Skype, a provider of Internet phone services, today announced that all US and Canadian-based Skype customers can now make free SkypeOut calls to traditional landline and mobile phones in the US and Canada. Previously, Skype users in both countries were required to pay for Skype calls from their PCs to traditional telephones.

Skype is popular with many podcasters because it can be used to digitally record phone calls for use in podcasts. The basic service allows free long-distance calls to any Skype user. The addition of SkypeOut lets users make free long-distance calls to traditional and mobile phone users.

Audion Laboratories has released VoxPro 4.1, a professional recording application for Windows. Version 4.1 adds a publication wizard that generates RSS files, compresses audio and uploads audio files directly to the web.

VoxPro 4.1’s features were added to let it be used as an all-in-one production tool to record, edit and publish professional quality broadcasts to the Internet.

Other features added to VoxPro include a new search function allowing file names to be searched using particular combinations, ‘vertical zoom’ that enables very low level signals to be clearly seen and edited, noise reduction to remove recording hum and hiss, improved AGC (automatic gain control), markers, mono-mix recording, adjustable VU meters, and the ability to add ID3 tags to files being exported in MP3 formats.

Purchase and upgrade information is available at the Audion Labs site.

The Da Vinci Code movie doesn’t open until this Friday, but podcasters are already weighing in with information and opinions on the film adaptation of Dan Brown’s controversial book, described by novelist Salman Rushdie as “typewriting.”The Scotsman News is running a week-long series of video podcasts taking a look at the Rosslyn Chapel, which features in the story of The Da Vinci Code.

Christian author and lecturer Josh McDowell has published a podcast that offers “a dramatic presentation” of his book, The Da Vinci Code: A Quest for Answers.In the San Francisco Gate Opinion podcast, columnist Debra J. Saunders talks about courtroom proceedings in The Da Vinci Code plagiarism trial.

Hollywood Jesus, a video podcast that reviews movies from a spiritual point of view, has published a variety of information on the movie.

The first national membership organisation for UK podcasters, the UK Podcasters Association (UKPA), has opened its doors for membership.

“We intend UKPA to be run along the lines of a guild or a professional body, existing in order to protect podcasters’ rights and promote their interests nationally and internationally,” according to UKPA Chairman Dean Whitbread. “The first thing on our agenda is to make the case for fair and workable usage of licensed repertoire, to educate the collection agencies about such concepts as Creative Commons, and to resist license encroachment into the syndicated distribution of our speech and spoken word, which we hold to be an infringement of our rights.”

“What animates me personally to act is that silence will be interpreted as acquiesence, and the knowledge that what we do now may very well determine the state of UK podcasting in the coming months and years. I don’t want clumsy legislation stifling this wonderful explosion of UK talent,” adds Whitbread. “I do want a voice when it comes to legislation that will affect me, my creative output, and my income.”

The Association is set up as a non-profit organization.

Imagine an iPod that could play for 100 millennia without repeating a single song.

Science fiction? Not exactly.

Dr. Jonathan Spanier from Drexel University and his research colleagues and the University of Pennsylvania are predicting that nanotechnology will allow computer memory so dense that a cubic centimeter contains 12.8 million gigabytes (GB) of information.

YouTube has introduced a service that lets you upload videos directly from your phone or PDA. All you need is a mobile device capable of making video and MMS messages, and an Internet access or data plan from your service provider.

Cingular, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon are currently supported.

Using the service:

To get started, click on “Create Mobile Profile.” Login, or create an account if you don’t already have one. Once you’re logged in, you’ll create a mobile profile to set up the default information for your videos, and then our system will generate the email address where you should send them. This address will be unique to you and your profile, and you can have up to two profiles.

via YouTube

Political voyeurs are watching French lawmakers to see if changes to the country’s copyright law could affect the way Apple’s iTunes Music Store delivers copyrighted music. Apple uses a form of digital rights management (DRM) that is exclusive to the company, limiting the ability of users to use alternate devices.

The French National Assembly has passed a bill that would permit consumers to ask a court to force companies like Apple to let songs bought from iTunes play on other portable devices. The Senate version, passed Wednesday, would accept such appeals only from companies.

Apple, Vivendi and Time-Warner have lobbied against the law. One reason is that it reduces penalties for digital piracy to the equivalent of a traffic fine. Companies also are against law because it could force them to license their technologies and copy protection schemes.

The French bill has received an unusual amount of attention, partially because of the fact that changes in France could affect users around the world, and also because the bill would increase end-user rights, the opposite of most recent legislation around the world.

via New York Times (subscription)

The Republican National Committee (GOP) has announced a “grassroots” effort to help support the President and republican candidates, the GOP House Party.To help promote the GOP House Party idea, the GOP is giving away five special edition iPod videos to the parties that raise the most money.

Real Networks CEO Rob Glaser made some comments recently that are sure to generate controversy, suggesting that half the music on iPods is illegal and that the music industry made a mistake dealing with Apple.

“The music industry has made a mistake, not by agreeing to Apple’s fixed-price level, which is what gets all the attention, but by allowing Apple to create devices that are not interoperable,” according to Glaser.

Are the Beatles Ready for iTunes?