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 « June 2005 | Main | August 2005 » July 31, 2005Mac Podcast Alarm ClockEmbraceware Awaken is a digital alarm clock that wakes you up by playing the iTunes playlist of your choice.
Alarms can be created to alert you on a weekly basis at a set time, or at any specific date and time. You can also fall asleep to your favorite music using the sleep timer. New in Version 2.0
Awaken is $8.95; a limited-time demo is available. Posted by jlewin at 09:41 PM | Comments (0) Ultimate Podcast Hideaway?via Axehole: "The Oculas promises to be the ultimate hideaway for enjoying multimedia content, and for anyone hell-bent on sitting too close to the TV."
The futuristic space-womb features a flat-screen monitor, 5.1 surround sound and integrated Mac, PC, XBox or Playstation. Posted by jlewin at 09:37 PM | Comments (0) July 30, 2005Motorola to Offer Yahoo Access on DevicesMotorola and Yahoo have announced that they are teaming up to offer Yahoo's online content and services on mobile devices made by Motorola, including the company's upcoming iRadio. Users will be able to access Yahoo's offerings on Motorola's Yahoo said the deal with Motorola will extend its reach beyond desktop computers into the wireless market. Motorola-made devices carrying Yahoo content will be available to consumers starting next year, the company said. Posted by jlewin at 06:21 AM | Comments (0) XM Announces Tivo-Like Audio PlayersXM has announced new audio players that will offer functionality that's one part Tivo, another part podcasting. XM and Samsung will collaborate to make portable digital players that play both recorded XM programming and MP3 audio files. The two players won't receive XM programming directly. Instead they will come with docking stations that receive XM's satellite broadcasts and store them on the players. Users will also be able to transfer digital music files from their computer. The players will allow listeners to identify songs on the XM programming and order them from an online music store. The players, with two different storage capacities, will be available at the end of the year, the companies said. They did not reveal the names of the devices or their expected prices. The players will use solid-state "flash" memory, unlike the popular iPod, which uses hard drive storage. Washington, D.C.-based XM sells its own portable player, the MyFi, which receives broadcasts directly and stores up to five hours of programming. It does not, however, play MP3s. XM has also announced a deal to make a similar player that in addition to receiving broadcasts plays spoken-word content from Audible Inc.'s Web site. Posted by jlewin at 06:17 AM | Comments (1) July 29, 2005ChapterToolMe Simplifies AAC Podcast AuthoringChapterToolMe provides a graphical interface for the Apple ChapterTool utility, used to make chaptered AAC files for iTunes podcasts. Features:
Posted by jlewin at 02:24 PM | Comments (1) Music Pirates the Recording Industry's Best Online Customers?A new report suggests that "music pirates" may be among the recording industry's best online customers. Research from The Leading Question (TLQ), a consumer research resource for the digital music industry, shows that illegal downloaders spend four-and-a-half times more on legitimate music downloads than average fans. "There’s a myth that all illegal downloaders are mercenaries hell-bent on breaking the law in pursuit of free music," notes TLQ Director Paul Brindley. "In reality, they are often hardcore fans who are extremely enthusiastic about adopting paid-for services as long as they are suitably compelling." The 2005 study surveyed more than 600 music fans who each own a PC or Mac as well as a mobile phone. Those who regularly download or share unlicensed music and spend less as a result on CDs also spend an average of £5.52 per month on legal digital music. The average music fan spends just £1.27 on digital tracks. The report is available as a free download from the: The Leading Question site. Posted by jlewin at 02:07 PM | Comments (0) Business 2.0 to Podcasters: Don't Quit Your Day JobBusiness 2.0 has sharp words for would-be podcast stars: "If I were a podcaster, I wouldn't quit my day job," writes Greg Lindsay in the article Podcasting's Nonstar System. The article paints a pessimistic picture of the opportunities available for independent podcasters. "Podcasting's wildcatting era is over before it ever really began. An unknown number of those Apple-made microstars will convince themselves that they hold a first-mover advantage in an untapped medium and that there is at least a modest living to be made from a popular weekly podcast that maybe, just maybe, could become a bona fide media brand. Eventually they'll fail, and they'll fail faster than ever before," writes Lindsay. "For the first time in the history of the Net, big media showed up early to play." Source: Business 2.0 Posted by jlewin at 01:54 PM | Comments (2) MSNBC Takes Podcast Leap
MSNBC podcasts include:
All the podcasts are free. Additional information is available via the podcast area of the MSNBC site. Posted by jlewin at 01:46 PM | Comments (0) Creative Intros PlayDock Portable Speaker SystemCambridge SoundWorks has introduced the PlayDock MP3, a portable speaker system that adds amplified sound to portable digital media players. The PlayDock MP3 features a dock for select MP3 players, including the Creative Zen Micro, Apple iPod or iPod mini, and Dell DJ and Pocket DJ.
Posted by jlewin at 01:28 PM | Comments (0) University of Florida Intros PodcastThe University of Florida has introduced podcasts featuring university news. The university is one of the first in the US to offer podcasts. The university plans to podcast weekly updates of campus events. University of Florida Podcast Details Posted by jlewin at 01:22 PM | Comments (0) Apple Offers Recording Deal for High-End Mac Buyers
The deal offers a $500 rebate on purchase of Logic Pro 7, when purchased along with a PowerBook, Power Mac, or Xserve. Logic Pro is a popular Mac OS X application for music and audio production. Details: Purchases must be made at Apple-authorized retailer and both the computer and the software must be purchased on the same store receipt. Users must postmark the mail-in rebate within 30-days of the Mac/software purchase. More information is available at Apple's site. Posted by jlewin at 01:10 PM | Comments (0) Apple Releases Update to GarageBand
GarageBand 2.0.2 addresses issues with time signature handling, Apple Loops authoring, locking tracks, and improves compatibility with Mac OS X Tiger. The 15mb update is available through OS X's automatic software update feature, or as a download from Apple's site. Posted by jlewin at 01:03 PM | Comments (0) Digital Citizen FilmmakingThe BBC is featuring an article on digital filmmaking, Digital Citizens: The film-maker. The article looks at the making of Star Wars Revelations, a 40-minute long "fan film" that is breaking ground with its professional production values.
Revelations is a non-profit Star Wars fan film that was shot within the Northern Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC Metro Area. It was made possible through a combined effort of artists, fans and the local film industry. No one was paid to make this film. According to Panic Struck Productions, the producers of the film "The goal has always been to push the limit of independent film making and show what can be done with a dedicated cast/crew, the vision of Panic Struck Productions, and the affordable solutions in today's market in terms of film and video. We also wanted to showcase the large pool of talented individuals who are out there and show how an independent film such as Revelations can push the limit of small Hollywood. " The article is one of a series that BBC is running. Other topics covered are podcasters and DIY DJs. Posted by jlewin at 08:28 AM | Comments (0) July 28, 2005C-Span Restricts Use of Podcast NewsfeedsC-SPAN has introduced beta podcasts of some of its most popular shows, including Q&A, After Words and American Perspectives. However, in an unusual move, C-SPAN is restricting access and use of its podcast news feeds. According to the C-SPAN site: "No C-SPAN podcast or RSS feed may be displayed on any website, including personal websites."This restriction limits podcast sites and directories from providing the information typically provided for podcasts. Podcast users interested in these shows should visit the C-SPAN site. C-Span's restrictions are unusual in the world of podcasting, because they limit the usefulness of their podcast feeds. Podcasting sites, directories and aggregators may need to take special precautions to avoid infringing use of C-Span's material. C-SPAN's Notice: IMPORTANT NOTICE: Use of C-SPAN Podcasts and RSS Feeds is Restricted. Please Read Notice Below Carefully. Source: C-SPAN Posted by jlewin at 01:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack Podcast Quicky: The Fat Lady Sings"The opera ain't over until the fat lady sings" - San Antonio Sportscaster Dan Cook If the fat lady's going to sing, Podopera probably has the scoop. Mezzosoprano Kirsty Young, director of the Hatstand Opera, hosts this podcast that features interviews, previews and other information for fans of opera around the world. The Hatstand Opera specializes in opera cabaret, opera highlights presented in a fun, informal style. The current podcast features an interview with soprano Toni Nunn on the perils of singing outdoors. Posted by jlewin at 01:36 PM | Comments (0) PodcastCon UK 2005 UpdatePodcasters can sign up online for PodcastCon UK 2005, Europe's first conference on podcasting. The conference will be held Saturday, September 17 at the Berners Hotel in London. Tickets to the conference cost £30, to cover the cost of the venue, food and drink. A list of attendees is available at the PodcastCon UK wiki. Interested podcasters are encouraged to sign up as soon as possible, because spaces are limited. Posted by jlewin at 01:25 PM | Comments (0) Podcasts Changing Face of PoliticsThe World Peace Herald is reporting that Podcasting is changing the face of politics. The article quotes Joe Trippi, former presidential candidate Howard Dean's campaign manager, as saying "I'm pretty sure whether it's 2006 or 2008, we're going to be hearing as much about podcasting and video blogging as we heard about blogs helping (former New Hampshire Gov. Howard) Dean in 2003." "What's really fabulous is that it's not just the John Edwards-type candidate (using podcasts), it's local and Congressional candidates," Trippi said. "It's exploding actually all over the place." Posted by jlewin at 01:12 PM | Comments (0) Directory Intros Google Map of PodcastsPodcastDirectory.com has added a map of podcasts to its podcast directory. The service is based on Google Maps, and is in beta. Posted by jlewin at 08:45 AM | Comments (0) Podcast Quicky: Kedou Podcasts for Kids
The Chronicles follow Kedou's adventures and misadventures. The podcast features original stories set to music as Kedou and his friends explore the joys of growing up. The first episode looks at how Kedou came to be. Kedou's site describes it like this: "It's fun, it's about solving problems, it's an adventure in life -- outrageous, happy, wistful and sometimes, just plain scary!" Posted by jlewin at 08:12 AM | Comments (0) July 27, 2005iPodcast Podcasting Software Now ePodcastIndustrial Audio Software is changing the name of its iPodcast series of podcasting software to ePodcast. Company officials took this step to prevent any confusion between their software, which does everything needed to produce and upload podcasts, and Apple’s iPod, which can only be used for listening to podcasts. "We don’t want anyone to see ePodcast Producer and ePodcast Creator as being limited to one podcasting platform or function," says company president, Tom Jeffries. "Our podcasting software does it all. So we’re using an e to indicate everything, as well as easy." The most recent version of ePodcast Producer was unveiled three weeks ago at the National Educational Computing Conference in Philadelphia. Both programs feature an on-screen wizard that leads users through the entire process of recording, editing, creating RSS feeds, and uploading to the internet, all from a single program. Posted by jlewin at 08:41 AM | Comments (0) Radio Network Seeks Podcasters
Selected podcasts will be prerecorded and then submitted on a regular schedule to the BX Radio Network under the Cool Cast Radio brand. Approved programing will then be streamed live via the Internet to listeners interested in discovering new podcast-based programing. According to the Network, advantages for podcasters will include: the opportunity for joint promotion, networking with other content providers, and getting their show exposed to an audience that they would normally never be able to reach. Interested podcasters can contact Matt Hartley at the BX Radio Network for more details. BX Radio Network Posted by jlewin at 08:00 AM | Comments (0) New Podcast for Phillies Fans
The show is a weekly podcast which features the week in review for the Major League Baseball team The Philadelphia Phillies, player and franchise news and minor league scouting reports. Phillies Weekly is hosted by Chris Smith. Phillies Weekly Podcast Details Posted by jlewin at 07:22 AM | Comments (0) Voiceblog Offers Japanese Podcasting ServicesVoiceBlog.jp, a Japanese podcast portal, is offering a personal podcast service. The service is free to sign up and use. VoiceBlog Features:
VoiceBlog is designed for Japanese-language podcasting. More information is available at the VoiceBlog.jp site. Posted by jlewin at 06:48 AM | Comments (0) Podcasting Bij XS4ALL
The site also has a variety of Dutch-language information on podcasting, answering the question, "Wat is podcasting?" XS4ALL was founded in 1993 as the first internet provider for the private market in the Netherlands. Posted by jlewin at 06:37 AM | Comments (0) July 26, 2005Sony Pays $10 Million to Settle NY Payola ProbeSony has agreed to pay 10 million dollars (US) and to stop paying radio station employees to play its artists' songs, to settle an investigation into "pay for play" practices in the music industry conducted by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Record companies in the US cannot offer financial incentives under a 1960 law. Spitzer found that Sony BMG paid for holiday packages for radio programmers, paid some stations' operational expenses and hired middlemen to make illegal payments to get more airplay for its artists. Source: BBC Posted by jlewin at 08:36 AM | Comments (0) Apple Mac mini Updated; Memory Doubled
“Mac mini has been a popular choice for consumers getting started with Mac OS X and iLife ‘05,” said David Moody, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With double the memory and new features like built-in wireless networking and DVD burning, the new Mac mini delivers an even greater value in an innovative compact design.” Features: The Mac mini lineup includes three models: 1.25 GHz Mac mini, 1.42 GHz Mac mini and the new 1.42 GHz Mac mini with SuperDrive for burning DVDs and CDs. The Mac mini with SuperDrive is the most affordable Mac for quickly and easily creating your own professional quality DVDs using iLife ‘05, Apple's suite of digital lifestyle applications. The top two models of the Mac mini now include built-in AirPort Extreme for 54 Mbps 802.11g fast wireless networking* along with an internal Bluetooth module. With wireless networking, customers can place Mac mini almost anywhere and still have fast, convenient access to the Internet. Built-in Bluetooth enables cable-free communication with Bluetooth-equipped mobile phones and PDAs as well as popular peripherals such as the Apple Wireless Keyboard and Apple Wireless Mouse. Just two inches tall and weighing only 2.9 pounds, Mac mini redefines design for the sub-$1,000 desktop, and allows users the flexibility to choose their display, mouse and keyboard. Mac mini includes one FireWire® 400 and two USB 2.0 ports for easy plug-and-play connections to popular peripherals such as Apple’s market-leading iPod® digital music player, digital still cameras, digital video camcorders and printers. Mac mini offers a DVI interface that also supports VGA so customers can easily connect to a variety of LCD or CRT displays and built-in 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet. Every Mac mini includes iLife ‘05, Apple’s award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications featuring iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand and iTunes. iLife ‘05 continues to lead the industry with the most innovative and comprehensive suite of software for organizing, editing and sharing digital photos; creating stunning digital movies and DVDs; and purchasing, managing and creating digital music. Pricing & Availability The 1.25 GHz Mac mini, for a suggested retail price of $499 (US), includes: * 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 processor; The 1.42 GHz Mac mini, for a suggested retail price of $599 (US), includes: * 1.42 GHz PowerPC G4 processor; The 1.42 GHz Mac mini, for a suggested retail price of $699 (US), includes: * 1.42 GHz PowerPC G4 processor; Build-to-order options and accessories include up to 1GB of RAM, SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW), AirPort Extreme Card, 56K V.92 modem, internal Bluetooth module, wired or wireless Apple Keyboard and Apple Mouse and the AppleCare Protection Plan. Mac mini is also available to education customers in the US and Canada through the Apple Store for Education at www.apple.com/education/store or by calling an Apple education sales representative at 800-800-APPL. *Actual speed will vary based on range from the base station, environmental conditions and other factors. Posted by jlewin at 08:21 AM | Comments (0) Apple Unleashes Faster iBooksApple today enhanced its affordable iBook G4 line for consumers and education customers with faster Power PC G4 processors running up to 1.42 GHz, 512MB memory across the line, higher performance graphics and built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth wireless connectivity. The new iBooks feature two patent-pending Apple technologies made popular in the PowerBook G4 line, the scrolling TrackPad and the Sudden Motion Sensor, with prices starting at an affordable $999.
