Apple’s set to make a new batch of hyped-up introductions today.

Here’s something they probably won’t be introducing, though – the iVinyl portable turntable.

Internet video site Joost today launched its new Flash-based web video service and introduced social networking tools designed to make it easier to share and find videos.

“People have always relied on their friends’ recommendations to figure out which movies they want to watch, or talked about their favorite TV shows and moments with friends and colleagues,” said Joost CEO Mike Volpi, CEO. “ Joost has combined those real-life experiences in one online destination.”

The new website features a number of ways that people can interact with video and with other people on Joost:

• voice opinions about video through comments;
• add “shouts” or tags;
• find out what friends are watching by adding friends through most major online webmail services; 
• interact with others in the Joost community through groups around favorite shows, characters or artists.

Also new is the “JoostFeed”, which aggregates all of the activities that are happening on Joost in order to help guide a person’s Joost experience.

The JoostFeed is viewable on Joost or can be exported to any online social tool or website. Joost also is working with a number of third-party platforms, including Boxee, chumby, Delicious, Digg, FriendFeed, Lifestream, Meebo, Mister Wong, Netlog, Netvibes, reddit and VideoSurf, to make it easier for people to use and access Joost across the web. In addition, Joost will implement Facebook Connect, which allows people to enjoy Joost within the context of their real identity and friendships on Facebook.

While the Flash-based video player is a big improvement, Joost still makes several missteps with its site.

The site plays an intrusive animation every time you visit the home page, instead of delivering useful tools. In addition, watching videos requires signing up for account.

The makers of the Flip Video family of camcorders have announced a new personalization platform that lets you design a custom Flip Mino camcorder.

This new service, created in partnership with CafePress, also gives you the option to share designs with the community to earn commissions. 

“We created the Flip Mino to be a fun and simple way for people to share their stories with video. And now they can express themselves not only with the videos they record, but the camcorders they use,” said Pure Digital CEO, Jonathan Kaplan. “We see this as the new design frontier in personal electronics.”

Users can choose from thousands of designs from artists, leading design firms, celebrities, and iconic brands, or they can upload their own image to create a one-of-a-kind camcorder. CafePress users have the ability to design Flip Mino camcorders to sell on www.cafepress.com or www.theflip.com,

The Flip Mino features an internal rechargeable battery and 2GB of on-board flash memory for 60 minutes of video. The Flip Mino retails for $179.99. Flip camcorders are compatible with Windows software and Apple’s Mac video applications.

While the pundits may still be debating who the political fallout of the Biden/Palin Vice Presidential Candidate Debate, it looks like Tina Fey, Saturday Night Live and new media are the real winners. 

Tina Fey’s impression of Sarah Palin has been hugely popular, big enough to influence the future of television. According to Integrated Media Measurement (IMMI), twice as many people saw Tina Fey’s routine online as watched it on television. 

Among all the people who saw at least one of the three SNL Tina Fey sketches, 33% watched it on television during the original broadcast and 67% watched after the original broadcast either online or on a DVR.

“This is the first time we’ve seen delayed viewing numbers this big,” said Amanda Welsh, head of research for San Mateo, Calif.-based IMMI. “Usually it’s the other way around, with the overwhelming majority of viewing occurring during the actual broadcast.”

“Because of the multiple media platforms available to consumers, it is becoming increasingly easier to propagate viewing around the world–which, as was the case here, far exceeded the original viewership,” she added.

People’s attention is moving online – and viral videos like the Tina Fey Sarah Palin sketches are getting bigger audiences online than offline.

SNL sees the writing on the wall: if the audience is online, that’s where the money is going to be, so SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels is in talks to develop an Internet video destination based on the show.

Wine Library‘s Gary Vaynerchuk hits the nail on the head with this awesome rant on the state of advertising in the economic downturn.

A new scientific study brings bad news for iPod lovers. 

The report found that those who listened for five hours a week at high-volume settings exposed themselves to more noise than permitted in the noisiest factory or work place. The study also warns that people may not realize the damage until years later.

