Lugz sends cease-and-desist over iTunes spot

Lugz footwear has sent a cease-and-desist letter to both Apple and its advertising agency TBWAChiatDay over its latest television spot for the video iPod and says its prepared to fight for its rights. "If you look at these spots, common sense would tell you that there's a problem here. The Apple commercial uses the most powerful elements of our campaign, making the ads disturbingly similar. We are prepared to vigorously pursue all legal remedies in order to protect our rights." Lugz says that the similarities are more than striking between the commercial "Arrow," which it aired in 2002 and Apple's latest commercial spot with Eminem, which was launched last month in conjunction with the new video iPod. According to AdWeek, both television ads feature urban images on a red, yellow and orange background, with black silhouettes and a hip-hop soundtrack.

Podcast advertising a ballooning industry?...

Venture capitalists, startup companies, and media giants are busy finding ways to make podcasting turn a profit, with one estimate suggesting that podcast advertisements could snatch $1-2 billion from the $30 billion radio advertising market in three to five years time. Adam Curry this month won a $9.8 million investment from Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers and Sequoia Capital, two top venture firms in the Silicon Valley who "saw the amazing adoption across the Net, and it was obvious that there was a big opportunity," according to a report from BusinessWeek Online. CBS, Clear Channel Communications, and Walt Disney are producing podcasts alongside individuals even as Apple, Yahoo, and AOL race to produce aggregation services to pool thousands of podcasts into centralized locations.

Xbox 360 offer partial support for iPod...

Microsoft's Xbox 360 offers partial support for Apple's iPod digital music player, but because Apple is not officially backing the interoperability of the devices, songs downloaded from Apple's iTunes Music Store will not play on the Xbox. Jeff Henshaw, Xbox digital-entertainment executive producer said Microsoft tried to "engage" Apple in a partnership that would have enabled the Xbox to officially support the iPod, but Apple rejected the offer, according to a report from News.com. "So we went in and built all of the support we could," Henshaw said. The Xbox can stream any standard MP3 or AAC file from an iPod, but not protected songs purchased through the iTunes Music Store, which will appear grayed out, according to the report. One analyst, Richard Doherty, president of Envisioneering, predicts that Apple will fight Microsoft once the new Xbox launches on November 22nd.

SendStation ships smartCharge, earBuddy

SendStation today announced the availability smartCharge and earBuddy (shown at right), two new iPod accessories the company recently previewed. smartCharge ($30) is a car charger for the iPod and the iPod shuffle. Its sleek design and adjustable cradle are built with the iPod shuffle in mind, but it can also charge any other iPod model via the USB docking cable supplied with the iPod. A built-in audio-jack allows users to hook up a cassette adapter and leave it connected even when they detach their iPod shuffle for use outside the vehicle. earBuddy ($15) is an ultracompact case for earbuds, designed to withstand 200 lbs of force. About the size of a jewelry box, it is coated with ballistic nylon and has a detachable keyring. Both products are part of SendStation’s 100,000 song iTunes promotion, also announced today. Also available is a bundle of smartCharge and earBuddy together for $40. As a bonus the bundle includes a free matching keyring case for the iPod shuffle.

EA offers music content via iTunes, others...

Electronic Arts (EA) today announced that it is teaming up with Nettwerk Music Group to launch EA Recordings, a digital music distribution label that will bring EA's rich catalogue of wholly-owned musical compositions and remixes to Apple's industry-leading iTunes and other music services, including MSN, Yahoo Music, AOL Music, and Rhapsody. The initiative will deliver music clips from popular EA games as ringtones, mastertones or in .mp3 format for digital delivery via many of the most popular online music services. EA says it is the first interactive entertainment company to sell its catalogue of music--which contains more that 3,0000 minutes of music from the past 20 years--in digital download format via exclusive partnership with a leading music group.

SendStation to give away 100,000 iTunes songs

SendStation Systems, creator of the popular PocketDock line of iPod adaptors, today started a promotion to give away 100,000 songs from Apple’s iTunes Music Store. Selected products like smartCharge, SendStation’s car charger for the iPod, and earBuddy, the ultracompact earbud carrying case, now come with a code that can be exchanged for an iTunes Music Store redeem code. Every code provides 1 free song, and every 20th (or 25th) code hits the jackpot and wins 10 free songs.

Zoom and Go.com offers travel videos for iPod

Zoom and Go.com, a multi-media website featuring traveler videos and in-depth hotel reviews, today announced that it will make its entire library of video clips available for video iPod users. Featuring a collection of approximately 10,000 high-quality videos, the company says that it boasts the internet's largest collection of video clips shot by travelers around the world. "We're the only consumer travel site offering this kind of rich media content," said Jonathan Haldane, CEO and founder of Zoom And Go.com. "With the new video iPod and Zoom and Go's unique content, travelers can create a portable and personalized video travel guide for any destination. Current clips range from on-camera hotel reviews and insider advice about tourist attractions to tips from travelers on-camera about the best hotel beds and finding bargains overseas. Zoom And Go will have video for most major destinations and hotels by the end of this year. Each video will feature a "Download to iPod" link beside each clip.