Podcasts have become a good way for cord cutters to get up to date info in lieu of broadcast news or TV shows. Thanks to the Apple TV, bringing them into the living room is a piece of cake. There are two options for getting this done, depending on your home set up and network configuration.

What is a ‘video podcast’?

Starting out as a means to embed media in an RSS feed in 2004, podcasts originally automated the distribution of audio to desktops and portable music players via subscriptions. As podcasters (individuals who make and distribute podcasts) have transitioned from audio to video, production companies have entered the field. New content providers like Mevio, Revision3 and TWiT TV are now competing directly with established networks like NPR, Discovery, and the BBC. Eventually, video podcasts managed from an iTunes account on the Apple TV could have the potential to be just as big as a living room content vector as YouTube, Netflix  or even cable.

Accessing video podcasts directly from the Apple TV

The easiest way to view a video podcast is to find it on the Apple TV itself. You can access a list of readily available podcasts from the Internet menu of the Apple TV by selecting “Podcasts.” Here you can browse by popularity, genre, provider or even search for a podcast by name. If you’re logged in to your iTunes account, you will also be able to add individual podcasts to  list of favorites that will be accessible from the Apple TV’s podcast main menu. The challenge is that there is only one list of favorites per Apple TV, and that list can become quite large depending on how many cord cutters you have lounging around.

Home Sharing your video podcast subscriptions from iTunes

If you manage multiple Apple TVs, or if you have multiple cord cutters sharing a single Apple TV, then perhaps an easier way to manage all of your podcast subscriptions is from iTunes running on a Mac. This is the best of both worlds, as you don’t have to repeatedly set up your favorites on each Apple TV, and every user on the network can manage their own collection of shared subscriptions with their iTunes account.

Subscribing to podcasts in iTunes:

1. From the iTunes General Preferences, ensure Show Podcasts is checked.
2. From iTunes Parental Preferences, ensure Disable Podcasts and Disable iTunes Store are not checked.
3. Open the iTunes Store located under in the left navigation pane of iTunes.
4. From the Podcasts drop down list in the iTunes Store, select Video Podcasts.
5. Browse and choose a video podcast you which to subscribe to.
6. Click “Subscribe Free” on the podcast page in iTunes.

Managing Updates to Subscriptions. Once you have subscribed to one or more podcasts, you can manage how often iTunes looks for updates, as well as how many episodes are kept on your computer at once.

1. Open Podcasts located under Library in the left navigation pane of iTunes.
2. Click on the Settings button on the bottom go the Podcasts window in iTunes.
3. Set how often iTunes should check for new episodes, which episodes to download, and which episodes to keep.

Set up Home Sharing:

1. From iTunes Advanced menu, select “Turn On Home Sharing.”
2. Enter your iTunes account information and click on the “Create Home Share” button in iTunes.
3. From your Apple TV Settings menu, select “Computers.”
4. Enter your iTunes account information.
5. Open the Apple TV Computer menu and select the Home Share name you created above.

Once you follow the steps above, you’ll be able to play any podcast on your Apple TV that you’ve subscribed to on your Mac. Between the two options, watching streaming podcasts directly on my Apple TV, or streaming downloaded podcasts from my Mac, I would have to say I prefer the latter, since  I don’t have to worry about network issues and if I have my settings configured properly, I won’t wait for content to download. Any tips or preferences for Apple TV podcast viewing you’d like to share?

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Connected Consumer Q2: Digital music meets the cloud; e-book growth explodes
• Connected Consumer Q1: The Over-the-Top vs. Pay TV Battle Heats Up

iTunes U (iTunes Link), part of the iTunes Store, is an amazing venue for top-notch educational content from the world’s greatest universities, institutions, museums and other public educational foundations. From language lessons to audiobooks to lectures and more, iTunes U is a great place for those who love to learn. With the release of iTunes 9, Apple has put an even bigger spotlight on this great content by featuring it prominently inside the application.

