Profile: BadFruit | TechCrunch

Company: BadFruit

What is it?

BadFruit has a product called BadApple that is a plug-in for iTunes. It expands ITunes functionality to view and add podcasts directly into iTunes. This is NOT the iTunes support for podcasts announced by Steve Jobs a few weeks ago that will be included in the next version (4.9) of iTunes (and will allow for creation and charging as well). BadFruit is independent from Apple.

At this point, BadApple supports adding and listening to podcasts, but not creation and charging. It is a PC only product, no plug-in for Macs is yet available.

There is very little information on the BadApple website. Some info from the SF Chronicle though – “At this point, there is no official indication of BadFruit’s origin. But a handful of signs seem to link the site to MP3Tunes.com, the online song store opened a few months ago by MP3.com founder Michael Robertson. Log files created by the software indicate that it talks to a server hosted by MP3Tunes. Code inside the software package, once downloaded, also show links to MP3Tunes. The privacy policies displayed by MP3Tunes.com and BadFruit are also identical in almost every way, with details such as the name of the company and the name of the service changed. BadFruit’s terms of use say that any legal actions concerning the software should be taken in San Diego County, where Robertson’s companies are based.” Link

Here is the whois information for Badfruit.com

In their own words, “Podcast support for iTunes is here! Download the free BadApple plug-in which expands the functionality and interoperability of iTunes software. (iTunes is music software which works with iPod MP3 players.) BadApple adds interoperability to view and download podcasts directly within iTunes software. There’s no need to download and learn other software programs because everything happens right in the iTunes software.

After downloading and installing BadApple, you will have a “Podcasts” link you can click on from iTunes. You can use this to browse through categories to find the Podcast you want. Each podcast has a description. Once you locate a podcast you are interested in, double clicking on the podcast will load it to your library. When you plug in your iPod the podcast will be loaded to that depending on your settings.

BadApple is free software. There is no charge to download the software or use the software.”

NOTE: Comments on their own discussion forum indicate serious integration issues with iTunes.

We’ll update this as things progress.

Screen Shots:

Note – second and third shots below are from here. We have not yet installed the software based on comments in the forum.