Best MP3 Players for Podcasts
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
CNET published a review today of the 5 best MP3 players for podcasts. The Zune beat out the iPod, which was #2. But a bigger surprise to me was that they named Cowon's D2 #4 because it comes preloaded with Podcast Ready's myPodder application. :)
Labels: myPodder, Podcast Ready, podcasting
posted by Russell @ 10:29 PM,
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This is kinda cool...
Monday, March 24, 2008
I don't talk much about Podcast ready on this blog, but this is kinda cool: we're now the only podcast receiver listed on Sandisk's official list of applications for their U3 devices. This is the list of apps that is presented to each and every new U3 owner.
We're not "above the fold" but we're in good company.
Labels: myPodder, Podcast Ready
posted by Russell @ 9:38 PM,
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Shameless Plug
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Rarely (or maybe not so rarely, depending on how you look at it) do I plug my company Podcast Ready on this blog. Today however I just have to point you over to our official blog where I've made a post about what we do. In short, we grow audiences.... big time.Labels: myPodder, podcast, Podcast Ready, promotion
posted by Russell @ 10:16 AM,
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We're Number 4!
Monday, October 01, 2007
I spoke with a podcaster at the Podcast and New Media Expo over the weekend that had just made the switch from Libsyn's statistical system to Raw Voice Generator. The first thing he noticed was that while Libsyn didn't report any contact with myPodder, Raw Voice's system showed myPodder to the 4th most popular client downloading his show. I wonder if they take that into account when Neilson certifies Libsyn stats...Labels: myPodder, Podcast Ready
posted by Russell @ 11:00 AM,
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Channels
Sunday, July 15, 2007
A friend asked me the other day what I thought about all the chatter surrounding channels. I think channels are great... they can be very useful. New? Hardly.I first saw the channel concept (having an RSS feed that you could populate with episodes from other feeds) when gigadial launched in 2004. They call them stations, but the concept is the same.
We incorporated channels in our system at launch as well, but initially as a 'private channel' - a feed that speaks only to your copy of myPodder and allows you to select single episodes to enjoy rather than subscribing to entire feeds.
It can of course be made public if you wish. (There's a how-to video over on the support blog explaining how.) I've place a link to my channel over on the right side of the blog.
As a bonus, if you befriend me (treocast) then you too can add content to the channel just by sending it to me through podcastready.com. So its not just one-sided experience - anything you add will go to everyone else.
Labels: channels, myPodder, Podcast Ready
posted by Russell @ 10:41 PM,
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Listening to Podcasts Without a Computer
Monday, July 09, 2007
I came across a review of a device that promises exactly that. Its a neat concept: plug in your MP3 player at night and wake up with it full of podcasts. Its called CastGrabber and its a hardware device that interacts with a web directory to collect all of your subscription content and place it onto your MP3 player.
Sounds cool... sounds familiar. But the concept falls a little short. There is no way of getting around using your computer to manage your subscriptions, albeit through a web site rather than an installed application. But you still have to return your device to this special dock in order to load up again.I started to write a comment on the page about myPodder and how it accomplishes the same thing (for free) but also allows the user to connect to any internet-enabled machine rather than a specific computer or in this case dock (which is really a computer without a monitor or keyboard).
The funny thing was though, the page was surrounded by advertisements for MP3 devices that already ship with myPodder pre-loaded from the factory today. I know ads rotate a lot so I captured some screen shots.
The Cowon, iRiver, and MobiBLU devices all advertised here come from the factory pre-loaded with myPodder and ready to receive podcasts the moment you plug them in.
Labels: myPodder
posted by Russell @ 9:14 PM,
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Drive 100,000 new listeners to your podcast
Thursday, June 21, 2007
"100K Play" Contest
What's it worth to get 100,000 first-time downloads of your podcast? Here's your chance to find out. Podcast Ready is giving away one placement on every copy of myPodder to one lucky podcaster. This means that your podcast feed will be pre-configured on MP3 devices from iRiver, Cowon, Skullcandy, and Wolverine (just to name a few) as well as in every copy of myPodder downloaded from our site, and other's. Your show will remain in the line up until you've received 100,000 downloads from new myPodder users. This is a huge opportunity to expand your audience, and its free!