When iTunes U first launched, many of the top universities, such as Stanford, Cambridge and Carnegie Mellon, jumped onboard to provide engaging content. As the original institutions first began producing content for the free service, some implemented their content as podcasts that would download into the “Podcasts” section of iTunes whereas others would implement their content so it would download in the “Music” section. Furthermore, as more engaging content was added to the service, it became problematic to keep this content organized. Some universities would automatically create playlists for their content, and others would just create multiple podcasts.

iTunes 9 attempts to solve this disarray by providing a specific iTunes U section inside the application and a specific iTunes U tab for iPods and iPhones to sync the content. This allows users to specifically choose which content they wish to sync, by a particular topic from an iTunes U content provider, or a specific “episode” within that topic. The iTunes Store redesign itself also prominently features iTunes U content accessible via a button across the top navigation bar. Though this section of iTunes still physically resembles the iTunes Store pre-version 9, Apple is in the process of updating it to match the look and feel of the rest of the redesigned store.

The 3.0 Software Update for the iPhone and iPod touch also brings about a specific section for iTunes U in the mobile iTunes store. Much like traditional podcasts, users can browse this section to view top downloaded content or content organized by category. Due to the flexibility that Apple gives institutions in organizing and presenting their content, navigating all of this directly from an iPod or iPhone can be a bit daunting, though.

As mentioned earlier, iTunes U content is completely free and currently features over 200,000 educational audio and video titles available for download, even including content on how to get started creating your own iPhone applications. It’s a great resource to further your learning whether you’re at home or on the go.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Mobile Q4: All Eyes Were on Android, 4G and the Rising Tablet Tide
• Report: A Mobile Video Market Overview
• In Q3, the Tablet and 4G Were the Big Stories

Naturally, as a contributor to this blog, my first thought was to upgrade from iPhoto to Aperture. The problem is, where do I turn to learn how to use all of Aperture’s features? The One to One program would be perfect for me, but that’s no longer an option unless I purchase a new computer from Apple.

For those of you who may have forgotten, the old One to One program cost $99 and included weekly one hour (read: one academic hour, which actually means 50 minutes) sessions for an entire year. Customers could learn about a wide variety of topics, from how to use a Mac, to uploading photos to MobileMe, to editing images in Aperture.

In order to provide an alternative for those like me who’ve been hung out to dry, I’ve done my best gathering resources for people who like a little guidance when learning new software. Fortunately, Aperture is designed so that newcomers can easily figure out how to import photos from a memory card and organize them into projects, but anything more advanced may require additional patience and resources.

• Apple tutorials podcast
• Quick Tips with Richard Harrington podcast
• Apple’s Aperture forum
• Apple’s Exploring Aperture book
• Amazon’s Aperture 4+ star books
• Retail workshops – Don’t expect much unless you live close to a major store. Those in Northern California have two options: San Francisco and Corte Madera.

Let us know about any other good resources you’ve come across for learning Aperture.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• How Startups Can Cash In On the iPad’s Weaknesses
• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce

Feeling the cash crunch around this particular time? Not to worry, most of the applications mentioned here are free or just a couple bucks. A nice print-out of your gift tucked or wrapped nicely in a festive Father’s Day envelope will more than likely communicate your genuine appreciation for your dad. So since all dads are obviously not the same, breeze through our list and find our top picks for your kind of dad.

The Stay at Home Dad

iHandy Level (Free)
For the Stay-at-Home Handy Dad — utility belts and their attachments are so passé! Consider surprising your stay-at-home Dad this Father’s Day with gadgets that reside in his iPhone.

iHandy Level is a free application brought to you by iHandySoft Inc. This stunning application exploits the iPhone’s Accelerometer and Proximity sensor to bring your stay-at-home Handy Dad a truly unique handyman experience. From balancing and centering picture frames on the wall, to leveling a floor tile — this is definitely one unique application that no handy dad should be without!

If you’re feeling extra generous this Father’s Day, you may consider the iHandy Carpenter which includes five handyman tools in one for the ridiculous price of $1.99!

iHandy Carpenter Notable Features

• iHandy Level
• Plumb Bob – the easy method of verifying the verticality of walls
• Surface Level – the best tool to level any flat surface
• Steel protractor – OK so it’s not made of steel, but it sure is pretty and measures angles beautifully
• Steel Ruler – again, not real steel – but smarter and more compact than any steel ruler you may have come across and it actually measures a few times longer than the iPhone, too

Allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner (Free)
If your stay-at-home Dad isn’t particularly the handyman type, but perhaps more of the kitchen connoisseur, the Allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner app may be more his taste.

