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 « April 2005 | Main | June 2005 » May 31, 2005Make Magazine Features Podcasting Tutorial
Associate Editor Phillip Torrone shows you how to produce and syndicate audio interviews that you record online, on the phone, and on the road. It covers the basics of recording, choosing gear, editing audio, creating MP3s, making an RSS feed, and publishing. Posted by jlewin at 01:49 PM | Comments (0) JupiterResearch Announces Analyst Podcast
The first podcast, moderated by David Schatsky, senior vice president of JupiterResearch, is a conversation between senior analyst Gary Stein and research director David Daniels, on direct marketing online. It explores the best practices of paid search and e-mail marketing. "The addition of the JupiterResearch podcasts allows us the opportunity to engage our clients in new ways and to share our insight with the world," notes Schatsky. JupiterResearch is the first research firm to introduce analyst podcasts. JupiterResearch launched analyst weblogs over two years ago. JupiterResearch Conversations can be found at the JupiterResearch site. Jupiter Research Podcast Details Posted by jlewin at 01:10 AM | Comments (0) May 30, 2005Brits Announce UK Podcast Hub
As of May 20th, the site has 27 podcasts signed up, providing a rich and diverse view of the British podcasting community. In addition to the aggregated feed, Britcaster provides a forum for discussing UK podcasts. Posted by jlewin at 11:51 PM | Comments (0) UK Podcasters Testing PodShare ConceptUK blogger Adrian Pegg is promoting the idea of applying the shareware model to the world of podcasting. According to Pegg, the shareware model may be a good approach for podcasters that can't justify subscription fees. As Pegg describes it, "Everybody can subscribe to the feed for free (as now) and listen to your show. But you make it clear on your website that people are welcome to listen to 5 shows (or whatever you think is appropriate), but if they like the show and wish to continue listening the shareware price is £10 for a year / month or whatever, and leave it to work on trust." Several podcasters have announced their intentions to try the PodShare approach. Richard Vobes, host of the Richard Vobes Radio Show, and Phil Coyne, of Bitjobs for the Masses, are both testing the PodSharing waters. Bitjobs for the Masses Podcast Details The Richard Vobes Radio Show Podcast Details Posted by jlewin at 11:35 PM | Comments (1) Radio Use Plummeting Among Young MP3 Player Owners
They asked listeners of traditional radio 12 years and older whether they owned and used a digital music player, for how long have they owned these devices and if they were spending more time with the digital music player than they were 3 months ago. For listeners 12 and up, radio use plummets for the first month, with 53% listening less. The decrease in time spent with radio levels off, though, between 4-6 months, and then starts to creep back up. In the critical 12-18 group, though, the time spent with radio dropped precipitously for the length of the study. 12-18 Year-olds Listening to Less Radio than 3 Months Ago
Sample size: 3120 persons 12+. Measured markets: Los Angeles, Boston, Phoenix, Ventura California, Chicago Source: Bridge Ratings Posted by jlewin at 11:08 PM | Comments (0) Podcasts Get Bazaar ServiceHexlet has launched RSS Bazaar, an site where providers of free and premium online content can market their wares. RSS Bazaar is designed to make it easy for content providers to charge for RSS-based content. RSS and ATOM content can be sold on RSS Bazaar on a subscription or per-item basis. "We make it easy for providers to get their content to the public. They give us content and we take care of selling, billing, distribution, and support," according to Hexlet CEO Prashant Parekh. "It is completely hassle-free, and we promise to have their offerings up and running within twenty-four hours." RSS Bazaar caches syndicated content to provide high-performance podcasting content delivery and relieve bandwidth load from content providers. Podcasting content is optimized for mobile devices as well as distributed via BitTorrent peer-to-peer technology. Posted by jlewin at 10:45 PM | Comments (0) iGuy Turns iPods Into Action Figures
Not only is the iGuy fun, but it's fully functional, offering rubberized protection, docking capability, and screen protection for an iPod or iPod Photo. The iGuy fits all 4g and iPod photos (20, 30, 40 & 60g). Features: Posted by elisabeth at 04:50 PM | Comments (0) May 28, 2005US Soccer Adds Podcast Coverage
U.S. Soccer's debut podcast features an exclusive seven-minute interview with Earnie Stewart discussing his recent retirement from professional soccer after 17 years. In addition to the Stewart interview, you can listen to a "Center Circle" feature interview with Conor Casey discussing the CD's he would want with him if he was stranded on a desert island. The "Desert Island Discs" feature with the former U.S. Olympian is an accompaniment to Center Circle, ussoccer.com's monthly e-magazine. A custom US Soccer podcast client is available at USSoccer.com. Posted by jlewin at 01:37 PM | Comments (2) TV Guide Intros PodcastTV Guide has introduced a news podcast, TVGuideTalk. The weekly podcast features Michael Ausiello and the TVGuide.com crew as they provide the inside scoop, offbeat opinions and answers to questions about the latest entertainment headlines, hot TV shows, new movies and celebrities. Posted by jlewin at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) May 27, 2005Corante Delays Opening Podcast Hotel Until September
Corante plans to take over the Portland's Jupiter Hotel and turn it into a podcast and videoblog studio for the event. They describe the event as "Art and commerce come together in podcasting and videoblogging. The Podcast Hotel will be a rave, a happenng where these forces meet." Details are available at the Corante site. Posted by jlewin at 01:10 PM | Comments (0) WebPod Studio: New Audio & Video Podcast App
WebPod Studio is designed to let users create, gather content, and produce polished audio and video broadcasting over the internet. Podcasts/broadcasts may be uploaded to existing servers and can be archived on those servers, or burned onto CD or DVD disc. WebPod Studio can handle the creation of RSS feeds, the compiling of audio & video podcasts, uploading, and publishing of data The application features a tabbed-window interface, providing for an efficient, easy-to-comprehend process. Currently WebPod Studio is available for Microsoft Windows operating systems. Pricing starts at $89.95 for the standard edition to $169.50 for the Professional edition shipped on a USB Stick. An evaluation version is available at the Lionhardt Technologies site. Posted by jlewin at 12:40 PM | Comments (0) Podcasting Threat to Audible?
Audible is a service that sells digital audiobooks, audio magazines, newspapers, and radio programs via the Web. S&P analysts are concerned that podcasts will cut into Audible's business, "particularly its Periodicals and Radio and TV categories." S&P notes that many media outlets have begun to offer podcasts, and that there are numerous sources for free content for portable media players. Posted by jlewin at 08:09 AM | Comments (7) iPodderX Updated to 3.0
In celebration of the release, Thunderstone Media is giving purchasers of iPodderX a chance to win one of four iPod shuffles or a grand prize iPod photo. Version 3 includes a variety of new features, such as SmartSpace file management, the NewsCaster text-to-podcast converter, complete integration with iTunes and iPhoto, Playlist Builder, full-screen video, and much more. iPodderX 3.0 retails for US $24.95 and is a free upgrade for all current iPodderX users. A 30-day free trial is available. Contest details are available at the website. Pricing and Availability iPodderX is available immediately at the iPodderX website. Posted by jlewin at 07:56 AM | Comments (0) May 26, 2005Internet World Show Podcast AnnouncedInternet World, the UK's biggest B2B internet exhibition, has launched its first blog and podcast. Internet World organiser Penton Media Europe calls itself the first major UK media owner to release a B2B podcast. Two podcasts are planned. The weekly one will be an informal chat with industry luminaries and opinions on current issues. There will also be a ‘SeminarCast’ featuring exclusive content from the Internet World exhibition. Penton Media Europe's eMedia Manager, Damian Jennings said 'I am really proud to bring the UK's internet community the first mainstream B2B podcast with a brand like Internet World. It's a chance for a trade show to be actually seen to be at the forefront of technology and at the same time provide genuinely useful content.’ The test podcast available at www.internetworldblog.co.uk features an interview with the founder of start-up txtfo.com, Amir Ahmed, about a zero-spam SMS information service launching at this year's Internet World (June 14-16, Earls Court 2). There are 100 hours of free seminars this year at Internet World and this will be featured in forthcoming episodes, in 30-minute MP3s of the very best seminar content. A few highlights are: Oracle, The Butler Group, The Royal Bank of Scotland, RiM, Macmillan, Deloitte, ICI, Daimler Chrysler and Target Marketing’s Jim Sterne. The blog will be updated regularly from the show floor and the 'sight-seeing' podcasts will be recorded, edited and uploaded live from the exhibition hall itself. Internet World UK Podcast Details Posted by jlewin at 11:16 PM | Comments (3) New Jersey Podcasters AssociationPodcasters in New Jersey have a new way to learn about podcasting and share their experiences, the New Jersey Podcasters Association (NJPA). The group is a gathering of Garden State podcasters that meets once a month at a predetermined location to talk about the technology, politics, history, of podcasting, and whatever else comes up. Interested podcasters can find more information at the NJPA blog. Posted by jlewin at 11:08 PM | Comments (0) Association of Music Podcasting Offers Support for Music Podcasters
