UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, has announced that ten proposals for video podcast productions from ten countries have been selected to receive production grants.

More than one hundred proposals were received from close to fifty countries in response to an open call for submissions last September. The proposals were studied by a UNESCO team made up of experts from the communication and social sciences fields.

“The proposals were, in general, of a high quality” says project manager Rosa Maria Gonzalez. “Apart from the selection currently announced, UNESCO may consider some of them within the context of other on-going projects. Should further opportunities for funding arise; producers will be informed accordingly and on an individual basis”, she says.

Technology site CrunchGear reports that iPods will soon be getting a podcasts menu:

Ouch!

While iPods have had a podcast menu for over a year, a newly published patent application, Utilization Of Podcasts on Portable Media Devices, documents a how a series of hierarchical menus displayable on an iPod could guide a user to select podcasts.

New research by interactive agency Sharpe Partners has found that 54 percent of adult Internet users currently create their own video offline, but only 11 percent actually upload it to the Internet.

That gap, according to Sharpe Partners’ Kathy Sharpe, represents a huge opportunity for software and system providers that can help consumers migrate their video content online.

Tools for video podcasting, vlogging and even just video sharing may be easy for tech-saavy, but still leave many consumers puzzled. The study, which surveyed 2,125 U.S. adults, found that more than two-thirds of those who create their own video found it difficult to edit their content.

“Clearly, given easier solutions, consumers will be far more likely to edit their videos,” said Sharpe. “And those who edit their video are presumably more likely to share it with others, which will expand this market even further.”

If these complications can be eliminated, there’s clearly the potential for a massive increase in the number of vloggers.

via MediaPost

Apple Computer has sought patent protection for an iPod/iPhone combination that is rumored to be on tap for as early as January.

In a patent application just made public, Apple claims it has developed a new casing for a wireless device that can operate as an iPod and a mobile phone. The application was filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in August, and is related to an application filed in July 2004.

“This is another piece of evidence that the iPhone is coming,” said Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster. “This shows theyre trying to build a patent moat around the design for the iPhone.”

via Bloomberg.com

The Podcast & Portable Media Expo is history.

Show organizers are expanding its reach to encompass the increased number of content creators and exhibitors in the areas of video for the web, blogging, and user-generated content and have renamed it the Podcast and New Media Expo.

The conference and tradeshow is scheduled for September 28, 29, and 30, 2007 at the Ontario Convention Center in Ontario, California. The expanded three day show will feature the hardware and software exhibits, conference sessions, and a video podcast festival.

Conference Tracks for 2007 are:

• Track 1: Audio & Video Podcasting 101 – A to Z for Beginners – Get Up To Speed Fast
• Track 2: Attracting & Growing Your Audience – Connecting To Your Audience & Guerilla Marketing
• Track 3: The Business of Podcasting & New Media – Monetization & Business Podcasting
• Track 4: Advanced Audio & Video Production – Advanced “How To” Techniques
• Track 5: New Media for Educators & Musicians

Some sources are suggesting that reports of the Zune’s demise may be premature. According to the market research firm NPD Group, Microsoft’s Zune took second place in the portable media player market for the first four days it was on sale.

“Considering it is a new brand, it’s a very good first-week showing,” said Ross Rubin, director of industry for NPD Group.

While some see this as a glimmer of hope for the much-hyped player, NPD’s findings are limited to off-line sales, and the numbers could represent pent-up demand caused by months of Internet buzz.

Since its debut, the Zune’s sales have plummeted at online retailers such as Amazon and reviews have been largely negative.

Even more important, though, may be the fact that retailers are recommending the iPod over the Zune 10 to 1.

Steve Rubel at Micro Persuasion is wondering Why Yahoo is backing away from RSS.

“Has anyone noticed that Yahoo’s love affair with RSS seems to be withering?” asks Rubel. “In the past few weeks Yahoo has rolled out three major new web sites – Yahoo! Food, Yahoo! Advertising and Yahoo! TV. They’re great sites, but none of them has feeds. There’s a reason why – eyeballs.”

“Yahoo is trying to create content that you can only get on their sites and nowhere else,” adds Rubel. “Browsing and clicking creates page views. By skipping RSS, they will serve up more ads……Could this be the beginning of a larger trend?”

Rubel’s comments raise the question, “Do your RSS feeds cost you money?”

This issue is important to consider, because of the fact that podcasting is built on the RSS 2.0 standard.

BitTorrent has announced a slate of partnerships with a variety of leading film and television companies, including 20th Century Fox, G4, Kadokawa Pictures USA, Lionsgate, MTV Networks, Palm Pictures, Paramount Pictures and Starz Media.

BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer (P2P) file distribution protocol that lets users share large files , while minimizing bandwidth charges for distributors.

‚ÄúBitTorrent has fundamentally changed the Internet architecture by enabling high-speed and high-quality content distribution on the Web,” said Ashwin Navin, President and Co-founder of BitTorrent. “Today we have announced the role BitTorrent.com will play as a hub for consumers to enjoy their favorite entertainment, but we see a future that involves BitTorrent‚Äôs content delivery platform powering thousands of websites including those of content creators themselves, offering them the profound benefits of our technology.”

YouTube as you know it may be dead, but it looks like a thousand baby YouTubes may spring up in its place.

As material is getting banned from YouTube, it’s popping up again at sites like DailyMotion.

Its getting tougher and tougher to break copyright law on YouTube these days. The site now performs frequent purges of television shows and other proprietary content uploaded by users. But those forbidden files can still be had. Theyve largely migrated to DailyMotion.com, another video-uploading site that replicates YouTubes model of user-provided videos. DailyMotion, by contrast, seems to do little if any regulation of copyrighted material, nor does it limit the lengths of clips.

DailyMotion, based in Paris, displays no advertisements and has no apparent source of revenue. Its executives couldnt be reached for comment, and its business model remains a mystery. But if the sites goal is to build a large audience before seeking profit, its starting to succeed. Its market share, though a tiny 0.22% compared to YouTubes 65%, has increased 300% in the past three months, according to researchers at the Web analysis firm Hitwise. DailyMotion recently claimed its millionth registered user, and according to analysts at ComScore Media Metrix, the site had 7.6 million unique visitors in September.

via Forbes.com

In September of this year, when Apple sent cease and desist letters to several companies claiming that they infringed on Apple’s “iPod” trademark, there were rumors that Apple was trademarking the term “podcast”.

A letter received by The Global Geek Podcast confirms what many suspected: the rumors of Apple trademarking “podcast” were overblown.

In the letter, sent to David Gray of the Global Geek Podcast, Apple’s Trademark Department says that “Apple does not object to third party usage of the generic term “podcast” to accurately refer to podcasting services. Apple does not license the term “podcast”.

via Dave Winer