Apple on Thursday announced that in just two days since the release of iTunes 4.9, subscriptions to podcasts through the software have topped the one million mark. Former MTV VJ Adam Curry, who is co-founder of the PodShow Podcast Network, said in a statement: "Subscriptions have dramatically increased across our entire PodShow Podcast Network, and I predict over the coming months that iTunes will introduce tens of millions of new listeners to the world of Podcasting."

Others concurred, according to Apple's press release: KCRW management consultant Will Lewis said that iTunes has "propelled podcasting into the mainstream. Our servers have been swamped with a stratospheric increase in traffic. In fact, downloads have increased tenfold as a result of the iTunes 4.9 launch."

August Trometer, who created the podcast client iPodderX, compared Apple to Starbucks, noting that "gourmet coffee was around for a long time, but it took Starbucks to put it on the Map ... advertisers will take us more seriously now."

But could Apple's new podcasting functionality run afoul of this week's Supreme Court decision that struck a blow to Grokster and similar peer-to-peer file sharing services? A TechWhack opinion column published on Thursday raises the possibility, noting: "organizations like RIAA and MPAA can sue Apple if users post copyrighted material to the iTunes servers making it available for download to other users. However, the ruling also mentioned that the intent of the file sharing service should be taken into consideration when making such decisions."

In related news, AppleInsider has confirmed that iTunes 4.9 already works with certain Motorola cell phones and has posted a screenshot of an "iPod Phone" preference pane in iTunes. The Web site said that one of its readers connected his Motorola cell phone to his Mac and iTunes 4.9 prompted him to name the phone and allowed him to transfer songs to it. AppleInsider also offered speculation that Cingular's quality assurance procedures could be causing the delay in the iTunes phone rollout.