"AMP represents a new, non-traditional growing music marketing and promotion vehicle" says Derrick Oien, President of AMP. "We are working outside the box and outside the common music industry channels to get new music to the listener. By invoking open-source network methodologies AMP is able to provide a distributed promotions and marketing solution for new music acts." Podcast Legal Music One of the attractions that AMP offers to its member base is its library of downloadable music that members can access and include in their individual podcasts. Musicians who are interested in submitting their music do so and grant explicit permission to have their music distributed for promotional purposes within the AMP network. AMP members circumvent the legal obstacles of traditional music licenses by playing license-granted music in the form of explicit permissions from the music creators/performers and those released under the growing Creative Commons copyright license format. "This really works for all the parties involved" says Jason Evangelho, founding member and Director of Programming for AMP. "We want fresh new artists who are hungry to promote their work, and music podcasters want great, legal music to play on their shows. The end result is that everyone wins, especially the listener." Posted by jlewin at 10:29 PM | Comments (3) May 25, 2005ABC Podcasts Feature Entertainment and News
"Podcasting is a cultural sensation, and ABC News is on the forefront of reaching the consumer through innovative mediums," notes Bernard Gershon, Senior VP and GM of ABC News Digital Media Group. "Whether listening on an iPod, watching on a Sony PSP, or using a wireless device, our audience has access across many platforms to the vast resources of ABC News." Podcasts introduced include Nightline, This Week, Talkin' Racing, The Cybershake, The Daily Dish & The AfterNote. Posted by jlewin at 06:12 PM | Comments (0) NBC Announces Podcast
"This is one more way that the power of NBC News is made accessible to our audience," said NBC News President Neal Shapiro. "Whether you are heading out the door for your commute, at the gym working out or simply want to have the freedom to take the headlines with you, this is for you. With technology racing at lightening speed, its incumbent upon us to keep up with it -- and podcasting is a great example of how we are doing just that." NBC News will offer hourly podcast updates, which will be accessible via MSNBC.com. Programming will include news and business headlines from MSNBC.com, the latest news from the nation's capital on MSNBC.com's "White House Beat" and "Techwatch" featuring tech and science news and reviews of the hottest gadgets. In addition, highlights from MSNBC's prime time programs will include top newsmaker interviews from "Hardball with Chris Matthews" to the number one story each night from "Countdown with Keith Olbermann." MSNBC will also offer some "podcast exclusives." NBC News began testing its podcasting capabilities earlier this month with segments from "Today" and "NBC Nightly News." The service will expand in the coming months, as additional content from "Today", "NBC Nightly News," CNBC, MSNBC and other NBC News properties that is the most relevant to podcasting consumers is expected for future podcasts. "With the proven success of our free video, 41 million streams in the month of April alone, podcasting NBC and MSNBC features was a natural next step in serving relevant news to our viewers," said MSNBC.com General Manager and Publisher Charlie Tillinghast. "While other news networks will attempt podcasting, none have the resources of NBC News or MSNBC.com's reach and impact online." Posted by jlewin at 08:09 AM | Comments (0) May 23, 2005Garageband.com Adds 40,000 Podcasts
According to Garageband.com CEO Ali Partovi, "With the GarageBand Podcast Studio, we're proud to cement our lead in the podcasting space, making us not only the #1 provider of music for podcasts and the #1 hosting service for podcasters, but also the first complete solution for recording, mixing and publishing your own podcast." While all of Garageband.com's tracks are available to podcast publishers using Garageband Podcast Studio, only a portion are available to other podcasters. Only tracks that have been licensed with a Creative Commons license can be downloaded and incorporated into podcasts not hosted on Garageband.com, without obtaining special permission.
With thousands of bands posting new music every day, GarageBand.com claims to have "the world's largest catalog of podcast-ready music", now enhanced with "one-click publishing" to add a track to your own podcast. This catalog includes Papion, the exclusive track written and composed by American Idol Bo Bice and his hometown band, Sugar Money. This new single is already one of GarageBand.com's most popular tracks, airing on podcasts and webcasts across the Internet. Within weeks of release, it reached number three on the Live365 Internet Radio Network's "Top Sideloads" chart. Other top artists in the GarageBand.com catalog include Jenna Drey, currently number 23 on the Billboard Radio Airplay chart, and Geoff Byrd, who was recently recognized by Live365 and Radiowave as Internet Radio's Most Successful Unsigned Artist of the Year. Record, Mix and Publish The new GarageBand Podcast Studio is a simple but powerful tool that enables anybody to create a podcast. Users can upload their own recordings and mix them with music from the GarageBand.com catalog using a point-and-click Playlist Manager. Once a new playlist is published, it is immediately available to listeners for streaming, download and subscription from GarageBand.com's servers. Hosting is free and GarageBand.com intends to support the creativity of podcasters with advertising, as well as offer premium ad-free options in the future. Phone-casting As a result of an innovative new service developed with Tellme Networks, the GarageBand Podcast Studio will soon feature a convenient option to record by phone. Podcasters will be able to save their telephone recording for mixing later, or immediately publish their podcast by phone, without ever touching a computer. Recently-signed Geoff Byrd, GarageBand.com's top-rated artist of all time, intends to use this system to run a podcast-by-phone from his nationwide radio tour. More accessible to listeners While the penetration of iPods and special podcasting software continues to grow, GarageBand.com now allows listeners to subscribe to their favorite shows with more familiar options, including MyYahoo, MyMSN and even email. Over 40,000 active podcasts GarageBand.com's existing catalog of user-created playlists is now available in the form of thousands of podcasts that any listener can subscribe to for free. Similarly, every band on the site now has a free podcast, where listeners can receive new songs (and other audio messages), gig listings, and news posted by the band. GarageBand.com announced that 40,000 active podcasts are live today and more will be coming online in the near future. GarageBand.com also plans to issue additional podcasts of its own, such as a "track-of-the-day" feed for each musical genre. Posted by jlewin at 02:04 PM | Comments (4) Jobs Announces iTunes Support for Podcasts
At the D: All Things Digital Conference, an annual technology conference sponsored by the Wall Street Journal, Jobs discussed the popularity of podcasting, and said that the next version of iTunes would support them directly. "Already millions of people are subscribing to these podcasts,'" noted Jobs. "This is going to send it into orbit." Posted by jlewin at 08:23 AM | Comments (3) May 22, 2005BBC Says Podcasting Could be a Revolution
According to technology analyst Bill Thompson, "It is easy to claim the revolution is just around the corner, but there might just be something in podcasting." Thompson is a regular commentator on the BBC World Service programme Go Digital. "The quality of some of the podcasts I have listened to is certainly as good as many supposedly professional radio stations, and as the tools for finding and filtering what is out there improve we will inevitably see new ideas, new approaches and new names emerge," adds Thompson. The BBC recently began expanded trials of podcasting. Many BBC podcasts are already available. Posted by jlewin at 12:38 AM | Comments (2) May 21, 2005Netlabel Kahvi Releases Music for PodcastsPodcasters looking for podcast-legal music have a new option. Online netlabel Kahvi Collective has announced that its "open source" electronic music is "completely free for distribution and use via internet radio stations and podcasts". The music, created by unsigned artists, is released freely to give new artists a way to get their music heard. The Kahvi Collective is a London, UK netlabel that specializes in electronic music, including instrumental, idm, chill, ambient, and experimental. It was founded in 1997 and has over 145 releases available by artists from around the world. Kahvi has a podcast of its latest releases: Licensing The releases are covered by the creative commons license: Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0. Posted by jlewin at 11:20 PM | Comments (0) May 19, 2005New Services Translate News Feeds Into PodcastsAs interest in podcasting builds, news services are emerging to help deliver web-based text information as audio podcasts. Two new services, Talkr and Speakwire, promise to take RSS news feeds from blogs and other sources, and convert them into audio podcasts. The services provide a new option for creating podcast content and generating audio versions of web content.
Talkr provides a service that allows you to listen to your favorite text-only news sources rather than read them. It converts RSS feeds from text to speech. Talkr can also provide a podcast of news sources. Talkr has partnered with several of the most widely read blogs on the internet to provide an audio version of those blogs for free. To use Talkr to listen to other blogs, monthly and annual subscriptions are available.
