The Sonny Rollins Podcast, a new monthly video series, focuses on tenor saxophone legend Sonny Rollins and his music. The series tells Sonny’s story through interviews with band members, friends, fans, family, and Sonny himself, and utilizes performances current and classic as well as backstage footage.

“These podcasts are essentially an ongoing documentary film that will unfold over the next year, chapter by chapter,” explains producer Bret Primack. “With the advent of web video, which offers free global distribution, we are introducing Sonny Rollins, the most important musician in jazz, to new audiences all over the planet by using state-of-the-art technology.”

The video podcast is professionally produced and is must-see video for modern jazz fans, and also a great example of how artists can use video podcasts to promote their music or art.

Wi-Fi TV plans to release 1,000 WiFi TV Personal Video Channels Monday as part of the next generation of the site.

Wi-Fi TV members will be able to upload video content, profile pages and also will have a personal Wi-Fi TV page when they log-on.

Wi-FiTVA- Wi-Fi Targeted Video Advertising will debut at the same time as part of the new website. Additional features are also planned and will be announced at the beginning of the week.

The Wi-Fi TV Stations, which are being sold for $25,000, will offer 24/7 streaming content, live chat specific to each program, links to a shopping cart, and inclusion in multiple topic categories, plus featuring additional on-demand content.

A majority of Americans (55%) said bloggers are important to the future of American journalism and 74% said citizen journalism will play a vital role, according to a new We Media – Zogby Interactive poll.

Highlights:

• 72% said they were dissatisfied with the quality of American journalism today.
• 61% said they believed traditional journalism is out of touch with what Americans want from their news.
• Most respondents (53%) also said the rise of free Internet-based media pose the greatest opportunity to the future of professional journalism and three in four (76%) said the Internet has had a positive impact on the overall quality of journalism.
• Nearly nine out of 10 media insiders (86%) said they believe bloggers will play an important part in journalism‚Äôs future.

“We are now seeing mainstream acceptance of what we call the Power of Us Рthe value, credibility, and vital expression of citizen and collaborative media,” said Dale Peskin, a managing director of iFOCOS, the organization that conducts the annual We Media conference. “We’ve arrived at a tipping point. A new definition of democratic media is emerging in our society.”

Fred Amoroso, CEO of DRM firm Macrovision, has responded to Apple CEO Steve Jobs’s call to dump DRM. In his letter, Amoroso asks Jobs to let Macrovision take over responsibility for Apple’s FairPlay DRM system.

Last week, Jobs posted a surprising statement on the company’s site challenging the music industry to abandon DRM (copy protection) on digital music downloads. Jobs asked that people concerned with DRM convince the record labels to license their music to Apple and others DRM-free, saying that “Apple will embrace this wholeheartedly.”

In his response, Amoroso argues four points:

• DRM is broader than just music;
• DRM increases not decreases consumer value;
• DRM will increase electronic distribution; and
• DRM needs to be interoperable and open.

Amoroso concludes with his own challenge to Apple – to free Apple’s own FairPlay, so that music can be interoperable across devices:

“We offer to assist Apple in the issues and problems with DRM that you state in your letter,” said Amoroso. “Should you desire, we would also assume responsibility for FairPlay as a part of our evolving DRM offering and enable it to interoperate across other DRMs, thus increasing consumer choice and driving commonality across devices.”
It’s beginning to look like Jobs’ letter is catalyzing the conflict between content owners and digital media electronics companies.

Full text of Amoroso’s letter below.

Viacom recently requested that YouTube remove more than 100,000 video clips that they claim infringe on their content.

Unfortunately, when you spread that wide of a net, a lot of dolphins get caught with the tuna. Among the 100,000 videos targeted for takedowns was a home movie shot in a BBQ joint, a film trailer by a documentarian, and a music video (previously here) about karaoke in Singapore. None of these contained anything owned by Viacom. Viacom has admitted to “no more than” 60 mistakes so far.

