According to an article in Mainichi MSN, Apple wants to use its trademarks to limit the sale of sex toys with “pod” in their name.

Ichiro Kameda, the president of a tiny, two-person operation in Osaka, is currently embroiled in a bitter battle with computer maker Apple.

“The fight is all over what I call our beat generator,” says Kameda. “There’s a small device with three different, sound-activated motors. It’s a revolutionary invention. You can plug it in to iPods or mobile phones. It can also be programmed to operate only for certain voices.”

Microsoft has announced that it will be giving a cut of the sales of its Zune portable music player to the Universal Music Group in order to create closer ties with record companies and steal market share away from Apple’s iPod. Microsoft has made similar offers to the other major labels.

If successful, Microsoft’s move could lead to higher prices for portable media players as manufacturers are forced to share profits with the major record labels in order to get access to content. The move could backfire, though, since more and more people are using portable players to listen to podcasts and indie music.

David Aldrich, Bradley Bell and Tim Batzel of the University of Washington have written a paper that looks at an automated podcasting solution for educational use.

Automated Podcasting Solution Expands the Boundaries of the Classroom (PDF) was presented Wednesday in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada at the University and College Computing Services (SIGUCCS) 2006 Fall Conference. The paper reviews design considerations for a university podcast solution and also includes a high-level look at the University’s final podcasting architecture.

“Podcasting has been one of the simplest teaching and learning technologies to implement at the University of Washington,” according to the authors, “and one of the most immediately adopted by students who are engaged in the learning process.”

Podcasting is being used increasingly in education, especially at the university level, although not all educators welcome the technology.

Financial service provider Charles Schwab & Co. today announced that two podcast series, and several RSS news feeds of print articles are now publicly available at www.schwab.com/rss, providing market and investing news, information and commentary.

The new podcasts include daily program “Schwab Market Update Audio,” a summary of each trading day’s key results and statistics, and “Straight Talk,” views of the market and investing with Schwab Chief Investment Strategist Liz Ann Sonders and other Schwab experts.

Schwab has more than 330 offices and 6.8 million client brokerage accounts, 535,000 corporate retirement plan participants, 181,000 banking accounts, and $1.3 trillion in client assets.

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), a consortium of technology vendors for promoting short-range wireless networking, has announced a program to make it easier to find products that will let you listen to music wirelessly.

The Bluetooth SIG recently launched the Experience Icon Program to guide and help consumers purchase interoperable products implementing Bluetooth wireless technology. The Music icon (right), indicates that the device can wirelessly stream stereo quality audio to other Bluetooth enabled devices. You are able to send music from your mobile phone, computer or other device bearing this symbol and listen using compatible speakers, headphones, home stereos and many other devices.

“Bluetooth enabled stereo headphones enable consumers to listen to music wirelessly from their audio device without sacrificing any sound quality,” said Ronny Chiu, president of Bluetake Technology Co., Ltd. “Consumers can enjoy extended battery life and listen to the music at a distance without the hassle of cumbersome cords.”

Students at some California State University campuses will now be able to access lectures and class notes on their iPods through a free campus podcasting service.
“Walking across a CSU campus, it seems that every other student is listening to an iPod,” CSU Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer Gary Reichard said.

“That’s why this technology is such a natural fit to our campuses — iTunes U represents a vehicle for learning and communication that students and professors have already embraced,” he said.

In addition to accessing lectures and class notes, the service allows students to view campus news and to upload content to share with professors or the rest of the class.
CSU East Bay, San Jose State, Fresno State, CSU Dominguez Hills and Sacramento State currently offer iTunes U.

via cbs5.com

Image via Upbeat Audio

ID3 Magazine today announced the inclusion of GoFish Corporation (OTCBB: GOFH) and Wizzard Software Corporation (OTCBB: WIZD) in its ID3 Podcast Index of publicly traded podcasting-related companies.

“We have selected these two companies to include in the index, because they both exhibit strong user and client traction and are representative of the high-growth potential in the online audio and video programming space,” explained Wing Yu, Editor-in-Chief of ID3 Magazine.

GoFish Corporation is a consumer online video destination which delivers millions of videos per month. GoFish recently completed a $12 million private placement of stock and became publicly traded.

Wizzard Software is a large podcasting network that includes Switchpod, Blast Podcast and Libsyn.

Microsoft appears to be ignoring the exploding world of podcasting, leaving users of its hardware and software products to either manually manage podcasts or to look for third-party solutions.

The most recent version of Windows Media Player 11, just released, still doesn’t have podcast support. There’s no indication that podcast support is planned for future releases.

The Zune portable media system, due later this month, also is notably missing real podcast support. According to Microsoft, Zune users can manually copy podcasts and video podcasts to use them with the portable media player.

The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music today announced a new music podcast.The audio and video project, found within the school’s new IUMusicLive Web site, includes performances by violinist Joshua Bell, conductor Michael Stern and the Beaux Arts Trio, and showcases three recent IU Opera Theater productions.

According to Music Dean Gwyn Richards, the project has been “a dream of the Jacobs School of Music for some time ‚Ķ to disseminate performances of faculty and students in a more immediate and flexible fashion.”

“As of today, you will be able to access selections from IU performances,” he added. “Now you can carry IU performances in your pocket.”

The podcast features classical music performances such as “Spring” from The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi, performed by the IU Summer Music Festival Orchestra, with violin soloist and conductor Joshua Bell.

Apple today unveiled its new line of MacBook consumer notebooks that now include Intel Core 2 Duo processors. According to Apple, the new MacBooks are up to 25 percent faster than the previous generation and feature a built-in iSight video camera for on-the-go video conferencing, Apple’s MagSafe Power Adapter that safely disconnects when under strain, and iLife ‘06, Apple’s award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications.

“MacBook has helped drive Apple’s notebook market share to over 10 percent in US retail, and the new MacBooks will be among this holiday season’s most exciting new products,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With Intel Core 2 Duo processors across the entire line, these new MacBooks are up to 25 percent faster than their predecessors.”

With prices starting at $1,099, the new MacBook lineup includes three models: white 1.83 GHz and 2.0 GHz MacBook models, and a black 2.0 GHz MacBook model. The new MacBook is up to 25 percent faster than the previous MacBook, according to Apple, and up to six times faster than the iBook. Users can also benefit from the added power in the new 2.0 GHz models, including double the memory and greater storage capacity than the previous generation, as well as a double-layer SuperDrive for burning professional-quality DVDs.