“The new iBook is the perfect portable for the go anywhere, do anything digital lifestyle of consumers and students,” said David Moody, Apple’s vice president of Mac Product Marketing. “With improved performance, double the memory, and new mobility features like the scrolling TrackPad, Sudden Motion Sensor and Bluetooth, the new iBooks are an amazing value.” Encased in a sleek, durable polycarbonate plastic enclosure, the new 12- and 14-inch iBooks offer improved performance with either a 1.33 GHz or 1.42 GHz PowerPC G4 processor and provide up to six hours of battery life for all-day use on the road or in the classroom.** Each iBook features the ATI Mobility Radeon 9550 with 32MB of dedicated video memory for improved graphics and either a slot-load SuperDrive, for burning DVDs and CDs, or a slot-load Combo drive for watching DVDs and burning CDs. Every iBook also includes a scrolling TrackPad to easily scroll through long web pages or pan across large photographs and Apple’s Sudden Motion Sensor technology to help protect a spinning hard drive if the notebook is accidentally dropped. Every iBook now features built-in Bluetooth 2.0 (Enhanced Data Rate) and integrated AirPort Extreme 54 Mbps 802.11g WiFi wireless networking. Bluetooth 2.0+EDR delivers up to three times greater data rates for faster wireless connectivity to a range of peripherals and is also compatible with Bluetooth 1.2 devices such as the Apple Wireless Keyboard and Mouse. The new iBooks also include built-in 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet for high-speed networking, two USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire® 400 port for easy plug-and-play connections to popular peripherals such as Apple’s market-leading iPod® digital music player, digital video camcorders, digital still cameras and printers. Each iBook includes iLife ‘05, Apple’s award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications featuring iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand and iTunes. iLife ’05 continues to lead the industry with the most innovative and comprehensive suite of software for organizing, editing and sharing digital photos; creating stunning digital movies and DVDs; and purchasing, managing and creating digital music. The 1.33 GHz PowerPC G4 iBook, weighing just 4.9 pounds, has a suggested retail price of $999 (US) and includes: * a crisp 12.1-inch (diagonal) active-matrix TFT display; The 1.42 GHz PowerPC G4 iBook, weighing just 5.9 pounds, has a suggested retail price of $1,299 (US) and includes: * a brilliant 14.1-inch (diagonal) active-matrix TFT display; Additional build-to-order options for the new iBook include up to 1.5GB of DDR SDRAM, a 60GB, 80GB or 100GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive and the AppleCare Protection Plan. The new iBook is also available to education customers in the US and Canada through the Apple Store for Education at www.apple.com/education/store or by calling an Apple education sales representative at 800-800-APPL. *Actual speed will vary based on range from the base station, environmental conditions and other factors. **Battery life depends on configuration and use. Posted by jlewin at 08:15 AM | Comments (0) Sony Intros Hi-MD Portable RecorderSummer NAMM Update: Sony has introduced two Hi-MD portable recorders. The new MZ-M100 and MZ-M10 MiniDisc-based field recorders are designed for musicians and broadcast professionals. "Their ability to record and playback high quality uncompressed PCM linear audio and to transfer those files directly to computers for editing represents a tremendous savings in time," notes Sony's Paul Foschino. "These capabilities, coupled with long battery life and easy-to-read display visibility address the real-world needs of recording engineers and journalists."
Features: The new recorders, with removable 1GB MiniDiscs, allow up to 94 minutes of uncompressed recording time and as much as 34 hours in ATRAC3 plus™ format. The low cost of the Hi-MD media, which has a suggested list price of $7, allows users to archive their original recordings and makes data transfer easy and inexpensive. The recorders also feature a USB port for Macintosh and Windows/PC operating system connectivity to address a range of professional recording applications including music, interviews and field recording. The Hi-MD MZ-M100 features a six-line large EL (Organic Electro-luminescence) display and the Hi-MD MZ-M10 has a large five-line LCD display. The new recorders also include:
The Hi-MD MZ-M100 and the Hi-MD MZ-M10 should be available in August at suggested list prices of $439.95 and $329.95, respectively. Posted by jlewin at 07:37 AM | Comments (0) Free Stats Software for PodcastersKevin H. Devin, host and producer of the In the Trenches podcast, has released Podstats, a utility he wrote to parse raw log files and generate stats for podcasts. The script is used by Techpodcasts.com to generate and aggregate stats. "I have released the script as Open Source under the GPL," notes Devin, "in hopes that as a community we can formalize some form of standard on stats generation that podcasters can use for potentially monetizing his or her podcast." In addition to the release of Podstats, Chuck Tomasi has released an add-on script to take an XML log file produced by Libsyn and convert it to extended log file format for parsing by Podstats. Podstats is written in PERL, and is used via a command-line. The script is available as a free download. Posted by jlewin at 07:17 AM | Comments (0) July 25, 2005Winer Releases OPML-Based Outliner
The software can be used for creating blogs and podcast sites. More significantly, Winer also intends it to be a tool for creating multi-developer, multi-site, loosely-tied projects. OPML Editor is available as a free download from the OPML.org site. OPML OPML, Outline Processor Markup Language, is a simple format designed to represent lists in XML format. "Outlines are just lists of lists, carried on to as many levels as you want. The grouping is arbitrary and totally up to you," explains Winer. "The outliner has commands that make it easy to browse and reorganize structured information." OPML is designed to be a simple, self-documenting, extensible and human readable format that's capable of representing a wide variety of data that's easily browsed and edited. Outlines can be used to represent just about any type of information, including presentations, directories, diaries, discussion groups, chat systems and stories. Instant Outlining Winer's Editor lets users reorganize elements within an outline, and then save and render the outline in various forms, such as a blog, a podcast, or a website. Elements within a outline can be local files or OPML files available via the web. This makes it possible for users around the web to collaborate informally on projects by sharing and including each other's OPML files. For example, someone developing a podcast site built with the OPML editor could include nodes from a podcast directory that relate to their podcast. Services could dynamically provide content in OPML format that could be included into sites. OPML Editor is currently Windows only. Winer expects to have a Mac version available "Real Soon", and he calls a Linux version a "high priority". The application source code will be made available under a GPL license. Posted by jlewin at 10:22 PM | Comments (0) Podscope Promises to Index Entire Spoken Podcast UniversePodscope, a search engine that indexes the spoken audio content of podcasts, has announced that it plans to "cover all non-music audio and video podcasts by August 31, 2005". Podscope crawls the web, looking for podcasts, and creates an index against each spoken word, thereby making the contents searchable. The user can search on a term, generate a list of results ranked by a variety of methods to find the most relevant podcast and click to play or click to download. Podscope says that it currently indexes more than 20,000 podcasts from more than 3,500 sites and is on track to cover every known podcaster by the end of August. Site owners can submit their sites for indexing at the Podscope site.
"Imagine how less useful a Google search would be if Google only indexed the title of the Web pages it returns for a search. It just wouldn't have the same value as search that includes the entire content of the textual Web. Such simplistic search is what's being provided by every other audio and video search on the Internet, with the exception of Podscope," said David J. Ives, president and chief executive officer of TVEyes, Inc., whose technology and company are behind Podscope. "Indexing the spoken word using advanced speech recognition technology has a profound impact on a consumer's ability to get the most out of audio and video search on the Internet," said Allen Weiner, research vice president at Gartner. "Relying only on metadata search or categorical listings provides incomplete results, making it difficult and inefficient to find specific content you'd like to listen to or watch." Posted by jlewin at 07:20 PM | Comments (0) July 24, 2005NAMM Summer Session Podcasting Gear UpdateNAMM (the International Music Products Association) opened its 2005 Summer Session trade show, which runs through Sunday, July 24, at the Indiana Convention Center. Podcasting News is on location to bring you information on the latest podcasting gear.
We made it to Indianapolis in time to get checked in and take a quick trip to nearby Zionsville, Indiana. We looked for Morpheus, but he was a no-show. Zionsville is a semi-rural village that looks like not much has changed in a hundred years. One exception is the Eagle Creek Coffee Company (free wi-fi again!) Zionsville is stuffed full of great places to eat, but we'll spare the details in case you are worried this is going to become a gustatorial travelogue. Friday we hit the NAMM Show hard, scouring over 500 vendor areas looking for gear that would be useful for podcasters. One of the early highlights is the Samson C01U Mic. This is an established mic design, except that Samson has removed the traditional audio connectors and replaced them with a USB connector. The mic should give excellent results for voice and be a good option for podcasters. It doesn't require drivers, so you can just plug it in and start podcasting. We asked Samson about their plans for additional mics, and they said that it will be easy for them to release more USB versions of their mics, but that they needed to see how this CO1U sold. Alesis had a lot of gear that should make podcasters drool. They were showing the Alesis MultiMix USB mixers, and introducing FireWire versions. These mixers have the established functionality of traditional mixers, but also have integrated digital audio interfaces. The USB versions are appropriate for podcasters that need one or two channels of audio in to their computer. The FireWire versions can do eight channels and more.
