Blogging minister is sleepless in Seattle

An Enterprise Ireland trade mission to Seattle has yielded a number of technology alliances for Irish mobile, gaming and aviation companies and has inspired the Minister for International Trade to write a blog on the matter.

During the visit to Seattle, Enterprise Ireland and Dublin firm NewBay Software launched an Irish trade mission blog, which includes postings from the Minister for International Trade Michael Ahern TD and other officials attending the mission.

The NewBay FoneBlog service will allow officials to post real-time information and photos about the trade mission at www.irishtrademission.com, which can be viewed immediately through a Wap-enabled mobile phone or a standard web browser. Executives who are unable to attend the event and anyone interested in the trade mission can receive information, photos and post comments to the blog.
[Silicon Republic]

Condom maker buys podcast ads

Condom maker Durex, looking for a medium to reach young adults and not have to worry about FCC issues (according to an AdAge article), has purchased 'product placement' advertising on 'The Dawn and Drew Show,' a podcast.

The ads are not typical radio 'spots' -- Durex is paying the show's stars to talk about the condoms as part of the show's content. Ted Conley, vice president of consumer marketing for Durex, says he thinks 'radio, integration into online gaming and emerging media like podcasts make more sense,' for his product right now than TV advertising.

Read more in today's issue of 'RAIN: Radio And Internet Newsletter,' which is available online now at http://www.kurthanson.com

UK Regulator's Study Points Up Limitations of Amperion-Equipped BPL Trial

NEWINGTON, CT, May 11, 2005--Ofcom, the UK's telecommunications regulatory agency, has concluded that Amperion BPL equipment deployed in a field trial in Scotland 'as tested is not and cannot be FCC Part 15 compliant above 30 MHz.' Ofcom today released a study, 'Amperion PLT Measurements in Crieff,' which summarizes measurements it took at the site in Scotland. PLT is another term for BPL. Ofcom's investigation also demonstrated the limitations of Amperion's 'notching' capabilities to mitigate interference to radio reception. ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, says Ofcom's study reflects what the League and others have known all along about BPL.
(ARRLWeb)

DRM Votes To Extend its System to 120 MHz

(10/05/2005 Paris, France) The members of the Digital Radio Mondiale TM consortium today voted to begin the process of extending the DRM TM on-air system into the broadcasting bands up to 120 MHz. This landmark decision will enhance the range of non-proprietary, digital radio solutions offered worldwide by the DRM consortium and the World DAB Forum, which work together on projects of mutual interest. In combination with one another, the digital systems of the World DAB Forum and DRM will provide tailor-made solutions -- even in the same bands -- in markets across the globe.

DRM, a non-proprietary system that has been endorsed by the ITU, IEC and ETSI, currently covers the broadcasting bands below 30 MHz (short-wave, medium-wave/AM and long-wave). DAB Digital Radio, is also a non-proprietary system endorsed by the ITU and ETSI, which was developed to work in the broadcast bands between 30MHz and 3GHz and will therefore work satisfactorily in Band II (87,5 - 108 MHz).
(www.drm.org)

Radio Me

Faster than a speeding bullet, radio is facing enormous changes - from the Internet. Just like downloading songs, 'podcasting' makes radio available when and where the listener wants it, not merely when the broadcaster puts it out. Peter Day asks whether this marks the death of radio as we know it or the start of something even bigger.
(BBC - Radio 4 - News - In Business 8 May 2005)

Search Interest in Podcasting Jumps 1,000 Percent

According to search provider Lycos, search requests relating to podcasting are up 1,000 percent. In addition, Lycos is calling Godcasts the 'Hottest Trend In Podcasting'.

Godcasting, a play on the term podcasting, has emerged as a major category for podcasting. The GodCast Network, a podcast network that features Christian and other family-friendly audio content in MP3 format, reports that it has listeners in '128 countries and counting.' The Podcasting News Religion and Spirituality podcast directory category has entries ranging from Agnostic to Christian to New Age.

'Many 'pod preachers' of all faiths are converting their weekly sermons into Godcasts to more easily spread the word,' notes Lycos.

Top 10 Podcast-Related Terms at Lycos
1. iPod
2. iPod Shuffle
3. iPod Mini
4. Podcasting
5. iPod Accessories
6. Podcast
7. Free iPod Music Downloads
8. Wholesale iPods
9. Godcasts
10. What is a Podcast
(Podcasting News)

The Flag is Down

In what must be considered a major victory for consumers, on May 6, 2005, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in favor of the American Library Association and others who filed suit against the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to block implementation of the so-called 'broadcast flag,' a digital signature that would have severely limited the circumstances under which consumers could copy DTV programs. As a result, over-the-air DTV signals may be freely recorded and copied for personal, non-commercial purposes as outlined by the principles of fair use (as unclear as those principles may be).
(Ultimate AV)

It's "The Great Podcasting Rush of '05"

It's "The Great Podcasting Rush of '05" and There's Opportunities In 'Dem Hills! Uh...Ain't There?
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Satellite's initial beauty was the promise of wonderful things like 'commercial-free' music which in some listeners' minds is already becoming debatable. The initial seduction of Satellite Radio was the offer and promise to counter-program against the mundane black hole of programming that terrestrial radio has spiraled into over the last decade or so.

Yet, it appears Satellite Radio can't spend enough money and resources on grabbing programming that has been available forever on AM and FM like baseball, auto racing, college hoops, and dozens of other subjects we can already hear. I actually received a press release today telling me that SIRIUS had added thoroughbred horse racing to its 'deep stable of live sports programming'. And now I can hear podcasts on Satellite?

The power of podcasting is in its distribution method which is uniquely individualized. As I said, Podcasting empowers the listeners with choices. But, it also empowers program producers with the incentive to create programming that would never find a place on AM, FM and most likely neither Internet Streaming nor Satellite Radio.

After all: who wants to hear 15 minutes on 'Dung Beetle Diversity In Pasture Versus Forest'. I don't know - but eventually someone will do a podcast on it and others will subscribe to it because, my friend, that is what podcasting is really all about.
(Corey Deitz:about.com)

Curry Gets Sirius About Podcasting

Sirius Satellite Radio announced Monday it would plug into the podcasting trend by launching May 13 a four-hour weekday show featuring a selection of the best podcasts. The program, Adam Curry’s PodShow will be hosted byAdam Curry, who is considered the father of podcasting. Now his PodShow.com Web site (www.podshow.com) has partnered with Sirius satellite radio to bring a four-hour weekday show, Adam Curry's PodShow, to the satcaster. The show debuts on Friday, May 13. more

Aruntx Podcasting Defines Podcast Super Summer 2005

20.1 million United States households will listen to satellite radio and 12.3 million U.S. households will use their MP3 players to listen to audio podcasts by the end of the decade. According to Arbitron, http://arbitron.com, while the number of listeners to traditional radio has held steady for more than a decade at about 94 percent of the population, consumers are listening to traditional radio about 9.5 percent less now than compared to five years ago.