He can swipe away at the Spinner sorting by Dish Type, Ingredients, and Prep/Cook time to view recipe matches of his choice — or, if he’s feeling “saucy,” he could simply tap the Spin Categories function for a totally impromptu pick. One thing is for sure, the recipe of choice will definitely be one to delight since all recipes are based on ratings and reviews of millions of home cooks. To top it off, each recipe comes complete with its own Nutritional Information chart to keep a stay-at-home Dad’s family happy and healthy.

Notable Features

• Choose by Dish Type from Appetizers through to Dessert (cocktails included)
• Choose by Ingredient
• Choose by desired Prep/Cook time
• A light shake will present random recipe ideas

The Sports Fan Dad

ESPN ScoreCenter (Free)
Forget about losing your sports fan Dad’s attention to the TV, that’s a worry of the past. A glance is all it will take to get the latest scores, results and stats of his favorite sports team — all from a one-tap access interface. With the recent release of the iPhone and iPod touch 3.0 software update, the new ESPN ScoreCenter will also feature push notifications.

Results are available for:

• Football/Soccer
• Baseball (MLB)
• American Football (NFL)
• Basketball (NBA)
• Ice Hockey (NHL)
• NCAA College Football, Basketball
• NASCAE, Formula 1, Indycar
• Golf
• Tennis
• Cricket & Rugby are both coming soon

Sports Radio (99 cents)
Is your sports fan Dad a multinational sports fan Dad? Place the world of sports radio into the palm of his hand with a single app for the iPhone and iPod touch. Not only can your dad tune in to over 6,400 sports radio stations around the world, but with the newly added Facebook and Twitter integration, he can keep his friends in the know as well.

Notable Features

• Includes users favorite MP3 iTunes stations
• Pick from favorites or recently played stations
• Includes Public Radio streams and over 2,100 MP3 stations from Europe, Australia, and Canada
• Dynamic directory for adding new directories and stations without application updates, 
email links to a station stream to friends using iPhone or iPod touch Mail application,
 Radio for iPhone supports MP3 and AAC stream formats and then some

The Athletic Dad

Yoga STRETCH (99 cents)
Now don’t let the womanly image fool you; these days yoga is a very acceptable, manly athletic activity (and I’m not saying so just because I do it — cough).

Having the mind in tune with the body through yoga has proven to yield many benefits, especially for me. These include lowering blood pressure, weight normalization, and an increase to energy and endurance levels. This progressive app displays traditional yoga poses at individual intervals and comes complete with a personal yoga instructor that walks students through a successful session. Since the application is designed exclusively for the iPhone and iPod touch, your athletic Dad can strike his pose in his office or from the comfort of his own hiding place.

Notable Features

• Consists of traditional yoga poses sequencing with a Vinyasa flow
• Designed to improve strength, balance, posture and flexibility
• A personal yoga instructor walking each through a full session including audio commentary, images and music

iFitness ($1.99)
If your athletic Dad doesn’t happen to be the posing, flexing type, iFitness may just be what he needs for an all-around healthy, accurate and comprehensive workout. Forget about breaking the bank to get your dad a personal trainer for Father’s Day — a single solution has been developed just for the tech- (and financially-) savvy individual and it’s available on none other than the iPhone and iPod touch.

Notable Features

• Over 110 beautifully illustrated exercises with accompanying text
• Favorites option to create your own custom routine
• Preset routines that our experts have made for reaching different goals
• Exercises organized by the muscles they target

The Business Dad

TravelTracker with TripIt ($7.99)
With just one tap you can download all of your trip information into TravelTracker. Not only will it download each of the your critical trip details, such as flights, hotel reservations and car rentals, but it also goes the extra mile to fetch the pertinent details of your trip, such as your meetings, activities, notes and yes — even your restaurant reservations. Yum!

Does your airport lack sufficient mobile coverage and/or is not yet equipped with free Wi-Fi? Never fear! TravelTracker with TripIt works sufficiently offline just as beautifully as it does online. Oh, and if you’re still trying to figure out what exactly TripIt is, check out this amazing free add-on: tripit.com.

TravelTracker is your all-in-one virtual travel assistant and companion. It stores all vital information for your trip and displays it in a convenient optimized itinerary screen that allows you to record all of the key aspects you need before, during and after your trip. This is every business Dad’s winner.