Speakwire gathers news feeds from the prominent news organisations around the world and delivers it to computers as an audio summary of events from news, politics, business, sport, fashion etc. According to Speakwire's Gordon Renton, "As more people get to hear the results of speech technology, we are begining to find the barriers breaking down to this method of delivery. Most people associate computer speech with visually impaired users. I think that is missing the point and we set out to demonstrate just how universal speech is. It's the nearest eqivalent to a common currency and can be exchanged and undersood as easily. Speech is mightier than the pen." Speakwire takes the latest news feeds around the world and converts them to audio, using PanaVox Speak Perfect Speech Technology. Speakwire's Autocasting is an automated form of podcasting that allows bloggers and blog readers to generate audio versions of text blogs from RSS feeds. Autocasting software uses XML parsers, TTS (text-to-speech) engines, and audio conversion utilities to convert text blogs into audio files that can be placed on a blog for download, synchronized to a portable audio device, or played on a desktop computer. Posted by jlewin at 11:33 PM | Comments (0) Open Source Podcast App LoudBlog Adds Features
The new version adds audio comments and ID3 tag editing. Loudblog is a Content Management System (CMS) for publishing audio content on the web. The software is available for free and is released under a Creative Commons License. "It might not feel as finished as 0.1," notes van Aaken. "As I implemented a lot of complex new features, the possibility of bugs is quite high. In other words: Loudblog 0.2 is still a baby." New features: UI-Improvements: Bugfixes: New tags: Known bugs: Posted by jlewin at 11:11 PM | Comments (0) PodcasterCon Announces Logo Design Contest
The chosen logo will be used for the PodcasterCon.org website. The winning designer will be given full public credit on the PodcasterCon.org blog and wiki. Logos will be judged based on how effectively they communicate the name of PodcasterCon, their graphic design professionalism, originality, and how well they convey the spirit of community and openness embodied in PodcasterCon's statement of purpose. Deadline for submissions is June 17, 2005. Rules and requirements for the contest are available at the PodcasterCon site. About PodcasterCon PodcasterCon is a free users conference about podcasting that is to be held at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC. The organizers hope that it will offer an alternative to traditional conventions, with no expo, no expensive kynote speakers and no corporate sponsorships. Posted by jlewin at 10:44 PM | Comments (0) Firefighters Featured in New PodcastThe Firehouse Radio podcast is giving firefighters and paramedics a show of their very own. "Firefighters and paramedics are in the news every day," says show creator Jim Goetz. "Firehouse Radio is a combination talk radio and news blog for them - firefighters doing radio right," he continued. Since the show's inception Firehouse Radio has been heard on the Daily Source Code with Adam Curry, Sirius Satellite Radio All Talk Channel 148 and the newest Infinity Broadcasting podcast-format AM Radio Station KYCY in San Francisco. "There are other on line radio shows that revolve around Public Safety," explained Mr Goetz. "But we are the first Fire Service related show utilizing the new podcast technology." Show topics have included interviews with the Fire Chief of Red Lake Minnesota, home of the second deadliest school shooting, Technical Director Mark Yant from the movie "Ladder 49" and a multitude of on-scene reports. Firehouse Radio Podcast Details Posted by jlewin at 10:18 AM | Comments (0) iPodder Team Researching Compatibility Issues with iTunes 4.8
According to the iPodder team, "The recent iTunes 4.8 update breaks the COM connection between iPodder and iTunes." An update has been released to address the issue, version 2.0.3, but some users are still reporting compatibility problems. Users who updated from iTunes 4.7 will see a ceasing of iPodder's ability to create playlists and add songs to them. New users may see a complete failure of iPodder to start, with log errors such as "KeyError: '{9DD6680B-3EDC-40DB-A771-E6FE4832E34A}'" or "TypeError: This COM object can not automate the makepy process - please run makepy manually for this object". With the update, Apple increased the version number on their COM library from 1.2 to 1.3, and iPodder 2.0 was affected by the change. The iPodder team has created a new version of iPodder, version 2.0.3, which adds support for the updated iTunes COM library. The iPodder team is also planning to make the iTunes communcation part more robust to ensure future updates of iTunes will give no more problems. They plan to contact Apple to be part of the beta-testers program so they can check for problems up-front. iPodder can learn more about the issue, and get the latest version of the software, at the iPodder site. Posted by jlewin at 01:33 AM | Comments (0) Allegheny Takes Podcasts to College
"Allegheny's podcasts act as a high-tech supplement to the college's other news and marketing materials," says Mike Richwalsky, the college's web administrator and host of the weekly program. "Allegheny is one of the first colleges to use podcasting in this way," notes Richwalsky. "Other schools may use it for specific departments or programs, but Allegheny is employing it as a way to keep people connected with the college as a whole." Updated each Thursday, Allegheny's podcast features updates on Gator athletics and campus events and highlights various academic offerings. The first two podcasts focused on student internships, senior projects and commencement. A different student is featured each week, with the chance to talk about his or her own unique combinations of interests and activities. "Part of the great potential in podcasting is the ability to connect on a more personal level," says Richwalsky. "Listeners can hear the real voices of real people in the Allegheny community," he explains. Allegheny College Podcast Details Posted by jlewin at 01:11 AM | Comments (0) Open Media Network Announces Free Internet Media Service
The service offers users a broad selection of free public programs with a simple TV-style program guide and automatic background deliveries of favorite scheduled programming. Content producers can add their programming to the network, with unlimited free delivery of their shows and with digital rights protection. Through the service, consumers can view the content on multiple devices, including PCs and iPods today and televisions and cell phones by this summer. "Widespread broadband adoption, mass market video creation tools and technologies such as RSS are transforming communication, entertainment and information," said Mike Homer, founder of the Open Media Foundation which produces OMN. "Our goal with Open Media Network is to provide a valuable public service that gives consumers an easy way to get both traditional and grassroots media authorized for Internet distribution and help usher in a new era in mass publishing." Open Media Network (OMN) was founded by Internet pioneer and Netscape veteran Mike Homer and includes Marc Andreessen as an advisor and board member. Open Media Network is powered by grid delivery technology from Kontiki, which already provides secure delivery of content libraries for a range of companies such as Ernst & Young, Verizon, AOL and the BBC. Kontiki’s grid delivery technology speeds the distribution of video and music files by allowing participants to share unused bandwidth on their computers and servers. There are already over 20 million users of Kontiki’s technology today. Because OMN uses Kontiki’s grid delivery technology, all content is centrally managed. Programs which violate copyright or are unsuitable for viewing can be removed from the network. Kontiki’s technology has built-in digital rights management (DRM) through support of the Microsoft Windows Rights Manager and allows publishers to choose whether content can be shared, duplicated or viewed a set number of times. Future versions of OMN, due this summer, will offer producers a secure payment system for premium content. OMN offers entertainment, information and education programming from public television and radio stations who are interested in worldwide distribution of their programs via the Internet. Stations such as WGBH, KQED, and KWSU are among the initial public television and radio stations offering content. "When fully implemented, OMN will give us virtually everything we were envisioning for the digital distribution core of our service," said Dennis Haarsager, general manager of Washington State University’s 15 public radio and television stations. "It has given us a twelve to eighteen month head start in reaching our goal of widespread online distribution of our shows." OMN also includes innovative new forms of grassroots content, including video blogs and podcasts. Podcasts include WNYC public radio’s “On the Media,” IT Conversations including The Gillmor Gang, Engadget.com, shows from Northwest Public Radio and a host of sports and music programming. Unique video content includes Witness.org video alerts which document and expose human rights abuses across the globe. Independent films, which include full-length features, short films, trailers and full scenes are available. The Cinequest collection includes many full-length features that are available in DVD quality for download. In addition, a wide variety of films from indie film pioneer Undergroundfilm.org are available. A key aspect of OMN that will debut this summer is the engagement of the OMN audience in the ratings, ranking and organizing of the content library. Producers provide initial information, including parental guidance rating suggestions, and authorize use of their material through Creative Commons licenses. Each viewer then rates the quality of the program through familiar one-to-five star ratings, provides their parental guidance recommendation, and can notify OMN if they identify potential copyright issues. In addition, users can organize their downloaded programs by adding personal tags, or keywords, to their selected content to aid in search and browsing. Open Media Network can be used by anyone with Internet access across the globe without charge. The program guide is available at www.omn.org, or is automatically downloaded from any website where OMN programming is listed. The user automatically gets OMN with their first video or audio download. They can then use the program guide to choose additional programs to be automatically downloaded in the background. The programs on OMN are authorized for public use by the producers and most are licensed under Creative Commons. Posted by jlewin at 01:01 AM | Comments (0) Freesound Offers Free Audio Samples for PodcastersThe Freesound Project aims to create a huge collaborative database of audio snippets, samples, recordings, and bleeps that can be used freely for commercial and non-commercial purposes. The sounds featured at The Freesound Project are released under the Creative Commons Sampling Plus License. This license means that you can sample, mash-up, or otherwise creatively transform this work for commercial or noncommercial purposes. In addition to individual samples, the site features sample packs of related samples, including multi-sampled instruments, drum kits and special effects. Posted by jlewin at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) May 18, 2005mobile17 Turns Podcasts Into Ringtonesmobile17 has introduced a new service that converts podcasts into cellphone ringtones. According to the site "mobile17 can take any podcast and transfer it straight to your mobile phone so you can listen to it on-the-go." Podcasters can make money from the service by offering an option at their site to allow visitors to send podcasts to their cell phones. Posted by jlewin at 01:36 PM | Comments (0) Rush Limbaugh Announces Podcast
