A new series of free, dynamically mapped and customizable sound-seeing tours of Philadelphia debuted today at SoundAboutPhilly.com.

The SoundAboutPhilly tours concentrate on lesser-known city experiences and combine interesting tales, fun facts and lively music to tell the area’s story. The tours feature distinctive and varied voices of experts, boutique owners, chefs, musicians and everyday, in- the-know Philadelphians.

Listeners can listen to any tour directly at the site, download a tour or specific segments to their iTunes or other audio players or sign up for an RSS feed to receive a new tour each time one is uploaded to the Web site.

“Philadelphia’s neighborhoods abound with historical and cultural treasures. SoundAboutPhilly brings to life that rich history, as well as the city’s vibrant present, in a unique and engaging way for residents and visitors alike,” said Don Kimelman of The Pew Charitable Trusts, sponsors of the series. “As the medium itself grows, we hope these podcast tours will become an increasingly popular way to learn about Philadelphia’s varied offerings.”

Bamboo MediaCasting has partnered with Britcaster.com, a UK podcast community, to deliver MobiPod, a service they describe as “the most advanced mobile podcasting service in the market today.”

MobiPod lets users subscribe once to their favorite podcasts, then receive their personal selection of podcasts automatically. Full track, 30-40 minute podcast updates are delivered off-peak or overnight, and are waiting on the handset for one-click access at the user’s convenience.

The Bamboo service platform supports Java, Symbian Windows Mobile, and BREW-based cellphones, and can efficiently distribute large files of any type, which means long-format podcasts and video clips can be part of the content mix.

“The UK is at the forefront of podcasting,” says Neil Dixon, co-Director of Linked Media, creator of Britcaster. “With MobiPod, we are once again breaking new ground by delivering a podcast service perfectly suited to the mass-market mobile user.”

Yahoo! and Current TV, a pioneer in viewer created content for television and the Web, have partnered to deliver video content to Web with the launch of the Yahoo! Current Network. According to the companies, the site combines the best in user submitted videos plus professional, studio-produced content to air side by side in a co-branded environment.

“Current TV empowers young adults to actively participate in creating the television they want to watch, but in a broader sense, we’re about giving young adults a voice,” states Current TV co-founder and chairman Al Gore. “Current’s mission has always been to spark a global conversation among young adults. Partnering with Yahoo! helps us advance this mission.”

Actor turned video blogger Dan McVicar, aka Clarke Garrison on The Bold and the Beautiful, has been named a host of the Vloggies, an award show for the rising stars of new media.

McVicar will host host the Vloggies, an award show for the rising stars of new media held in San Francisco on November 4th, with the event’s coordinator, Irina Slutsky of GeekEntertainment.tv.

McVicar, while best known for his appearances on ‘The Bold and the Beautiful- and ‘The
Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, is also the creator and host of The McVlog video blog.

The Vloggies award excellence in video blogging, with winners decided by both a panel of judges and the votes of online viewers. Awards will be given in categories such as Best Vlog, Best Female Vlogger, Best Male Vlogger, and Best Online Tools, which recognizes the creation of helpful technology.

Bridge Ratings, a research firm specializing in radio, has updated its growth projections for radio an various alternatives as part of on-going study of audience attrition of traditional radio and subscriber and user growth of alternative digital media.

The company positions podcasting as less of an immediate threat to radio than previously projected:

“Podcasting is showing slower overall growth than previously projected based on two factors: a) the “innovator”/”early adopter” crowd which jumped on this new technology is splintering. A portion of these consumer groups have slowed their podcast consumption, and b) the percentage of podcast consumers who reported significant on-going weekly use of the medium are now listening to fewer podcasts over the course of a typical month. While it is true that podcasting has pierced the mass appeal membrane and small percentages of “late adopters” are beginning to utilize the medium, this group is much more selective in the podcasts they’ll spend time with and thus are downloading fewer per week than their “early-adopter” counterparts.

The awkward process of podcast consumption somewhat retarding the growth of this new medium, i.e., its counter-intuitive user process is preventing more late-adopters from trying this exciting new technology of information consumption. We anticipate that soon technology will be introduced which will further ease the usage process, but until that time occurs, podcast growth will be slower than previously reported.”

