, Apple will do whatever it takes to force others to follow its own agenda or die trying.

So the next big thing could point to Apple providing its own Social Network merging Lala.com, iTunes.com and Mobileme.com into a place to discover, recommend, stream and buy music, a place to have all your mobile information on the road, a service that will provide games, music, books, emails, TV programs and Movies, but essentially, it can be a place for young musicians, bands and music fans to create their pages and match them with videos and tracks the same way iTunes LP works. But what will make this Social Network more interesting is that Apple could demonstrates its own iAd service.

The business opportunity could be bigger than expected, it can position Apple as a major content provider, a major player in social networks, taking away the music essence from MySpace in not time and putting pressure into Facebook.

Apple can takes Bebo and return the favor to AOL, mix it with Me.com, Mobileme.com, Lala.com, iTunes, Siri, iAds, a few million music tracks and an arsenal of videos.

Social Networks are nothing new to Apple, in the pass Apple had AppleLink and eWorld and is ready to introduce a network based Game Center into the iPhone OS 4.0, so it just can be the reborn of the eWorld 2.0 or iTunes Social Network 1.0, the elements are already aligned and Apple is willing to go whenever it needs to bring the most exciting mobile platform.

PS: Rumours are circulating that the Mobileme will be launched as a free service.