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What a day in iPod land. Today Apple has announced a plethora of iPod related news. First, we'll start with the new iTunes 4.9 Update. This update includes a new Podcasting support feature. We'll talk more about this in a minute. Second, a nice update to the iPod itself (clickwhell and shuffles only) to enable that Podcasting feature. Third, the iPod line has been retooled and all iPod models have been merged into either iPod (no more iPod Photo), iPod mini, or iPod Shuffle. The entire iPod line is now full color and there are 2 models to choose from (this includes a new 20GB U2 version). There is the standard 20GB model with a nice new price point of $299. Or you can opt for the mambo monster 60GB rig for a mere $399. Not too darn shabby. The Shuffle price point has quietly been lowered as well. The new price is $129 (down from $149) for the 1GB model. So those are the major announcements. Now for the reviews.

Lets start with iTunes 4.9. The killer on this update is the podcast support. Apple has really outdone themselves on this one. It isn't perfect (yet), but it's one heck of a promising start. It couldn't be any easier to find and subscribe to a podcast (although the categories still lack depth). There are the usual and popular podcasts to choose from, but if your favorites aren't listed, fret not. You can simply go to the advanced menu, click Subscribe to Podcast, and enter your favorite podcast feed URL and it will magically appear. If you have an audio file that you downloaded, you can also import that into iTunes as well. Apple has added a new setting under the AAC Encoding menu for Podcasts. The setting will encode your imported file at 64Kbps, which is more than ample for voice podcasts.

The way iTunes manages the podcasts is great. I have been a long time user of iPodderX and find it to be a great app. However, you have to configure every feed just right in order to have it dropped into your playlist (unless you just accept the default settings, which you may or may not like).

For me, iPodderX sometimes worked, sometimes it didn't. iTunes has made the process incredibly easy by creating a Podcast menu in iTunes, just like you have the Music Store, party shuffle or radio menus. Better yet, when you sync up with your iPod, there is now a Podcast category and all your podcasts are neatly organized by title. One previously annoying thing about having certain podcasts on your iPod was that the interface was horrible. For certain podcasts with long names, it was impossible to easily see what podcast episode you were selecting. More tech savvy podcasters created their own naming conventions which made it a little easier to identify each podcast by its title, but it was a far from flawless method of overcoming the iPod's limited interface. With the new iPod user interface (UI), the name of the podcast will scroll automatically and let you see the full name without having to actually play the podcast. Apple has also added a date field at the end of the title menu that is fixed, so that as the title scrolls, you will always see the date of that podcast. Nifty...VERY nifty. Apple has been listening indeed. If I am not mistaken, Leo Laporte himself had made that very suggestion on one of his many podcasts. No doubt that Adam Curry had a bit of input on these improvements as well.

On the negative side of things, I have seen some people complaining that iTunes is not all that and that you should stick to iPodderX. Well folks, being that I am not exactly biased by being personal buddies with the good guys August and Ray at iPodderX, I can give you a more realistic viewpoint on this. One of the complaints I have read is how iTunes doesn't handle bit torrent very well. That is true, no question about it. However, I only know of ONE podcast (at least of the popular ones) that is delivered via bit torrent. That would be The Week in Tech (TWiT) by the former Screen Savers gang. Great podcast, but guess what? It is also delivered via MP3 through another feed that works just fine in iTunes. That doesn't exactly call for the use of another app other than iTunes. I must say though, I would like to get that bookmarkable AAC feed via normal channels. I don't see iTunes EVER supporting bit torrent, as I am sure Apple wants complete and total control over what you are downloading from their apps and music store. It's no secret that a lot of folks use bit torrent for downloading music in more nefarious ways than we would like to admit. Don't expect Apple to facilitate this practice any time soon. If bit torrent is your thing, then iPodderX is definitely a better choice for you. iPodderX also has really nice RSS support built-in, something iTunes has yet to implement.

The second complaint I have read about is that iTunes won't fetch your podcasts while it isn't running. And the point? That is a pretty simple thing to overcome folks. Just leave iTunes running and if you don't want the controller visible, hit COMMAND-H to HIDE the darn thing! It will still be running and catching all your podcasts on whichever schedule you tell it to retrieve those podcasts. If you want iTunes to startup when you log in, just add it to your Login Items under Accounts in the System Preferences. But again, if this is just too much trouble for you, iPodderX is your best choice.

Another observation I have made is that the list of categories for podcasts in iTunes is too limited. If you go to iPodder.org, you will see that there is an extensive list of categories that better defines what you are looking for. I am sure this will improve in future updates of the music store. Remember, this is only day one.

Enough on the negative, lets go uber geek. So what is new and uber kewl in the new iTunes? Plenty. If you are into making your own podcasts, there are some nice updates that should make you happy. Lets start with the ability to publish your podcast to the iTunes Music Store. Apple has added a "Publish a Podcast" button to iTunes. Apple still has the final word on if you get in or not, but I don't think it will be too hard judging on what they have in there at the moment. If you are just starting out and don't know how to create a podcast, Apple has provided a step-by-step guide to get you going. It isn't the most sophisticated setup, but it works. For a more real-world view on how to podcast, you may want to check out the tutorials at Engadget, or check out the Podcasting Primer on Mac Merc, courtesy of the Wizards of Technology.

Back to geeking out. Apple has also added a Chapter Tool to the mix. Word of advice, this tool is NOT for the faint of heart. It is a COMMAND LINE tool at the moment. If your unix skills are not up to snuff, you may want to pass on this until Apple releases the commercial version. This tool will allow you to add chapters, images and web links to specific time codes in the podcast. iTunes (and iPod Photos) will then display those assets real-time as you listen to the podcast. This will be HUGE for people that like doing Sound-Seeing Tours, another Adam Curry invention, in which he records audio commentary as he strolls through scenic (or some not-so-scenic) areas. Imagine what this will do for Museums and such, where you can be walking through a self-paced tour and viewing the images the author wants to convey right on your iPod or in iTunes. This is the future folks! Any podcast that has been encoded with this feature will now sport a new icon to the left of the iTunes status window with a list of chapters and images encoded in the podcast. Since at this time Apple can only control the AAC audio format, these types of podcasts are limited to the MPEG-4 AAC (.m4a) fie format (same as the tunes you download from the music store).

That pretty much wraps it up folks. Lots of great and exciting news today. If you are new to the world of Podcasting, welcome! If your an old hat, I am sure you can appreciate today's announcements. In either case, one thing is for certain. The face of radio is changing and control is being put back in the hands of the listeners. Radio stations across the country should afraid. BE VERY AFRAID. No longer will we be held at the mercy of the junk being played on the radio. Between satellite radio and podcasting, can anyone tell me why they would listen to the radio anymore (except for live coverage of news or sports)? For the first time that I am aware of, ANYONE now has the ability to create their own radio show and be heard by the masses. You gotta love technology and Apple Computers.

[ Update ] Apparently Apple slipped one more goodie into iTunes which hasn't been publicized much. If you download a podcast from iTunes that has officially been added by Apple, the MP3 file will be bookmarkable! That takes the cake. Way to go Apple. Thanks to Jon for the heads up.

[ Update 2 ] Another interesting bit of info, when encoded properly, podcasts now carry the show-notes into the iPod! Just click the center button of your iPod twice and it will load any show notes that were part of the podcast. It just keeps getting better...