“If they are making these kinds of mistakes, who can tell how many fair uses of Viacom content they also targeted in their 100,000 takedowns?” asks EFF’s Fred von Lohmann. “Hundreds? Thousands?”

If your video has been removed from YouTube based on a bogus Viacom takedown, EFF wants talk with you – they may be able to help you directly or help find another lawyer who can.

EFF has created a video to explain the situation:

The 2007 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition is out. As always, it features shots of some of the most beautiful women of the world photographed in exotic places.

This year, though, it also features some interesting product placement, and the magazine’s take on the iPod bikini.

Not safe for work…..

Gizmodo has some exclusive images (above) based on leaked information about a rumored product, the iPhone dock. According to their report, this is “what it looks like with the iPhone docked.”

“It’s direct from Apple, and as such, we can’t actually show the picture or else our tipster will be in deep doo-doo,” notes Gizmodo. “But what we can do is describe it and show you an artist’s rendition of it.”

Apparently, though, Apple has sprung the motherload of leaks. Unbelievably, a stream of renditions of rumored Apple products is starting to appear.

This image is reportedly of Apple’s upcoming update to its iMac line. The new iMac, code name Grundlepins, appears to have roughly the same configuration as current iMacs.

According to sources, though, the updated iMacs will have larger hard drives and more memory than current models.

Apple doesn’t comment on unreleased products.

If you find any more of these leaked images, let us know in the comments.

RealTraps has introduced the Portable Vocal Booth, a device that mounts on any microphone stand to create a highly controlled environment for recording vocals and spoken narration in acoustically hostile spaces.

The RealTraps Portable Vocal Booth is larger than competive products, comprising a pair of 2 by 2 foot absorbing panels in a fully adjustable V shape. The integrated base attaches to any inexpensive microphone boom stand. The RealTraps Portable Vocal Booth can also be placed directly on a table or other flat surface.

Data on the Portable Vocal Booth product page shows how it blocks unwanted sound, and a short video demo lets you see it in action compared with a popular competing product. The RealTraps site also contains educational videos, magazine articles, extensive advice on all aspects of room treatment, as well as showcasing their high-performance acoustic solutions for rooms of every size and purpose.

The RealTraps Portable Vocal Booth costs $299.99 direct from the manufacturer and begins shipping the end of February.

Audiofile Engineering has introduced voXover, a new voice-over automation tool and batch recorder for Mac OS X.

voXover is a voice-over automation utility and batch-recorder for multimedia projects that require large numbers of individual audio files to be recorded where a typical multi-track recorder is not feasible. Examples range from video game development and broadcast work to speaking dictionary and telephone voice-response production.

“voXover is an indispensable tool for multimedia developers who need to record large amounts of dialog efficiently and without error,” said Audiofile’s Matthew Foust.

voXover allows you to write or import a written script and rapidly automate the recording of that script. The script can be displayed on voXover’s teleprompter to the voice talent via your wired or wireless network. Sessions can range from completely automated to completely free-form. Takes are automatically created, named, and annotated as configured in the script. Takes may also be filtered, sorted, organized, rearranged, renamed, and exported at any time during the session, making voXover incredibly flexible.

SwimMan has introduced the first waterproofed 2nd Generation iPod Shuffle.

“In the second generation shuffle we saw an almost perfect product”, says Judy Valencerina, Director of Marketing for SwimMan. “The only thing lacking was that you couldn’t take it into the water.”

SwimMan has been making H20-friendly music possible for over 10 years. Applying their proprietary internal waterproofing technology, SwimMan has made the iPod Shuffle waterproof without the need for a bulky case that would detract from the shuffle’s sleek anodized aluminum body.

The company sells the waterproofed shuffle on its own ($150), or bundled with SwimMan’s Waterproof Headset II ($119). SwimMan’s high-fidelity headset is also waterproof, featuring sound-isolating design. The shuffle/headset duo is priced at $250.

via PC World