SporeTV (iTunes link) is a new video podcast from Electronic Arts that looks at the hugely hyped video game Spore. 

The first episode is a discussion of the development of Spore with creator Will Wright.

Roku, maker of the Roku Netflix Player, says that it’s going to open up its platform to any content provider over the next few months:

“We’re opening up the platform to anyone who wants to put their video service on this box,” says Roku CEO Anthony Wood, speaking at Streaming Media West. “We’re going to release the software developer kit, so anyone can publish any channel, and users can access web content on their TVs.”

Wood didn’t announce a specific date for this but says that its something that the company is working on. 

The market for Internet television devices has stagnated over the last couple of years, because they are relatively limited in what you can access compared to what you can view on a personal computer. Opening the Player could help change that. 

via Wired

A tale of love, expressed in iPod words.

Produced and directed by Paolo Tosolini and Silvia Tosolini, Creative Commons license.

Apple has announced iPhone Developer University – a new program designed to help educational institutions create curriculum for developing iPhone applications. 

The iPhone Developer University Program is a free program designed for higher education institutions looking to introduce curriculum for developing iPhone or iPod touch applications.

The University Program provides development resources, tools for testing and debugging, and the ability to share applications within the same development team.

Institutions can also submit applications for distribution in the App Store.

If you think we’ve got an explosion of iPhone apps now, wait until the effects of this kick in.

via Cnet

Viper’s Video Quicktags is a free WordPress plugin that is designed to make embedding videos into blogs quick and easy. 

You can fully configure how the videos are displayed (width, height, colors, alignment on the page) and more. 

Video Quicktags currently supports these video sites:

• YouTube (including playlists)
• Google Video
• DailyMotion
• Vimeo
• Veoh
• Viddler
• Metacafe
• Blip.tv
• Flickr videos
• Spike.com/IFILM
• MySpaceTV

As well as these file types:

• Flash Video Files (FLV)
• QuickTime (MOV, etc.)
• Generic video files (AVI, MPEG, WMV, etc.)

You can also use the [flash] shortcode to Flash-based video from any website (see Help section after installing for details.

Popular Internet television site Hulu today introduced two new features. The first, Channels, aims to simplify navigation, while the second, Discussion Boards, introduces a social media aspect to the site. 

Here’s what Hulu has to say about the two new features:

Our new, genre-based channels let you explore Hulu videos in a whole new way. Choose your favorite subject and discover all the videos Hulu has to offer. You can get a look at the new channels from our home page — just hover your mouse over the new “Channels” menu near the top of our home page, and an interactive channel list will pop up — or click through to the Channels Page, where you’ll find categories like Anime, featuring the ninjas from Naruto, the deadly notebook from Death Note, and the primeval Mushi-Shi; and Food and Leisure, with recipes from such Food Network shows as Everyday Italian with Giada De Laurentiis and 30 Minute Meals with Rachael Ray. You can browse by video or by show or movie title, and use the filters on the right to sort by most popular, recently added or title.

Hulu fans have a lot to say about their favorite shows and movies. To make it easier to share ideas, discuss storylines and get the scoop on your favorite stars, we’ve introduced Hulu discussion boards. You can get started on any show page — a new “Discussions” tab now appears underneath the video player — and start a new thread about Dr. Greene’s upcoming appearance on ER, join in on the discussion about the pseudoscience on Fringe, or debate which Heroes villain has best superpower. 

While these are welcome additions, they seem like baby steps to enhance the site functionality. 

Hulu is the leading Internet television site, but it’s focused on the television part of that equation at the expense of the Internet side.

They need to extend their functionality by including additional social networking features, live discussions about the show, Mystery Science Theater style end user overdubs and other features that would turn the site into more than just a tool for watching TV shows. 

Internet television is still brand new and there’s plenty of room for experimentation and innovation.

The Pulitzer Center has announced Project: Report, a citizen journalism contest intended to encourage non-professional journalists to use YouTube tell stories not covered by traditional media. 

In each of the three rounds of Project: Report, reporters will be given an assignment to complete. Winners of each round will receive technology prizes from Sony VAIO & Intel, and the grand prize winner will be granted a $10,000 journalism fellowship from the Pulitzer Center to report on story outside their home country. 

“Central to the Pulitzer Center’s mission is coverage of stories that are being under-reported in today’s media environment,” said Jon Sawyer, executive director of the Pulitzer Center. “With YouTube’s global reach and popularity we have the unique opportunity to offer a program that encourages aspiring journalists to tell these stories in a fresh and compelling way.”

 Alex Sokirynsky, developer of Podcaster, a podcast client for the iPhone, is making the switch to Google’s Android smartphone platform. 

Apple banned Podcaster from being sold in the App Store because “it duplicates the functionality of the Podcast section of iTunes.”

“It seems that Apple has shut me down,” says Sokirynsky. “All I wanted was for someone from Apple to contact me and tell me how we can work it out so that I get into the app store.”

At GigaOm, John Sangiovanni offers his take on the emergence of a new category of phone, the superphone:

The product that created and continues to define the superphone category is the iPhone. The iPhone offers an elegant user interface powered by an impressive array of integrated hardware, all wrapped up in a masterwork of industrial design. 

He goes on to offer superphone requirements:

Hardware

• Display with at least 320 pixels on the short axis
• 3G connectivity or greater (plus additional radios as appropriate…Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.)
• Location-sensing technology (GPS, high-resolution signal-strength-based location, or equivalent)
• Hardware-accelerated graphics subsystem

Platform

• Integrated web browser that supports current desktop development standards
• Published native developer SDK that allows programmatic access to the specialized hardware/software features listed above.

Distribution

• Integrated process for certification and searchable catalog distribution of 3rd-party applications. (Many will add that having a truly open distribution channel would be ideal, and I agree. However, through the publication of Zumobi’s iPhone app, we have found Apple’s AppStore certification process to be efficient and transparent.)

In reality, what Apple has done with the iPhone is not create a superphone – but a hyperportable computer. The defining aspects of the iPhone have nothing to do with its phone capabilities, which are pretty modest, and have everything to do with its power as a mobile computer. 

There’s going to be lots of talk over the next few years about Android, Blackberry and Microsoft phones moving into the hyperportable computer category, and they’ll all be called iPhone-killers at some time or another. 

If they try to compete as superphones, though, they’ll end up as iPhone wannabees.

Instead, they must focus on becoming hyperportable computing platforms – and face the challenge of competing with Apple’s unmatched operating systems.

CBS has launched EyeMobile (iTunes link) – a free citizen media iPhone application. The application lets you browse the latest CBS new reports, but also lets you contribute to news coverage by submitting images. 

EyeMobile is part of CBSEyeMobile.com‘s take on social media news. 

• The iPhone/Web site combination lets you:
• submit images as you capture news;
• build your coverage with stories about the photos;
• track discussion of your stories;
• discuss other citizen media stories;
• track CBS EyeMobile coverage of past events.