The podcasts will be available only to members of the Rush 24/7 service, which costs $49.95/year. The podcast will feature downloads of his program in MP3 format. According to Limbaugh, "I've been getting thousands of requests for this in recent weeks." More information is available at the Rush Limbaugh website. Posted by jlewin at 10:39 AM | Comments (7) May 17, 2005MediaTuner Intros Rich Media RSS Aggregator/Player
MediaTuner is a web-based application, requiring no program downloads or installation. All that is required to use the application is the latest Macromedia Flash Player, which is installed in 96% of all browsers. MediaTuner runs on either a PC or Mac and all browsers. According to MediaTuner's David Cronshaw, "MediaTuner allows users to organize and easily time-shift their new internet viewing and listening habits. I know that from my own personal experience, I now watch less TV, and everyday logon to watch and listen to my favorite video blogs and podcasts"." MediaTuner organizes and plays video blogs, podcasts, live video and audio streaming, as well as text information such as news, sports and blogs, into one easy-to-use browser interface. Utilizing the Universal MediaTuner Player, users can play, listen to,and view, up to 80 different files types, including Quicktime, Windows Media, Real, and PDFs. Lead developer Fernando Flórez, who led the MediaTuner development team says that this application "follows the new wave of Rich Internet Applications using top-notch technology to assure a great experience to end users". Posted by jlewin at 07:42 PM | Comments (0) Independent Record Label Starts Podcasting
The company is using the new medium to expose fans to new music from the company’s roster and to enable their artists to reach a wider audience. The first podcasts are now available on the company’s website. The launch will also include podcast songs from up-and-coming Razor & Tie rock bands, including New York City’s indie guitar-rockers Sam Champion, Brooklyn’s enigmatic metal band, The Giraffes, and Temecula, CA pop-rockers, The Chemistry with more to come. Razor & Tie plans to update the site regularly with exclusive tracks, song debuts, tour diaries and more. Initial podcasts Posted by jlewin at 07:07 AM | Comments (0) May 16, 2005KYOURadio Podcast-Based Radio Goes Live
Dave Winer's podcast talk in Pisa, Italy will launch the station. The podcast discusses unconferences, blogging, RSS, podcasting, making money on the Internet, and an end to monoculture. Podcasting technology, made popular in late 2004, allows users to create and upload their own audio programs on the Internet which can be downloaded to multimedia players at a later date. The software also lets users subscribe to their favorite podcasts and have them sent automatically to their players for listening at their convenience. Podcasts broadcast on KYCY-AM and streamed online will not be available for download. Inaugural Shows Morning Coffee Notes - 5/12/2005 Gift Certificate Theory That's the way it is in San Francisco #1 TINKOFF RADIO | Show 01 Noebie Shakes A Martini Kickback Radio The M Show The Seanachai Let Us Come Together Dragon Radio 008 Morons.org podcast #2: xenophobia Death and a 20th Wedding Anniversary Podman Number One Gavin Newsom interviews Coldplay Tabor's Tune Stupid Church People Rock Your Computer redJazz.com Podsafe Jazz Kevin Seconds Paw[d]cast Radio Gus Gus Gus American Road Trip Show Notes From The Underground My Daily Commute I'm a Man TINKOFF RADIO | Show 02 The Guy Bauer Half Hour Creot Radio Time Travel Noise Inside My Head PodCast OUTDOOR LIFESTYLES PODCAST TINKOFF RADIO | Show 04 Infinity, a division of Viacom, operates 180 radio stations, with stations covering the news, modern rock, oldies, country, FM talk, classic rock and urban formats. Posted by jlewin at 08:19 AM | Comments (1) PodNova Intros Web-Based Podcatcher
PodNova offers: PodNova's podcast listing is based on the iPodder.org directory, but is cached to improve performance. One click subscription: Synchronization of multiple iPodder clients Subscription-Based Ranking Posted by jlewin at 07:13 AM | Comments (0) May 13, 2005World's First Podcast-Based Radio Station Goes Live Monday, May 16Infinity Broadcasting's KYOURADIO, the world's first podcast-based radio station, is set to launch on Monday, May 16 at 9:00 AM, ET. KYOURADIO will feature podcasts created exclusively by its listeners, and be available in San Francisco at 1550 KYCY-AM and streamed online at www.kyouradio.com. The station's inaugural podcast will be from Dave Winer, a software developer who was instrumental in the development of podcasting technology. Users began uploading their podcasts to KYOURADIO on Wednesday, April 27, the day the station was first announced. Once uploaded, podcasts become eligible to be selected for broadcast. Since then, more than 400 podcasts have been uploaded from users in 49 states, as well as cities across the world, including London, Toronto and Hong Kong. Submitted podcasts are of varying lengths covering a wide range of topics, including, views on life in San Francisco, thoughts pondered while commuting, highlights from the world of science, time travel, amusement parks, and the best in bluegrass, indie, rock and Asian music, among many others. Programming on the station will be determined by listener interests and feedback, and evaluated on a daily basis. Podcasting technology, made popular in late 2004, allows users to create and upload their own audio programs on the Internet which can be downloaded to multimedia players at a later date. The software also lets users subscribe to their favorite podcasts and have them sent automatically to their players for listening at their convenience. Podcasts broadcast on KYCY-AM and streamed online will not be available for download. Infinity, a division of Viacom, operates 180 radio stations, with stations covering the news, modern rock, oldies, country, FM talk, classic rock and urban formats. Posted by jlewin at 10:41 PM | Comments (1) Wiley Publishes First Podcasting How-To BookWiley Publishing has announced a new Podcasting how-to book, Todd Cochrane's Podcasting: Do It Yourself Guide. The book, part of Wiley's ExtremeTech series, shows readers not only how to find, download, and listen to podcasts, but also how to create a podcast of their own. Author Cochrane is the owner and host of Geek News Central, a technology news hub and weblog that serves more than 250,000 weekly visitors. Todd's podcasts, which began in Oct 2004, were among the first. Podcasting: Do It Yourself Guide has a publish date of May 30, 2005. It will retail for $19.95. It's available for preorder at Amazon The book covers: -Creating a podcast with just a PC or Mac PODCASTING: Do It Yourself Guide Publisher's Blurb Podcasting has taken the online world by storm, and even some traditional radio stations have begun to experiment with delivering their content using this technology. But is doesn't take a professional to create a podcast. PODCASTING: Do It Yourself Guide puts the power of broadcasting into the hands of anyone who feels they have something to say. Posted by jlewin at 01:05 PM | Comments (0) Microsoft Acquires MessageCast, Supports Podcast AlertsMicrosoft has announced that it has acquired MessageCast, a leading provider of automated alerting and messaging technology. MessageCast technology currently supports Microsofts MSN Alerts service. MessageCast has also announced that its LiveMessage service now supports podcast alerts. LiveMessage is a broadcast application that sends out alerts when information is updated. The LiveMessage service is being used by some podcasters to communicate with listeners via alerts. With LiveMesssage alerts, users can pick and choose among various delivery options including cell phones, PDAs, and desktop alerts.. This acquisition extends MSN Alerts to new content channels, helping to expand the ability of MSN to connect consumers to the information and people they care about most. "Microsoft and MessageCast have created a significant information channel for consumers," said Royal P. Farros, the co-founder and chief executive officer of MessageCast. "It's incredibly innovative and effective, leverages RSS, and the best part is the customer is totally in control. This is obviously a significant milestone, and we're very pleased to join the MSN team." MSN Alerts lets consumers receive time-sensitive information from sources via any combination of MSN Messenger, Microsoft Windows Messenger, e-mail and text messaging on mobile or handheld devices that are compatible with MSN Mobile. The service is currently offered in Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean and Spanish, and is available throughout the U.S. as well as select markets in Europe and Asia. Posted by jlewin at 08:05 AM | Comments (1) Australia's Radio National Begins Podcasting Trials
Some files will be an entire program, while some will be a selected segment. The audio in the podcast trial is in MP3 format. Audio downloading gives Radio National the potential to reach listeners in new ways. It also allows listeners more control over which programs they hear, when, and even where. The trial is to explore the effectiveness of podcasting for the many different types of programs Radio National broadcasts. Radio National Podcasts The Science Show Late Night Live Life Matters The Night Air Posted by jlewin at 07:22 AM | Comments (0) May 12, 2005BitPass Unplugged Lets Podcasters Charge by the PodcastBitPass has announced BitPass Unplugged, a new service that will give content providers the ability to charge for their podcasts. The company will present a preview of BitPass Unplugged at Streaming Media East 2005 at the Hilton New York starting May 17th, 2:45 p.m. ET, Booth 209. BitPass Unplugged will allow podcasters to offer a-la-carte and subscription-driven premium podcasts. BitPass plans to have the service available in Q4 2005. "BitPass gives me the flexibility to charge a small amount for that feed," notes David Lawrence, host of Online Tonight and The David Lawrence Show. "I've been waiting for this." "With our solution, successful podcasters can look forward to new revenue sources without becoming submerged by the costs of catering to their audiences," said Kurt Huang, Vice President of Products, BitPass. Posted by jlewin at 10:56 PM | Comments (2) Updated Shrook Automates Podcast SupportShrook, a next-generation news reader for the Apple Macintosh, made by developer Fondant Fancies, was released in an updated version earlier this week. Shrook v2.2 supports all versions of RSS, and the latest draft of Atom. Shrook purports to be "the only major Mac newsreader with fully automated podcast support." When Shrook encounters a podcast, it is downloaded and added to iTunes. When the user's iPod is connected, iTunes copies the audio, and Shrook downloads the text content of all the feeds to read on the iPod screen, complete with links to access the audio.
