Zune Springs Ahead To 2.5 Update

I have been working late tonight at Zune working on getting the new spring update to Zune users. The update included the release of NBC and MTV TV show content in the Zune Marketplace. I am a little loopy now as it has been many late nights here over the past month getting ready for this release. I have been doing the content programming of these new TV shows and podcasts.

I have also been working with NBC and MTV to get the marketing pieces and content offerings together for this launch. I think this is a big step for the Zune as it moves us into competing with iTunes directly with top quality video content.

A couple of highlights for the new release:
- Zune Cards now go to the device: listen to your friends music recommendations on-the-go.
- The social is now in the client.
- Mini-feeds keeping you up-to-date on all your friends music at Zune.net.
- Enhanced friends search.
- Reputation badges for passionate promoters of entertainment they love.
- New metadata editing tools
- Gapless playback (great for live concerts!!)
- The inclusion of NBC in our launch video partner list: get The Office, Heroes and 30 Rock here!
- An incredible line up of shows from MTV, Comedy Central, Adult Swim and Vh1
- Over 800 shows at launch in the Zune Video Store
- Integration with Windows Live Messenger

Read a Wall Street Journal article - Zune Eases Sharing To Close iPod Gap
Read Seattle PI by Todd Bishop - Microsoft adds NBC, other TV shows to Zune
Read Google News breakdown on this announcement

Is Podcasting on the "Net Sidelines"?

Slashdot has a post drawing the conclusion that podcasting is now on the "Net Sidelines". I must say that from everything I am seeing here on the Zune team; working on podcast content and its distribution; it is alive and doing very well.

Sure podcasting may have declined in the hype of it and the techno-elite have moved on to Twittering areas now, but podcasts or downloadable portable media is still growing and doing very well. I do believe though that the technology of podcasting will eventually disappear from user view as better user interfaces make it easier to find and connect with this media on many always connected data platforms.

I am also hoping that this xml based revolution will transform and bring efficiency to the music, television and film industries around digital download distribution.

Unpodcasting of Video Podcasts

I have been seeing an interesting trend with video podcasting networks considering making their video episodes available to regular video download-to-own distribution sites that don't use RSS as the basis for the distribution to these sites. I am not going to be specific, but it is an interesting trend away from RSS distribution of these shows. This makes me wonder if RSS is just not going to cut it in the long-run for digital media distribution. I am seeing so much confusion and lack industry wide consistancy of RSS implementation, thus causing all sorts of ingestion issues. Everyone has its own RSS tags that create duplicate entries and proprietary tag needs in feeds.

Is this the first sign that podcasting is starting to dissappear into just "Video" and "Audio" again?

Zune and Me at 2008 CES

I just got back from spending all last week in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show. I worked the show floor in the Microsoft Zune area of the larger Microsoft booth in the South Central Hall. I talked to hundreds of people who passed throught the Zune area. The show was great for the Zune, as many people really liked the design of the new device players and Zune Marketplace software.



I also talked to many content companies and podcasters at CES. They all are really excited about having an alternative podcast distribution platform.

See below as I have uploaded lots of photos and videos from my trip to CES in Las Vegas.

Home is with the Zune

After a few months off from my gig with Melodeo Mobilcast, I am now with the Microsoft Zune team. We are about to launch podcasts on the new Zune 2 devices and I am managing that process as Podcast Programming and Marketing Lead. This position is very much like the Melodeo Mobilcast position that I recently left.

If you want to keep up with what I am doing with the Zune then click on over to my new blog called Zune Insider, which is an official Zune blog.

Here are a few recent blog posts from the blog:

Zune Podcast Submissions and Directory - 11/2/07

Zune 1-Click Podcast Subscriptions - 10/25/07

We also just launched our national advertising campaign and here you can watch one of the spots. I will still post here now and then.

Podcasting is Growing Up

I would like to clarify my statements from my last post in this blog about why I think the closing of Yahoo's podcast directory is a sign of a maturing podcasting industry.

