Google has an update today on Bringing radio advertising to Google advertisers. Google has recently begun a U.S. beta test of Google Audio Ads with a small group of AdWords advertisers.

“Google Audio Ads brings efficiency, accountability, and enhanced ROI to radio advertising by providing advertisers with an online interface for creating and launching radio campaigns,” according to Josh M, a member of the Google Audio Ads team.

“You’ll be able to target your customers by location, station type, day of the week, and time of day,” he ads. “After the radio ads are run, you will be able to view online reports that tell you exactly when your ad played.”

Sonique, a London-based technology company has launched Podooch, a website designed to let anyone create a podcast without the need for technical knowledge or specialized software.

The site lets anyone with a web-connected computer upload a podcast or video podcast in minutes, and turn it into a podcast. The site gives users full management of their podcasts, from scheduling the release of new episodes to archiving old episodes.

Other features of the site include a free month trial, unlimited bandwidth and disk space, a personal microsite, a content management system giving users the power to schedule the launch of their podcasts and full statistics of each podcasts so users can see how well their podcast is doing.

According to Podooch, hosting is currently free. They plan to offer free and premium membership options next year.

The holidays are coming, and you’ve probably been wondering – “What would Handel’s Messiah sound if it was played by hundreds of electric guitars?”

Fortunately, Dan Sindel’s Symphonic Guitars podcast has the answer.

“This is my 2006 demo release,” notes Sindel, “which is comprised of almost 500 individual guitar tracks (Electric, Acoustic, Nylon and 12 String).”

Sindel describes his version as “an adventurous interpretation,” which means that you shouldn’t be surprised to hear screaming guitars during the Hallelujah Chorus.

A Chicago woman is suing Kazaa, a controversial person-to-person file-sharing network, on behalf of customers sued by the RIAA for “Shared File Folders”*.

The lead plaintiff, Catherine Lewan, is a Kazaa customer who was sued by the RIAA for her use of Kazaa, and paid a settlement to the RIAA.

In her complaint Lewan alleges that:

• Kazaa deceptively marketed its product as allowing “free downloads”;
• It designed the software in such a manner as to create a shared files folder and make that folder available to anyone using Kazaa, while at the same time failing to make the user aware that it had done so; and
• It surreptitiously installed “spyware” on users’ computers which made the shared files folder accessible to the Kazaa network even after the user had removed the Kazaa software from his or her computer.

via Recording Industry vs The People

* Lewan v. Sharman, U.S.Dist. Ct., N.D. Ill 06-cv-6736

Sima Products’ Hitch is a new USB sharing accessory that lets iPod users share files on the go – with no computer required.

“You no longer have to use a computer to share files between devices,” said Ilana Diamond, CEO of Sima Products Corporation.

Hitch can connect USB devices such as digital cameras, digital audio/video players, USB flash drives and more. According to Sima, Hitch is compatible with many brands of USB devices, such as Apple, Creative, iRiver, Samsung, Sony, Canon, Nikon, Casio, Olympus, Panasonic, etc.

With a retail cost of $99.95, the Hitch can transfer music, video, photos, documents, and more. The gadget can also charge attached devices during use.

A new analysis of the state of film distribution over the Web reports that the biggest stumbling block to the adoption of digital video downloads is Hollywood.

“The single biggest factor holding back Internet movie sales is Hollywood’s reluctance to allow films to be sold over the Web so that they can ultimately be viewed on TVs,” according to the report.

A secondary issue identified is the complexity of digital video download options.

“Although technologies exist today that allow for the transfer of Web-distributed films to traditional TV sets, these technologies are too complex for most consumers. Other technologies that allow for a smoother transition of movies to TV sets are still too new and have yet to gain traction in the marketplace.

At the UBS and Credit Suisse media meetings in New York this week, with only two players in the fledgling satellite radio market, merger speculation follows rivals XM and Sirius. XM Satellite Radio Chairman Gary Parsons said that he considers the satellite radio market to still be new enough that two major players can coexist and thrive.

“There is an opportunity [for a merger] in the context of a much larger competitive market. But when we’re selling satellite radio with the new General Motors vehicle, for example, Sirius is not in there. So it’s not competitive. We’re competing with commercial radio and the iPod and Wi-Fi,” he said.

[Podcasting News Editor’s note: we have been wondering for months about how satellite radio’s paid subscription model can stay competitive with other new media like podcasts.]

On the other hand, Sirius Chief Financial Officer David Frear was a bit more open to the merger concept, reiterating an opinion the company has voiced in the past.

“When you look at the question, it’s sort of an easy answer — why wouldn’t you put them together and squeeze out the financial possibilities?” he said. “A few analysts on the Street put forth estimates on what they think those synergy values are. I don’t think I can think of any reasons from a shareholder perspective as to why a merger wouldn’t be a good thing to do.”

Michael Starkweather, a patent lawyer in Salt Lake City that recently negotiated an out-of-court settlement between Apple and the owner of a patent covering the downloading of media files, thinks Apple will now use it to control billions of dollars in digital media downloads.”I believe that, with this patent in hand, Apple will eventually be after every phone company, film maker, computer maker and video producer to pay royalties on every download of not just music but also movies and videos,” said Starkweather.

Starkweather wrote the patent in 1996 for a Vermont inventor. The concept consisted of a desktop computer holding multiple songs with an interface allowing a hotel guest to select three songs and play them on an electric grand piano.

According to Starkweather, he saw the broader value and broke the patent into three elements; remote music storage, selection of music to download and playing music on a music device. Starkweather realized that downloading movies was an obvious variation to downloading music.

“Sometimes it’s easy to break an invention down to its key components,” Starkweather says. “That’s why patent writing is an art, not a science, and requires creativity.”

In spite of the largely bad reviews the Microsoft Zune has received, the company expects its new portable media player to sell more than 1 million units by the end of June. The software maker said Wednesday it was pleased with response to the device.

“We’re forecasting just over 1 million units for the fiscal year,” said Jason Reindorp, marketing director for Zune at Microsoft. “We feel pretty good about that number.”

The Zune went on sale in mid-November. In its first days, the Zune ranked towards the top of Amazon.com’s electronics sales chart. It has since dropped, and according to NPD’s recent ratings, the Zune now holds about a 2 percent market share.

“Microsoft has a very realistic view of the landscape,” Reindorp adds. “There wasnt any foolish thought of coming in and turning the whole market around.”

IDC analyst Susan Kevorkian said that Microsoft’s projections are similar to her estimates. “We think that Microsoft had relatively modest expectations in terms of unit shipments and sales going into the Zune launch.”

Kevorkian expects Microsoft to sell a half-million of the devices by the end of December.

via CNET News.com

iSoundCap has introduced a new ski cap for iPod Nano. The cap has been specifically designed for the cold season and for winter sport activities outdoor running, skiing, snowboarding, etc..

The ski caps are made of 100% acrylic fiber, and are designed to keep your head dry and warm; the iPod pocket deploys water resistant coated fabric.

Your iPod tucks in a pocket, and the control wheel is accessible through a clear plastic window. Several eyelets allow for a proper wire management – wires nearly disappear and earbuds come down right next to your ears.

The caps are expected to ship starting Dec 18th.

via iLounge