Notable Features

• One-touch flight status
• Customizable packing lists
• Records all details of your travel expenses
• Record-keeping of all of your frequent traveler award programs
• Airplane database with link to seating charts
• Email your itinerary and expenses to contacts
• Download current weather conditions & forecasts for your chosen airport
• Download current exchange rates to determine your trip total in your own currency

Currency (Free)
These days, with business deals flowing like water across oceans, the Internet has skyrocketed business transactions into oblivion and the only way for your business Dad to keep up with the world’s currencies is through a single intuitive application such as Currency. This app provides the latest conversions in every exchange language (18 languages, to be exact) and in every currency (which total 90 currencies for over 100 countries).

Notable Features

• 18 exchange languages
• Up-to-date exchange rate information for over 90 currencies and 100 countries
• Common currencies: Dollar, Pound, Yen, Peso, Dinar, Yuan, Baht, Dirham, Real, Kuna, Riyal, Lira plus many others

The Single Dad

Urban Spoon (Free)
No single Dad will ever be without ideas as to where to take the kids (or a hot date) for the best eats in town! With similar functionality as Allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner, the shake of the iPhone or iPod touch will jolt Urban Spoon into emulating the function of a classic slot machine to present a random restaurant pick in the vicinity. Another shake will simply pull up another selection — and just keep on shaking until satisfied. Arm getting tired yet? Just set a lock on any of the three criteria items (Neighborhood, Cuisine, Price) to narrow the selection.

Notable Features

• Use GPS to find a restaurant nearest you
• Filter by Neighborhood, Cuisine and Price
• Search and browse local restaurant and check out their reviews
• See a list of all nearby restaurants
• Compare restaurant picks with your friends

NYTimes App (Free)
For the single Dads (or really any dad) who are always on the go, they’ll never miss a beat (or an important news update) from the newly polished NYTimes App. No longer is this news application painfully sluggish, as its version 1.0 predecessor was. In fact, NYTimes App zips across the wire to download up-to-the-minute news in a flash and even works just as feverishly offline or in airplane mode (just as long as the app has downloaded the articles previously, which is still quite instant).

Notable Features

• Gorgeous and sophisticated interface
• Access to the latest articles and photos of the day
• Customizable toolbar with favorite sections of NYTimes.com
• Read anywhere – After a quick sync, articles and photos are available offline

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• The Public Cloud Will Dominate Enterprise IT — One Day
• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce

Do you tweet? Then maybe you should Boo! It’s like a multimedia Twitter, designed especially for iPhone users.

Over in the UK back in 2008, Channel 4 (Britain’s edgy TV channel) launched a unique funding program entitled 4IP. Cut to 2009 and, having just announced a dedicated iPhone 3.0 fund, the suits over at 4IP seem particularly keen on Apple’s device as a platform for pushing interactive wares. In fact, 4IP has announced a fund for developers, with almost $150,000 up for grabs at a maximum of approximately $40,000 per app.

Made possible by 4IP and developed by BestBefore, AudioBoo is among the first of Channel 4′s original iPhone commissions to hit the App Store. As developers ready their funding proposals, AudioBoo is set to be a showcase of the kind of app 4IP will be looking for — making use of various media formats, community-focused, and integrating with the most popular social platforms.

Designed to work alongside Twitter and iTunes, AudioBoo is an audio blogging platform created especially for iPhone.

Anatomy of a Boo

On paper, AudioBoo’s feature set reads excellently — it’s a tour de force of current buzzwords and trends. Using the iPhone you can record an audio message, the message pops up on your Twitter stream and there’s even an automatic, iTunes-compatible RSS feed for your followers to subscribe to.

The sign-up process is simple, taking place either on the iPhone (via a Safari link within the app) or on the desktop version of the web site. Plus, once signed in, it only takes a couple of clicks to link your Twitter account and activate Facebook Connect. The site even grabs your Gravatar, saving the hassle of uploading a profile picture.

It’s worth noting, however, that there’s not much to do on the desktop version of the site. AudioBoo really has been designed for iPhone; the app is where are all the key features are and, as such, there’s no way to record a Boo via the site.

Making the Perfect Boo

Once logged in on the iPhone, the app displays the main Boo stream, similar to Twitter’s public stream. Unlike Twitter, though, there’s no way of following other users; this seemed somewhat odd to me initially, until I realized that — with Twitter and Facebook Connect integration — it’s not needed: AudioBoo pushes messages to the big social platforms where all the action happens.