I do believe that it is an industry segment that is growing in importance as more major and indie content companies join with content RSS feeds. We are seeing the formation of industry associations (ADM) and a recent round of podcast related company closures and sales. These are clear signs that an industry is maturing and consolidating. The industry is moving beyond the initial burst of enthusiasm around podcasting. Podcasting is is still the fastest growing new medium that needs to evolve into a legitimate media delivery platform. I believe that like digital media streaming that also started with huge enthusiasm back in the late 90's, the podcasting industry hype dust is settling and I believe we are seeing this now. The weaker players always get weeded out during the beginning of the maturity phase. The truth is that Yahoo did a poor job with their directory and failed to keep improving and adapting to the needs of podcast listeners. I am glad that Yahoo decided to shut it down as it was not helping listeners or podcasters. The one bad part about Yahoo closing is the perception that podcasting as a concept is in decline, which is just not the case.

I do also believe that podcast discovery and simple one-click subscription processes is the biggest problem and opportunity for the podcast industry, iTunes has been a great start but it can be done so much better with personalization technology. I am very excited to be working with the growth of RSS based digital media syndication, as I think it will be the base for all of our personal media playlist so in all of our media players in the future.

Closing of Yahoo's Podcast Directory Is Sign Of Podcast Industry Maturity

I am not surprised Yahoo has decided to close down its podcast directory site on Oct 31,2007. It jumped on a hot trend and did not have a long-term vision. Yahoo just has to many businesses to focus on and this one just did not work for them.

I just think that any podcast directory needs to be directly linked up with an easy to subscribe process and use a portable media player or mobile smart phone player to be successful. Listeners and directories need to have a one-click to subscribe and listen process. This explains the success of iTunes + iPod solution. Any other successful platform needs to have the same equation and Yahoo just did not have this connection to a portable or mobile phone player. I do think that topic segmented web-based podcast directories can be successful, but will need to eventually be merged with a simple one-button to subscribe and listen platform for them to have long-term success. I think we will see a few more directories close down or merge with other companies.

For podcasting to reach mass adoption they need to be easily subscribed to, downloaded or streamed to a internet connected media player (iPod, Zune, iRiver), car media player, TV set-top box, gaming console and mobile phone. I saw with Mobilcast that given the option - people choose 90% of the time to on-demand stream podcasts from an internet server to mobile wireless connected phone player devices. We already see streaming on TIVO with audio podcasts and most video (TIVOCasts) podcasts downloaded, but audio will most often be streamed to player devices.

Coming Podcast and Portable Media Expo

I will be attending the Podcast & Portable Media Expo later this week and over the weekend in Ontario, California. I am looking forward to the trip and getting caught up with everything that has been going on with Podcasting over the past year and seeing many friends. It is an exciting time for portable digital media and podcasting.

I am also about to start a new chapter is my digital media career as I will be starting in a new position with Microsoft the day after the podcast expo is over. More details to come after I actually start in this new position.

It pains me to do this because I will lose so many search engine listings, but I do not want any conflict of interest. I will actually switch this website domain over to http://www.mobilecasternews.com/ on October 2nd.

Live Radio to Podcasting Comes Full Circle

I think it is very interesting that podcasting is going towards live radio at new sites like BlogTalkRadio.com. I watched a Scoble show episode with Alan Levy, CEO of BlogTalkRadio.com recently and it was like this concept was totally new online.

While I like to see this coming to life again, it is just not new and is a new as old idea. I think that seeing people getting all excited about this development is funny as it is only new to people who are new to the online radio space and don't have an understanding of the history of online radio.

The thing that is new about BlogTalkRadio.com is that it is free to have a show on the network. The earlier companies charged a fee to host a show on the network. I am sure that BlogTalkRadio.com will put these earlier companies out of business with a no fee business model.

