For many years I had no idea what people found interesting about Podcasts. These recorded audio programs are named for their typical method of distribution through iTunes where they are often downloaded to iPods. A podcast session typically lasts about an hour and features one or more hosts talking about specific news of the week. Topics can range from technology to politics to financial news. The rise in popularity of Podcasts means that their distribution has also spread beyond just iTunes and iPods. I’ve found my BlackBerry Bold to be an exceptional podcast player due to its super loud and clear speaker system. There was always only one thing holding me back from using the BlackBerry to listen to my Podcasts – I had to manually download the podcasts. At least until I downloaded PodTrapper for BlackBerry. Continue Reading

Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Viddler video.I’m a huge fan of the Engadget podcast. Not a week goes by that I don’t listen to Joshua Topolsky, Paul Miller, Nilay Patel. Their podcast is updated weekly and they chat about the week’s top news and provide added insight that you don’t get from their web site. I’m not sure how frequently these Engadget live shows are going to happen. This episode feature Jon Rubenstein formerly of Apple and now leader of Palm and was taped on 9/13/09. Aside from some problems with low audio and a questionable selection of first guest (cool demo of Pixi – but terrible explanation of why there’s no Wi-Fi (Sprint didn’t want it?) and come on Jon Rubenstein doesn’t know the type of processor in the  Pixi  ?) the video is of interest to anyone who is a diehard Engadget podcast listener. Follow the link below if you’d like to download a copy of the show to your iPod or Zune.

Engadget Show

New in Google Labs is Google Listen. Available exclusively for Android smartphones, this free download allows you to search, download, stream and subscribe to your favorite podcasts. At the moment you can only search English audio podcasts ( support for video podcasts is missing ) and there’s an annoying requirement to login with a gmail.com based email address which kicks sand in the faces of those of us using Google Apps for Domains (who therefore don’t have a gmail.com address connected with their account).

Google Listen for Android

The Mediafly team let us know that their latest software update for the 3.0 OS just went live in the iTunes App Store.   You may remember that we previously reviewed both the iPhone and BlackBerry Beta Mediafly applications.  This version (2.2.0.55)  supports streaming the video over the 3G cellular signal – meaning you no longer have to be on a WiFi network to download or view video podcasts or shows through the Mediafly application.

The application is currently free in the App Store (regularly $0.99 for the Video+Audio version).

Please note that you will need to uninstall any prior versions of Mediafly from your iPhone before installing the new release.

+ Play audio and video shows on-demand

+ Play video and audio shows via WiFi, cellular data network, or preload and play offline

+ “Continuous Play” channels that let you just “tune in” and relax

+ Organize your shows into easy channels, such as News, Business, Technology, etc.  Fresh updates from your shows will automatically update for you to enjoy!

+ Search and browse over 20,000 audio and video shows from major networks and independent creators.

Download Mediafly from Mediafly.mobi on your iPhone’s Safari browser or directly from the  iTunes App Store.

You may remember our recent coverage of the Mediafly service that syncs media content — specifically podcasts for now — to a wide range of devices.  Well, Mediafly is wasting no time.  Their goal is to launch on multiple smartphones throughout 2009, and then hit even more home stereo/video equipment in 2010 so you can have your media content synced and shared on just about any consumer device out there.  The fact that Mediafly is device-agnostic is exciting in that your content goes with you, regardless of what device you may use or decide to uopgrade to in the future.

Now Mediafly has released mobile applications for two popular smartphone platforms — a brand new beta for BlackBerry, and an upgrade to their iPhone application that gives you a faster channel refresh and improved user interface.  Without further adieu, let’s jump right in and take a look at what BlackBerry and iPhone users can look forward to with Mediafly.

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It’s a bit difficult to categorize Mediafly in a nice little box, but here goes:   Mediafly provides a free service to manage personalized digital audio and video content.  What is interesting is that Mediafly’s service is is device-agnostic.   You can use Mediafly on an iPhone/iPod, Chumby, Zune, RSS Reader, or a host of other devices — which makes their offering unique for anyone who wants to access an audio or video podcast through a variety of consumer products.

After speaking with the company’s CEO, Carson Conant, to find out what makes Mediafly different from all the other content providers out today, it is safe to say that this company’s vision is to bring personalized media to all of your audio/video devices.

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Blue has been making microphones for a while now but this is their first adapter.  This adapter takes any microphone with an XLR connector and converts  it to  a USB connector making it possible to record high quality audio through your computer.

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Podcasting started around the time of the last election that George W. Bush won, in 2004.  Now it seems to still be growing, although at a much slower rate. Up until now, you needed a computer to download the podcasts; now maybe you don’t, thanks to the CastGrabber.