The focus throughout the app is on simplicity and ease of use. This is reflected in the audio-recording interface — there’s no friction with the technology and so creating a Boo is so quick it retains a real sense of fun throughout.

Although the App Store page states that recordings can be up to three minutes long, there’s actually a maximum length of five minutes. It’s the perfect amount of time to do a blog-style update, sing a little tune or make an impassioned rant.

EmbeddaBoo

Each Boo can be posted alongside a photo, either from your photo album or taken with the iPhoto camera. You can also add tags and, if you’re not the secretive type, even include GPS data. After that it takes a few seconds to publish a Boo — even over slower Edge connections — resulting in a page like this.

If you clicked the link to my test Boo, you’ll have heard that the audio quality from the iPhone mic itself is surprisingly good. And, because I’m a Twitter user, I’ve linked up AudioBoo to auto-tweet for me too. The site even generates code so that you can embed specific Boos on your blog or web page of choice.

There’s one feature, though, that seems to be a real stroke of genius on the part of BestBefore: Alongside an RSS feed, your Boo page also has an iTunes button — clicking this button automagically subscribes users to a podcast feed within iTunes of your Boo updates.

Summing Up

Despite having launched in the App Store, AudioBoo is still clearly in its infancy. The site design is incredibly dull, profile pages lack any sort of personalization options and the iPhone app can be a little crash-happy, too.

While there’s still a long way to go with the main site, the core technology works and, after configuring your account, you’ll find yourself primarily using the iPhone app and never having to visit the main AudioBoo site again — everything is automated for you.

The technology, and all the other added extras, more than make up for any complaints. It’s genuinely exciting to be armed with this fun little tool that enables you to record an audio message (with accompanying photo) and instantly publish to Twitter, Facebook and iTunes.

Simply put, AudioBoo is great fun and totally free. For Twitter users, Facebook members, potential podcasters, and regular folk who have something they’ve just got to voice, it’s well worth a download.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
• A 2011 Connected Consumer Forecast
• A 2011 NewNet Forecast

Now it’s that special moment that happens ever Saturday at TAB where, after a week of trawling through the latest App Store releases, I hand-pick a few interesting specimens especially for your perusal.

This week I’m looking at Songbird Remote, Slydial, TED and DTESS Aphid Attack.

Songbird Remote (free)
TAB’s Bob Rudis gave the most recent release of Songbird a thumbs-up not so long ago. The desktop app is an alternative to iTunes, managing your music, video and all that entertaining jazz. This app adds to Songbird’s already impressive functionality, incorporating remote control via iPhone. I’m well aware we already have a very robust remote app for iTunes, but choice is a good thing and this certainly makes swapping to Songbird more-so appealing.

Slydial (free)
Ever have one of those moments where you’re calling someone and would really rather go straight to voicemail, cunningly avoiding some kind of an awkward and poorly-worded explanation? For folk are lacking in, or too lazy to use, social skills and tact, comes Slydial – a tool that sends you straight to voicemail when calling someone (U.S. only). There’s something unscrupulous and horridly calculating about this app, nevertheless it’s an interesting (and free) addition to the App Store which some people may find to be an invaluable tool.

TED (free)
The TEDtalks are a wonderful series of live recordings – available on iTunes – from TED, a conference for the world’s brightest and most brilliant minds. The talks themselves are a meeting place for über-smart folk to discuss, deliberate and schmooze everything from arts and entertainment to world politics and artifical intelligence. The TED app takes it all a step further than the podcast subscription, with searching and bookmarking through their vast back-catalogue.

DTESS Aphid Attack (free)
The new Keanu Reeves vehicle, The Day The Earth Stood Still, is currently hitting cinema-houses here in the UK. It’s a remake, where this time the entire world faces off against Reeves as a calm but irate humanoid alien. This is a game promoting the movie where you send nasty aphids (in this case, big alien bugs) to destroy global iconic landmarks. Yes, it’s in ever-so-slightly bad taste. But no, it’s not so great — it could be good fun, but it’s got as much depth as Reeves’s acting. Woah.