We talked to the product manager for the iDJ, and he knew all about podcasting. He was even working on his own podcast. He said that Numark plans to have a tutorial available on using the iDJ for podcasting. M-Audio had one of the hottest set of introductions for podcasters. They were demonstrating a new digital audio recorder, the iControl GarageBand control surface, and a 16-pad audio control surface which coul be used to trigger music, samples, etc. Digital audio recorders were one of the most popular introductions at the show. There were several that looked perfect for podcasting, including ones from Edirol, Tascam and Sony.
We'll have the details on the latest gear for podcasters in the coming days. Posted by jlewin at 09:56 AM | Comments (0) July 23, 2005NAMM: Samson Introduces CO1U USB MicAt the 2005 Summer NAMM Show, Samson introduced the C01U USB Studio Condenser Mic, the first inexpensive studio condenser mic with a direct USB output. The mic offers an easy way to capture high-quality vocal and acoustic instrument performances. The C01U mic can be plugged into any computer without the need for in/out boxes or pre-amps.
The C01U works on any computer, Mac or PC, and with any DAW software program.
Posted by jlewin at 01:47 AM | Comments (1) July 22, 2005Talkr Intros Free Service that Turns Blogs Into PodcastsTalkr is inviting bloggers to convert their text-only English-language blogs into podcasts using Talkr's free podcasting tool. The initial setup takes about 10 minutes, and the podcasts require no ongoing effort. "Talkr takes text-only blogs and converts them into audio files," explains Chris Brooks, CEO of Talkr.com. "We then provide bloggers with tools to distribute these mp3 files as podcasts. However, we've always targeted a very narrow slice of bloggers, focusing on well-known blogs such as Jeffrey Zeldman and Corante." "Now," continued Mr. Brooks, "we've decided to cast our net a bit wider. We are now inviting anyone with an English-language blog to create a podcast with Talkr." Podcasting News has set up a live example of Talkr converting our RSS feed to a text-to-speech podcast. Many companies have released podcast recording tools in the past several months. "Talkr is different" says Mr. Brooks. "Those other tools are great if you have the time and patience to install a new application and then record, host and distribute a podcast. However, many people don't have the time. If you already write a blog, Talkr will give you a podcast with little effort and zero cost." Talkr allows anyone with an English language blog to create a podcast for free. Registration at the site is required. Posted by jlewin at 11:42 PM | Comments (0) FeedShake Brings All the Links to Your FeedFeedshake, an online service now in beta, is a feed aggregator that lets you to create new feeds by merging, sorting and filtering existing online RSS feeds. The service offers options to select source feeds and to sort and filter the resulting composite feed. You can also limit the number of items returned. Feedshake is a free service and doesn't require a subscription or email adress. Posted by jlewin at 11:02 PM | Comments (0) Podcasting News from NAMM
NAMM Summer Session was originally based in the music mecca of Nashville, Tennessee, but relocated to Indianapolis and Austin, Texas for the next several years. NAMM will bring 22,000 visitors and $23 million in economic benefit to Indianapolis. The Midwest Music Summit is one of the region's premier music events, showcasing emerging artists of every musical genre and transforming Indianapolis into a live music capital for one weekend each summer. This year, the summit's fifth year, will be the largest event yet, as 450 bands descend upon 30 local clubs and venues and Indianapolis welcomes hundreds of music industry professionals and fans to a one-of-a-kind event. The MMS will create an electric festival atmosphere that will provide a backdrop of live entertainment for the NAMM Summer Session and its 22,000 attendees. Podcasting News will be on location to report on the latest NAMM news. Posted by jlewin at 09:14 AM | Comments (0) Podcaster Seeks $250,000 for Podcasts.com DomainPodcaster Allan Hunkin is seeking $250,000 USD for the domain name podcasts.com. Hunkin is selling the domain to concentrate on his core business, SuccessTALK Channels. He also hopes to sell another domain, MyPodcasts.com, for $75,000. "We are as committed to podcasting as ever but building out Podcasts.com and MyPodcasts.com would mean we would have to stop what we are doing, raise the money needed to do the job properly and be divided on three fronts for some time to come," Hunkin said. "Internet industry and venture capital experts have told us that they felt it was worth that much or more," according to Hunkin. "Owning Podcasts.com is like owning an empty lot on Wall Street in New York city. Everything that is built around it makes it more valuable." Details are available from Hunkin at info(at)podcasts.com or via the podcasts.com site. Posted by jlewin at 08:54 AM | Comments (0) BBC Looking for Input from Podcasters
"I produce and co-present an hour long segment on the overnight on BBC Radio Five Live," notes the BBC's Chris Vallance. "You can listen to it on archive. "We'd love to hear from people interested in being featured on the programme or who just want to contribute to the show." The segment fits into an international news show. Vallance is looking for people with stories to tell with podcasts that cover topics that would be of interest to a general news/talk radio audience. An example of the kind of podcast they are looking for is the Shona podcast The show airs nationally in the UK 0200-0300bst Tuesday (2100-2200 EST Monday in the US). A live stream is available via the BBC site. Posted by jlewin at 08:39 AM | Comments (2) Wimpy Player Intros Podcast AmpWimpyPlayer.com has introduced Podcast Amp, a "quirky" podcast player. Podcast Amp is a free player that is designed to make it easy to preview podcasts. "I think a lot of the podcast software is kinda cumbersome, and a lot of podcasts out there suck," notes the developer. "I just wanted a way to check out some podcasts and see what's out there before 'subscribing' and downloading to my iPod."
The player is a available as a free download for Windows. Posted by jlewin at 08:25 AM | Comments (0) Apple Dumping Stock of minis, older G5 Macs
According to Apple Insider, "Some of the Mac systems Apple is looking to discount include "finished goods" stock of Mac minis, first generation iMac G5s and Power Mac G5 desktops. Sources said a percentage of the G5-based systems are believed to be refurbrished items, while the stock of Mac minis are new retail models." Posted by jlewin at 08:13 AM | Comments (0) Apple Faces Lawsuit over iTunes Interface
Contois Music Technology is asking the court to stop Apple from distributing iTunes, allow a trial by jury, and permit the company to seek unspecified damages from Apple. Contois claims that Apple's design infringes on US Patent No. 5,864,868) entitled Computer Control System and User Interface for Media Playing Devices. Accoding to the suit, Contois conceived of and developed a computer interface for playing music on an internal or external computer-responsive music device, which he then exhibited at the 1995 COMDEX trade show and the 1996 NAMM music industry trade show. According to the suit, persons who were at the time employed by or later became employed by Apple were present at both trade shows and viewed Contois' software. The suit charges Apple later "copied" the invention and used the design ideas in the interface for its iTunes software. Posted by jlewin at 08:01 AM | Comments (0) Make Publishes Tutorial on Creating Enhanced PodcastsPhillip Torrone at Make magazine has published a tutorial on how to make AAC encoded audio files ("enhanced podcasts") for use in the iTunes Music Store. For podcasters that are interested in optimizing their presence in the iTunes Music Store, Torrone's tutorial provides a straightforward introduction to creating iTunes-specific podcasts, with chapter images and embedded hyperlinks. Torrone also provides a list of ways that these features can be used within podcasts. Enhanced podcasts are based on AAC format, so are only currently compatible with iPods and iTunes. Posted by jlewin at 07:58 AM | Comments (0) Podcasters Frustrated by Lack of Music Podcasts in iTunes Music StoreMusic podcasters that legally distribute independent music appear to be being left behind or locked out of the iTunes podcast directory, which is quickly becoming one of the primary vehicles for finding podcasts. The Association of Music Podcasting (AMP) reports that about 80% of their podcasts are not listed in the iTunes directory. AMP calls itself "the largest podcasting content group in the world", and represents forty-three members. Three weeks after iTunes added podcast support, thirty-four AMP podcast feeds remained unlisted in the iTunes directory. "It's frustrating," says Chris MacDonald, owner of IndieFeed Podcasts, founding member and Director of Legal Affairs at AMP. "We've been podcasting since mid September of 2004, when this thing really got started. I have thousands and thousands of listeners; yet our fans can't migrate to iTunes easily." MacDonald says that his podcast's lack of presence in iTunes is hurting his podcast. "We are losing loyal listeners who aren't technically savvy or who choose not to run two podcast aggregators at a time. It's silly to suggest Apple can't add those feeds to their directory in a reasonable amount of time. It's also odd that my non-music feeds, which were provided to Apple at the same time, migrated to the iTunes directory in only two days." "Corporations are looking to take advantage of the roadwork that the existing podcasting community has created via an unfettered, open-choice format," says Derrick Oien, President of AMP. Oien is one of the earliest legal music podcasters, going back to the fall of 2004. His show is among many not yet listed in the iTunes directory. Oien adds, "It appears that Apple is more concerned with molding the community to their immediate commercial needs than with embracing this open community and adhering to an effective long term strategy. We have witnessed the early evolution of podcasting at a break-neck pace; partly because podcasting's open format rapidly adapts to fit the needs of the community at large. Successful corporations will embrace rather than attempt to control this phenomenon." According to Oien, "AMP continues to rapidly amass a large and dedicated collective audience, and we are working with people and organizations that approach podcasting in the spirit in which it was conceived. We look forward to working with them. At some point we expect that the support we receive daily from listeners and artists will get Apple's attention." Using iTunes to Download Unlisted Podcasts While many podcasts are not available through Apple's iTunes Music Store, podcast fans can still use iTunes to subscribe to and download music podcasts and other podcasts that are not listed there. The podcast page at Apple notes "You can subscribe to virtually any podcast in the known universe just by dragging its URL into your podcasts library, or by typing the URL into Subscribe to Podcast under the Advanced menu. Even the podcasts you find yourself keep all that nifty nesting." About the Association of Music Podcasting: Posted by jlewin at 07:13 AM | Comments (0) July 21, 2005iPodder Adds New Custom Branding Option
The Level 2 logo is clickable, launching a Web browser to a customizable URL when the logo is clicked. The customized iPodders are available in Macintosh and Windows flavors. The iPodder team notes that there are no limitations on the number of downloads you may offer from your website, "except your bandwidth bill". Level 2 customized iPodders can also be placed on CD-roms or other media to raise your listenership. Branded iPodder Level 2" is available at the iPodder Lemon Store. Posted by jlewin at 11:51 PM | Comments (0) MixCast Live Podcasting App Trial Download Now AvailableA trial version of MixCast Live is now available from BigFeeder.com. The trial version includes most of the features of MixCast Live, letting you record podcasts, create show notes and publish podcast feeds.