Here's how you enter:
- Send an email to 100kplay@podcastready.com and include your contact information, your show's name, website address, feed address, and a desired promotional code.
- Urge your listeners to visit Podcast Ready's site (http://www.podcastready.com) and register a new account (this will require a valid email address) or update their existing profile using your promotional code.
It's that simple. The show with the most registrations wins. And one lucky listener who registers using the winner's promotional code will win a free video iPod!
What's the catch? No catch. Before you can be entered, I will have to check out your show and make sure that it's not overly offensive or anything. After all, your podcast will end up on MP3 players sold through Amazon and Wal-Mart so I have to make sure that the content is "retail safe." (And before you ask what "retail safe" is, it's entirely up to me to decide... I'll know it when I see it).
Once you've received confirmation that your promotional code is registered, then you are set. The contest will end on July 31st, so what are you waiting for... more?
Okay, here's a little more: if you have a Podcast Ready chicklet on your site when you register your promo-code you will automatically start off on the scorecard with 1000 registrations to your credit! Now what are you waiting for?
Labels: 100kplay, contest, myPodder, podcast, Podcast Ready, podcasting
posted by Russell @ 12:30 AM,
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The New Phone Arrived Today
Saturday, March 31, 2007
My new Sprint UpStage phone arrived today which, being a Saturday, took me by surprise. I already had my day planned out so I wasn't prepared to play with it a whole lot. But I did snap a new pictures and carried it around with me for the afternoon.
The first thing I did of course was connect it to my computer and load myPodder onto it. Works like a champ! And I quickly discovered that not only will it download all of my podcasts, it will play them through the speaker so I can sit at my desk and listen without headphones... nice!
Beyond that, here are my first impressions:
- It's small... the smallest phone I've ever had. And thin. Almost too thin and light, but not quite.
- Flipping the phone back and forth is going to take some getting used to, especially when you are browsing on the big screen (okay, I played a little) but entering text on the keypad.
- The connectors are proprietary - it came with a special USB cable and a special headphone adapter... not what I would typically like in a phone, but its the same on my Mylo (non-standard headphone connection) and at least in that case the functionality supersedes my desire to only carry one cable.
- The battery wallet (sorry, no picture yet) is surprisingly light weight and does not add much bulk to the phone, although actually talking on it with the wallet attached seems awkward.
- The menu structure seems pretty much the same as the other Samsung phones I have owned.
- The navigation on the MP3 side of the device is going to take some getting used to. The center button is a real button, but the square around it is touch-sensitive. It seems they knew this was going to take some getting used to as the phone automatically boots into a tutorial every time you turn it on (it was easy to make that stop).
Labels: myPodder, Podcast Ready, sprint, Sprint Ambassador Phase 3, upstage
posted by Russell @ 11:38 PM,
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iPod and U3 Users of myPodder get an upgrade
Monday, March 26, 2007
Recently we've upgraded our myPodderTM to 1.6.5. A few minor bugs have been fixed and the iPod support has been greatly improved. For instance, when you now connect your iPod to any computer (Win, OSX, or Linux) it correctly places the content in the "podcast" section of your player and calculates that playing time for all those off-the-wall bit rates properly.U3 devices also now have an upgrade. For those of you that are not aware of U3, its a technology that enables thumb drives to run U3-compliant applications right from the drive without installing anything on the host computer.
So you can take your Firefox, instant messenger, and Open Office applications with you where ever you go.
Interestingly enough, we've seen a huge amount of uptake from the U3 community since we won their application design contest back in June. It seems that even though a large portion of the podcast audience listens to podcasts at their desk, they really like the idea of having their content in one location (their U3 drive) and listening to (and managing) that content from whatever computer they happen to be at.
Labels: ipod, myPodder, podcast, Podcast Ready, u3
posted by Russell @ 10:52 AM,
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