Gizmodo has picked up the question we raised last week, wondering “Why Apple is crippling the iPod touch?”

They note that “Apple has removed the ability to add events in the iPod touch’s calendar, even while it uses the same operating system and application frameworks as the iPhone.”

We’re wondering, if the iPod touch is like an iPhone without the phone, why doesn’t it have Google Maps, Stocks, Notes & Weather? It appears that Apple is artificially limiting the capabilities of the iPod touch in order to create artificial product segmentation, like it has done with its heavy-handed approach to ringtones.

If this is the case, it’s a reflection of the sorry state of competition in the portable media player market. Apple’s portable media players are so far ahead of most of its competition that the company is free to arbitrarily limit what you can do with their devices.

Research from Australian radio network Austereo shows that radio listeners’ attention is moving from traditional radio to podcasts and other mobile audio content. Companies that track media use, like Nielsen Media Research, haven’t caught up with people’s changing use of technology and are significantly misrepresenting media consumption, as a result.

Highlights of Austereo’s research:

• Austereo estimates that “radio” use is up by about 20%, if new audio technologies are included. Nielsen’s current tracking methods show radio use declining.
• People listen to Internet radio, on the average, for two hours and 42 minutes a week; on mobiles for one hour and 41 minutes a week; and via podcasts for 54 minutes per week. That’s on top of the 20 hours and 46 minutes spent listening to traditional radio.

“Even if only three hours were added on to the current 20 hours of listening to radio that is captured in Nielsen’s diaries, it would suggest that radio stations brands could in fact be getting more listening today than in the peak years of 2000,” Austereo claims.

According to Commercial Radio Australia, radio podcasting increased 500 per cent in the year to June 2007. Austereo has seen a dramatic increase in podcast use, which has reached about 730,000 downloads per month, up from about 500,000 12 months ago and 50,000 the year before.

While Austereo’s research shows the growing importance of tracking podcasts and other Internet media, its focus is on “radio” offerings, which could provide an incomplete picture of current audio consumption. Other surveys have suggested that: Internet media use is replacing traditional media; portable media users, some of the most demographically attractive listeners, are listening to less radio; and podcasts are stealing radio listeners.

The music industry has introduced a new music format that’s a twist on the singles of the past – the ringle.

The ringle, the brainchild of Sony BMG, combines three tracks – a new track, a remix and a old track – on a slip-sleeved CD. The CD also comes with a code that can be redeemed for a single online.

The ringles are expected to retail for $6-7. The RIAA and Universal music have announced support for the format.

The ringle has three strikes against it already:

• Seven bucks for a ringtone?
• People that buy ringtones already get them digitally.
• Everybody else will want to know “How do you get the CD onto the phone?”

The coup de gr√¢ce for the new format may be the “ringle” name.

Here are the ringle details.

Apple announced this morning that it sold its one millionth iPhone yesterday, two and a half months after its introduction on June 29.

“One million iPhones in 74 days—it took almost two years to achieve this milestone with iPod,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We can’t wait to get this revolutionary product into the hands of even more customers this holiday season.”

Apple slashed pricing on the iPhone last week, dropping its cost from $599 to $399 in order to stimulate demand. The price cuts are expected to at least double demand for the innovative device.

The iPhone combines three devices into one‚Äîa mobile phone, a widescreen iPod, and¬†a mobile Internet device ever. The iPhone’s multi-touch interface has garnered nearly universally positive reviews.

With the recent iPod & iTunes updates, there’s been a surge in news about Apple’s portable media platform. Here are a few highlights:

• Apple breaks video out with new iPods. iLounge’s Jeremy Horowitz points out that Apple has locked the TV Out feature of the iPod classic and video-capable iPod nano, preventing users from outputting iPod content¬†using¬†add-on displays, docks, and other devices that worked with 4G¬†and 5G iPods. It sounds like Apple may be¬†using encryption chips to make accessories that aren’t licensed by Apple obsolete.
• Get Free Ringtones By Typing Three Letters. Cleverboy has posted instructions on how to “convert” AAC music files to ringtones in iTunes 7.4. Ringtones and song files are only distinguished by file extension. The file extension for ringtones is “M4R”. Change the file extension, and your music file becomes a ringtone. How long until Apple breaks this?
• Apple has quietly introduced “iTunes tagging”. The service lets listeners with HD Radio receivers that have a special tag button “tag” songs they hear on the FM dial for subsequent purchase via Apple’s iTunes.¬† “iTunes tagging takes music discovery on the radio to the next level,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of iPod Product Marketing, in a statement.

According to Compete’s Elaine Warner, interest in the Apple iPhone could double as a result of the device’s recent price cuts.

In their research:

• 8% of consumers said they would be willing to pay for the iPhone at its original price point of $599.
• At $399, interest increased almost 2.5X to 18%.
• The ‚Äúsweet spot‚Äù of consumer interest appears to be $100-$299.