Features:
The limitations of the trial version are:
The trail version is available for download from BigFeeder.com. Posted by jlewin at 11:06 PM | Comments (0) Podcasting Hot News Topic Around the World
In fact, articles on podcasting are appearing in newspapers everywhere, showing up all over the US and around the world. Recent Examples: In the New York Times, Virginia Heffernan writes "Podcasts are little radio shows that people create on the cheap; you can download them at no cost from the Web, and listen to them whenever you want. More substantial radio shows, like ones from NPR or CNN, also show up in reruns in podcast form. If you miss a show you like on broadcast radio, you can often fetch it from the Web and listen to it at your leisure." The Chicago Tribune says "Blogs shmogs--say it with a podcast!" Patrick Giblin of the Modesto Bee (California) writes: "It's the interest by commercial stations that got Modesto resident Elise Domico, 31, hooked on podcasting. She used to listen to the Bob and Sheri radio show that was broadcast from Merced until the station 'yanked it,' she said in an e-mail to The Bee. So she searched the Internet and found out the show was available as a podcast." In China, The Standard reports that podcasts are going mainstream. India Daily reports that the "Internet Audio Craze Spurs a Land Grab". While mainstream reporting often delivers an incomplete picture of podcasting, it's spurring a second wave of interest in the technology. With only 13% of US Internet users indicating that they "have a good idea" what podcasting is, it's clear that the recent jump in podcast interest is just the tip of the iceberg. Posted by jlewin at 06:09 PM | Comments (0) July 20, 2005Dutch Set License Fees for Podcasting Musicp2pNet reports that BUMA/STEMRA, the Dutch collection organisation for composers, lyricists and music publishers, has come up with licensing rates for podcasting. Commercial podcasters will pay a minimum of 85 euros (about $103), and amateurs 35 euros (about $42) per month for an unlimited number of podcasts. Posted by jlewin at 09:55 PM | Comments (0) Most Americans Don't Know What Podcasting IsAccording to a new study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, most American Internet users do not know what podcasting is or what an RSS feed does. Pew recently asked Internet users if they knew what certain Net-related terms meant. The results showed that while some terms were well-known, "podcasting" and "RSS feeds" were foreign to a majority of Internet users. Only 13% of Internet users "have a good idea" what podcasting is, while just 9% know what an RSS feed does. The Pew Internet & American Life Project produces reports that explore the impact of the Internet on families, communities, work and home, daily life, education, health care, and civic and political life. The Project aims to be an authoritative source on the evolution of the Internet through collection of data and analysis of real-world developments as they affect the virtual world. Source: Public Awareness of Internet Terms Posted by jlewin at 09:41 PM | Comments (1) July 19, 2005Sonus Adds Podcast Support to Home Digital Audio System
The Sonos Desktop Controller for the Mac gives users full control over the Sonos Digital Music System from a Mac desktop. The Sonos update also adds support for the latest Apple iTunes 4.9 release, allowing iTunes users to access their music collections, podcasts and iTunes playlists on the Sonos system. The Sonos Desktop Controller for the Mac is compatible with Apple Mac OS® X 10.3 and 10.4. The Sonos Digital Music System comes pre-loaded with more than 100 Internet radio stations. Users can easily add more MP3 or WMA streaming stations by using the Sonos Desktop Controller for the Mac or the PC. "Sonos' mission is to bring the joy of multi-room digital music to as many people as possible," said John MacFarlane, CEO, Sonos, Inc. "With the additional control and content features we have introduced, more digital music lovers, including Mac users and Internet radio fans, can get the most out of their Sonos system." For digital music lovers with large music collections, Sonos has added a feature called "Power Scroll" which is unique to the Sonos Digital Music System. It gives Sonos users a shortcut for scrolling through large music libraries via a "scroll by letter" feature on their Sonos Controller. This allows users to easily navigate through their large music libraries to quickly find a specific artist, album or track name. The latest Sonos update also provides a number of power user features, including:
Support for the new software feature update is available to all Sonos owners via their Sonos Controller. Posted by jlewin at 11:35 PM | Comments (0) RapidWeaver Adds Podcast SupportRealMac Software has released RapidWeaver 3.1.2 for Mac OS X, with new podcast publishing support. The application supports drag-and-drop addition of audio files to blogs, simplifying podcast production. RapidWeaver produces websites using 100% valid XHTML and CSS. According to RealMac, sites created with RapidWeaver render correctly on all modern browsers including Safari, Firefox, Camino, OmniWeb and Internet Explorer for Mac & PC.
New Features in 3.1.2
Posted by jlewin at 08:06 PM | Comments (0) Wireless Music Market To SurgeIDC predicts that the U.S. wireless full-track music market will surge to $1.2 billion in revenue and over 50 million full-track customers and subscribers by 2009. "IDC believes that online and wireless music services may represent the music industry's best long-term prospects for reversing decline and promoting growth, and that these new services will ultimately be the future of recorded music distribution," said Susan Kevorkian, senior research analyst, Consumer Markets at IDC. The domestic market for cellular full-track OTA (over-the-air) delivery of music via 2.5G and 3G networks is clearly still in its infancy, despite the increasing levels of media coverage and industry buzz around the topic. Indeed, wireless full-track OTA delivery has yet to be launched in the U.S. A number of challenges facing the wireless music value chain have impeded development of this emerging market. Key near-term constraints include: lack of available handsets and 3G networks, digital rights management (DRM) complexity, competition from incumbent services, and business pricing models and practices. "IDC believes that there is opportunity for wireless music services to include a range of bundled services designed to complement full tracks, and to deliver music to consumers however and whenever they want it. Wireless devices and networks are emerging as a great new channel for the delivery of not just a la carte tracks, but subscription-oriented packages that include radio and song identification technologies, ring tones, ring back tones, music videos, concert information alerts and more," said IDC's Lewis Ward, senior research analyst, Wireless Communications Research, and David Linsalata, research analyst, Mobile Devices. Posted by jlewin at 08:39 AM | Comments (0) Are Video iPods Next?
WSJ reports that negotiations are an indication that Apple is moving to release a device that plays video files, possibly by September. Analysts see the development as likely because of Apple's strength in video software, including the Quicktime movie format and video-editing software, such as Final Cut Pro and iMovie. Posted by jlewin at 08:33 AM | Comments (0) Apple Mac Market Share Grows to 4.5%
Apple's share of the US computer market jumped from 3.7% to 4.5%, making it the number 4 computer vendor. Apple had a very strong quarter, with growth of more than 37%. Growth in retail, Europe, and Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) all grew by more than twice the worldwide rate. According to IDC, "The Mac mini as well as the visibility and appeal of Apple's music business, including the iPod line, has clearly benefited the company's PC business and the company appears well positioned for education and consumer sales going into the second half of the year." Posted by jlewin at 08:28 AM | Comments (0) July 18, 2005Marketwatch to Podcasters: Your 15 Minutes is UpMarketwatch's Frank Barnako has news for indie podcasters: "Podcasters, your 15 minutes of fame is up." Barnako notes that most of the podcasts in iTunes' Top 100 Podcast list are professional podcasts, and that the percentage of indie podcasts is dropping. "In the three weeks since Apple Computer thrilled the community of homegrown-radio-show producers by making it easy for millions of Web users to download their programs, the little guys have gotten squished," notes Barnako. "And they're the ones who started it." Mainstream podcasts are starting to dominate the iTunes Top Podcast list. Apple prominently features podcasts from Disney, ESPN, ABC and other established broadcasters within the iTunes Music Store podcast area.
While the mainstream podcasts that receive top billing within iTunes are getting the most subscriptions, they don't appear to be stealing listeners away from indie podcasters, as Barnako suggests. Many podcasters have reported being swamped with traffic since the introduction of iTunes 4.9. Posted by jlewin at 06:25 PM | Comments (2) iTunes Music Store: Half a Billion Served
“Just over two years ago, we sold our first song. Yesterday, we sold our half billionth song. WOW!” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “As we cross this major milestone, we couldn’t be more excited about the future of digital music, iTunes and the iPod.” “Steve and Apple’s impact with their complete thought of iPod and iTunes will be looked back upon as important as any instrument or device ever created for the music industry,” said Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records. Apple recently launched iTunes 4.9 with everything users need to discover, subscribe, manage and listen to podcasts built right in. iTunes customers have subscribed to more than five million Podcasts from the iTunes Podcast Directory which now features over 6,000 free audio programs, making it one of the largest Podcast directories in the world. Posted by jlewin at 08:57 AM | Comments (0) July 17, 2005Voting Now Open for Podcast AwardsPodcastAwards.com, home of the People's Choice Podcasting Award, has announced that voting is now open. Categories for the awards include, People's Choice, Best Produced, Top Rated, Sound Seeing, Business, Comedy, Religion/Inspiration and others. Voting is open through July 31st. Awards and prizes will be given during the 2005 Awards ceremony at Podcast Expo in Ontario, California November 11-12, 2005. Posted by jlewin at 11:59 AM | Comments (0) July 16, 2005Podcast Features Pauly Shore; No Wiezin' the J-uice
Joining Shore is Marlon, the El Salvadorian sidekick from Pauly's new original new show, which airs Sundays at 10/9c on TBS. When Shore isn't podcasting, he has been attempting to answer the question, "Can hot girls actually be funny?" Videos and more are available at the Minding the Store site. Posted by jlewin at 01:45 PM | Comments (0) Podgrrls.net Podcasts Women in Music
Currently heard on over 88 markets nationwide, Women In Music has a loyal following, and after nearly 9 years on-air, it's now coming to podcasting. Each week, a new show will be available. Shows will not be archived. Regularly updated podcasts will be coming for show previews -- 10-15 minutes of each show, to give listeners a taste of what's to come. Playlists for the individual shows will also be available at podgrrls.net. For the month of July, podcasts of the complete show are free, but starting in August, there will be a $1.50 charge for downloads of complete shows. Also coming soon to podgrrls.net is FemFrequency, a podcast-only music show also hosted by Laney Goodman, featuring "hard-hitting, rocking tunes from the women your mother warned you about". Posted by jlewin at 01:25 PM | Comments (0) Aussie Records Music on Location Around the WorldMulti-instrumentalist Simon Lewis has been touring for the last three years with Australian electronic/folk/world/pop band Rivertribe on a schedule that has taken them all over the U.S., Canada, across Europe, and to parts of Asia. While traveling, he's using a combination of a Mac Powerbook and a Metric Halo FireWire audio interface to let him record anywhere he travels. "The first tour in the U.S. was eight weeks," notes Lewis, "and we drove about 17,000 (miles). I was able to make use of all the time in the van by working on new tunes for the live show, and remixing Amanaska, as well as and writing new material." The mobile setup was a great success from the get-go, he says. "I have to say it was a very solid system to work with. And it never let me down on stage either. The fact that it was pretty compact and portable was a big bonus, too." Last year, Rivertribe embarked on six-month tour starting in Singapore and Malaysia. "We had also planned to record with artists all around the world while we were traveling," he shares. "The Metric Halo setup allowed me to run my studio almost anywhere, so that was exactly what we did. We met some Indian musicians in Singapore who saw us play and then asked if we would like to jam with them. We had an amazing session in a Sai Baba temple. After that, we got one of the guys to come back to our hotel and lay down some vocal tracks before we left. "We had toured India the year before and met an amazing percussionist named K.V. Balu, who plays on most of the Tamil film soundtracks. He organized a whole bunch of players for us, and a studio. I used the mics and rooms of the studio, but plugged straight into my 2882 and used the Metric Halo ChannelStrip plug-in on all the pres. Later, in the U.S., we set up a makeshift studio in a tipi in Colorado and recorded with a Cherokee musician named Steve Tindall. All the recordings came up great."
Amanaska's 2003 album, Panorama, will soon be joined by a new release, Diaspora for which Lewis has written eleven tracks. The project includes recordings made around the world using his portable studio. Meanwhile, Lewis has also spent the last six months touring the world with Rivertribe, recording and producing their new album on locations in India, Ireland, the U.S.A. and Portugal. During 2004, the band's "Journey" album was re-recorded and remixed by Lewis and reissued as "Re:Journey." Gear Details Lewis uses a Metric Halo MIO 2882+DSP and ULN 2 with Logic Pro 7.1, using an Apple dual 1.8GHz G5 in the studio and a Powerbook 1.5GHz for recording on the road and live, where he runs loops and virtual instruments. Posted by jlewin at 01:00 PM | Comments (0) PirateWeather.com Adds Weather Podcasts by Zip Code
You can get your local podcast by using a URL like this: www.pirateweather.com/weather/podcast/YOURZIPCODE Make sure you replace YOURZIPCODE in the URL with your zip code. PirateWeather is run by Robbie Schmelzer, and is based out of Boulder, Colorado. Schmelzer sees a great deal of potential for podcasts. "It's the coolest thing ever, and it allows any average Joe to have a voice. Also, I spent many years riding a subway underground and realize the potential and learning time I lost." PirateWeather is a small company, but it's big on attitude. "We also feel the need to take on the big weather companies who seem to have lost their personality," notes Schmelzer. "Yes, PirateWeather.com is a little goofy, but we are embracing our goofiness." In addition to offering podcasts by zip code, PirateWeather has plans for PirateWeather "reporters", using voicemail to MP3 and sorting calls by caller ID. Posted by jlewin at 12:58 AM | Comments (1) July 15, 2005Mutant Releases Sci-Fi Audio ControllerJazz Mutant, a French audio interface company, has released a sci-fi audio controller, called the Lemur. The Lemur is a touch-screen control surface that can track multiple touches simultaneously. It has been designed to interface with audio applications.