“Regularly listening to personal music players at high-volume settings when young,” the report said, “often has no immediate effect on hearing but is likely to result in hearing loss later in life.”

Users listening at high volumes for more than an hour a day each week risk permanent hearing loss after five years. This is equivalent to 5 percent to 10 percent of the listeners, the study concluded.

“Some authors stress that if young people continue to listen to music for long periods of time and at high volume levels during several years, they run the risk of developing hearing loss by the time they reach their mid-twenties,” the report said. “Among young people, there are many reports of temporary or persistent tinnitus induced by loud music, but very few studies have focused on the relationship between the use of personal music players and tinnitus.”

Two PodCamps are coming up in October: PodCamp Pittsburgh, which is known for having the best parties in the world, and the inaugural PodCamp Hawaii. 

PodCamp Pittsburgh 3 will take place on October 18 and 19, 2008, with a meet-and-greet the evening of October 17.

WHEN: October 18 and 19, 9am to 4pm each day
WHERE: Art Institute of Pittsburgh, 420 Boulevard of the Allies, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 (map/directions)
COST: free!

PodCamp Hawaii is a Honolulu unconference for Hawaii, U.S., and Pacific Rim organizations and individuals interested in podcasting, blogging, and creating new media for the Internet. 

WHEN: Oct. 24-25, 2008 
WHERE:  Hawaii Convention Center, 1801 Kalakaua Avenue, Honolulu, HI 96815 
COST: free!

The PodCamp Hawaii team made this video to let you know what it’s all about:

Ever want to embed a YouTube video, but skip the boring parts?

Here’s how you can do it. 

YouTube’s embedded player has a parameter that you can use to specify the number of seconds that should be skipped before starting to play the video.

Just add &start=[number of seconds from the start of the video] to both URLs in the embed code.

Here’s an example – the video of vp candidate Sarah Palin taking part in a ceremony for protection against witchcraft:

The interesting part is a little over 8 minutes into the video. Because &start=506 has been added to the embed code, the video starts well into the video. Here’s what the updated coded looks like:

value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/TkViRp6W5oE&hl=en&fs=1&start=506“

via Google OS

The New York Times reports that CBS anchor Katie Couric is getting a bump from her presence on the Internet:

Katie Couric has been the most watched, most talked-about network news anchor this election season. Just not necessarily on CBS.

Consider that the three most popular YouTube videos of her interviews with Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, have been seen nearly six million times over the last two weeks, far more than similar interviews with Ms. Palin by others.

After years of speculation about whether young (or even middle-aged) viewers will ever again turn on a dinnertime network newscast, Ms. Couric and her producers appear to have made an end run around the network itself. By getting their best programming (or at least excerpts of it) online, they may have seized on a template for the not-so-distant future, tapping into the Web as a neon road sign directing traffic to their network broadcasts and perhaps, eventually, as a destination in itself.

Couric’s Palin interviews were a rare opportunity, and have gone nucular on YouTube. 

But their popularity, and the way they’ve brought new respect to Couric, highlight the fact that the mainstream networks have a long way to go to really take advantage of the Internet.

They need to put their content where people’s attention is moving and they need to package their content in viral bite-size chunks. Expect CBS to be making a lot better use of YouTube after the response to the Couric-Palin interviews.

i.TV – the iPhone TV Guide – has become the top App Store application after only being available three days. 

i.TV (App Store link) is a TV and movie guide application for the iPhone and iPod touch that lets you find comprehensive info on the latest TV shows and new movies, based on your current location.

Here’s a rundown of i.TV’s features:

• TV and movie listings based on your current location and other customizable profile settings. The service provides rich background information for most programs, including celebrity photos, biographies, show synopses, ratings, and reviews.
• Advanced sort options that make it easy to organize television listings according to categories such as channel, show, and genre. Additionally, customers can use built-in filtering capabilities to exclude information from their listings, such as adult content.
• View a large selection of movie trailers and television previews that can be streamed directly to their device.

i.TV is a free download for the iPhone and iPod touch, available in the US and Canada.