Independent studio Ag8 has announced Purefold – a series of linked 5- to 10-minute web videos inspired by Blade Runner. Purefold won’t be a sequel or prequel to Blade Runner, but is a new set of stories set in the same world.

“It’s…..based on the same themes as Blade Runner,” says Ag8’s David Bausola. “It’s the search for what it means to be human and understanding the notion of empathy. We are inspired by Blade Runner.”

Ag8 plans to incorporate Web-based fan feedback into the project and to release the short films with a Creative Common license.

Here’s what Ag8 says about the new web series:

Purefold is an open media franchise designed for brands, platforms, filmmakers, product developers and communities to collaboratively imagine our near future.

With a central theme ‘What does it mean to be human?’, the franchise explores the subject of empathy – a shared theme with Ridley Scott’s most compelling Science Fiction movie, Blade Runner.

The franchise contains infinite interlinked story lines, turned into short-format episodes by Ridley Scott Associate Films’ global talent pool of directors, and informed by real-time online conversations from the audience, which are harvested through FriendFeed, the world’s leading ‘life streaming’ technology.

Taking place in the near future, Purefold enables participating brands to take an alternative route to brand integration than traditional product placement and embrace invention within a narrative framework.

Purefold content will be distributed according to the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license, giving both audiences, brands and platforms unprecedented equal use rights through their participation.

Purefold is supported by commercial and academic pillars, such FriendFeed, Creative Commons, WPP, Aegis, Publicis and Naked Communications.

As a complete Blade Runner freak, I find the promise of new stories from Ridley Scott set in his futuristic vision of LA to be exciting. Ag8’s description of the project as “an open media franchise designed for brands” throws up a major red flag, though.

Let’s hope that Ridley Scott’s participation keeps Purefold from being a marketing effort to capitalize on the Blade Runner brand.

Excited about Purefold? Leave a comment with your thoughts!

New York-based Innovative Language Learning Company today announced the launch of Chineseclass101.com, an “online learning system” that makes use of audio and video podcasts, mobile applications, and other digital tools for learning the Chinese language.

“Creating content locally in Beijing is a powerful, strategic advantage of Chineseclass101.com. Beijing Chinese is the form of Mandarin Chinese the government bases standard Chinese off of,“ said David Lancashire, co-founder of ChineseClass101.com. “In addition, we use voice talent from the Central Drama Academy of Beijing, the same school that produced Chinese film stars such as Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi.”

The company offers streaming lessons and podcasts free of charge, and charges subscription fees starting at $8/month for access to more extensive learning resources. The podcast is available via iTunes.

“Social radio network” BlogTalk Radio today announced the launch of two new “premium service packages.” The podcast production and distribution platform is offering enhanced services to talk show hosts (that is, podcasters), whose production needs have outgrown the podcast production and distribution platform’s more basic offerings.

The premium and premium plus service packages have monthly costs of $39.95 and $99.95 respectively, and include the following features:

Premium service package:

• Switchboard Moderation: The Switchboard Moderation feature brings callers into a “private room” to pre-screen the call from the show’s switchboard. Add caller notes for the host/facilitator to decide whether or not to bring the caller on air.
• Switchboard Outdial: The Switchboard Outdial feature allows free outbound calls to U.S. numbers and fee-based calls for International numbers, to bring guests on air by simply dialing their number from the show’s switchboard.
• Edit and Replace Episodes: Edit archived podcast episodes using your own audio editing software, then upload to replace the original (unedited) version.
• Click to Host: Host a show without a telephone. Use BlogTalkRadio’s internal VOIP system, to host a show with a headset from the computer.
• Upload Podcasts as Episodes: Upload pre-recorded podcasts right to the Show Page without having to schedule an episode recording session.
• Extended show length: Premium hosts, can schedule shows of up to 3-hours in duration.

Premium Plus service will include these additional benefits:

Limited advertisements: Show and indiviual episode pages will be free of audio and video ads and will only include banner ads.

Priority Support: The Support Desk is open from 9am EST-11pm EST to assist Premium Plus Hosts “for the quickest resolution” of any questions. Basic (non-paying) podcast hosts will still be accorded the same service including chat rooms, switchboards and top-notch customer support.