Is this what podcasting will look like in the future? Unfortunately, we couldn't find any sign of direct support, yet, for popular podcasting applications. Lemur can be currently be used as: a live performance instrument to play virtual synthesizers (Max/MSP/Jitter, Reaktor and Traktor, audiomulch, Sonasphere, Pure Data, SuperCollider, etc.); a DJ, VJ and Light Jockey modular deck; an intuitive tool to control DSP plugins and virtual instruments; and other music, video and sound processes. Posted by jlewin at 01:52 PM | Comments (0) Coolest Garageband Accessory Yet?via AxeHole: M-Audio has released a control surface that may be the coolest Garageband accessory yet: the iControl. The iControl features transport buttons for recording and playback functions, a jog wheel that can jump to a specific position in the recording and a master volume fader. The USB unit also includes a bank of controls for working with eight tracks simultaneously, with dedicated buttons for solo, mute and record.
The USB unit also includes a bank of controls for working with eight tracks simultaneously, with dedicated buttons for solo, mute and record. Features:
Posted by jlewin at 01:38 PM | Comments (0) Clear Channel CEO: Podcasts "Painful"Mark Mays, President/CEO Clear Channel Communications, is sending mixed signals about his company's take on podcasting. On one hand, Clear Channel recently expanded its podcast offerings. On the other hand, May recently commented that podcasting can't create local content, and that listening to podcasts is "painful". Podcasters have been quick to respond. A typical take: "If he wants some real pain, he should listen to an hour or two of what's on his own smaller market stations--you know, the ones were the local content is produced at his large market cluster facilities hundreds of miles away." Billboard recently asked Mays if he saw the iPod, satellite radio or podcasting as a competitive threat. "I don't think there is one particular competitor that's going to supplant radio. It's just going to be lots of different competition," according to May. "Satellite radio is not going to replace radio in the near future. The great thing about radio is that it's local—it's focused on local content. Sirius and podcasting can't create local content. Podcasting is a great thing. Have you listened to any of these podcasts? It is painful." Source: Billboard Posted by jlewin at 01:16 PM | Comments (0) Apple Planning Podcast-Compatible Phone Network?Forbes reports that Apple may be considering a surprising move - becoming a phone company. According to a recent article, Apple has run into a stumbling block in its efforts to deliver iTunes-compatible phones. Phone carriers don't want to sell them, instead wanting to push phones that lock customers into downloading music over phone networks. The solution, according to Forbes, is for Apple to launch its own cellular network. "If Apple launched their own virtual network, they could even tie it in to their iTunes Music Store. This would allow them to obtain more revenue from the direct sale and download of digital music to phone handsets." If Apple were to become a phone carrier, it could easily transition iTunes into a tool for real-time mobile syncing of podcasts. Source: Forbes Posted by jlewin at 01:07 PM | Comments (0) Business Podcasting Whitepaper Published
The purpose of the white paper is to educate readers about the potential marketing value of podcasting, and how to leverage it for maximum benefit. It discusses opportunities for businesses and individuals to use podcasts to generate increased brand exposure, improved product awareness, increased sales and additional revenue opportunities. Table of contents: 1. Podcasting Defined Posted by jlewin at 08:11 AM | Comments (0) July 14, 200510 Years of MP3The Data Compression News Blog reports that July 14th, 2005, is the 10th anniversary for MP3s. In 1995, the researchers at Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS decided to use .mp3 as the file name extension for their new audio coding technology. Soon MP3 became the generally accepted acronym for the ISO standard IS 11172-3 MPEG Audio Layer 3. In 1992 MP3 was in fact so far ahead of its times, that the industry considered the technology far too complex for practical application. It turned out, however, that its development was the bottom line advancement in audio coding - no other coding method so far could uncrown MP3 as the standard for digital music on the computer and on the Internet. Posted by jlewin at 11:06 PM | Comments (0) Book Review: Rhythm ScienceTangential Book Review
The book focuses on the role of the DJ as a metaphor for the artists in today's culture. DJ's are sampling, collaging and creating new works from elements of pop culture, and Miller has been on the leading edge of this. DJing and sampling offer new artistic tools, but also bring them cutting-edge controversy. Ultimately, Rhythm Science is about the tension between slavery and freedom, in life, in culture and in art, tieing together African-American heritage with the ideas underlying the art of DJing. The book is an intellectual tour-de-force. Miller's writing style adopts the free-form collage and sudden shifts of DJ music. This can, at times, make it a challenge to digest. He switches from theory to autobiography to history, throwing in reference to Nietzsche and the Wu-Tan Clan as he goes along. As a result, the writing is often dense, disjunct and the threads that connect sentences may not be readily apparent. Miller puts it this way: "DJ-ing is writing, writing is DJ-ing. Writing is music, I cannot explain this any other way. Take Nietzsche, for instance, whose brilliant texts are almost musical. Obviously, you feel the rhythm inside a great poet's stanzas, but it's there within the great philosophers' paragraphs as well. So many media and cultural techniques of interpretation coexist - reading watching, listening, surfing, dancing - that this textual/sonic synasthesia demands a great deal from us." Rhythm Science does demand a great deal from the reader. Miller's range of references is massive, and he throws things together without trying to connect the dots for the reader. Nevertheless, the book is a compelling read for anyone interested in DJ culture and the ideas and issues that surround art in the digital age.
Rhythm Science is also a work of art. Designed by COMA, the book alternates spreads of glossy pages and matte pages. The main text runs through the matte spreads. The glossy spreads feature illustrations and quotes that comment or highlight on elements within the main text. The book is bound with a CD by Miller that showcases his DJ style. It's an aural exploration of the ideas in the book. The book is designed with a hole drilled through it that highlights the CD spindle bound into the back of the book. The CD isn't a DJ mix in the popular sense, but more of a rhythmic sound collage. Miller takes DJing to the edge; both of what's legal and of what's accessible to a general audience. Just as Miller's text is dense and freeform, the CD is all over the place. Most modern sample-based music tends to take a recognizable quote from a popular piece and loop that to create a groove for rapping or jamming over. Miller's music imagines an alternate world where ideas and art are unfettered by copyright concerns. Of course, we live in a world where artists have to deal with legal issues surrounding what can be created, shared and sold. Rhythm Science confronts us with these issues. While it doesn't provide an answer to the questions that digital culture raises, it explores them in a compelling way. Preview Rhythm Science via Hypnotext. Amazon: Rhythm Science Posted by jlewin at 10:07 PM | Comments (0) iPods Drive Record Apple Earnings
Apple posted a net quarterly profit of $320 million on revenue of $3.52 billion. These results compare to a net profit of $61 million and revenue of $2.01 billion in the year-ago quarter, and represent revenue growth of 75 percent and net profit growth of 425 percent. Apple shipped 1,182,000 Macintosh units and 6,155,000 iPods during the quarter, representing 35 percent growth in Macs and 616 percent growth in iPods over the year-ago quarter. "We are delighted to report Apple’s best quarter ever in both revenue and earnings," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "The launch of Mac OS X Tiger has been a tremendous success, and we have more amazing new products in the pipeline." "We’re very pleased to report 75 percent revenue growth and a 425 percent increase in net income," said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. "Looking ahead to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005, we expect revenue of about $3.5 billion and earnings per diluted share of about $.32." International sales accounted for 39 percent of the quarter’s revenue. Posted by jlewin at 08:33 AM | Comments (0) Podcast Network Experiences Record GrowthBrisk expansion of the Australian-based The Podcast Network has resulted in a monthly increase in podcast downloads of a record 124%. The number of downloads rose from 91,965 in May to 205,766 in June, more than doubling growth in a single month. TPN co-founder Cameron Reilly said the growth was indication that the demand for high quality podcasts was rising rapidly. "Aside from the extraordinary increase in the number of show downloads we also saw significant increases in listeners and data traffic," he said. The Podcast Network is a group podcasts managed and aggregated under the one brand. TPN now has approximately 57,000 weekly subscribers living in more than 25 countries. The network has launched 30 weekly shows with a further six due to launch this month. TPN co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Mick Stanic said that growth had been so rapid, that TPN intended to freeze applications from hosts for new network podcasts for several months while the hosting infrastructure was stabilised. "We served over one terabyte of traffic in the month of June and we’ve almost delivered that already by the middle of July. That’s non-trivial for most second-tier hosting providers and we need a serious partner to plan the next twelve months growth." Posted by jlewin at 08:26 AM | Comments (0) July 13, 2005Wharton Business School Asks if Podcasting can Make MoneyAn article at published by University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Business Schools asks Can This New Medium Make Money? Wharton legal studies and business ethics professor Kevin Werbach agrees that podcasting is more than a fad, but its ultimate effect on listening habits remains to be seen. "Podcasting is a nice way to package up spoken audio content the way MP3s have already packaged up music," says Werbach. "For people listening to the radio or music on the go, it will increase the amount of non-music content they hear, but it won't dramatically change listening patterns." Kendall Whitehouse, senior director of information technology at Wharton, considers podcasting to be, in many ways, the audio version of weblogs. "There was a lot of interest in blogging and now it has moved on to podcasting," says Whitehouse. Next on the horizon "is finding better ways to distribute video." Posted by jlewin at 06:01 PM | Comments (0) July 12, 2005It's Podcasting Already!Commentary Podcasting. Ask three people what it means, and you're likely to get three different answers. It's an awkward name for something that's not exactly a technology and not exactly a technology trend. The term "podcasting" morphs iPod with broadcasting. This is sort of inauspicious naming. Some might even think it a bit bait and switch. Podcasting doesn't require an iPod, and it's about as far removed from broadcasting as you can get. Because of this, trying to come up with a better term for whatever podcasting is has become a challenge right up there with the quest for the Holy Grail, the search for El Dorado, and finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Many Have Tried Lots of people have tried to come up with a term better than podcasting. We've heard of:
Which brings us to Microsoft. Word has it that calling podcasting by it's one and only true name in the halls of Redmond is worse than inauspicious (whatever that means) or even bait and switch. At Microsoft, podcasting is apparently the Voldemortian technology-that-shall-not-be-named. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer asks of Microsoft employees, "how do you create a podcast without implicitly acknowledging the ubiquity of the product from one of your company's competitors?"
Yes, blogcasting. Microsoft Bob to the rescue with that one! We've been wondering what he's been up to since retiring from his role as the enfant terrible of the GUI world. By the way, you can open those .wma files in Windows Media Player. It's Called Podcasting! Blogcast this: It's podcasting already! "Pod", as in the gloriously expensive and sexy iPod, and "casting" as in big antennas, payola, and dozens of stations playing Supertramp, Foreigner and whatever else they program on the radio these days. Elvis has left the building! The fat lady has sung! Papa's bought the farm! We know the term "podcasting" is stupid, but we like it anyway! There ain't no Blogcasting News site, and that about sums it up! Posted by jlewin at 11:37 PM | Comments (2) Broadcast Billionaire Badmouths Podcasting
In a posting on his blog, Cuban says "Creating your own podcast and trying to make a business out of it is a mistake." "Podcasting is right where streaming was about 10 years ago," argues Cuban. "Try to find any of the many that created original content for PSEUDO.com, TSN, EYADA.com, Broadcast.com and others that I have long forgotten." He adds a warning for podcasters: "There is a good chance that their history is your future." Posted by jlewin at 11:22 PM | Comments (6) Pioneering Podcasters Godcasting Harvest Crusade
The podcasts will be hosted by pioneering podcasters Craig Patchett, founder of The GodCast Network, and Steve Webb, host of the Lifespring! podcast. A series of four podcasts will be produced during the week prior to the Crusade and will provide a background on the message, the music, the people, and the experience that the Crusade presents. Six podcasts will be produced during the Crusade itself, including the nightly messages given by pastor and evangelist Greg Laurie and unique sound-seeing tours of all aspects of the Crusade, including interviews with attendees as well as musical guests. Two additional podcasts will be produced after the Crusade that will focus on the experience of those who attended. The podcasts can be found on the web at the Harvest Podcast site. Posted by jlewin at 06:15 PM | Comments (0) Wavigo Updated with Podcasting SupportWavigo has added podcast support to its free multi-media service suite. Now Wavigo users can select, manage, and listen to their favorite podcasts. Wavigo's podcast management feature allows users to download or stream podcasts directly, and play them through its built-in music and video media player. "Anyone on the Internet with a Windows PC and a headset can start using Wavigo immediately" notes Greg Parker, CEO of CommV, creators of Wavigo.
