Oneupweb, an online marketing firm, has announced a new podcast analytics service, PodTractor.According to the company, their service offers a way for podcasters to get the metrics that appeal to advertisers, but without being tied to a specific podcast ad service.

“Marketers can‚Äôt afford to spend time and money on a tactic, just in case it might work. If podcasts contribute a high return on the investment, companies need to know so they can continue that success with management‚Äôs support,” says Oneupweb CEO, Lisa Wehr.

“Metrics also allow more conservative marketers to enter the new world of podcasting faster,” adds Wehr. “Instead of waiting for the success or failure of competitors‚Äô podcasts, our clients can confidently develop one-on-one dialogue with their customers.”

According to Chortle, a UK comedy guide, the BBC has dropped a popular podcast by comedian Russell Brand after the he refused to allow them to edit out controversial material. The BBC wanted to cut from his podcast a segment involving disabled basketball player Ade Adepitan.

‚ÄòI think we could have found a version that could have been released, but a lot of the time people simply do what is easiest,” said Brand. ‚ÄòI love that podcast and I really want it to work. But in my position you spend so much time talking rubbish. It is not often you get to highlight an issue like this.‚Äô

Melodeo, a podcast community for PC and mobile phones, and Alltel Wireless, the largest US mobile network, announced a partnership earlier this week that will give millions of users the ability to listen to podcasts on their wireless phones.

In an interview with Podcasting News Publisher Elisabeth McLaury Lewin, Bill Valenti, Executive Vice President at Melodeo, talked about the Alltel client launch, one of several new ventures for Melodeo.

Valenti is excited about podcasting, and the potential of podcasts on mobile phones. “Podcasting is the most revolutionary form of media to come down the pipe — and mobile phones are a natural match for this technology,” he said.

Melodeo’s service combines Web-based services with a small client that runs on the phone. A simple interface lets Axcess Mobilcast users browse categories or search from a selection of relatively short podcasts, including content from NPR, CNN and indie podcasters. The podcasts can then be streamed or downloaded.

A new podcast directory, Music Only Podcasts, is – you guessed it – a directory that features only music podcasts.

It’s currently a fairly small directory, but it is focused and also makes it easy to preview the shows by providing a featured show link for each podcast.

Vacations By Rail, a Chicago-based specialty travel company focusing on train travel, has launched an audio podcast, The Rail Insider, intended to give listeners a unique prospective on travel by train around the world. Each episode focuses on a specific rail itinerary, train tour, train route or experience.“Many people have never taken a rail vacation or are first time train travelers. The Rail Insider series gives people the tools and insight to plan a custom rail adventure or choose from a wide variety of packaged train tours,” explained Todd Powell, President of Vacations by Rail and host of The Rail Insider.

Podcasting is increasingly a threat to the survival of satellite radio providers Sirius and XM. Both companies have faced increasing losses, even as their subscriber bases have grown.Sirius lost $237.8 million for the period compared with a loss of $177.6 million during second quarter of 2005. XM Satellite Radio on July 27 reported a second-quarter loss of $231.7 million, up from losses of $148.8 million a year ago.

Apple recently announced that more than 70 percent of 2007 cars will have iPod support, which will make it easier for people to listen to podcasts as they drive. This threatens Sirius and XM, though, because adoption of satellite radio has largely been through people who buy cars with factory-installed equipment.

Umundo, a start-up specializing in automatic content distribution technologies, has announced a new free service that lets you take video clips taken with mobile devices and publish them for viewing on Apple’s Video iPod.

Umundo is designed to work directly with any mobile phone without additional software. Video clips and pictures are published to and viewed on popular web properties such as MySpace, My Yahoo!, Google and iTunes.

“A Umundo user can subscribe to mobile podcasts and will automatically receive and sync to his or her Video iPod clips and photographs sent by friends from their mobile phones,” said Prashant Parekh, founder and CEO of the company. ” In addition, consumers can utilize the personal content sharing capability offered by Umundo on several popular web sites.”

Alltel Wireless, America’s largest mobile network, and Melodeo, a podcast community for PC and mobile phones, today launched Axcess Mobilcast service. The service lets Alltel Wireless customers search and listen to thousands of podcasts on their wireless phones for a monthly subscription of $3.99. Alltel Wireless is the first company in the United States to bring this service to market.”As the wireless phone continues to become a media hub, Alltel Wireless is committed to providing its customers with the most entertaining, useful and innovative applications available,” said Wade McGill, senior vice president of wireless product management for Alltel Wireless. “Podcasts have rapidly become a part of daily life for millions of Americans, and by partnering with Melodeo to bring Podcasts to wireless phones, our customers can now listen to their favorite programs wherever they go.”

If you’re looking for jeans with built-in iPod support, Levi’s has got ’em.

RedWire DLX iPod Jeans feature a red cable to connect to your iPod and built-in controls, and…..are carpenter pants. The jeans are expected to be available in the fall for 199.95 Euros – about $250 US.

RISA, the Recording Industry of South Africa, is accusing 5FM, one of SABC’s most profitable radio stations, of abusing copyright and illegally sharing of music, because of the station’s podcast.

RiSA’s general manager, David du Plessis, said they advised the SABC in November to conduct their podcasting operations within mutually agreed parameters of the Copyright Act.

“The SABC had agreed to stop its podcasts with immediate effect, which they did at the time, and agreed to revert to RiSA with proposals regarding any future podcasts,” he said.