Makayama Interactive has released version 3.0 of iPod Media Studio, an application that streamlines copying video or DVDs to iPods.

The upgraded software supports new video formats, such as Youtube content and subtitles are rendered much faster then before. Windows Media files (wmv and dvr-ms) and Flash video, such as Youtube content, may now be converted.

The software provides a menu shortcut to websites that allow downloading of Youtube content and videos from Altavista. The downloaded video can then be converted to the iPod.

Apple has applied for several patents relating to podcasting:

• Acquisition, management and synchronization of podcasts relates to acquiring and playing podcasts on a portable media device.
• Techniques and systems for supporting podcasting relates to receiving a portable subscription file that is used to facilitate subscribing to the podcast; accessing the portable subscription file to obtain podcast information; and subscribing to the podcast using the podcast information.
• Utilization of podcasts on portable media devices covers improved techniques to facilitate use of podcasts on a portable media device.

via MacNN

The BBC reports that the online video boom is starting to eat into TV viewing time. 43% of Britons who watch video from the internet or on a mobile device at least once a week said they watched less normal TV as a result.

One in five people who watched online or mobile video at least once a week said they watched a lot less TV as a result. Another 23% said they watched a bit less, while just over half said their TV viewing was unchanged. Some 3% said online video inspired them to watch more TV.

Newsweek tech writer Steven Levy had us feeling a bit not-so-fresh with his discussion of the erotic charge of iPods in his book The Perfect Thing.

Now Levy appears to have confused the widely criticized wireless features of Microsoft’s Zune portable media player with squirting, a colloquial term for female ejaculation.

“Have you squirted a song yet?” asks Levy. “That’s the question Microsoft hopes your friends will ask you as you ponder which digital music player to acquire. After all, iPods dont squirt songs. And Microsofts new player, Zune, does.”

In case you’re worried that this sounds a bit messy, Levy notes that “the squirt is fast-drying.”

Dave Winer, one of the inventors of podcasting, is questioning the mainstream media coverage of podcasting startup Odeo and its founder, Evan Williams.

Not work-safe…..

According to initial reviews of the Xbox Live Video Marketplace, Apple won’t have to worry about Microsoft’s iTunes Store-killer for the near future.

The Microsoft movie download service is apparently struggling under the weight of all that high-definition content. Some people are reporting extraordinarily long download times, and others report being charged for videos they did not receive.

• Gizmodo: I Was Mugged by the Xbox 360 Video Store
• Engadget: Stalled by glitches.
• Kotaku: 360 Movies Download Sloooooow.
• Situation Terminal: My Xbox Live HD Video Rental Nightmare.

“We have been experiencing technical difficulties associated with the extremely high number of downloads from the Video Marketplace service over the past 24 hours,” said XBox Live’s Major Nelson.

iPods are bad for America, according to controversial television personaity Bill O’Reilly, host of The O’Reilly Factor TV and radio shows.

In a recent “Radio Factor”, O’Reilly took issue with both the iPod and Sony PS3.

“I don’t own an iPod. I would never wear an iPod,” said O’Reilly. “If this is your primary focus in life — the machines … its going to have a staggeringly negative effect, all of this, for America.”

“Did you ever talk to these computer geeks?” added O’Reilly. “Can you carry on a conversation with them? I really fear for the United States because, believe me, the jihadists? They’re not playing the video games. They’re killing real people over there.”

via E-Commerce News

Perhaps all of you have moved on to “Black Friday” holiday shopping activities, but the folks at Podcasting News are staying home today. Who needs to be in line at Best Buy at 5 a.m. to get a good deal on a HDTV, when there are so many good bits of Thanksgiving still to enjoy?

Let someone else brave the crowds (and grab the bargains); we’re having leftover pumpkin pie for breakfast (and lunch, if we’re lucky), and catching up on some good Thanksgiving podcasts.

• The San Francisco Chronicle’s Wine of the Week podcast features whites that go well with the feast.
• Friend and brilliant foodie Anne Bramley talks all about turkey and the origins of our feasting traditions on the Amuse-Bouche channel of her Eat Feed podcast network.
• Rocket 15 (Giving interesting folks their 15 minutes of fame) talks with Louisville, Kentucky food bank director Denton Randall. Food for thought that’s relevant wherever you happen to live — all year ’round.
• YogAmazing discusses Swadhyaya or Self Study this Thanksgiving week. Creator Chaz Rough says, “the focus is to get a better understanding of who we are as individuals and by helping others we can discover the act of giving and receiving.”
• Podcast 411‘s Rob Walch tipped us off to the latest AwareTek podcast, where Ron S reflects on the nature and mystery of thanksgiving — not the holiday, but the quality of gratitude.

More interesting Thanksgiving episodes have been posted recently in the Podcasting News Forum (check the Show Announcements thread in particular!), including a wicked good cranberry concoction from BBQ Bob…. Oh, my, how yummy.

We’ll catch up with you later on today. In the meantime, happy feasting, and happy listening!

According to researchers at the Pew Internet Project (PDF), the audience for podcasts has increased by over 70% in six months.

12% of Internet users say they have downloaded a podcast so they can listen to it or view it at a later time. This compares to 7% of Internet users who reported podcast downloading in their last survey.

While the audience for podcasts is rapidly growing, the percent of Internet users downloading podcasts daily is just 1% of those surveyed.

Men are more likely than women to report podcast downloading; 15% of online men say they have downloaded a podcast, compared with just 8% of online women. And those who have used the Internet for six or more years are twice as likely as those who have been online three years or less to have downloaded a podcast (13% vs. 6%).

Bre Pettis, of MAKE Magazine’s Weekend Projects video podcast, and Allison Kudla make a 3-D cardboard turkey in their latest episode.

Together, they take the 45,000+ polygons in the original Turkey 3-D model and “decimate” the bird down to 500 polygons. The 3-D model is exported to an application which prints out the bird in 2-D (with tabs).

The episode features a time-lapse of Allison and Bre assembling the turkey.

Once you’ve finished watching, if your Tofurkey or Butterball is not yet ready to carve, you can dream about what to do with uncooked produce with Bre’s recent episode on Vegetable Projectiles: the Pump-Kazooka, the “Johnny” apple cannon, and the Taser-powered potato gun.