Alesis has introduced the ProTrack, a device that turns an iPod into a professional handheld digital stereo recorder.

Two high-quality condenser microphones are built-in, fixed in XY stereo configuration. ProTrack also offers users a pair of combination XLR – 1/4-inch inputs for connection for external microphones and line sources. When running on plug-in power using the included AC adapter, ProTrack supplies 48V phantom power so that it can power condenser microphones.

ProTrack’s exterior contains a Universal Dock for iPod, LED signal indicators, and controls for 48V phantom power, limiter, and volume. Four AAA alkaline batteries provide four to five hours of operation. A threaded mount is integrated for tabletop use on a camera tripod.

The Alesis ProTrack will be available Q3, 2008. No pricing has been announced.

Time‘s Jeremy Caplan writes that the “iPhone’s next frontier” is – OMG! – porn.

iPhone porn that threatens today’s youth.

Check out the drippingly lurid intro to Caplan’s article:

“Apple may be golden because of the iPhone, but the soon-to-be-updated device is also increasingly the source of forbidden fruit. Steve Jobs’ company is keeping a civil, if embarrassed, silence on one of the potentially most lucrative and controversial uses of its handheld jewel: porn.

The technological feats of the 3G iPhone are key to the coming pornucopia.”

Caplan tries pretty hard to get us excited about the “coming pornucopia”, but we’re not convinced:

“The new iPhone may eventually propel mobile porn deeper into the sphere of interactivity.”

This guy seriously needs to get out more, don’t you think?

YouTube has announced that it’s going to test out hosting long-form videos and even full-length movies, with its new site feature The YouTube Screening Room.

As Internet videos get longer, though, viewing them on your computer starts to look pretty lame. Fortunately, there are a growing number of ways you can get YouTube and other Internet videos onto your TV.

Here are five options for watching YouTube videos on your television:

1. Apple has helped pioneer the idea of turning Internet video into Internet television with its Apple TV set top box. It gives you access to millions of free videos, including the top featured, most viewed, and top rated. Apple TV also lets you rent and purchase movies from iTunes, and play your own media.
2. TiVo has introduced YouTube support also. In March, it announced that YouTube support will be available later this year to broadband-connected subscribers with TiVo Series3 DVRs, including the new TiVo HD, which retails for around $299. This offers DVR features missing from Apple’s solution.
3. Sony’s Bravia Internet Video Link is a small module that attaches to the back of a selection of the company’s BRAVIA LCD flat-panel television models, giving them support for Internet television, including YouTube. A broadband connection of at least 2.5 Mbps is recommended. The Bravia Internet Video Link retails for about $300.
4. HP MediaSmart TV is sort of like Apple TV for Windows users, except that it’s integrated with HP’s HDTVs. It lets you access content on PCs, shared with Windows Media Player 11, and lets also access free and commercial Internet video content, including YouTube. Other HDTV manufacturers, including Panasonic, have introduced solutions based on this concept.
5. Finally, there’s Verismo Networks‘ PoD. It’s sort of a poor-man’s Apple TV. The $99 device uses your broadband connection to deliver Internet television to your HD TV. It can play videos from YouTube, BitTorrent and other sources, without the need for a PC.

Apple today announced that it had sold over five billion songs from the iTunes Store.

The company also announced that iTunes customers are now renting and purchasing over 50,000 movies every day, making iTunes the world’s most popular online movie store.

Apple said in a statement that its iTunes Store is now the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store, with a catalog of over eight million songs, over 20,000 TV episodes and over 2,000 films.

YouTube has announced The YouTube Screening Room, a dedicated area on YouTube that will showcase an international selection of films.

The YouTube Screening Room will feature four new high-quality short films every two weeks, as well as feature-length films on a case-by-case basis.

Filmmakers will have the opportunity to submit their work for consideration through an online submission process. YouTube says that his will create new business opportunities for filmmakers and bring films to YouTube users that they otherwise wouldn’t see.

People will be able to communicate directly with filmmakers to share thoughts, exchange opinions with fans, and provide honest feedback using YouTube’s features to comment, rate, and share films. The YouTube Screening Room will also include a “Buy Now” button, allowing filmmakers to link to websites selling DVDs and digital downloads of their films, as well as a High Quality player, which offers users the best viewing experience possible.

Here’s an example, Our Time Is Up. Watch for a cameo from Lost‘s Jose Garcia (Hurley):

“One of the fantastic things about the digital present is that means of production are so much more egalitarian than in the past,” said Moby, whose MobyGratis program allows filmmakers to use his music in their films for free. “The YouTube Screening Room is about empowering filmmakers and helping them get their work seen. What drives good artists, both filmmakers and musicians, is to create something they love and have other people experience it.”