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I use my iPod/iPod Touch to listen to pocasts, mostly. I’ve got some music on them, but its mostly just podcasts. Its one of the ways I stay connected to the technology industry.

One of my favorite podcasts is C|Net’s Buzz Out Loud. They’ve got one of the best formula’s and crew out there, and honestly…it just works. I recently heard that Molly Wood, one of the show’s three co-hosts, will be moving on to other C|Net related duties.  Says Molly in her post to the BOL Lounge,

It seems like everybody already knows this, but I felt like I owed this community a longer explanation of what’s happening with Buzz Out Loud. The official “news” is that I am moving from a daily host of BOL to a once-a-week host, probably on Mondays. I will, of course, be available to the crew whenever they need a fill-in, but the fabulous and wonderful Natali Del Conte will be taking over my daily-host duties.

I am both happy and sad at this point. Molly’s personality, sense of humor and outlook added a unique quality to Buzz Out Loud that I think everyone will miss.  The combination of her, Tom Merritt, and Jason Howell created a unique dynamic that is going to be difficult if not impossible to reproduce.   

However, I am certain that Natali Del Conte will do a great job; and I’m looking forward to her contribution to my favorite podcast.

Goodbye, Molly.  We’ll miss you Tuesday through Friday.  Welcome, Natali!  We can’t wait to hear what you have to say!

If you couldn’t make the JustAnotherIphoneBlog.Com chat last night, here’s a link to the recorded session where you can listen to all 30 minutes via the web or podcast. Judie provided moderation and opening comments while Patrick, Dan and Brandon from JustAnotheriPhoneBlog gave an update on the week’s coolest iPhone news and applications. This week’s pace moved right along and there was lots of good stuff covered including weekly iPhone news of note, interesting third party applications like Hahlo3 (Twitter client for iPhones that aren’t jailbroken), Moleskine and Evernote for iPhone plus some general Q&A. These chats happen every Monday at 11pm EST – and last for 30 minutes, so if you missed this one – listen to the recording online and set yourself a reminder to visit next Monday 5/12/08.

Link: JustAnotherIphoneBlog – iPhone Chat – 5/5/08

Are you sick and tired of people complaining that they can’t hear you during Skype phone calls?  Have people been telling you that you sound like you’re in a tin can? If so, then maybe this little microphone is for you.

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A couple of weeks ago, Patrick (from JAMM and JAiPB) asked if I would like to take part in a new podcast with him and Dan. I said “sure,” and then busily kept doing my thing (and almost forgot about it)…until today. Patrick IM’d me earlier this afternoon to say that we were doing a test run at 10pm, and we doing the real thing on Monday at 10.

So I tuned in at 10, fully expecting it to be a sound check with a few “fake” guests calling in to test the system; we would gab for a minute, then do the real thing on Monday. Well, a few minutes turned into almost two hours, but in the meantime we managed to have a lot of fun amidst technical difficulties – all the while completely resisting Patrick’s attempts to keep us somewhat on topic.

I had no idea tonight’s show would be recorded and kept, but it was. It’s pretty rough, pretty silly in parts, and yeah – we are all rank amateurs. But you know what? We had fun. So if you would like to hear the chat, you can. And if you would like to take part in the “real” live chat on Monday, you are very welcome to attend. And yes, as always, I know I sound like a dork.

Read on for a post I ripped from JAiB, where Patrick explains it all…

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Today’s Open Source Podcast of the Week is no longer in production, but for newbie users it will still be a invaluable resource.  I am talking about none other than The Linux Link Tech Show’s guest this week, Chess Griffin and the Linux Reality Podcast.

Image Courtesy Chess Griffin

Chess has officially hung up his microphone on the Linux Reality podcast after 100 episodes, yet all of the episodes are currently available for download on the Linux Reality website. Continue Reading

Long about the same time I discovered the Linux Link Tech Show, I found Lugradio, which is this week’s Open Source podcast of the week.

Hailing from the UK, specifically Wolverhampton, Lugradio was started by members of the Wolverhampton Linux User Group many years ago. The original presenters of the show were Jono Bacon, Matthew Revell, Stuart “Aq” Langridge and Stephen Parkes. The current show hosts are Jono Bacon – the only host who has been on every season of Lugradio, Aq, Chris Proctor and Adam Sweet.

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I am going to start a series of posts here on Gear Diary to let people know about the great Linux and Open Technology podcasts or shows in the podosphere where you can get some great info and also learn more about Free Open Source Software. So if you have any shows I should check out, let me know and if I haven’t listened to them, I will give them a shot.

The first Podcast/Show of the week is a favorite I have listened to since the last Presidential Election. That would be, The Linux Link Tech Show.

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