The Shrook program synchronizes content without the Sync button, every five minutes while the user is connected to the Internet. This news reader also fetches news without the user's Mac, enabling the user to log in from any web browser, to view all of his/her channels from other locations. With Shrook, new items appear on your desktop as soon as five minutes after they were published. The developer attributes this speedy update time to Shrook's "sophisticated Distributed Checking mechanism.". Shrook v2.2 requires Mac OS X v10.3 or v10.4. The free trial, available on the Fondant Fancies website (url above), is fully functional for 30 days. Users must register and pay $24.95 to continue use of the product. Posted by elisabeth at 10:45 PM | Comments (2) Nanocasting Alliance Warns Podcasters About KYOURadio ContractThe International Nanocasting Alliance (INA), a trade organization dedicated to accelerating the growth of commercial Internet radio and Nanocasting, is warning its members about legal issues with the KYOURadio contract. KYOURadio is billed as "the first radio station in the world to get all of its programming from podcasts." According INA attorney Michael Leventhal, clauses in the KYOURadio agreement are intended to protect Infinity Broadcasting and shift legal exposure to the content provider. Leventhal described the terms as, "Many words that basically mean that if you do what you may not, and Infinity gets sued, you are on the hook--legal fees, damages, the whole thing. That can easily be six figures. And Infinity can take control of its own defense," said Leventhal. "There is nothing particularly egregious about KYOURadio terms and conditions," said INA co-founder Errol Smith. "Our legal advisors confirmed that the clauses are based on standard and customary practices. The real risk for podcasters is based in how we approach the commercialization of this new medium." Infinity's KYOURadio contract places significant responsibility on the person submitting content for broadcast: 3. Submitter will indemnify and hold harmless Infinity, and its affiliates, parent companies, subsidiaries, officers, shareholders, directors, employees, agents, representatives, successors, and assigns, ("Infinity Entities") against any and all loss, liability, claims, damages and other expenses, including reasonable attorneys fees, arising from (a) Infinity's use of the Material under this Agreement; (b) any act or omission by Submitter; (c) any breach of Submitter's representations and warranties in Paragraph 2 above. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, United States of America, without application of conflict of laws principles. Submitter agrees that all disputes arising under this Agreement will be litigated and adjudicated exclusively in State and/or Federal Court located in the State of New York, United States of America. Leventhal notes out that, while Infinity's terms are fairly standard, most people don't read the terms and conditions in contracts at sites like KYOURadio.com. The INA provides these recommendations for podcasters entering into commercial agreements: 1. Approach the media business like a business. Smith added "Podcasting is creeping toward commercialization and there will likely be a lot of trial and error in the process. Following these recommendations will minimize the chances of making the kind of big mistakes that can cripple a venture." Posted by jlewin at 07:59 AM | Comments (1) May 11, 2005Yahoo! Lowballs Its Subscription Music Service
"We are committed to being at the forefront of the rapidly growing online music segment," said Lloyd Braun, head of the Yahoo! Media Group. "Yahoo! Music Unlimited draws on the best of Yahoo! to provide personalization and community features unlike anything else in the marketplace." In addition to allowing fans to browse and listen to friends' collections of subscription music and playlists via Yahoo! Messenger, the service enables them to build personalized music libraries, transfer tracks to compatible portable devices, purchase discounted permanent downloads, listen to commercial-free Internet radio stations and access their subscription service from any Internet-connected computer. "Users get to listen to as much music as they want, while utilizing superior innovations in playlist generation and community features to enrich and expand their music experience," said Dave Goldberg, vice president and general manager, Yahoo! Music. Features: Yahoo Music Engine: Yahoo! Music Unlimited comes with a free music management application, the Yahoo! Music Engine, which lets consumers rip, mix and burn CDs, import and manage music, and transfer music to portable devices. Yahoo! Music will continue to offer Musicmatch's Jukebox 10 music management and On Demand subscription services. Musicmatch On Demand pricing will be lowered to $6.99 monthly, $5.99 quarterly and $4.99 annually for subscribers. Yahoo! Music intends to eventually combine Musicmatch's offerings with Yahoo! Music Unlimited to create the industry's best end-to-end suite of music services. * - For annualized price of $59.88 Pricing and Availability Yahoo! is also offering a 7-day free trial to consumers. At present, the Yahoo! Music Unlimited service is only available to users within the United States. Posted by jlewin at 11:51 PM | Comments (2) Search Interest in Podcasting Jumps 1,000 Percent
Godcasting, a play on the term podcasting, has emerged as a major category for podcasting. The GodCast Network, a podcast network that features Christian and other family-friendly audio content in MP3 format, reports that it has listeners in "128 countries and counting." The Podcasting News Religion and Spirituality podcast directory category has entries ranging from Agnostic to Christian to New Age. "Many 'pod preachers' of all faiths are converting their weekly sermons into Godcasts to more easily spread the word," notes Lycos. Top 10 Podcast-Related Terms at Lycos Source: Lycos, week ending May 7, 2005. Lycos creates and operates search, community and technology lifestyle sites including Lycos.com, Hotbot.com, Wired.com, Tripod.com, Angelfire.com and Quote.com. Posted by jlewin at 08:16 AM | Comments (0) May 10, 2005BBC Series Features Podcasting
Host Peter Day talks to Adam Curry, founder of iPodder.org; Lee Roberts, sales director at Virgin Radio; Philip Whelan and Guy Dickenson, of loudish.com; Rob Jones of advertising company, USP; Don Katz, founder of audible.com; and Steve McCauley of the Barchester Group. Day characterizes podcasting as "Radio Me", and compares podcasting to the initial boom of the Internet. Day also asks whether this marks the death of radio as we know it, or the start of something even bigger. BBC Radio Me (Real Audio Streaming) Posted by jlewin at 06:41 AM | Comments (2) Hilary Rosen Asks Steve Jobs to "Let My Music Go"Controversial music consultant Hilary Rosen, former Chairman and chief executive officer of the Recording Industry Association of America, is asking Apple CEO Steve Jobs to "Let my Music Go!" "There are lots of places you can go for great music at good deals and with a deep catalog of songs from over the last 20 or 30 years. MSN.com, Rhapsody.com, aolmusic.com, even walmart.com," said Rosen in a May 9th blog entry. "The problem is that the iPod only works with either songs that you buy from the on-line Apple iTunes store or songs that you rip from your own CD’s. But those other music sites have lots of music that you can’t get at the iTunes store. So, if you have an iPod, you are out of luck." Rosen wants Apple to open up iPods to files sold with Microsoft's DRM technology. According to Rosen, "I know Steve Jobs is a god.....but keeping the iTunes system a proprietary technology to prevent anyone from using multiple (read Microsoft) music systems is the most anti-consumer and user unfriendly thing any god can do." The former RIAA head also warns Jobs that if Apple doesn't open up the iPod, it will be marginalized. "If he isn’t careful Bill Gates might just Betamax him while the crowds cheer him on. Come on Steve – open it up." During Rosen's time at the RIAA, the organization gained notoriety by driving popular file-sharing networks out of business or underground, and by suing people that shared copyrighted music files. The tactics achieved many of the organizations short-term goals, but many have questioned their long-term effectiveness. Posted by jlewin at 12:50 AM | Comments (6) May 09, 2005Podcaster Fired Over Podcast; Too Naughty for South CarolinaPodcaster Nate Fulmer is looking for work. Apparently, his podcast was too controversial for his former employer in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Fulmer, along with his wife Di, podcast the Nate and Di Show from their "home in a storage shed at the beach". They've described their show as "twisted", "naughty", "un-politically correct", and full of "humor and extreme sarcasm."