The podcast feature adds to Wavigo's existing communications and information services. From one application, Wavigo users can monitor, chat and talk with other Wavigo users and with all of their contacts on any of the leading instant messaging and voice services such as Skype, Yahoo!, MSN, AOL and ICQ. Enhanced functionality allows users to transparently conference across them, while simultaneously talking with friends, and downloading and listening to podcasts. All of this functionality is included in Wavigo's free basic services. Wavigo has been certified 100% clean from Adware, Spyware and viruses by an independent source. Wavigo can be downloaded from www.wavigo.com and from leading software sharing sites. Posted by jlewin at 06:01 PM | Comments (0) New Utility Records Skype Phone Calls
Freecorder saves conversations as 64 or 128 Kbps MP3 files. It shows a running timer of the call, and it also has the ability to Pause recording. Freecorder with unlimited recording time is $19.95. A free version with limited recording time is available as well. Posted by jlewin at 08:24 AM | Comments (1) PhoneValet Records Phone Calls for Podcasts
The PhoneValet Podcast bundle includes the VST edition of SoundSoap 2 and Peak Express from BIAS Inc. Including PhoneValet 3.0 hardware and software, the price of the PhoneValet Podcast bundle is $249.95. Existing PhoneValet 3.0 customers can upgrade to PhoneValet Podcast for $74.95. "The inspiration for PhoneValet Podcast came directly from the podcasting community," says Parliant's President Kevin Ford. "We found a growing number of our customers using PhoneValet's unique abilities to dramatically optimize recorded telephone voice conversations for their podcasts. In talking to them, we also discovered they were in need of simple-to-use audio filtering and editing software, which led us to partner with BIAS." With PhoneValet Podcast, podcasters have an all-in-one bundle of three OS X-compatible tools that capture, edit and enhance telephone recordings for crystal-clear interview results. Those tools are: PhoneValet Message Center 3.0
SoundSoap 2
Peak Express
The retail price of the PhoneValet Podcast Bundle is $249.95. Posted by jlewin at 08:02 AM | Comments (0) July 11, 2005Podcasts Feature Nutrition Twins, Personal Trainers & Executive ChefWeightCasters.com, a new podcast site, provides users with free weight loss, fitness, and motivational tips that they can download directly onto their iPod or MP3 players. Users can subscribe to podcast playlists, which are made up of informative audio tips that can be accessed at any time through any form of standard media or MP3 player. The Podcasts include tips from health professionals about weight loss, fitness, nutrition and healthy cooking. People who are interested in the tips but do not have a Podcast reader or MP3 player also have the opportunity to listen to the audio files by hitting play and listening from their computers.
Subscriber Adriana Cutnei comments, "I load up my iPod every morning with new tips from WeightCasters.com. I then listen to these tips on my way to work, and it provides me with the advice I need to stick to my diet during the day.” The health information available through WeightCasters.com is provided by certified health professionals. "I’ve been training clients for several years, and I constantly provide support and motivation for them," says Michael LaFratta, CPT, one of WeightCasters.com’s fitness experts. "Now, with the WeightCasters.com podcasts, I know that my clients will stay fired up even when I’m not there. All they have to do is reach for their iPods and listen to my tips." Weight Loss Podcast Posted by jlewin at 01:32 PM | Comments (0) Apple Drops iPod Battery Replacement Prices; Third Parties Still Much Cheaper
If your iPod requires service only because the battery’s ability to hold an electrical charge has diminished, Apple will replace your iPod for a service fee of $59, plus $6.95 shipping. Customer ship their iPods to Apple, and Apple will ship back an equivalent replacement iPod with a new battery. Other sites are offering replacement batteries for as little as $29. The competitive marketplace for iPod replacement batteries is making battery life a minor issue for iPod owners. Posted by jlewin at 01:13 PM | Comments (0) New Site Takes on iPodLoungeiPodObserver, a new online publication targeting iPod users, looks like it is set to go mano a mano with the popular iPodLounge. Edited by The Mac Observer's Bryan Chaffin, iPodObserver will feature news, product and music reviews on all things related to the iPod and digital music. Users will have a wide range of forums to discuss the iPod, iPod related products, digital music, podcasting or anything else related to the iPod. "iPodObserver will be the first stop for any iPod owner," according to Chaffin. "Our talented staff will be the most comprehensive source of news and information on all things iPod." "The iPod has evolved beyond a product," said Chaffin. "There's digital music, podcasting and a whole range of products to choose from. iPodObserver will bring iPod owners the news they need as well as user forums and product and music reviews." "With over 15 million iPods, iPod Minis and iPod Shuffles sold to date, we knew the time was right to offer this publication to iPod enthusiasts," said Dave Hamilton, publisher of iPodObserver. "Every day we'll bring news and reviews to iPod lovers that will enhance their iPod experience." Posted by jlewin at 01:03 PM | Comments (0) News from WichitaWichita Rutherford's Five Minutes with Wichita podcast has been popping up all over the place. First it gets on the Sirius satellite network. Now it's on Apple's home page with the likes of ESPN radio and Nightline.
Podcasting News recently asked Wichita about getting featured at iTunes, how it's affecting his audience, and his plans for the future. Wichita answered our questions in his own inimitable way. Rutherford Five Minutes with Wichita podcast feature humorous interviews with bluegrass stars like Ricky Skaggs, Doc Watson and Charlie Daniels. Posted by jlewin at 12:15 AM | Comments (1) July 10, 2005Open Source Podcasting System Now iTunes-ReadyLoudblog, a free content management system for podcasting, has been updated to version 0.3. The update features support for iTunes RSS feeds along with other new features. Loudblog is an open source project created by Gerrit van Aaken, a media designer from Mainz/Germany. Features:
A small list of Podcasts powered by Loudblog
Loudblog is completely free, as it is published under the Gnu General Public License. Posted by jlewin at 11:34 PM | Comments (0) Podcasters Featured on Apple Home PageApple is featuring podcasting prominently at its site, and making podcasts a significant part of their portable digital media solution.
Apple is promoting dozens of podcasts on the home page of Apple.com. While many of the podcasts featured are from Apple's media partners, such as ESPN and ABC, many indie shows are highlighted, also. Featured public radio and independent podcasts include Todd Maffin's How to Do Stuff, Five Minutes with Wichita, The Martini Shot and Bookworm. In addition to the prominent placement on Apple's home page, podcasts have a major place in Apple's iPod marketing. They are calling iPods "podcast ready". The iPod photo page mentions podcasts at least five times. Posted by jlewin at 11:03 PM | Comments (1) New Entry on Podcasting FAQA new item has been added to the Podcasting FAQ. Q: I want to listen to the my favorite radio show on my iPod. How do I get this as a podcast? A: Podcasts are published by show creators. If they are not publishing the show as a podcast, there may be legal issues that prevent them from doing so, or they may not see a need for it. You may want to give them feedback via their website, so that they know that there is interest in a podcast version of the show. You may also want to look into time-shifting radio recording software. An example is Replay Radio. This type of software is designed to let users record radio shows and put them on portable media players. This is a general response to a question we've received in several forms via email: I want to listen to the Paul Harvey radio show from ABC on my iPod. At www.PaulHarvey.com there is a morning and noon link for each days broadcast. Is there a way I can turn this into a pod cast? Paul Harvey fans can provide feedback via the Paul Harvey site. If you have suggestions or question for the Podcasting FAQ, let us know. Posted by jlewin at 01:34 PM | Comments (0) Odeo Opens Doors
In addition to a podcast directory, the site features a custom podcast client, Odeo Syncr. The application is available for Windows and Mac OS X. Support for creating podcasts is planned, but not yet available. Posted by jlewin at 01:06 PM | Comments (0) New Script Automates Podcast Feed CreationiPodfun.de's Nicolas Oestreich has announced the release of a remote dircaster script. Remote Dircaster auto-generates a podcast XML file, like applications such as Dircaster do. The unique thing about Remote Dircaster is that you can place your mp3 files on any ftp server. The script sits on your webserver, and if anyone clicks the script, it will automatically log into the set FTP server, check if there are any MP3 files, and build a fully valid and iTunes-conforming podcast feed. While you are not able to read ID3 tags via FTP, the file's information can be declared via a name convention. Details are explained within the script itself. The script is free and open source. The script is .rar compressed, so you will need a .rar utility to be able to read it. Posted by jlewin at 12:45 PM | Comments (0) New Site Lets Podcasters Auction Ad SpaceiPodverts.com is a new "podvert market place" that is designed to help connect podcasters with advertisers. The site lets podcasters auction advertising spots on their podcasts. iPodverts was launched on July 9th for podcasters to start listing advertising spots they wish to sell. Within the next few weeks, iPodverts plans to start promoting the site to media buyers and advertising companies. Membership and Basic listings are free. iPodverts charges a fee if/when an advertising spot is filled. Posted by jlewin at 12:28 PM | Comments (0) July 09, 2005Podcatcher on a Stick - A Player-Based Podcast ClientPodcatcher on a Stick, a new open-source application, is a player-based download manager for podcasts. The software has the basic functions of other podcast clients, but instead of installing it on a personall computer, it is installed directly onto MP3 players. MP3 files are also downloaded directly to the MP3 player. This means that you can move the player from computer to computer and still use the software. A video-tutorial is available that shows how the application works. Requirements: To download new audio-content you need access to a PC with an internet-connection. At the moment it is optimized for Windows PCs, but it runs with Linux and MacOsX as well. The software is released under the GNU General Public License. Posted by jlewin at 10:20 AM | Comments (0) Automator Actions for Mac PodcastersNyhthawk Productions has released a set of freeware Automator actions for podcasting. The Podcast Actions are designed to streamline common steps in creating and publishing podcasts on the Mac. The actions are available at the Apple site.
About Podcast Actions
Posted by jlewin at 10:11 AM | Comments (0) July 08, 2005Replay Radio Adds iTunes SupportThe Replay Media Guide from Applian Technologies now supports the iTunes extensions for podcast RSS feeds. Podcasts that make use of the iTunes namespace tags will now display with images, proper contact information, and will have a category chosen if not already entered into the Guide. The Replay Media Guide also works within Replay Radio to offer one-click subscription to Podcasts. Replay Radio customers can also record thousands of radio shows as well. Posted by jlewin at 06:39 AM | Comments (0) How to Add Chapters to iTunes PodcastsVoxmedia has posted an article on creating chapters within AAC-formatted podcasts. The site offers information on Podcast Chapters, and the Apple Podcast ChapterTool utility. The tutorial section explains how to add chapters, chapter images and chapter links to AAC-formatted podcasts. Podcast Chapters are Apple's proprietary way of facilitating bookmarking and graphics within podcasts. A Mac is required to use the ChapterTool utility, and AAC-formatted podcasts are incompatible with many portable media players. An online tool that assists in chapter creation is also available. Some podcasters are supporting chapters to offer a better user experience to users of iTunes. Posted by jlewin at 06:27 AM | Comments (0) Coffeebloggers Interview Vermont's Broadband Pioneer
The podcast is a discussion with Tim Nulty, General Manager of Burlington Telecom. Nulty is heading Burlington, Vermont's efforts to implement a municipal fiber-optic network that will soon offer phone, cable and broadband service to residents. 100 megabit residential fiber-optic anyone? Nulty has previously worked as chief economist for the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, senior economist at the World Bank, and partner in a telecom start-up in Hungary. He has helped governments all over Europe rebuild their telecom infrastructure, and now he's doing the same for Burlington, VT. Guests Cathy Resmer and Tim Nulty joined the Coffeeblog regulars for this discussion recorded 06/17/05 at the Radio Bean coffee house. Friday Coffeeblogging Podcast Details Posted by jlewin at 05:34 AM | Comments (0) July 07, 2005Researchers Predict Rapid Growth for PodcastingDemand for time-shifted digital audio files or podcasts is expected to grow from less than 15% of portable digital music player owners in 2004 to 75% by 2010, according to new forecasts from The Diffusion Group, a consumer technology research and marketing firm. TDG's new report, Podcasting: Fact, Fiction and Opportunity, suggests that between 2004 and 2010, the use of podcasting among US consumers will enjoy a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 101%.
