NevOn

Stupendous Il Divo

I'm not an opera fan by any means (note: lower-case 'o' - I'm not talking about the browser), but after listening to Il Divo, I could easily be converted. At least, to this type of opera.

On Saturday, my wife bought the DVD of Il Divo: Encore and to say I was blown away watching and listening to this really is an understatement.

This is opera but not as you know it. This talented young quartet - an American, Frenchman, Spaniard and a Swiss - of classically-trained singers did a live performance filmed at the Teatro Romano de Mérida in Spain. Switching between songs in English, Spanish and Italian, the audio-visual spectacle really is a treat to behold.

My only complaint reflects some of the reviewers' comments on Amazon.co.uk - the sound is recorded in Dolby Digital 2.0. It's very good indeed, but it could have been totally awesome if it were in DTS. (Dolby vs DTS is an ongoing debate. Personally, I always find DTS a far more fantastic listening experience when watching DTS encoded DVDs.)

Still, I found the whole thing a breathtaking experience for the eyes and the ears. A perfect balance to Led Zeppelin ;)

Il Divo: Encore was released in Europe last month. You're about to get lucky if you're in the US - the DVD will be released there on 24 January.

More info: Il Divo: The Official Site

Audacity releases upgrade of audio editing software

Audacity, the open-source cross-platform sound editor beloved of podcasters, has released an upgrade to its current version and a beta of a new version:

Audacity 1.2.4 is a new stable version of Audacity, the free audio editor. It includes a couple of bug fixes and minor improvements and is recommended for all users. Audacity 1.3.0 is a beta release that contains hundreds of new features, but this version is unfinished and unstable, and is recommended primarily for advanced users. You can install both Audacity 1.2 and 1.3 simultaneously.

For details of the changes see the 1.2.4 release notes. Beta 1.3 is worth a look (see features list) if you want to be at the bleeding edge.

I've used Audacity during the past year for sound recording. Recently, I purchased Adobe Audition 1.5 for Windows which offers significant advanced audio recording and management capabilities as well as comprehensive help and support which you don't get with Audacity.

Nevertheless, if you're thinking about podcasting, Audacity is a great tool to start out with - especially if you're running Mac OS X or Linux - and it's completely free.

Who cares about Windows XP N?

CNET News: A major U.K. retail store and three of the largest PC vendors worldwide still have no plans to sell the version of Microsoft Windows that does not contain its media player, five months after the version was released. Microsoft started offering Windows XP N, a version of Windows without a bundled media player, in June of this year to comply with last year's antitrust ruling by the European Commission.

Slashdot reports that Windows XP N is a sales flop. Hardly surprising, and surely indicates that most people who use Windows really couldn't care less about what the politicians and vocal critics in the mainstream media say and do regarding a PC operating system.

Dell is one of the PC vendors mentioned in CNET's story. When I bought a new Dell computer in August, it came with Dell's OEM version of Windows XP Pro which included Windows Media Player.

I don't actually use Media Player, preferring Winamp and iTunes for playing and managing music. If Windows XP N minus Media Player had a cost advantage, then it might be different. But it doesn't:

[...] Earlier this year, PC World--the U.K.'s largest computer store chain--said that it would not stock XP N since the full version of Windows XP was the same price, thereby offering a better value to its customers. A PC World representative said Thursday that this situation hasn't changed and there had been "no demand" for XP N, as far as she was aware.

So do I care about this news and the EC ruling? Not at all. Which, I suspect, reflects what many other Windows users think.

Apple launches video iPod

On the road until the weekend, posting will resume then.

Meanwhile, one item for you, briefly discussed in FIR #76 (recorded yesterday, a day earlier than usual).

The speculation was correct - yesterday Apple launched a video iPod. My recommendation - forget the iPod nano; this is the one to get. Just look at the specs. And think about video podcasts.

Oh, Apple also announced a new iMac G5. And iTunes version 6.

Just over two months until Christmas...

Yahoo launches podcast directory

Yahoo has launched a podcasting site, a place that's not only a directory of podcasts but also a great resource of rich information on podcasting generally, and a one-stop-shop for your podcasts and music purchasing.

Yahoo Podcasts includes detailed information that explains what podcasts are and an excellent how-to guide on creating your own podcast, how to create the RSS feed, get listed in podcast directories (there's a list of other major directories) and much more.