Like an iPhone-toting Columbo, I’ve brought you some exciting leads to follow up on, but before I hurry on my way, there’s just one more thing. There have been some exciting developments for iPhone owners this week, one is officially sanctioned by Apple and the other, while not official, is a step in the right direction.

Starting with the former, in yesterday’s Daily Apple post, our very own Darrell Etherington mentioned Apple’s changes to the App Store layout. Setting aside the developers for a moment, the big question for consumers is, “What does that actually mean for us?” 

Perhaps the most noticeable and useful change is that the listing of most popular apps has been split in two, resulting in a separate paid and free top ten charts. This is a welcome step in the right direction for highlighting which apps we should shell out for a few bucks for.

On the unofficial front, another solution for the lack of Copy-Paste on iPhone has arrived. Pastebud is our savior’s name and it works, not as a downloadable app, but a series of Safari-based javascript bookmarklets. It’s a clever solution indeed and we’ll follow this up with a proper posting explaining the intricacies of using Pastebud.

That’s all for this week, I’ll return next Saturday with a cavalcade of new apps to tell you about, in the meantime drop by the comments and let me know which apps you’ve been downloading this week.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• How to Market Your iPhone App: A Developer’s Guide
• Virtual Worlds: Trends and Opportunities

At the time, the “Get More Episodes…” link seen in the screenshot posted at TUAW didn’t actually do anything, but indicated the future inclusion of direct downloading to the iPhone/iPod touch. Today, German site Flo’s Weblog has posted a new series of screenshots from the latest build that show the download option in the podcast menu is now live and functional. Note that no new build has been released, Apple has simply activated the download option in the existing software. The screenshots show that downloading over a 3G cellular connection is possible, although size limits of 10MB exist, matching the App Store caps.

Judging from the screens, Apple includes support for both audio and video podcast downloading, and seems to be an add-on to the existing iTunes application, as indicated by the bottom menu bar. There is no indication in the screenshots that podcast subscription is possible in the new firmware, or that users can sync their existing subscriptions and downloaded podcasts from their iTunes library. There are however no screens of the updated iPod menu and interface, which is likely where downloaded content would be accessible, so subscription and syncing support should by no means be ruled out.

Also shown off are the new category badges for the App Store, which feature select application icons from software available within that category. It’s unclear whether these will be random, rotating, or advertising spots available from Apple for a fee to developers wanting to promote their apps.

Is podcast support important to you? Does Apple’s inclusion of this feature excuse their rejection of Podcaster from the App Store?

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Mobile Q4: All Eyes Were on Android, 4G and the Rising Tablet Tide
• Report: A Mobile Video Market Overview
• In Q3, the Tablet and 4G Were the Big Stories

A little while ago, I elected to participate in a new product offering from Boinx Software, called BoinxTV. In all honesty, I had forgotten about the product until I recently received an email telling me where to download a current build and give it a try. This application is pretty comprehensive, and more importantly, it makes the process of creating and editing videocasts fun.

Getting Started

Upon initial launch of the application, you are presented with the following screen:

What is really nice is that Boinx has provided some pre-canned templates to easily generate the type of broadcast you would like to make. Each of the templates are fun and easily modified. Another bonus, as shown with this screenshot is that you can select the resolution for the broadcast, including HD (albeit it is a compressed version at 960×540).

Editing

Once you select the type of template you want, BoinxTV generates the necessary components of the broadcast and then presents you with the following screen:

In this window, you control which elements of the broadcast (audio, video, graphics and more) you want to include. You can also define their properties (left-hand side) and see a preview of the video on the right. Note, I disabled the video in this particular screen — none of you want to see my ugly mug.

Because the application is so flexible, you can either record your video first or last. You can edit the elements of the broadcast at any time. One of my favorite features is that you can define what type of marquee content you want to display across the video, including RSS feeds. This makes the content seem fresh and improves the level of realism.

BoinxTV also supports Apple’s Media Browser, so you can easily drag-and-drop your photos, videos or music files directly into the broadcast you are editing.

Exporting & Publishing

When you have finished recording and making the appropriate edits, you can then decide where you want to export the content. What is great is that BoinxTV exports to PodcastProducer and can easily publish your broadcast to it. Here is an example of the publishing process:

Conclusion

One of the quirks of the application, besides the fact that it is in beta, is that the UI can be a little overwhelming at first. There are so many options and controls for editing, you might be confused as to where to start. However, with a little time and practice, it isn’t too hard to get going.