More information about the new service packages is available at the Blog Talk Radio site.

Cool/weird iPhone app of the day: Stanton Studio has released ToneTune, a “multiple tuning fork” that helps tune stringed instruments to the correct pitch by ear, “without searching through hard-to-find books or the web.”

The application is loaded with standard and alternate tunings, over 60 in all, for guitars and other instruments. Users select a tuning, and tap the “string” on the touch-screen for the correct pitch. ToneTune can also play the tunings as consecutive strings (E-A-D-G-B-E for standard guitar tuning, for example), or as single pitches. Individual pitches can also be played over a ten-octave range.

Other features of this application include:

• Order of instrument tunings list can be changed to user’s liking
• The tunings are based on equal temperament
• 128 individually-playable notes from C1 (MIDI 0) up to G9 (MIDI 127)
• Notes read in ASA or Helmholtz
• A4 base frequency adjustable between 430 hz and 450 hz
• Users can vary the note play length, and the pause before the note play.

A full list of instrument tunings is at this link, and includes the bouzouki, the banjo, and the 4-stringed biwa (and that is just among the “B” listings). Retailing for $2.99 in the iTunes app store, it’s a lot less expensive than a separate electronic tuner, and would be nice for carrying around tuning information in your pocket.

The iPod Wars are over, and if anybody should know, it’s SanDisk CEO Eli Harari.

The founder and CEO of SanDisk admits what just about everyone else has known for a long time: the iPod wars are over, and Apple won.

“You can’t out-iPod the iPod,” says Harari.

Harari’s facing the facts. In April, Piper Jaffrey reported that there was zero interest among teens in portable media players besides the iPod.

Somebody forgot to tell Microsoft, though. While Apple’s clearly moving on from portable media players to establishing a wireless handheld computing platform, Microsoft’s Zune HD announcement reveals that it’s still trying to make a better iPod.

Is it time for Harari to have a heart-to-heart with Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer?

Image: williamli1983

Rocketboom, a long-running daily video podcast, is looking for new talent to anchor the New York-based program, and its new West Coast desk. Rocketboom creator Andrew Baron posted the two job openings today on Internet classifieds site Craigslist under “tv video radio jobs.”

Responsibilities for the anchor jobs include “both appearing on camera and contributing behind the scenes to Rocketboom, as well as contributing to our other shows,” which include Know Your Meme, and their Human Wire international field reports.

The New York anchor will work with our writers and producers in Rocketboom’s Manhattan Soho studio. The Los Angeles anchor will work from the show’s new Venice Beach studio in collaboration with the producer of Epic Fu.

While I imagine that Rocketboom’s previous anchors, Amanda Congdon and Joanne Colan, worked really hard at the anchor job, it sounds like a real plum of a position. Base salary is $80,000 per year, a $10k chunk up front, upon signing, and the promise of another 3 percent bonus on the show’s advertising revenue. All this for just 25-30 hours’ work per week, and the promise of company support for the anchor’s work on side gigs and “projects outside of Rocketboom.”

Nice.

“Where can I apply?,” you ask. Applicants can submit a photo, resume and any video links they may have to demonstrate their previous work to: http://talentsearch.rocketboom.com/ .

Podcasting network Wizzard Media today announced plans to distribute iPhone applications, starting with six apps: Blue Attack, OmNomNom, Sudoku Unlimited, TouchScan, Blue Defense and Sudoku Classic.

The move seems like a strange one, at first glance. But Wizzard plans to use its podcast network as an advertising platform to promote the iPhone applications:

Based on current sales figures, Wizzard estimates these Apps will generate over $228,000 in annual revenues, after the standard deduction of Apple’s 30%, for the Company before any increased sales from marketing the Apps via the Wizzard Podcast Network to iPhone and iPod Touch users. Through advertising and marketing by Wizzard’s thousands of podcast producers to their highly engaged audience of iPhone and iPod users, Wizzard believes sales could be significantly higher on an annual basis.

The Company plans to continue to acquire the rights for up to 100 already launched and approved iPhone Apps to provide podcast producers with a continuous stream of fresh, paid advertising for their episodic shows, app developers with increased sales revenues and provide for profitable App sales for Wizzard.

