Another week, another Talking Tech podcast. We've gone high-tech, migrating from an Olympus digital recorder (which mysteriously locked up and remains so until someone from Olympus returns my e-mail) to Apple's GarageBand (sweet!). Anway, where was I? Oh yeah, Talking Tech. This week, Kevin and I take a look at Apple's stellar fourth-quarter results, including the fact more than 39 million iPods were sold in fiscal 2006. We also explore the "new and improved" Internet Explorer 7, and take a skeptical look at the virtual world/Second Life phenomena. If you have suggestions, comments, etc., you can e-mail us.

Mike Urlocker has a good post today on Sony's decline from disruptive innovator (transistor radio, Walkman, portable TV, betamax video camera) to struggling consumer electronics player. His take is as Sony got bigger, it became more concerned about protecting market share than innovating and taking chances. Mike's thesis mirrors a column I did recently in the National Post.

We're driving for a weekend of golf (and Coronas) weekend, listening to my brother's 20GB iPod for a couple hours when we started talking about what will happen to satellite radio when every car comes equiped with an iPod connection as a standard feature. If it's a snap to plug in your iPod when you drive and have total control over content (music, podcasts, audio books, etc.), why would you pay $15 or so a month for satellite radio? That said, satellite radio does offer tremendous variety and there will be niches where it will thrive (rural communities, cottage owners, travelling salesmen) but how big will the market be if the iPod becomes really car-friendly? I could be badly under-estimating the appeal of satellite-radio and/or over-estimating the appeal of the iPod but I can see the iPod becoming a far more popular on the road tool.

If you want some insight into why the iPod is such a smash success - and why Microsoft's Zune will have a tough time getting a solid market foothold - check out National Post Robert Fulford's recent column. At 74, Fulford likely falls outside the iPod's "target market" but the fact he finds his Nano  "the finest private luxury object of this century so far" reflects how the iPod has resonated with so many consumers (more than 60 million and counting to be precise). If Fulford starts publicly pining for an iTV device, you know Apple has scored another home run.

My column in today's Financial Post looks at how Steve Jobs and Apple are focused on getting a strong foothold in the digital living room - a potentially lucrative market also being targeted by Microsoft, Intel, Dell, Cisco, etc. My take is that Apple has as good a shot as anyone because it's a world-class industrial design company that makes ultra-cool, user-friendly devices. iTV - the much-hyped device that will wirelessly connnect the TV to Macs (and, I suspect, PCs) could be the next Newton but I doubt it if the iPod's success is any indication. Read/Write Web believes Apple will get the design of the iTV rights but thinks access to content (movies) will be a big challenge. For an extensive look at the iPod/iTunes empire, check out Daring Fireball.