PCAudioLabs has released Impact, a new case option its line of studio/music computers.

The case, a modular rack-mount design with acoustic foam insulation, was designed from the ground up taking into account how computers are used during the process of recording and mixing audio.

Prices for configured Impact audio workstations start at US $2,675. Details at the PCAudiolabs site.

Features:

• Modular Design: The external 5.25″ drive carriage can rotate 360 degrees, allowing impact to be set up as a rackmount or a desktop....

The first iPhone reviews are in, and it looks like the innovative device may actually live up to its hype:

• The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg says “Expectations for the iPhone have been so high that it can’t possibly meet them all. It isn’t for the average person who just wants a cheap, small phone for calling and texting. But, despite its network limitations, the iPhone is a whole new experience and a pleasure to use.”
• USA Today says “Apple’s iPhone isn’t perfect, but it’s worthy of the hype.”
• In the New York Times, David Pogue...

Apple and AT&T today announced that iPhone users will be able to activate their new phones using iTunes software running on a PC or Mac computer, without having to wait in a store.

According to Apple, activating an iPhone takes only minutes as iTunes guides the user through simple steps to choose their service plan, authorize their credit and activate their iPhone. Based on the company’s past record with handling high traffic loads, buyers may expect to spend some time online waiting for the process to complete.

Once the iPhone is activated, users can then easily sync all of their phone numbers and other contact information, calendars, email accounts, web browser bookmarks, music, photos, podcasts, TV shows and movies just like they do when they sync their iPods with iTunes.

?Users will be able to activate their new iPhone in the comfort and privacy of their own...

AT&T Inc. and Apple today announced pricing for three service plans for the iPhone, starting at $59.99 per month. All three plans include unlimited data, Visual Voicemail, 200 SMS text messages, roll-over minutes and unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling. iPhone customers can also choose from any of AT&T?s standard service plans.

Here are the details:

• All iPhone monthly service plans are available for individuals and families and are based on a new two-year service agreement with AT&T.
• Individual plans are priced at $59.99 for 450 minutes, $79.99 for 900 minutes and $99.99 for 1,350 minutes.
• All plans include unlimited data (email and web), Visual Voicemail, 200 SMS text messages, roll over minutes and unlimited mobile-to-mobile
• There’s a one-time activation fee of $36.
• Family plans are also...

Hundreds of U.S. commercial webcasters are going silent today, June 26, to protest to an impending royalty rate increase that could threaten their ability to make money broadcasting mainstream music.

Yahoo! is one of the Internet radio broadcasters that has announced that it is going silent: “Apologies to anyone who was hoping to listen to free LAUNCHcast today. We?re shutting down the Internet?s #1 radio service for the day to draw attention to the outrageous rates recently set by the Copyright Royalty Board in Washington, D.C.”

Our apologies to Yahoo!, Live365, RealNetworks, MTV, Pandora, and others that

iPod, iPod nano, and iPod Shuffle Service: Frequently Asked Questions

1. How can I tell if my iPod needs service?
2. How long is my iPod covered by Apple?s warranty?
3. How can I tell

blinkx today unveiled AdHoc, a contextually relevant video advertising platform, aka AdSense for Video, the latest in a stream of recent announcements from the company.

According to blinkx, ”Just as Google?s AdSense transformed advertising on the Text Web, blinkx?s AdHoc platform will revolutionize video advertising by matching compelling, customized, TV-style ads to your audience on the Video Web.”

AdHoc leverages blinkx?s speech-to-text transcription and visual analysis technology to “understand” video content and can use the information it parses from the audio to dynamically place relevant advertising against it. According to the company, their platform offers content partners and advertisers video advertising which “combines the emotive power of TV promotion, with the relevance and utility of contextual search...

We’ve advocates of an open, Internet-based media environment at Podcasting News. New statistics suggest, though, that Internet access speeds in the US could become a barrier to adoption of new media like podcasts and video podcasts, and could even be a barrier to US competitiveness.

SpeedMatters.org has released a report on Internet access speed (pdf) in the US, and it shows the US to be a laggard at getting high-speed connectivity to its citizens.

According to Speed Matters’ tests, the national median download speed was 1.9 megabits per second (mbps). While 1.9 megabits once sounded fast, now it’s almost an embarassment:

• In France, the median download speed is about 9 times as fast as in the US, 17 mbps.
• In South Korea, the median speed is about 23 times as fast, 45 mbps.
• In Japan, the...

Businessweek takes a look today at the fight between Blu-Ray and HD DVD to become the dominant standard for high-definition video delivery:

Time doesn’t appear to be on either side. With hard-drive capacity growing exponentially and prices coming down even more sharply, experts predict most broadband-enabled homes within 10 years will download much of their content off the Internet, store it on terabyte home servers or cable boxes, and shuffle that content around the home or onto portable devices.

While some people may be doing this in 10 years, others are getting high-definition video from the Internet already, in the form of video podcasts delivered to your computer or Apple TV.

Internet TV is plagued by the same problems as Blu-Ray and HD DVD, though: limited content, complex setup and high cost for hardware. Nevertheless, Internet TV is...

Tim Street, Creator and Executive Producer of French Maid TV, sends word that the maids are back at work, this time using their unique brand of softcore edutainment to help people understand how to share photos online with “Tubes“, a new service that lets you create “instant personal networks” for sharing things like music and photos.

Along the way, they manage to work in losing their clothes, sexy French police women, and some slow motion mechanical bull riding.

While the episode is a promotion for Tubes, it also demonstrates how it the technology can be used by podcasters.

“We’re excited to be the first content publisher to use the growing Tubes Network to extend our brand right to our viewers’ desktops and empower our users with the knowledge that they’ll never miss out on the latest escapades of French Maid TV,” said Street. “Tubes allows...