In addition, you can get the Yahoo Music Engine, a desktop application/plug-in for Windows with similarities in concept and functionality to Apple's iTunes - you can listen to music, CDs, LAUNCHcast Radio and podcasts, as well as burn CDs and buy music downloads (at $0.79 a track compared to iTunes' $0.99 in the US).

You buy music from Yahoo Music Unlimited, the new subscription service that's clearly a head-to-head challenge to the iTunes Music Store.

What will likely be appealing to many people is that Yahoo's offering supports both the WMA file format as well as the MP3 file format (used by a wide range of portable digital players), and Apple's AAC file format (used only by the iPod range). More info here. Some people might not like Yahoo's all-embracing approach to Windows Media DRM (digital rights management), but you'd better get used to it - this is arguably the future of digital media and how it's made available online.

For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report is listed in Yahoo Podcasts - you can subscribe here.

There can now be no doubt - podcasting has entered the mainstream.

iTunes 5.0.1 released but woes continue

Apple released iTunes 5.0 earlier this month, which generated quite a number of complaints from users such as this one by Michael Hyatt.

I installed version 5 for Windows and have not experienced any problems with it nor with syncing music and podcasts to my iPod Mini.

Nevertheless, clearly there were issues with version 5, so Apple has now released iTunes version 5.0.1. Note that the version change is not mentioned anywhere on the download page.

As I haven't experienced issues, I'm sticking with 5 for the time being, as from the many posts in the Installation & Upgrades Forum at Apple Discussions, it looks like 5.0.1 either doesn't entirely fix the issues people experienced or introduces new ones.

(Hat tip: The Apple Blog)

iPod nano... Hot cakes

Now this is sexy!

Today Apple announced the iPod nano, a very elegant, slim digital player that supersedes the iPod Mini (which is no longer listed on Apple's website but is there if you know the URL).

Super slim, light and a bright colour screen are three of the great form factors of this cute little gadget. Long battery life, great sound quality are two others in this latest move that surely will cement iPod as the coolest brand on the planet at the moment - and no doubt will sell like hots cakes.

Two models on offer - 2 gigs to hold 500 songs/podcasts and 4 gigs to hold 1,000. Pricing in the US starts at $199, according to Apple's website. What's interesting is that, unlike the iPod and iPod Mini, storage is flash memory, not a hard drive, which will means 100% skip-free listening. Similar, in fact, to the iPod Shuffle.

Full features list here.

Simultaneously, Apple has launched iTunes version 5 which has some interesting new features such as syncing with Outlook and Outlook Express on Windows PCs (clearly targeting business users), and with the Motorola ROKR E1 - the so-called iTunes phone that has garnered plenty of media talk recently.

And talk about coolness (and co-branding) - you can now buy all six Harry Potter books as audiobooks as well as buy a special Harry Potter-branded iPod.

Christmas is less than four months away. All hot cakes, no question.

Spoiled for choice for getting podcasts

I use Winamp as my default media player. I also have iTunes as well as Windows Media Player that comes with the operating system.

But I use Winamp when I want to listen to podcasts on my PC. It's a compact program with a minimalist display that scrolls the show title and has a nice digital timer so I can see where I am in a particular show. Just what I want.

Over the weekend, I upgraded to the latest free version 5.1 released last Thursday. This new version has direct podcasting support with SHOUTcast Wire - a built-in podcast directory and RSS subscription service.

While you can subscribe to podcasts, there's no support for syncing them to your iPod (but you can do that with this plugin). What you can do, though, is double-click on a particular podcast in the SHOUTcast Wire directory, and it will stream the audio and start playing the podcast immediately. So if you have broadband or other high-speed net connection, it's worthwhile listening before you download. Neat.

There's now a lot of choice out there to get your podcasts and sync them with your iPod. Let's see... for Windows PCs, we have iPodder, DopplerRadio and iTunes, undoubtedly the Big Three podcatchers. There's also Odeo and a newcomer, Ziepod. There's also the FeedDemon RSS aggregator which will sync your podcasts with iTunes and thus to your iPod.

I've used all these apps at one time or another, and they all do a good job to achieve what you want. Currently, I use iTunes as my primary podcatcher with FeedDemon to get some shows that aren't in the iTunes directory, as well as acting as a sort of 'backup podcatcher' where some shows don't appear quickly enough in the iTunes directory.

