[webcast-l] Next iTunes to support podcasts

[Michelle McGuire]

Next iTunes to support podcasts

+ Apple says the next version of its iTunes music management program  
will give people a way to find and subscribe to podcasts, MP3 audio  
files online.

Podcasts are downloadable "radio shows" that can be created and  
listened to by anyone with the right equipment.

Listeners subscribe to shows for free, the latest of which is sent  
automatically to digital music players.

Free programs have been built to do this already, but now Apple says  
iTunes will have this function built in.

"With the next version of iTunes, due within 60 days, there will now  
be an easy way for everyone to find and subscribe to podcasts", Apple  
said in a statement.

Apple chief Steve Jobs was demonstrating the functionality at a  
technology conference in the US.

The demo showed how the program lets people access, organise and sync- 
up podcasts to any digital music player.

Including this functionality into iTunes opens up the possibility of  
selling podcasts, just like music.

Podcasts have grown quickly in popularity with many of the millions  
of portable digital music player owners who want to listen to a range  
of audio, not just music.
But they have also become popular because anyone with a microphone,  
computer, software and a net connection, can produce one themselves.

Their rising popularity is challenging conventional radio's  
broadcasting and business model. As a result, many radio stations  
globally are making their shows available as podcasts too - in  
downloadable MP3 format.

The BBC recently made 20 radio broadcasts available as podcasts, and  
several radio stations in the US, including the digital radio network  
Sirius, use podcasts as part of their broadcasts.

US politicians are experimenting with podcasting after finding  
success with blogs during the presidential elections. Virgin Radio  
has also made talk-based segments of its breakfast show available as  
podcasts.

+ iPod not necessary

Despite its name, podcasts are not exclusive or tied to iPods in any  
way.

Currently, people who want to listen to the thousands of podcasts  
that are available - from fishing shows, work-outs, comedy sketches,  
to gadget news - use third party programs, such as iPodder.

Listeners can tell the program details of the shows they want to  
listen to. This usually comes in the form of a "feed" URL.

The iPodder, or similar application, detect the links to the shows  
and automatically download them.

People can then use music jukebox applications, such as Windows Media  
Player or iTunes, to send the most recent files to music players once  
connected to a computer. This is called "auto-syncing".

Podcasting is seen as an example of "time-shifted" content. This is a  
buzzword in the technology industry which describes taking digital  
content and playing it when and where you want.

The BBC is currently trialling its own multimedia jukebox program,  
called the Interactive Media Player (iMP).

It lets people catch up and download TV and radio programmes they may  
have missed up to seven days after they have been broadcast.

Source: BBC Online
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4575075.stm

-- 
Michelle McGuire
Development Officer
Community Media Association

Festival of Community Media 2005
http://www.commedia.org.uk/festival2005

3rd & 4th June
The Showroom
Sheffield

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