Slate magazine is making one of its most popular features available as a “textcast,” a podcast in which the main thing being delivered to your iPod is text rather than audio.

Slate’s Todays’ Papers textcast is a small file containing a summary of the top stories from the nation’s best newspapers. You can then read the text right on your iPod’s screen.

Textcasts are an innovative use of podcasting, but also a bit of a kludge. According to Slate’s Andy Bowers, “the iPod is not currently configured as a text reader, so we’ve done our best to work around the device’s limitations. Here’s hoping Apple will make its cash cow more text-friendly in future releases.”

Disney is using video podcasting to help promote the upcoming Pixar computer-animated film, Cars.

The movie, directed by John Lasseter (Toy Story, Toy Story 2, A Bug’s Life), is a comedy adventure set inside the world of cars.

US satellite radio firm XM is being sued by the major record labels over the Inno, a device that lets users record satellite radio broadcasts to be listened to at a later time.

According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Inno, which stores music and divides it into tracks, infringes copyright. The RIAA’s view is that the Inno turns XM into a download service that resembles Apple’s iTunes.

The lawsuit seeks $150,000 for every song copied by XM customers to an Inno.

Popular Science is podcasting.

The podcast features Jonathan Coulton, talking to the movers and shakers of sci-tech….and singing.

FeedBurner, a leading feed-management service, today launched a feed-driven interactive advertising service for Web sites.According to the company, by using the content and the structure of RSS and Web feeds, FeedBurner can give advertisers unique new placements, such as continuous ads, ads that dynamically appear only on content posted within specific timeframes, ads associated with highly active content.

“FeedBurner’s platform allows advertisers to develop an integrated program that reaches a publisher’s entire audience, whether they are viewing content on the publisher’s Web site, in a feed reader, or in email,” said Brent Hill, Vice President of Business Development at FeedBurner. “This program creates new placements in the ‘dialogue zone’ of the page, driven by data in the feed associated with that same content. Publishers retain full control over the balance of content and advertising — the same approach we use for advertising in feeds is being used on the Web.”

Just when you thought it was safe to sync your ‘pod, ShellyTheRepublican has revealed that podcasts are “Liberal Media’s next Assault on America.”

According to the site, a “new danger has raised it’s demonic head: Invented by the Apple Computer company, the iPod is a device for receiving coded transmissions called Podcasts. This feature allows liberal media direct access to young Americans without any of the safeguards that make TV channels like Fox News fair and balanced. A quick scan though some of America’s most popular podcasts is proof enough that a dangerous liberal minority have seized control over this influential channel.”

Apple today unveiled the MacBook, described as “the world’s most advanced consumer notebook.” It features an Intel Core Duo processor and a 13-inch widescreen display and is said to be up to four times faster than the 12-inch PowerBook.

Together with the 15-and 17-inch MacBook Pros, the new MacBook completes Apple’s Intel-based portables lineup and replaces both the iBook and the 12-inch PowerBook. Apple’s entire portables lineup now offers Intel Core Duo processors; a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing on-the-go; Front Row media experience with Apple Remote; and several advanced features including DVI with dual display support, optical digital audio input and output, Gigabit Ethernet, Sudden Motion Sensor, Scrolling TrackPad and MagSafe Power Adapter.

“Apple began the transition to Intel Core Duo-based notebooks in February with the 15-inch MacBook Pro, and now just 90 days later we have completed the transition with the release of the all new MacBook,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “From top to bottom, it is the best notebook line that we have ever offered.”

The third annual MacGathering and SoHo Tech Show, May 19 -20, 2006 in North Hollywood, California, will feature audio and podcast discussion and training.

The Podcast & Portable Media Expo, being held September 29-30 in Ontario, California, has announced the schedule for this years sessions.

Speaker/instructors will include Michael Geoghegan of Podcast Solutions, Paul Colligan, Rick Klau of Feedburner, a panel of podcast advertising experts, podcast law experts Colette Vogele and Denise Howell, Evo Terra – author of Podcasting for Dummies, Stephen Eley of the Escape Pod Podcast, Ali Partovi of Garageband.com, C.C. Chapman of the Podsafe Music Network, IT Conversations’ Doug Kaye, John Furrier of Podtech, author and podcaster Scott Sigler, a panel of educational podcast experts and many more.

A new service, iPod Directions, lets iPod users put maps and directions on their iPods.

The site, described as a “directions saving tool,” exports online driving directions from Yahoo! Maps and imports them to your iPod.