As for which is the best one, or the easiest and most reliable to use, if the download stats from Libsyn for For Immediate Release are anything to go by, that's clearly iTunes - consistently the top podcatcher for getting our show over the past three months.

The judgment of Michael Jackson

BBC News: Michael Jackson's latest greatest hits album has sold just 8,000 copies in the US in its first week of release, reaching number 128 in the chart. The Essential Michael Jackson is the star's first release since he was cleared of child abuse a month ago. [...] Jackson faces a struggle to repair his image and repay debts that prosecutors in his trial claimed amounted to $300m (£170m).

Can he repair his image? That is the big question. Look at the picture here of the new CD cover. It bears little resemblance to Jackson today. It's closer to what he looked like in the '80s following the release of Thriller, his best album of all time (IMHO). And that was over 20 years ago.

Perhaps this is one key to Jackson's image (and reputation) problem. His recent trial was constant TV fare especially in the US. I would guess that almost anyone anywhere knows what he looks like today, and it's not the picture on the CD cover. Do people see this as trying to pull the wool over their eyes? And there's another dilemma - putting his current picture on the CD cover probably wouldn't help sales either.

Could it just be the very idea of his record company issuing a CD so soon after an abhorrent event in which he was a central character, an event that is still fresh in people's minds? Perhaps publicist Max Clifford, quoted in the BBC report, has it right:

[...] It would be the hardest job in PR after Saddam Hussein and I would be astounded if he could turn things around. People were extremely offended by even some of the things he admitted in court. The final judgement is with the record-buying public and they have made their verdict clear.

BBC News | Entertainment | US fans shun Michael Jackson CD

See also - detailed Wikipedia entry for Michael Jackson.

Don't believe everything you read in the media

I like listening to Adam Curry's Daily Source Code as background listening as I'm working. That's how I usually listen to radio - background listening while I'm doing something else.

So it is for me with podcasts like the DSC, which I play on a PC in my office and listen to through the PC's speakers (I listen on my iPod when I'm travelling). Time-shifted radio equivalent, of course, as I listen when I want to and not according to a broadcast schedule.

And there I was this early evening, enjoying today's DSC as I read Greg Lindsay's story in Business 2.0 in which he predicts the end for podcasters other than mainstream media who will edge out the indie podcasters. The advent of iTunes is a key reason, Lindsay says, declaring that "podcasting is soooo over." This is the third US publication - mainstream media - in recent days which has published such narrow doom and gloom commentary.

I'd classify Shel and I as "indie podcasters" with our For Immediate Release podcast. Just us two guys, independents both, who do a twice-weekly business show. So according to Lindsay, we may as well shut up shop and do something else as it will never work and we won't make any money at it.

We're not in it for the money, actually. I was outlining my response commentary - and then I read Shel's post today on the subject:

[...] Indie podcasting will survive and thrive because of the value of the information it contains. Clearly, Neville and I will never attract an audience as large as movie reviewers Ebert & Roeper (one of the podcasts available from iTunes). However, public relations practitioners and others interested in organizational communication will never obtain content comparable to what “For Immediate Release” offers from a mainstream media source. There isn’t a radio station on earth that would produce a show dealing with the subject matter that Neville and I address because the audience isn’t big enough to attract the requisite advertising dollars to support it.

But Neville and I don’t need any advertising dollars. We’re not in it for the money. We are passionate about it and, as a consequence, our audience continues to grow. I’m not the least bit worried that our humble podcast is (in Lindsay’s words) “sooo over” because we represent the only option for those interested in our subject matter. And so it is with most other podcasts, including those focused on beer, wine, knitting, endurance sports, theme parks, and other niche interests. Public relations professionals have understood for years the value of narrowcasting.

Brilliant, Shel! This and the sound arguments in the rest of your post say it all.

I have a music recommendation for Lindsay as he ponders the future of podcasting. A great rock track included in today's DSC - On a Podcast by Cruisebox.  Terrific song, the first one I've heard that's about podcasting, and which I predict will be the siren call for indie podcasters. It's from Cruisebox' forthcoming CD Tell the FCC to Stick It (is that a great title or what?).

Available for download under a Creative Commons license. Various versions, given the explicit lyrics.