Microsoft has announced that it’s going to keep its MSN Music authorization servers, currently on life support, alive for three more years.

Here’s Microsoft’s emails to customers:

“On April 22, Microsoft notified you that as of August 31st, 2008, we would be changing the level of support for music purchased from MSN Music, and while your existing purchased music would continue to play, you would no longer be able to authorize new PCs and devices to play that music.

After careful consideration, Microsoft has decided to continue to support the authorization of new computers and devices and delivery of new license keys for MSN Music customers through at least the end of 2011, after which we will evaluate how much this functionality is still being used and what steps should be taken next to support our customers. This means you will continue to be able to listen to your purchased music and transfer your music to new PCs and devices beyond the previously announced August 31, 2008 date.

Microsoft continues to recommend that you back up your music on CD or hard drive along with other important data.”

If you bought music downloads from Microsoft’s service, you should be able to continue to listen to the music and put it on new devices or machines through 2011.

Or you could burn the tracks to a CD, rip it and say goodbye to Microsoft’s DRM’d music forever.

Some people are wondering about the prospects for the iPhone 3G – because 91% of Japanese reportedly will not buy an iPhone!

Tech-On reports:

“According to a survey by iSHARE, 91.0% of Japanese mobile phone users are not planning to purchase Apple Inc’s “iPhone” mobile phone.

This research was conducted in the wake of the announcement by SoftBank Mobile Corp that it will release the iPhone in Japan (See related article). Targeting Internet users aged primarily 20 to 49, iSHARE asked questions about their intention to purchase an iPhone, as well as other questions and received 402 responses over the Internet.”

Ars Technica says that this “doesn’t paint a great picture for the iPhone’s chances in Japan”, while Electronista says “the iPhone 3G isn’t likely to get an immediate footing in the country”.

Before you go selling your Apple stock, though, you may want to check this article from last year: iPhone Will Change Mobile Phone Industry.

In it, we noted that Apple wouldn’t have much trouble meeting its sales goals for the iPhone, because nearly one-in-ten respondents (9%) said they were likely to buy the iPhone.

We’ll let you do the math….but it looks like the iPhone will be as big of a hit in Japan as it has been here.

Internet TV site Hulu is fighting back at users that use ad-blocking software, warning them that they need to disable the software.

“This program is brought to you by Hulu’s advertising partners,” notes the site. “If you see this message repeatedly, you may need to disable your ad blocking software.”

The video then resumes playing after 30 seconds.

Hulu may be kicking YouTube’s ass, but the site has a bigger problem than ad-blockers – their advertising implementation is terrible.

Internet video service TubeMogul reports that viewing for Internet videos tends to peak early and drop quickly – suggesting that the long tail of Internet video has a short shelf life.

They found that most videos get a quarter of their views within 4 days and half their views within just two weeks:

In other words, if your video doesn’t break out of the long tail, it’s probably got a short shelf life.

TubeMogul looked at data for 10,916 videos over a 90 day time period. In order to exclude casual creators of online video (i.e. “Mikey’s Birthday”), each video in the sample achieved a minimum of 1,000 cumulative views over the 90 day time period.

BusinessWeek has a review today of Belkin’s TuneStudio for iPod 5th generation, a four-channel audio mixer that lets you create high-quality digital recordings directly onto your iPod.

TuneStudio lets you input up to four different instruments or audio sources, and record the audio directly onto your iPod.

Per BusinessWeek:

Although TuneStudio supports four simultaneous audio inputs, recordings to the iPod are WAV files that consist of a single stereo track, which makes it hard to edit unless you record each instrument and vocal part separately. It would have been nice if the individual tracks matched the inputs.

It would be cool if TuneStudio included more than one headphone jack so a number of users could accurately monitor the sounds their instruments and microphones are producing. Presumably, though, users can plug in a splitter to enable two people to hear audio levels.

Generally, TuneStudio was fun and easy to use and produced consistently good sounds that made me want to keep playing and recording.

They go on to give TuneStudio 3/5 stars.

We checked out the TuneStudio recently and had some of the same concerns. While the iPod mixer concept is sexy, do you want your mixer to be obsolete when Apple intros its latest whiz-bang iPod?

If that’s not a concern, though, and your main interest is capturing stereo recordings, the TuneStudio could be a nice option for both musicians and podcasters.

The TuneStudio retails for about $200.