“The simplicity of a consumer hearing about a great App from their favorite podcast and being able to pause the podcast, click to the App store and buy, all on their iPhone, makes us believe that this could be a great success for podcasters app developers and for Wizzard,” says Chris Spencer, Wizzard Media CEO.

“As more people move towards the mobile consumption of podcasts on the iPhone and iPod Touch, Wizzard sees new revenue opportunities opening up for its podcasting business using Apple’s App Store micropayment system,” says Dave Mansueto, co- founder of Liberated Syndication (a Wizzard Media company).

Folks who were old enough to watch television in the early 1970s will remember a Reese’s Peaut Butter Cup commercial about “two great tastes, that taste great together”? I was reminded of this today when I discovered a podcast episodes that combines two great topics, robots and stage drama, that seem awfully weird together — but are surprisingly tasty nonetheless when combined.

Robots, the podcast for news and views on robotics, features in its latest episode a look at a new play called, surprisingly, “Robots.” The play, by Swiss theatre director Christian Denisart, is unique, in that 3 of the 5 main characters are mobile robots which were built by robotics company Bluebotics.

The plot is about a man “so scared of human contact that he surrounds himself with robots, including Igor, a metallic butler, Bruno, a state-of-the art robotic dog, and Leila, a robotic recreation of a dancer.” The podcast features interviews with Denisart and Nicola Tomatis of Bluebotics.

Listeners can subscribe to the Robots podcast at this link, or find the single episode about the “Robots” play here.

And Now For Something Completely Different: some upbeat news from metro Detroit.

Putting aside the recent grim news about the automobile industry and its hub, Detroit, Michigan, a story in The Detroit News caught our eye this week. Lacking a youth activity center, the city of Southfield (a suburb of the Motor City) has opened a $3 million facility in a former public library.

The facility can hold up to 400 people and features a stage, computer lab, three study rooms, meeting rooms, multipurpose/activity room, dance/fitness area, two music practice rooms and a cafe.

All nice, to be sure, but what makes it *really* interesting? The “Field Zone,” as it’s called, also has a video editing and podcasting room. The studio, sponsored by the Skillman Foundation, comes equipped with a “Mac Pro System” using Pro Tools, GarageBand, and Reason.

When kids tire of making podcasts and videos, there’s always more conventional summer-break fare: the game room with the Playstation 3, Wii, X-Box 360, and an arcade-style Dance Dance Revolution game.

A kid’s summer membership runs $55, and a family of two or more children is $100 for the summer.

Image: “Interview” by rorris

In its first press release since February, online music retailer eMusic announced on Monday that it had inked a deal with giant record label Sony Music Entertainment. eMusic, which offers music downloads by subscription (starting at 24 per month for $11.99), will have access to Sony’s immense music catalog — but only tunes that are two years old or older.

So, according to this agreement, subscribers can download “classic recordings from all Sony Music labels, such as Arista, Columbia, Epic, Jive, LaFace, Legacy Recordings and RCA, including artists such as Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, The Clash, Jeff Buckley, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen and OutKast.”  Because you can’t get enough of that fine music from the 1960’s and 1970’s (OutKast excepted).

All sarcasm aside, the partnership with Sony is a huge breakthrough for eMusic. Until now, the eMusic subscription service has been best known for its broad library of independent record labels, and work with Independent online IODA. Making a deal with Sony may open the door for eMusic, or another online music retailer, to forge relationships with the other major mainstream music companies, Warner Music, the Universal Music Group and EMI.

For Sony’s part, they have long wanted to dislodge Apple’s iTunes Music Store from its top spot in online digital music sales. Perhaps this is a small step in that direction (perhaps not). The other major music companies are working on alternate online music sales partnerships as well: YouTube and Universal Music Group are said to be in talks (and inviting the other three big players) to start a music service called Vevo.com, as well.

Even Microsoft is working doggedly on increasing their share of the online digital music market, with recent enhancements to its ZunePass music subscription service.

Certainly, competition would be great for consumers who buy content from iTunes, too. But Apple has the advantage of several years’ head start on these upstart competitors, and a clientele who are “well-trained” in browsing and buying through the iTunes site.

Terms of the eMusic/Sony deal were not disclosed.