"Most of our episodes have had an 'anti-establishment' theme," comments Di Fulmer. "But we never imagined his employer would find grounds to release him because of anything we've said or done on our show." Podcast Too Controversial? Nate and Di think that the content of their fifth episode, Nate and Di Go To Church, may have led to his dismissal. Di explains: "We're in South Carolina, so most of the population down here is conservative." They describe the episode like this: "Inspired by a recent email urging us to visit a church from a 'concerned"' listener who wrote us after hearing Episode 3, we decided to heed his advice and scurry right over to downtown Charleston and stop at the first church we thought looked cool. Charleston is the 'Holy City', after all, so there were many to choose from. Our visit lasted just over 10 minutes. Right after a truly strange sermon, it was cut unexpectedly short when we were asked to leave by an usher. Our trip wasn't a total loss, though. As you'll hear, we were the most joyful people in attendance!" While Nate was aware of the conservative views of some of his co-workers, he did not discuss his political or religious views with them. Di notes, "We had no warning whatsoever that our podcast could jeopardize his job, but he was cautious about not mentioning anything about his work on the show." Nate lost his job at a laboratory supply company Friday afternoon, May 6th. The president of the company came to his office, said to follow him to the boardroom, and told him he was being let go. He had worked in his accounts receivable/inventory management position since August of 2004. Di adds, "Although, the word 'podcast' or our website and show were never specifically mentioned, the Prez danced around that subject twice, and said that if Nate was to take anything away from this experience, it should be that he has to better represent his employers in the future." In Di's view, "Nate was terminated for having too much creativity for a corporate environment. Our show is more or less 'skit' based, and some of the skits, while presented in a tongue-in-cheek or humorous manner, represent controversial political/religious themes and subject matter." Plans for the Future The Fulmers are taking the unexpected life change well. They think that Nate won't have trouble finding another job, and aren't going to let the incident get in the way of their podcasting. "If anything, our podcast will possibly become quite a bit more controversial without worries of losing income because of what we say or do," said Di. "Podcasting is a wonderful outlet for creative people, so we plan on encouraging as many people to start their own to help beat-back corporate radio and express themselves. There's already a community forming here in SC, and we plan to help everyone who wants to get involved in any way we can." The couple also accepts the idea that there may be situations where it's justifiable for an employer to terminate an employee for what they talk about. "It's not fair, but absolutely justifiable," notes Di. "We say this coming from a management point of view. If an employee could damage the company's public image, then termination is justified in our minds. This is of course up to the employer, and each has different views on what could be damaging." Posted by jlewin at 10:41 PM | Comments (1) Twin-Cities Podcaster Wants You to Wake Up to a Drag Queen
Wanda Wisdom, the drag queen personality behind the Lucky Bitch Radio podcast, has announce her intent to offer listeners a personalized wakeup call. By waking listeners out of a sound sleep, the podcaster hopes to "ensure listeners are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for her daily radio show." "A lot of my listeners are slackers and computer geeks who stay up way too late looking at inappropriate things on the Internets," notes the six-foot-two Minneapolis drag queen. "If they lose their jobs and end up on the street, I'll lose my audience. The way I see it, this whole wakeup call thing is a real win-win." Beginning Monday, May 9, listeners can fill out an online request form for a free wakeup call. The first round of wakeup calls will take place Tuesday, May 31. Depending on the success of the event, additional dates may be added. Participation in this event is free and open to anyone who visits the site and fills out a request form. Posted by jlewin at 06:17 PM | Comments (0) BMI Launches New Songwriter/Artist Podcast
"The podcast is a natural evolution of our long tradition of promotional CDs, and our nationwide series of live showcases promoting new songwriter/artists," said BMI Senior Vice President, Writer/Publisher Relations Phil Graham. "[T]he availability of the podcast on BMI.com, should be an excellent way of letting new talent reach its audience." BMI will select songwriter/artists for the podcast from its new signings each month. Repertoire for the first podcast, chosen from exceptional talent from January 2005 through April 2005, includes Jetpack, Astaire, somedaynew and Brendan James. BMI is an American performing rights organization that represents approximately 300,000 songwriters, composers and publishers in all genres of music. The non-profit corporation collects license fees from businesses that use music, which it then distributes as royalties to the musical creators and copyright owners it represents. BMI's repertoire encompasses about 4.5 million musical works from around the world. For nearly a year, BMI has been licensing podcasters, covering the public performance rights to the BMI repertoire. BMI Licensing Vice President Richard Conlon, who oversees the company's new media area, announced that BMI's licensing website has been expanded to provide a clear path for podcasters to get more information on licensing music for their programs and to obtain BMI licenses 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Podcasters including Coverville.com and Keener13.com have already signed on to the BMI agreement. Posted by elisabeth at 11:38 AM | Comments (1) May 07, 2005Sci-Fi Talk Dumps Live365.com for PodcastingSci-Fi Talk has announced that it is dropping Live365.com in favor of podcasting. The show will no longer broadcast in the extended radio station or playlist mode on Live365.Com. "It became clear when the podcast numbers came in, that this was the way to go," explains Sci-Fi Talk's Tony Tellado. "The show did establish a core listener base that has been extremely loyal for over 5 years. I cannot thank them enough or Live365.Com for the opportunity. It has been a great time, but things change. Becoming only a Podcast makes a lot of sense due to the response." Sci-Fi Talk is a talk show featuring audio interviews with actors, composers, and behind-the-scenes personnel from sci-fi, horror and fantasy movies and TV. Currently available podcasts include interviews with Star Wars' Anthony Daniels and Don Davis, composer of the scores for the Matrix trilogy. The show is hosted by Tony Tellado, who is in his 10th year hosting the show on broadcast and Internet radio. Posted by jlewin at 12:41 AM | Comments (0) Nyko "iTop" Device Puts Buttons Atop iPod
The iTop device snaps on to the top of the iPod (hence the name), and relocates the standard play, fast-forward, rewind and volume controls to tactile buttons -- allowing users to keep the music player snug in a pocket or bag. The iTop requires no batteries, and fits any iPod 10GB and up. Each button is assigned a unique texture so that users can recognize the controls by touch. The iTop is designed for all full size iPods. Nyko’s accessory is white and metal, matching the iPod aesthetic. “Nyko’s always on the lookout for ways to enhance the experience of digital entertainment,” said Susan Corben, vice president of marketing, Nyko Technologies. “With the iTop, iPod-lovers can access their music easily” Posted by elisabeth at 12:17 AM | Comments (0) May 06, 2005Infinity Yanks Steve Dahl Podcast Over Podcasting Legal Issues
In a message at Dahl's site, the popular Chicago broadcaster notes "As usual, I discover all of the things that you can’t do after doing them first." Dahl is suspending the posting of daily podcasts and downloads for his show. Concerns over copyright issues led to the move. Dahl explains that "podcasting is not currently considered 'streaming' and is not covered under Infinity ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC licenses or under the statutory streaming license." Steve Dahl fans can look forward to a live streaming version of the show, along with a edited "Best of" podcast. He notes "I have every assurance from the powers that be at Infinity Radio, that they are trying to get this podcasting thing figured out and that the streaming is a reality. So, I’m going to let them do what they need to do, and I look forward to looking forward." Posted by jlewin at 11:45 PM | Comments (5) Public Radio International Announces "Open Source" PodcastPublic Radio International (PRI) and Open Source Media Inc. have announced plans to launch a radio program to embrace bloggers, podcasters, Web enthusiasts, and the Internet transformation of media. Open Source from PRI is a hour-long, on-air conversation designed to capture “the sound of the Web” with host Christopher Lydon engaging callers, e-mailers, and bloggers from around the world in a range of fascinating topics. Open Source will launch Monday, May 30, in Boston on WGBH Radio 89.7, airing Monday – Thursday at 7 p.m. Starting July 4, PRI will feed the program live nationwide, making it available to its 727 affiliate stations for broadcast and simulcast streaming, and offering additional feeds for stations in other time zones. Open Source aims to begin conversations on the Web each day and invite a worldwide audience to contribute topics, guests, and information that advances understanding of issues and ideas. Lydon says, “My ambition, with producer Mary McGrath, is to thread the seeming chaos of the Web into a coherent skein of ideas and argument. We want to launch the smartest, most various, wide-open, irresistible, and democratic conversation anyone’s ever been invited to join, in any format. The Internet transition we’re living through is a boundless opportunity. It extends the rim of the roundtable and the range of the give-and-take to the whole planet.” Public Radio International, which in recent years has helped develop and syndicate some of public radio’s most innovative programs, including PRI’s The World, This American Life, Marketplace, PRI’s Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen, and From the Top, will also assist Lydon’s production company, Open Source Media Inc., in developing the online elements of the venture. Public Interactive LLC, a Boston-based Web services company owned by PRI, is designing the means to manage the ongoing Web dialog. In addition to airing nationwide on public radio stations, Open Source will be available for streaming via station websites. “Stations carrying the program will become entry points for a worldwide community of participants,” says Debra May Hughes, chief operating officer of Public Interactive and the person overseeing design of the Web components. “People log onto the Web at night the way they used to turn on the television set. We want to connect them to radio, and radio to them, while they are online.” Open Source also represents a production partnership between Open Source Media