"Today the term 'podcast' refers to almost any online mobile content distribution service," said Marc Freedman, contributing analyst with The Diffusion Group. "It has taken on very general precepts, thus indicative of its status as a service category as opposed to a branded activity." While the iPod explosion created demand for both portable digital music players and inexpensive, downloadable content, Freedman's view is that it wasn't until consumers became aware of personal video recording and the virtues of time-shifting (that is, downloading or saving to consumer media content when most convenient to consumers) that podcasting became a distinct activity. "Consumers were already accustomed to downloading music for playback on portable devices - this is a well-engrained activity that precedes online digital music," said Freedman. "However, the downloading of online 'audio blogs' for portable on-demand consumption is certainly new. Yes, the roots of podcasting lie in non-commercial amateur blogging, but podcasting's non-commercial status is changing as more businesses begin to find creative ways to use this new delivery medium to push audio content." Posted by jlewin at 07:35 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack July 06, 2005Podcast Quicky: You Can't Be Sad When You've Got Free Banjo Lesson Podcasts"You can't play a sad song on the banjo...it always comes out so cheerful." - Steve Martin Patrick Costello, along with his "dear old dad", is putting out Pluckthumping, a series of banjo lessons in podcast format. Costello, author of two books on old time banjo playing, is making the free lessons available under a Creative Commons license. The first banjo workshop podcast is available at http://funkyseagull.com/frail-1.mp3. The catch is that, after the each workshop goes online, Costello will not publish the next one until at least five people send audio files of themselves playing the "homework" assigned at the end of each lesson. According to Costello, "The homework assigned at the end of our first banjo lesson podcast came pouring in, so Dear old Dad and I went ahead and put together the second workshop." Posted by jlewin at 11:21 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack RocketBoom Publishes Tutorial on Using Video Podcasts in iTunesRocketBoom, a pioneering video podcast, has published a video tutorial that shows how you can view and subscribe to video podcasts within iTunes.
Posted by jlewin at 05:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack Podcast-Legal Music: LobeCandy Records
The label's latest single is Druk's Just a Feeling is a "downtempo number somewhat reminiscent of Moby+Tricky". LobeCandy records is the mind child of musician and entrepreneur Gen Kiyooka. In 1990, Gen was making music with the "Slaves of the New Plantation." The band wanted to record an album, and rather than wait for a record contract, Gen decided he would cut the album himself. He bought the recording equipment, learned how to use it, and produced the "Slaves" first album. He found that producing music was a natural way to combine his technical experience, musical talent, and entrepreneurial spirit. More recently, through his involvement in the San Diego music scene, Gen met and became friends with several local bands. Initially conceived as a service to help get the bands' first records out, he decided to start LobeCandy Records. Posted by jlewin at 10:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack FeedBurner iTunes Support is LiveFeedBurner, a free service that offers automatic news feed conversion, has announced the immediate availability of iTunes compatibility for "FeedBurned" feeds. Support for iTunes is provided through FeedBurner's SmartCast option. To add this option, all podcasters need to do is check a box to select iTunes enhancements, and then provide the needed information. To get started, log into FeedBurner, choose the "Edit" link for your podcast feed and look under the SmartCast Service.
Information for new podcasters is available at FeedBurner's Publish your Podcast with FeedBurner page. Posted by jlewin at 10:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack Podcast Quicky: Microcasting Alliance Creating Collaborative PodcastsThe Microcasting Alliance is group of podcasters that combine efforts to produce topical, feature-length podcasts made up from short, 2-4 minute "microcasts". Each podcast section features a different podcaster's take on the featured subject. Their first episode is an introduction to podcasting for listeners and producers alike. The first episode features contributions from: Planning is done via the Microcasting Alliance Google group. Posted by jlewin at 09:21 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack July 05, 2005Digital Audio Player Market Set to ExplodeThe market for both hard disk drive and Flash-based portable audio players is expected to reach more than 104 million units by 2009, up from 27.8 million units in 2004, reports In-Stat. Falling prices, the availability of legitimate subscription and pay-per-download online music sites, smaller hard disk drives and increasing Flash memory capacities are expected to contribute wide adoption. "Vendors are striving to differentiate products by offering a wide range of price points, memory capacities and features," said Stephanie Guza, an analyst with In-Stat. "We are seeing increased segmentation. For example, the hard disk drive (HDD) digital audio player segment can be subdivided into two categories: the 1-inch or smaller segment and the 1.8-inch segment." Report Highlights
Posted by jlewin at 08:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack New Site Introduces Pay-Per-Click Podcast AdsPodcastSPOTS.com has introduced pay-per-click advertising for podcasters. Podcasters who want to earn revenue can insert ads by visiting PodcastSPOTS and downloading a free filler utility. The utility comes with many insert options, including the length of ads or payment methods to allow and a positioning slider.
"We built a site that lets podcasters insert audio ads and podsafe music into their podcasts, and get paid on a per-click basis, per-insert basis, or a variety of other methods, and we made it super simple to use", said Mark Kanter, co-founder of PodcastSPOTS. PodcastSPOTS lets podcasters and musicians share in revenue from advertising. With PodcastSPOTS ad insertion system, ads surround artists’ songs when included in a podcast. Additionally, the site lets artists and podcasters work out other deals. For instance, a songwriter can earn money from commercial-free downloads of their songs and pay the podcaster that aired their song, all, some, or none of that revenue. Alternately, a podcaster could pay an artist for the right to play their song in their podcasts. Posted by jlewin at 05:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack July 04, 2005Review: Podcasting: The Do-It-yourself GuideTodd Cochrane's Podcasting: The Do-It-yourself Guide is the first book published on listening to and creating podcasts. It's an easy read, covers a lot of ground, and has enough information that podcasters at all levels of experience should be able to learn from it. Cochrane's Geek News Central is a popular tech blog. His podcast is an extension of his site, and with this book he shares what he's learned from his experiences creating a regular podcast. In addition to this review, we've arranged with the publisher to make a sample chapter available, Producing a Podcast with the Gear You Own Today. You can preview the book online, or download the sample chapter as a PDF for printing. The book is broken down into five sections:
The first section, Listening to the Podcast Revolution, looks at what podcasting is and discusses getting started with podcasts. It provides a good overview of the podcast clients that are available on Windows, Mac and Linux. Charts lay out the features of various applications, and short descriptions and screen captures of the podcast clients provide additional information. This section also looks at finding podcasts, introducing some directory options and using a podcast client to subscribe. The next section, Joining the Revolution: Your Own Podcast, looks at things to consider before you create a podcast. A chapter on Choosing Your Podcast Format covers a lot of ground and introduces many of the ideas and issues that podcasters need to be aware of before jumping into podcasting seriously. He also delves into creating a podcast setup with only minimal expense, and then creating a semi-pro podcasting setup. The third section, Recording Your Podcast and Performing Postproduction Tasks is where Cochrane gets into the nitty-gritty of recording your audio. Audacity is covered fairly deeply in this section, along with details like getting levels right, normalizing and file naming. In this section, Cochrane does a great job of covering what works for him. A new podcaster should be able to use this as a guide to get started and also to avoid many potential pitfalls. The fourth section, Hosting and Preparing to Publish Your Podcast, looks at requirements for podcast hosting. It also does a great job at looking at the issue of bandwidth. This isn't something fun or exciting for new podcasters to think about, but it's certain be a topic of interest when your podcast takes off and your web host starts billing you for excess bandwidth use! Cochrane also discusses creating your podcast newsfeed. This section looks seriously at using Blogger, Movable Type, or Radio Userland for creating blog-based podcasts. The final section, It's Show Time, looks at the last steps in the process, uploading files, promoting your podcast, and advertising. This section is the shortest, perhaps because this is an area, especially advertising and promotion, that is rapidly evolving. Cochrane's book is a good read and a recommended purchase for anyone seriously interested in podcasting. There are a few areas, though, where there's room for improvement. The book does very little to get potential podcasters interested in podcasting. The first chapter only discusses four podcasts in any depth. It would have been helpful to have an exploration of more podcasts, a discussion of why people are podcasting and a deeper look at the podcasting phenomenon. This would give potential readers more of a reason to get excited about reading the rest of the book. Cochrane's book also has a fairly strong Windows bias. Early on, Cochrane notes "Prior to writing this book, the closest I ever got to a Mac was when I walked by someone with one." Unfortunately, this is reflected in the book. There's no discussion of Garageband, which many podcasters are using. The Linux coverage is limited even further. Mac and Linux users are likely to be disappointed by the book's operating system-specific coverage. One final caveat is that Cochrane makes several hardware recommendations without much explanation. He recommends spending up to half your budget on a good microphone, and purchasing hardware compressors and effects. More discussion would help readers determine if a $500 mic purchase makes sense for them. Besides these concerns, Todd Cochrane's Podcasting: The Do-It-Yourself Guide is well worth the $19.99 list price. It covers a lot of information, and should provide most podcasters with food for thought. Windows users especially should find this to be just the ticket for getting started with podcasting. More advanced podcasters are likely to find answers to some of their questions, along with a lot of information that should help them make the most of their podcasting efforts. Posted by jlewin at 11:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack July 03, 2005Transcript: Steve Jobs on Podcasting
ABC News, Disney Online and ESPN.com, all members of Disney's media conglomerate, are featured podcast sources at Apple's iTunes Music Store. In the interview, Jobs discusses commercializing podcasts, what is excluded from the iTunes directory and video iPods. Interview TranscriptABC: Joining us to talk about Apple's new announcement is Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. Steve, welcome. Jobs: Thanks for having me. ABC: So here's a quick question. There are going to be 3,000 free audio programs available, making it one of the largest podcast directories in the world. Why are they going to be free? Jobs: Podcasting has been free since the beginning. It's been an emerging phenomenon that has been growing very rapidly. But we're hoping to take it mainstream with the latest version of iTunes, which has everything you need to podcast built right in it. So podcasts - I think they're gonna remain free. Although, I do think we may start to see some advertising tagged onto them in the coming months. ABC: Now, I know it's companies like Disney and ESPN and ABC News, (but there) are also gonna be various contributors like the Dawn and Drew Show and Newsweek and some NPR member stations. Are there gonna be individuals who are able to contribute to this? Will the average man or woman who has their own podcast on their home computer and sends it out on their Web site, are they gonna be part of the directory? Jobs: We have over 3,000 podcasts in the directory, today at launch. And, and I'm sure you know, hundreds more are flooding in as we speak. And, yeah, they range from professional podcasts from Disney - we've got one up there with, which is our New Music Tuesdays about our new music on the iTunes Music Store - all the way to really, you know, sort of the Wayne's World of radio. You know, somebody in their garage making a podcast talking about you know, what's on their mind, whether it's their commentary on new movies that have come out in the last few weeks to whatever. And so there's a wide range. ABC: Is the philosophy behind what is allowed to be offered on iTunes - I mean, the Internet, as you know, is - is complete and utter freedom. You can put up there almost anything you wanna put up there. And mostly that's a great thing. But there is a certain degree of anarchy involved with that. Is that the same philosophy when it comes to the podcasts that are gonna be available? ABC: How big do you expect podcasting to get? How do you, say, envision this technology being used in three years, four years? Jobs: Well, you know, it's amazing. I think one of the most precious resources we all have these days is free time. And that's one of the great things about an iPod is you can use it while you're doing other stuff. So you can use it while you're exercising. You can use it while you're taking the subway to work— driving to work, et cetera. And what podcasting does is it lets me pick out those precise things I'm interested in. Whether it's a podcast on new films that have just come out, on news, on music, whatever. And it automatically every time there's a new episode of that particular show, puts it on iTunes and syncs it to my iPod. So without any work on my part whatsoever, when I'm driving to work tomorrow, the latest and greatest episodes of the podcasts that I've picked are right on my iPod, saving me a ton of time. And it's the most personalized thing we've ever done. 'Cause you get to pick of these 3,000 podcasts, you know, who knows? Maybe there'll be 10,000 podcasts soon. You get to pick which ones you're interested in. And, again, have the latest episodes delivered right to your iPod. And that's that's pretty profound when you think about it. ABC: Apple's obviously been a huge player in all sorts of technological advancements. You guys launched the personal computer revolution in the '70s with the Apple II. You reinvented in the '80s with the Mac. Some critics of your company say that Apple is currently betting the company on iPod. And computer sales are not as important. Do you think that's a fair criticism? How do you respond to that? Jobs: All I can say is that our Macintosh computer sales are growing at three to four times the rate of the rest of the industry. And we continue to be the leader in innovation. I think everybody's copying us. So, we're working really hard to make the best personal computers in the world. And we're working very hard to make the best portable digital music players in the world. And I think both are very important to us. ABC: When are we gonna see a video iPod? What and what are the other future developments for the iPod? Jobs: Well, you know us. We never talk about future products. There used to be a saying at Apple: Isn't it funny? A ship that leaks from the top. So, I don't wanna perpetuate that. So I really can't say. ABC: Okay. Well, Steve Jobs, thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate it. Jobs: Well, thanks for having me. And I hope you (and) everybody out there gets a chance to go to the iTunes Music Store and check out the new podcast directory and subscribe to a few podcasts today. Posted by jlewin at 07:44 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack July 02, 2005Blog Reveals Bush Advisor Rove Exposed CIA Agent's Identity