Based on its findings, Bridge Ratings concludes that “the entire spectrum of digital audio alternatives, and especially Internet radio and its wireless distribution continue to represent the biggest challenge to traditional radio.”

arvato mobile, a leading European mobile entertainment provider, has announced a collective licensing deal with The Association of Independent Music (AIM), a non-profit trade that represents UK independent record labels. The agreement will allow repertoire from AIM’s 900+ member labels to be made available, on an opt-in basis, across Europe and Japan over arvato mobile’s gnab service, a legal peer-to-peer file sharing service.

Launched earlier this summer, gnab is the first fully licensed P2P network, a platform currently spanning Europe and Japan, but with new licensing deals expanding its reach daily. The system already powers the online stores for German music retailer jpc, PixBox, the download service of leading Spanish ISP/Network conglomerate Terra Telefonica, and in2movies, the first German “ownload“ platform for digital download of movies and TV series.

UK independent signed artists include Bjork, The Killers, Bloc Party, Thom Yorke, The Raconteurs, Stereophonics, Franz Ferdinand, Editors, Jose Gonzalez, The White Stripes, The Strokes, Basement Jaxx, Morrissey, The Prodigy, Paul Weller, Pixies, Kaiser Chiefs, Antony & The Johnsons, Robert Plant, Nitin Sawnhey, Elbow, Arctic Monkeys, Arcade Fire, Royksopp, Roots Manuva, Coldcut, M.I.A., and thousands of others.

The agreement initially licenses gnab for digital downloads, with deals for subscriptions and video downloads expected to follow shortly

A new Bridge Ratings consumer study of current terrestrial radio listeners finds that radio stations that aggressively embrace, utilize and market new digital technologies enhance their competitive position against other terrestrial radio stations as well as against the stand-along digital technologies.

“Its is clear to us that this sample of radio listeners gravitated more positively to their favorite stations which were effectively utilizing these new technologies to enhance the listening experience,” explains Bridge Ratings’ President Dave Van Dyke explains. “Those stations that seamlessly incorporate podcasting, for example, as another way of enjoying their programming, are enjoying stronger listener loyalty.”

Podcast directory list update: Hispanocast is a new podcast directory specializing in Spanish-language podcasts.

The site is described as “El agregador de todos los podcasts e video podcasts en lengua Espa√±ola.”

Next weekend’s Podcast and Portable Media Expo is all set and ready to go, event organizer Tim Bourquin says.

“We’ve been planning this event for nearly a year. It’s like a bobsled – you start pushing it downhill, and, after awhile, it picks up momentum and speeds on its own.”

In an interview with Podcasting News Publisher Elisabeth McLaury Lewin, Bourquin described highlights of the two-day event:

• Leo Laporte, of the TWiT.tv podcasting network; Ronald Moore, the television executive behind the Battlestar Galactica Podcast (and tv show); and Andrew Barron of Rocketboom will be delivering keynote addresses, which are free and open to the public.
• Breakout sessions are channeled into five general “tracks,” ranging from Podcasting 101 to business and corporate podcasting, to special-interest and hobby podcasting.
• Podcast recordings of all breakout sessions will be available after the Expo.
• Dozens of exhibitors will be showcasing their wares throughout the two-day event.
• People’s Choice and PME Awards ceremony Friday, September 29.

The full interview is available as an MP3 file below.

A dissection of Apple’s new iPod nano MP3 player conducted by iSuppli reveals that the company’s new design is cheaper than ever to produce, despite increased capacity.

“Due to design changes and component price declines, iSuppli estimates that Apple has reduced the Bill-Of-Materials (BOM) cost for the new $199 retail-priced 4Gbyte nano to $72.24, less than the $89.97 that was estimated for a first-generation 2Gbyte nano upon release,” said Andrew Rassweiler, teardown services manager and senior analyst for iSuppli.

iSuppli analysts say this represents a cost-effective way for Apple to remain competitive pending the release of more innovative products.

“At a minimum, Apple needed this minor product refresh to support the launch of iTunes movie downloads and to prepare for the introduction of Microsoft Corp.’s competing Zune player. But the latest iPod falls very short of being a true video-centric player needed by consumers who want to watch movies, and not just short-form video,” said Chris Crotty, senior analyst, consumer electronics, for iSuppli.