To learn more about BoinxTV, they have created a screencast available for viewing on iTunes. I am pretty excited about this product and believe that anyone who creates videocasts will appreciate the power that BoinxTV provides. BoinxTV is due to ship by mid-November.

Oh, I have two additional beta invites for those who are really interested. Please write a clever reason as to why I should give you an invite (meaning, how it will really help you) in the comments section below and I will then decide the winner(s) in another post.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
• Content Farms: The Players, The Benefits, The Risks

1. People want to be able to buy their music easily
2. People want their purchased music to work on their devices

The iTunes Music Store allows people to easily purchase music. They set the precedence with a $0.99 price point, and everyone is following suit. They showed that if it is easy to purchase music and easy to listen to it again, they will pay that price.

The problem is that with the (barely) exception of Amazon.com’s mp3 store, the price point has stayed the same 99 cents. People will still pay that price, and DRM-free music is certainly enticing for those of us that even understand that. Many people don’t realize that DRM even exists.

To make things worse, some companies try to charge $1.99/song for downloading it straight to your phone. It just doesn’t make sense.

So, you get a less-than-the-easiest interface for downloading music, and it costs about the same or more, and these companies want to bite in to Apple’s market share? I don’t think so.

If they want to bite into Apple’s bottom line, they need to offer something more than what iTunes offers. Yeah, it is DRM-free, but other than that, there is nothing.

Russ Crupnick, senior analyst for NPD group had it right when he said:

“When you have 80 percent market share on Apple devices…there isn’t much demand from people to get unprotected music. They don’t seem to encounter any issues with it.”

I am a big fan of tossing out DRM and all, but differentiating in only the DRM category is not enough. These DRM-free shops will get the Apple haters, but not much more.

To make themselves stand out and sell more, make a daring move and sell the music for much cheaper. People will continue to buy music from iTunes until something better comes along. Is it greed? If I could buy two songs from one vendor for the price of one iTunes song, and the quality was just as good as anywhere else (if not better), what would stop me from buying those two songs instead of downloading one song from iTunes? Nothing but ease of use. If the song could be downloaded and automatically added to my iTunes Library, I would do that in a heartbeat. Who wouldn’t?

Pirates will exist as long as it is easier to steal music than it is to buy it. Allofmp3.com had a good idea when pricing songs by the data size instead of a straight price. It was illegal which is not cool, but many people went to great lengths to purchase songs from that website. You could get between four and seven songs for the cost of one iTunes song. Music labels can create a site just like that and iTunes would immediately feel the pain. It would be so easy to get a lot of music for so cheap, that many people just wouldn’t bother pirating music. There will always be those who break the law, and so there will always be people who pirate music. But instead of borrowing a CD from my friend, I would much rather just go to a website and buy the album for a couple bucks.

People will always want value for the money they spend. If Rhapsody, Napster, Amazon, Microsoft, and anyone else wants to take market share away from Apple, they need to change their tune, start making it easier to get cheaper, DRM-free music into our iTunes libraries, and the money will follow.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Report: The Connected TV Marketplace
• How to Market Your iPhone App: A Developer’s Guide

As usual, I’m joined by Brian Warren.

You can listen to the podcast here in the player below or subscribe to the feed in iTunes. You can also subscribe directly to the our podcast feed.

We’d love to get your feedback on what you’d like to hear and if you have anything you’d like us to talk about or questions you’d like answered, we’ll be glad to put them in the show.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
• Content Farms: The Players, The Benefits, The Risks

As usual, I’m joined by Brian Warren.

You can listen to the podcast here in the player below or subscribe to the feed in iTunes. You can also subscribe directly to the our podcast feed.

We’d love to get your feedback on what you’d like to hear and if you have anything you’d like us to talk about or questions you’d like answered, we’ll be glad to put them in the show.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
• Content Farms: The Players, The Benefits, The Risks

You can listen to the podcast here in the player below or subscribe to the feed in iTunes. You can also subscribe directly to the our podcast feed.

We’d love to get your feedback on what you’d like to hear and if you have anything you’d like us to talk about or questions you’d like answered, we’ll be glad to put them in the show.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
• Content Farms: The Players, The Benefits, The Risks