Inc. and the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. Executive Vice Chancellor Frederick Sperounis says, “This university wants to stay on the cutting edge of technology and the use of media to further an informed, inclusive community. We are thrilled to be joining with Chris and PRI to make this bold concept possible.” The university’s public radio station, WUML, will air Open Source at 7 p.m., Monday – Thursday, providing a second tune-in opportunity for Boston area listeners. The new show will be international in its voices and its breadth of interest and angles, Lydon says. “A big part of our ambition is to get off the island, so to speak. We want to break out of the feedback loop of American media. The peril of war, disease, hunger, and climate change — but also the pleasure of cultural connections and the promise of science and medicine, for example — all have global dimensions. And so does the Internet, a brilliant device for conversation that has the whole world in its Web.” A Boston native and Yale alumnus, host Christopher Lydon is, notes artist/scholar John Perry Barlow, “a wizard at getting the brilliant to speak brilliantly.” With producer Mary McGrath, formerly the science producer at the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour and The Christian Science Monitor, Lydon co-created The Connection, frequently cited as one of the smartest, most original public radio talk shows in America. Lydon is currently a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School and the Center for Economic and Civic Opinion at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. A pioneer audio blogger, he has posted a long series of original interviews on his website, Christopher Lydon Interviews. His Blogging of the President, 2004 website was praised in Vanity Fair as being “… to political blogdom what Samuel Johnson and his fellow members of the Club were to London, only without the port and cold mutton.” Radio Open Source Podcast Details Posted by jlewin at 10:38 AM | Comments (12) May 05, 2005Hemp iPod Cases Provide Alternative For Eco-Conscious Consumers
HotRomz makes outrageously different and environmentally friendly iPod cases in mohair, faux fur and feathers, and environmentally friendly 100% organic natural hemp. The world's first all-natural, 100% organic, natural hemp iPod cases are environmentally friendly and colorized with only natural dyes and are found through HotRomz. The green-conscious iPod owner can now encase their iPod without worrying about the impact their case might have on the world's pollution and environment and still enjoy a really cool case. Industrial hemp fiber is making a huge comeback and can now be found legally in the United States in clothing, bags, fabric, soaps, shampoos, cosmetics, and many more products. HotRomz.com cases are available in a wide variety of beautiful colors and textures, including delightfully furry tribble-like iPod cases reminiscent of the original Star Trek "Trouble With Tribbles" episode (first aired in 1967). A softer hemp/wool blend line of cases is available as well. Each high-quality case is handmade by the owner of HotRomz.com, Debbie Ann, and no two cases are exactly alike. They are distributed by such high-profile iPod accessory stores as thinkdifferentstore.com, www.1-800-iPod.com, and exclusively in the United Kingdom through iPodX.co.uk. Debbie Ann says, “HotRomz iPod cases allows you, the unique iPod user, to get wild, show off your true individualistic style, and have more fun with your iPod, while protecting it from scratches. Say goodbye to boring silicone and petroleum-based iPod cases!” Posted by elisabeth at 11:29 PM | Comments (4) Philadelphia Daily News Debuts Philly Feed Podcast
Frank Burgos, Daily News editorial page editor, and advertising executive Eric Mayberry, are the hosts. "We see this as an exciting opportunity to present news, commentary and music you won't hear on other podcasts or radio programs," Burgos said. Other staff members will discuss stories they've worked on, and newsmakers, sports figures and others you find in the newspaper every day will be interviewed. There also will be comment by experts on various subjects. Philadelphia Daily News Podcast Details Posted by elisabeth at 11:10 PM | Comments (1) New Cases Take Podcasts to the Pool
The OtterBox for iPod allows access to controls through a clear membrane. A hard screen cover protects the iPod display and provides screen visibility as well as rugged drop protection. The closing latch prevents water, dust, sand and other elements from ruining iPods, and a belt clip allows hands-free carrying as well as integrated headphone cable management. An optional armband is available for more flexibility. According to Otter's Brian Thomas, "With the new case, users can rest assured their investment is fully protected." The original Otter iPod case was first released in 2004. Customer feedback provided Otter with input about design and functionality. "By combining customer response and the need for additional iPod protection, we decided the OtterBox for iPod needed an update," said Otter Products's Curt Richardson. "The new case, inspired by the popular OtterBox for iPod Mini released earlier this year, allows users to take music virtually anywhere in a more compact and rugged design than before." The OtterBox for iPod 20G and 30/40/60G cases retail $49.95 each. Posted by jlewin at 02:03 PM | Comments (0) Bill Gates Interview Podcast
They discuss the next Xbox console, whether or not Microsoft is going to come out with a competitor for the PlayStation Portable, the future of Windows Mobile, HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray, IPTV, Windows Media Center and DTV, and why the Tablet PC has struggled so much in the marketplace. Gates even tells Rojas "You’ve got a fun job!" Posted by jlewin at 01:28 PM | Comments (0) FamilyFriendlyPodcasts.com Intros G-Rated Podcast Directory1st Podcast Publishing has announced FamilyFriendlyPodcasts.com, a directory of family-oriented podcasts. The podcasts in the Family Friendly directory do not include foul language, sexual situations or positive drug promotion, and include sample podcasts for each show. According to 1st Podcast Publishing, the rise of podcasting has a bad side. "The bad news is that many podcasters, in their enthusiasm to exercise their freedom of speech (and freedom from FCC regulations), have chosen to create programs with adult content and language." To help counterbalance the "bad" side of podcasting, 1st Podcast Publishing has created FamilyFriendlyPodcasts.com, a family-safe directory of podcast. "One podcaster listed in our Directory made an interesting observation", notes 1st Podcast Publishing's Penny Haynes. "He stated that podcasts seemed to be divided into two groups: R- and X- rated podcasts, and religious podcasts, with very little in between." "The podcasts listed in FamilyFriendlyPodcasts.com will be free of foul language, sexual situations, and positive drug promotion. Both listeners and podcasters who are concerned about the usage of ‘adult language and situations’ in podcast programs will have a place to post and review shows." Posted by jlewin at 06:54 AM | Comments (2) May 04, 2005Chicago NBC Station Podcasting
NBC5 is offering three podcasts: the NBC5 News Podcast, the NBC5 HealthWatch Podcast and the NBC5 Entertainment Podcast. NBC5 News Podcast NBC5 HealthWatch Podcast NBC5 Entertainment Podcast Posted by jlewin at 08:01 AM | Comments (0) May 03, 2005Denver Post Launches News PodcastThe Denver Post has launched a podcast project this week, making highlights of the newspaper available for listening as well as reading. The Post's podcast service excerpts key news, business and sports stories of the day at DenverPost.com The Post is one of only a handful of U.S. newspapers to date to have launched a podcast version. Podcasting "furthers the notion that The Denver Post is not just a newspaper anymore, but an organization that gathers and delivers news in many ways," Howard Saltz, associate editor for new media and strategic development, said today. "We publish a newspaper, obviously. We have an aggressive website. We deliver news on TV. We had a radio gig, briefly. Now comes the iPod. The point is, whatever platform someone invents, we'll be the ones delivering the news on it." The Post podcast is currently only available from the Denver Post website (URL above); an RSS feed is promised soon. Posted by elisabeth at 04:55 PM | Comments (1) May 02, 2005Wal-Mart jumps on music download bandwagonWal-Mart has announced the launch of a new online custom CD service, now available to customers the company's website. The new service allows customers to choose tunes from an online library of 400,000 songs, which the company burns onto a CD that is subsequently shipped to the customer. Never keen on round numbers, Wal-Mart will charge $4.62US for the CD and first three song choices; additional songs cost 88 cents apiece. Customers get to pick from a variety of cover art choices. "We recognize music is not only important, but incredibly personal to our customers. Our new online custom CD service delivers a convenient entertainment solution for customers to easily experience and enjoy music in a personalized format. Also, the service is readily accessible to customers without a CD burner or who prefer not to download music," said Kevin Swint, Walmart.com's director of media categories. Posted by elisabeth at 11:14 PM | Comments (1) Top 10 Podcasts for April: Battle for Top is Tight
The NASA podcast led The Seanachai, a weekly show of off-center storytelling and commentary, and What's on Tonight?, a look at the future of media, to get the top spot. The podcasts have swapped places on the Top 10 list since March. "The Top 10 list demonstrates the quality and diversity of content available through podcasting," notes Podcasting News' Elle Webb. "Podcast listeners can enjoy news, comedy, storytelling and a variety of music shows, whenever and wherever they want to." New to the April Top 10 Podcast list are: * IT Conversations, which features discussions with tech leaders; Podcasting News ranks the popularity of podcasts based on the activity of visitors using the site's Podcast Directory. The Podcasting News directory is a user-edited collection of the best podcasts available. Visitors can preview podcasts within their web browser, and then add the podcasts that they like to a podcast client. Top 10 Podcasts for April 1. Science@NASA Current Stories About the Podcasting News Top 10"The Podcasting News Top 10 ranking is based on the number of requests each podcast in our directory receives," said Podcasting News' Elle Webb. "To the extent that Podcasting News visitors reflect podcast listeners as a whole, the Top 10 should be an accurate reflection of what podcasts people are interested in." Top 10 Podcasts for April 2005 Posted by jlewin at 10:57 PM | Comments (3) Podfather Dave Winer Turns 50; Still Diggin'Iconoclast, developer and pioneer podcaster Dave Winer turned 50 today. Winer created RSS 2.0, the standard upon which podcasting is built. The standard includes support for enclosures, allowing MP3 files and other types of files to be referenced by items within a newsfeed. Though podcasting did not take off until 2004, Winer had implemented enclosures as early as 2001. Winer named this new facility "payloads". Unfortunately, the term "payload" is associated with tractor trailers, warheads and viruses. As a result, his innovation failed to capture the public's imagination, dooming it to three years of obscurity. In addition to his work on the RSS specification, Winer helped create one of the pioneering podcasts, Morning Coffee Notes. Before he got involved with podcasting, Winer had already managed to own a software company, create a scripting language, pioneer blogging, contribute to Wired magazine, invent a few web standards, score the sweet Weblogs.com domain, be a Harvard Fellow (capital 'F'), and earn a reputation as being "blunt and thin-skinned". Gen X slackers take note. R-E-S-P-E-C-T to the Podfather Posted by jlewin at 08:19 PM | Comments (3) Podcasting Gets Sirius