"Karl Rove was Matt Cooper's source," states O'Donnell. "I have known this for months but didn't want to say it at a time that would risk me getting dragged into the grand jury." If the revelation turn out to be accurate, "RoveGate" may join other recent controversies as tests of the power of blogs, podcasts and other Internet media to force stories into the mainstream news. Karl Rove: Traitor for Politics? Many have suggested that Plame was outed by the White House in retaliation for her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, charging that the Bush administration lied to the American people about US intelligence concerning weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Wilson had been sent to Niger to investigate documents that implied Iraq had attempted to illegally purchase uranium. Wilson reported to the CIA and the State Department that the information was "unequivocally wrong" and that the documents had been forged. The discredited information was used in the President's State of the Union address to support his Weapons of Mass Destruction case against Iraq. In early October 2003, Newsweek reported that Rove had called MSNBC Hardball host Chris Matthews and told him that Wilson's wife was "fair game". White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters at the time that any suggestion that Rove had played a role in outing Plame was "totally ridiculous." Because of the confidential nature of Plame's role, it's unknown whether any lives were lost as a result of her outing. At a minimum, her exposure eliminated her value as a CIA operative. The exposure of a covert government agent would violate the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years. Google Search Revealed Yellowcake Forgeries According to an article on the forged "Yellowcake" documents at WikiPedia, it took International Atomic Energy Agency officials only a matter of hours to determine that the documents Wilson had discredited were fake. Using little more than a Google search, IAEA experts discovered indications of a crude forgery, such as the use of incorrect names of Niger officials. As a result, the IAEA reported to the U.N. Security Council that the documents were "in fact not authentic." Vincent Cannistaro, the former head of counterterrorism operations at the CIA and the intelligence director at the National Security Council under Ronald Reagan, has suggested that "The documents were fabricated by supporters of the policy in the United States. The policy being that you had to invade Iraq in order to get rid of Saddam Hussein..." Worse than Watergate? Wilson charged that his wife's CIA association had been deliberately exposed by the White House in order to destroy her career, in retaliation for his public charge that the Bush administration had lied to the American people about U.S. intelligence concerning weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. In an article in The New York Times on 6 July 2003, Wilson denounced the Bush administration, saying that "some of the intelligence related to Iraq's nuclear program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat." In an article at Salon, John Dean, counsel to President Nixon, has stated "In blowing the cover of CIA agent Valerie Plame to take political revenge on her husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, for telling the truth, Bush's people have out-Nixoned Nixon's people. And my former colleagues were not amateurs by any means." Posted by jlewin at 07:01 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack iTunes Exposure Multiplies KCRW Podcast Downloads 35 TimesIn an interview with the LA Times, KCRW-FM General Manager Ruth Seymour reveals that iTunes exposure increased their downloads in one day from from 3,500 a day to 100,000. "We're reeling, trying to figure out what this means," Seymour said. KCRW public radio's podcasts are featured prominently in the new iTunes podcasting area. Seymour expects that the station may raise an additional $1 million a year from podcast listeners. Already, Internet radio aficionados outside of Los Angeles make up 12% of KCRW's donors. KCRW plans to solicit more underwriters by offering to mention companies at the beginning of podcasts. Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus brand paid tens of thousands of dollars last month to have the company's name mentioned for six months in KCRW podcasts, on the station's website, on the air and at a concert. Source: LA Times (subscription) Posted by jlewin at 11:52 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack Virgin Podcasting Guide to New York
The podcasts take a look at top restaurants, an insider's guide to shopping, a guide to the quirky side of the city and the 10 best things to do for the first-time visitor. "Podcasting gives us a fantastic opportunity to communicate with our customers in a new and innovative way," notes Virgin's Breda Bubear. "We believe that providing traveller with relevant destination content will help them to plan their trip. And giving it to them in a portable format will enable them to make the most of their time away." Posted by jlewin at 11:34 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack Podcast, Bloody PodcastBlack Sabbath Online has announced a new podcast by Bill Ward, founding member and drummer for the pioneering metal group. The podcast features Bill Ward's audio diaries while on tour with Black Sabbath in 2005. Bill Ward Audio Diary Podcast Details Posted by jlewin at 11:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack July 01, 2005Tiki Bar TV Returns - With the Intoxicating Checker ChallengeTiki Bar TV is back after an extended hiatus, with a new video podcast of the Checker Challenge.
The show previously has featured "forbidden cocktails and swingin babes in a swank bachelor pad". In this episode, Tiki Bar TV takes a break from its usual format to cover the Checker Challenge. Dr. Tiki provides the play-by-play of the competitive drinking match between Lala and Limey for the Tiki Trophy. Recipes are provided for all the drinks featured in the Challenge. Tiki Bar TV is produced by Reginald Horstein for Tiki Bar TV Worldwide Entertainment Incorporated. Posted by jlewin at 06:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack CopyPod Updated to Version 7.10
Version 7.10 includes fully automated song import into iTunes, preserving playlists, ratings, play counts and date last played. An incremental backup feature lets you to keep your backup synchronized. CopyPod is designed to make it easy to transfer your iPod's music library from your iPod to your PC, directly into iTunes without losing ratings, playlists and play counts. Posted by jlewin at 05:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack James Bond Gets a PodcastCommanderBond.net has announced the first James Bond, 007, podcast. The first episode, presented by Evan Willnow, is an audio version of the site's latest Dossier report, written by Heiko Baumann. CommanderBond.net is dedicated anything Bond, including the books, films, games, music, interviews and events. Posted by jlewin at 05:51 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack iPodder Team Offers Tips to Avoid "Podsphere Meltdown"
Symptoms of this problem are errors in the log such as "timeout", "can't grab", "DNS lookup failure" and lots of failed downloads. Tips for Surviving "Podsphere Meltdown"
Source: iPodder Forum Posted by jlewin at 02:07 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack Extreme Podcasting: Podcasting With Robots
"We control the movement and recording over wifi," explains Male. "When we tell the robot to stop recording, the software (called Podcast Wizard) automatically uploads the audio and updates the RSS feed for the podcast." Podbot is built around a tablet pc with WiFi connectivity, allowing it to be remote-controlled wirelessly. Podbot runs a piece of software called Podcast Wizard. The software, combined with the custom hardware, makes it possible to remotely control and record podcasts, save them to Podbot's hard drive, and upload them to a web server. "It has been a real hit at the conference, lots of people coming up to see what it does," adds Male. "It worked really well at the Seattle Public Library last night (for the conference networking event) and we posted four or five recordings on the podcast."
Male explains the bizarre origin of Podbot: "I suggested having a motorized garbage can that had a microphone so it could podcast, and the idea was born! We thought that it would be neat to take to Gnomedex (which we had recently registered for), so we set the conference as our deadline." More information on Podbot is available at the Podcast Wizard site. Specifications Length: 21 inches Maximum Speed: A little slower than walking speed... Battery Life (motors): An extremely long time... Frame The frame of the Podbot is made of wood and sheet metal. The base of the robot is 3/4" plywood, cut to our size specifications. The side and rear panels are made of sheet metal. The front panel is made of wood and plexiglass, cut to the size of the screen. Movement The Podbot is powered by two servo motors, one for each of the rear wheels. The front wheel is an unpowered caster wheel. The two servo motors had to be modified to give us 360 degree rotation. Brains A Toshiba Portege M200 Tablet PC provides the brains behind the Podbot. The tablet interfaces with a custom-built micro-controller for communicating with the two servo motors to control movement. Resources Posted by jlewin at 12:31 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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Copyright 2004-5 Podcasting News
MSNBC has taken the leap into podcasting, adding a dozen audio shows in MP3 format. 
Apple is running a 
Apple has released an update to GarageBand, a Mac-based recording application popular among musicians and podcasters. 
Kedou the bear sends word about his podcast, The Kedou Chronicles.
The 
Beyond Media East Broadcasting, of Lancaster, PA, has introduced Phillies Weekly. 
XS4ALL (access for all), a Dutch Internet service provider, has added podcasting service for its subscribers. The podcasting service combines and simplifies the technical steps which podcasters have to take to publish a podcast.
Apple has announced enhancements to its Mac mini line, the most affordable and compact Mac ever, with 512MB of memory standard in every model and prices starting at just $499. The Mac mini also features built-in wireless networking with AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth starting at just $599, and the ability to burn DVDs with a SuperDrive for just $699.
Dave Winer, a prolific developer and writer best known for his influential work with blogging and syndication formats, has released the OPML Editor, an application that he describes as "a platform for outline-based applications".
On the road to Indianapolis, we stopped at the 
Numark was showing the iDJ, a mixing console based around two iPods. It lets you use the two iPods for audio sources, mix between them, and input additional sources via a microphone or line-level connections. The iPods' front buttons are replicated as large knobs on the iDJ, creating a great hands-on tool for working with them.
At the Hammond Organ booth, we talked to jazz organist 
The C01U condenser microphone features a 19mm internal shock-mounted diaphragm with a cardioid pick up pattern ensuring pristine studio quality recordings.
The BBC sends word that they are interested in hearing from podcasters who would like to contribute to one of their shows.
The 
Sonos, developer of the Sonos Digital Music System, has announced the immediate availability of a software feature update that gives Sonos customers more ways to control their digital music and more content to listen to in every room of the house. Version 1.2 Sonos software includes the addition of a Sonos Desktop Controller for Mac users and support for Windows Media Audio (WMA) Internet radio stations.
TBS has added a Pauly Shore podcast, 
Podblaze has published a whitepaper on podcasting,
Rhythm Science, by Paul D. Miller, AKA DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid, is a fascinating and challenging book that should appeal to anyone interested in the challenges and opportunites surrounding the creation and reuse of content in the digital age. It explores Miller's ideas about Rhythm Science - the creation of art from the flow of patterns in culture.
Apparently, Microsoft employees, being clever people, couldn't tap-dance too long, terminologically, before they came up with their own clever term for that technology-that-shall-not-be-named: blogcasting.
Parliant Corp has introduced PhoneValet Podcast, a software product extension to the PhoneValet Message Center 3.0 telecommunications hub for small businesses, homes and home offices, also being shown at MacWorld Boston.
WeightCasters podcasts feature the Nutrition Twins (right), Tammy Lakatos Shames and Elysse ("Lyssie") Lakatos; trainers Michael LaFratta and Kimberly Richmond; and executive chef Chris Rivard.
The Odeo blog has announced that the site is now available. The site is designed to make it easy to listen to, sync and create podcasts. 
Apple's Steve Jobs recently did an interview with ABC News's Jake Tapper. You can 
In a post at 
Virgin Atlantic has announced a series of podcast guides for travellers. The first podcast series is for travellers to New York. 
CopyPod, a backup and recovery application for iPods, has been updated to version 7.10.
At the recent Gnomedex conference, held June 23-25 in Seattle, Washington, Mack D. Male and Dickson Wong debuted Podbot, the world's first podcasting robot.