“The introduction of the iPod Touch adds an interesting component,” notes Warner.¬†”At a price point of $299, Apple seems to be signaling to its customers that the iPod portion of the iPhone is worth $299, and the phone portion is worth $100. That‚Äôs right in the sweet spot, which could mean even more iPhone interest moving forward than the 2.5X increase we‚Äôve shown.”¬†

There’s a lot of news in the area of Internet video today. Here are the highlights:

• The UK government has responded to the controversy over the BBC’s recently introduced iPlayer digital video application, which only runs on Windows XP. We called it a closed on-demand video system when it was introduced. The government is now committed to supporting other operating systems.¬†A Mac version of the iPlayer will be released in the autumn followed by versions for Windows Vista and mobile gadgets. We’d still like to see them try ad-supported video podcasts.
• Apple wants to cut prices on television show downloads, from $1.99 to $.99. This is a smart move that the television networks are likely to scream and yell about – but the fact is that there isn’t much of a market for $1.99 downloads of shows you can watch and record for free.
• Internet service providers are cutting off users that download too much stuff. Yep – that means you and me! Comcast has punished some heavy downloaders by cutting off their Internet service, arguing that excessive downloaders hog Internet capacity and slow down the network for other customers. The company won’t reveal its download limits, though. In other words, if you use your high speed network to download podcasts, watch Internet TV and all the stuff that you got broadband for, they may shut you down.
• Universal Music is suing video-sharing site Veoh, alleging copyright violations. At this point, it may be easier to keep track of the video sharing sites that aren’t getting sued by big music companies. Universal filed suit in federal court Tuesday against Veoh Networks, a video- and file-sharing site, accusing it of massive copyright infringement that deprives the company and its artists of sales and royalties. It’s starting to look like it may be years before the issue of copyright infringement on video-sharing sites will be settled. Maybe it won’t be settled until Google buys the music industry.
• That hot new indie artist you saw on YouTube¬†or MySpace might not be so indie. The music industry has figured out where your attention is moving, and they are setting up faux-indie profiles for major label artists. Singer Mari√© Digby has been hailed by some as an example of how sites like YouTube are finding new talent. Digby actually was signed to a Walt Disney label a year and a half before her YouTube ascent.
• HP is shipping a new person-to-person Internet television app, Next.tv, with their new computers. How many dead-end proprietary video apps do we need? Note to content providers: throw an ad on your video, turn it into a video podcast, publish it to your site¬†and be done with it!

MyPacis, a social network focused on global peace, has announced a synchronized blogathon September 11 to the 21 to celebrate the International Day of Peace. 

International Day of Peace was established by the UN to strengthen the ideals of peace, with global ceasefire and non-violence.

Bloggers are invited to discuss peace and current world affairs from their own prospective, inviting readers to continue the discussion with comments, track backs and follow-up posts. They are also invited to review and link to two-five posts published on other participating blogs, creating a fluid hyperlinked discussion about peace. Other events will engage podcasters in a discussion about world peace, with users of social networks (MySpace.com, Orkut, Facebook, etc) displaying the peace dove in their profiles. Further information available on http://www.blog.mypacis.com/

Some projects and tools which are part of this event will then be available on a permanent base. This includes an open source, integrated and multi-lingual social network promoting peace by linking people (http://www.mypacis.com/), and a social experiment platform for Second Life (http://www.hybridlife.net/) used to test social dynamics and improvements in a virtual environment.

“For the first time in history, we are in a position to end all wars by removing the reasons for conflicts,” says Frank, a MyPacis.com activist. “Poverty, lack of democracy and freedom, human right violations can be left behind us, while the world moves toward a fairer, open, free and democratic society. While Web 2.0 activism alone cannot bring us there, this is an effective way to start involving other people in making the world a better place.”

According to the organizers, anyone who cares about world peace can take part in this initiative, using the means of communication which are more suitable for them: email, blogs, SMS, social network profiles, Second Life, etc.

NexTune today announced the launch of the NexTune Music Network, along with software allowing an iTunes user to publish playlists onto its Internet-based music network.

The service lets you take your iTunes playlist and use it in a social network to discover new music and to create playlists that others can use.

NexTune’s latest software release Composer 1.5, is integrated with Apple’s iTunes music software. You can import iTunes playlists into NexTune’s Composer. Then you can then publish your music program to NexTune’s Music Network where other Network members can download the music programs.

The NexTune Music Network allows its members to create their own music websites complete with their own music programs, commentary and pictures. Members can link to other members and share music interests and ideas. The NexTune Composer software is a desktop application that enables seamless interaction with its music network.

The Department of Justice today spoke out against the idea of Net Neutrality, cautioning against “regulations that could hamper the development of the Internet and related services”. In its filing the Department said that some regulatory proposals offered by various companies and organizations in the name of ‚Äúnet neutrality‚Äù could deter broadband Internet providers from upgrading and expanding their networks to reach more Americans.

Net neutrality is the idea that Internet providers will let you get content, such as Internet videos, from anybody, and it will be delivered with equal priority. Internet service providers would like to cut deals with big companies to deliver their content with higher priority than other Internet traffic. This could mean, for example, that a major television network could deliver content to users much more quickly, and with greater reliability, than a vlogger could.

The Department stated that precluding broadband providers from charging content and application providers directly for faster or more reliable service “could shift the entire burden of implementing costly network expansions and improvements onto consumers.” If the average consumer is unwilling or unable to pay more for broadband Internet access, the result could be to reduce or delay critical network expansion and improvement.

The Department said in its filing that it may make economic sense for content providers who want a higher quality of service to pay for the Internet upgrades necessary to provide such service, arguing that “any regulation that prohibits this type of pricing may leave broadband providers unable to raise the capital necessary to fund these investments.”

“Consumers and the economy are benefitting from the innovative and dynamic nature of the Internet,”said Thomas O. Barnett, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department’s Antitrust Division. “Regulators should be careful not to impose regulations that could limit consumer choice and investment in broadband facilities.”

The concept of net neutrality is becoming more and more important as television, and the ad dollars associated with it, shifts to the Web. Indie content providers currently have a fairly level playing field for many types of Internet audio and video content. Giving big television networks prioritized traffic could mean that the work of podcasters, vloggers and indie video podcasters would be delivered slower and less reliably, creating a competitive disadvantage.