Curry, best known from his days at MTV, was a catalyst in the explosive growth of pdocasting. He created an application that lets users automaticaly download files from the Internet and copy them to an iPod. Curry will host a four-hour program every weekday starting May 13th. The program will feature highlights from the world of podcasting, and will introduce Sirius listeners to a new range of talent and artists from around the world. The program's Sirius debut coincides with the launch of Curry's PodShow.com, a podcast network. "Podcasting is not just about portable media players," noted Curry. "Podcasting is an entirely new form of broadcasting that enables anyone to create powerful content. By combining the creative talent and content of available podcasting with superior programming of Sirius, we can create and showcase talent that terrestrial radio listeners would not be able to hear. We think that this partnership is about introducing the best of podcasting to the world." Adam Curry's PodShow will begin with four hours of daily programming, which will be heard weekdays exclusively on SIRIUS channel 148. Listeners can expect unique insights into the world of podcasting from its inventor, as well as get a taste of the most popular podcasts, from talk to comedy to the hottest music in podcasting. In another first, listeners to the program will be able to provide feedback to Curry through telephone and the Internet, helping to shape the show's format on an ongoing basis. Sirius subscribers, who pay $12.95 a month for the service, can listen to the show on channel 148, "Talk Central." Posted by jlewin at 07:18 AM | Comments (5) May 01, 2005Paris Podcast Panned
The podcast, a promotion for the upcoming movie House of Wax, features Hilton and friends as she shops, parties, poses and publicizes in the days leading up to the May 6 movie opening. At Podcast Alley, the critics have been scathing. "The Paris Hilton 'podcast' is exactly the kind of drivel that drove people to take broadcast content into their own hands in the first place." The podcast critics as Yahoo have been equally savage. "Listening to Paris whine about her tough life promoting her new movie for 1 1/2 minutes, followed by a minute of unintelligible babble and then 2 minutes of ambient audio sure is the kind of content that's going have me running out to buy an MP3 player, download iPodder and then ignore my 3000 tunes in favor of listening to podcasts." "Paris just wandered around with no description at all. BORING. She thought it was boring, so it was boring to us," noted Rob on Yahoo. "People are going to listen to it, especially if they've never heard a podcast before, and go 'What's the big deal?' Is that the impression that should be created of podcasting?" In the Podcasting News forum, Elle summed the situation up: "The theme song is great..." Posted by jlewin at 09:56 PM | Comments (4) Disney to Podcast 50th Anniversary Celebration
The podcast represents the first time that any Disney park will engage in the rapidly growing medium of podcasting. "Podcasting allows us to bring the magic of Disney and our 50th anniversary celebration to worldwide consumers through this exciting new medium," said Duncan Wardle, vice president of press and publicity, Disneyland Resort. "Through this truly cutting-edge technology we can literally bring the fun, magic and excitement of this global launch to Disney fans everywhere." Produced daily after the each day's events from Tuesday, May 3, through Thursday, May 5, this show will be free and accessible to a global audience. The podcast will incorporate celebrity interviews, music, historic anecdotes and live event coverage. The podcasts will include behind the scenes interviews, as well as audio content detailing the debut of new entertainment spectaculars and attractions premiering at the Disneyland Resort as part of the 50th anniversary celebration. Podcaster Michael W. Geoghegan will serve as host for the series. Geoghegan serves as host for several popular podcast shows. The "Happiest Celebration on Earth" is highlighted by the premiere of exciting new entertainment spectaculars and innovative adventures and attractions at Disneyland Resort, California; Walt Disney World Resort, Florida; Tokyo Disney Resort, Japan; and Disneyland Resort Paris, France. Joining the celebration on September 12, 2005, will be Hong Kong Disneyland, Disney's 11th vacation destination and first theme park in China. The global celebration marks the largest debut of new Disney theme park attractions and entertainment ever unveiled. Posted by jlewin at 09:36 PM | Comments (1) |
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Copyright 2004-5 Podcasting News
The current issue of Make magazine, the O'Reilly DIY magazine for the Wired crowd, features a nice set of articles on podcasting. 
JupiterResearch has announced a new podcasting service called JupiterResearch Conversations. The podcasts will feature conversations with JupiterResearch analysts about key topics relating to the Internet and emerging consumer technologies.
A new podcasting site, BritCaster, is calling itself "the hub of UK podcasting. The site features non-commercial UK podcasts, and all Britcaster podcasts are available via an aggregated feed. 
Bridge Ratings, a company that provides audience measurement services for radio, is reporting that young people with MP3 players are listening to dramatically less radio.
Speck Products iGuy is a unique take on the iPod cover. The iGuy turns an iPod into a bendable, posable action figure.
Corante has announced that it has moved Podcast Hotel from July to September 6-8. 
Thunderstone Media has released iPodderX 3.0, the third major update to their podcast client. 
In 2005, six founding members formed the Association of Music Podcasting (AMP) to provide support for music podcasters who share a passion and commitment to delivering high quality, legal, permission-based music. Since then, the organization has grown to a thirty member strong group, representing producers in most major metropolitan regions in the United States, as well as Canada and the United Kingdom.
NBC News has announced that it plans to deliver hourly updates and select portions of its network and cable news programming via podcast beginning in June. This announcement expands NBC News' portfolio of multi-platform distribution outlets by harnessing the reach of the #1 news site on the Internet, MSNBC.com, which in April had nearly 24 million unique visitors. Already, NBC News content is delivered via broadcast television, cable television, the Internet, cellphone (NBC Mobile), digital television (NBC Weather Plus), satellite radio (XM Radio) and terrestrial radio (NBC News Radio).
BBC News is reporting that "Podcasting could be a revolution." 
About Talkr
About Speakwire
German designer Gerrit van Aaken has updated Loudblog, an open source application designed to make publishing audio content easy. 
PodcasterCon, the free podcasting user conference, has announced a contest to design the PodcasterCon logo. The winner will receive a 512mb Apple iPod shuffle. 
Some Windows-based iPodder users have experienced stability problems with the most recent version of the popular open-source podcast client. Mac users are not affected by these issues. 
Pennsylvania's Allegheny College has launched a podcast, letting anyone from curious alumni and prospective students to casual internet surfers learn more about the college's offerings and current events.
Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh has announced that his site will begin offering a commercial podcast starting June 3rd. 
MediaTuner has introduced a new rich media RSS aggregator and player.
Razor & Tie Entertainment, an independent record label and media company, has announced a label-wide launch of an ongoing series of podcasts.
KYOURADIO, Infinity Broadcasting's podcast-based radio station, has launched, featuring podcasts submitted via the Internet. The station is available in San Francisco at 1550 KYCY-AM and streamed online at 
Activ8, a Dutch Internet solutions provider, has introduced PodNova, a web-based podcatcher.
for $13.59.
Australia's Radio National has began a trial of using podcasting. For the next month, RN will be providing MP3 downloads and podcast feeds from several of their programs.
Yahoo! has announced a beta version of a new music subscription service, Yahoo! Music Unlimited. The service, available May 11, allows consumers to play tunes from a catalog of more than one million songs, transfer tracks to portable devices, and the ability to share and discover music with friends through Yahoo! Messenger.
According to search provider Lycos, search requests relating to podcasting are up 1,000 percent. In addition, Lycos is calling Godcasts the "Hottest Trend In Podcasting".
Podcasting drag queen Wanda Wisdom has launched "a major offensive against world tardiness", offering listeners a personalized wakeup call.
BMI has started a podcast series, "See It Hear Now," to showcase and promote some of its new songwriter/artists. Starting May 9, the podcast will also be available on the Web at 
Nyko Technologies has come out with the iTop button relocator, for iPod users who tire of having to look at the face of their iPod to adjust settings and change songs. 
The Steve Dahl podcast appears to be the first major podcast felled by concern over copyright laws. 
The Philadelphia Daily News is launching PhillyFeed, a program of news, on-the-street interviews, original music and sports talk. It will be broadcast, as the promotional material described it, "in that irreverent Daily News style." The program will be updated every Friday.
Otter Products has introduced a line of waterproof cases, for 20G and 30/40/60G Apple iPods.
Engadget is featuring a special "Bill Gates edition" of the Engadget Podcast. The podcast features an interview between Gates and Engadget editor Peter Rojas, recorded at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference.
Chicago's NBC5 has announced that it is now podcasting. NBC5 calls itself the "first major market TV station in the country to offer daily podcasts".
For the third straight month, Science@NASA was the top podcast at Podcasting News. The NASA podcast discusses everything from the weather on Saturn to going to the bathroom in space.
Podcaster Adam Curry has announced that he's working with Sirius Satellite Radio to take his show to the subscription satellite radio service. His show will feature a selection of popular podcasts. 
The Paris Hilton Podcast, one of the most highly publicized podcasts to date, is meeting with mixed reviews and worse in the podcasting community. 