Just visit WorldTalkRadio.com that I consulted with 4 years ago and you will see what I mean. You can also see WSRadio.com.

Podcasting Changes Could Drive Dramatic Leap Forward in 2008

Podcasting will always be linked up with the iPod from a historical perspective, but devices come and go. Just think back to the Sony Walkman, a new and better device came along and replaced it called an iPod. I believe the same thing will happen to the iPod one day a better device will be seen as cooler. I think we are already seeing that day come closer with the launch of the iPhone and other truly mobile devices with wireless connections.

We shall see if Apple can keep the iPod viable in the market as more innovation comes over the long-run. I do hope that a better device does come that becomes a wild hit as I think it would be good for all of us.

I think it would be good for the podcasting industry if the Microsoft's Zune really does become a hit as it would more split the market for podcasting and would make the term "Podcast" mean more than distribution to an iPod. Making the term "Podcast" mean a type of portable on-demand content and less associated with an iPod would be a very good thing.

I do believe that podcasters can help expand the meaning of the term podcast by doing a few simple things. We need to slightly change how we all talk about and market podcasting in our blogs and to the media. This slight change in message could make a dramatic difference as I am seeing first hand that many existing and new podcasting related companies are trying to make podcasting an easier process for the listener and viewer. I also believe that content quality and selection is getting better everyday. The coming 12 months will be a very important new phase for podcasters and podcast consumers. I think the technology of easier discovery, management and anywhere delivery will make for a dramatic leap forward in 2008.

What can we all do today to start making a difference in this area and here is my to do/wish list:

1) Make podcast RSS feed links available in addition to our iTunes links on our websites
2) Promote alternative distribution platforms to other devices as much as possible in your shows and on your site
3) Submit your podcast RSS feeds to all available aggregators, mobile platforms, podcast networks to build a true online syndicated distribution strategy
4) Make sure your site visitors can listen or watch your content easily on your website
5) Reach out and talk to mainstream media and online media folks to tell them how the meaning of Podcasting is changing to go beyond the iPod
6) On all of our blogs, feeds, graphics and websites use the terms "Portable On-Demand" in as many places as possible

Portable On-Demand Cast = Podcast

This will not be another gripe post about how bad the term podcast is to the long term growth of portable media. You will never again hear me bash it. It is here to stay and we need to make the best of the situation. I am hearing more and more private discussion about changing the meaning of the term “Podcast” away from a strong connection with the iPod and making the name mean "Portable On-Demand Cast". I think this makes a lot of sense because the name podcast is here to stay and it is more often then not understood to mean a piece of content and less to mean a type of distribution. This transition to the Portable On-Demand meaning will take time as most have been conditioned to connect the iPod with Podcasting in thinking about the medium.

I think with the coming support for podcasting on the Zune, we have an opportunity to muddy the meaning to mean something a little more open and less Apple centric.

The challenge to everyone in the podcast industry is to start talking about this rebranding concept. I think it is important to the future of a strong and diverse distribution ecosystem that users will understand better.

Podcasting today has a user understanding and communications challenge that can be addresses by all parties involved at all levels in the industry. I also think that it is important to move beyond the singular focus that many podcasters large and small have on iTunes and the iPod. We are seeing many new distribution platforms on mobile, coming Zune support of podcasting and other types of mobile and living room devices that will bring greater success to content creators.

Podcasters need to be sure they offer their podcast RSS feeds right on their websites and stop only linking over to iTunes.

Only Part of Podcasting that is Dead is the Hype

Please folks don't get caught by these catchy headlines of these blog posts "Internet Radio is Dead" and "Podcasting is Dead". See a portion of the Internet Radio is Dead post below:

Podcasting is dead. Even interactive podcasting with callers. Case closed. End of discussion. For that matter, compared to video, blogging is dead.

I know some podcasters get good numbers. I think I know why that is. It has nothing to do with talent. People listen for one of two reasons. Either the podcasts are so old they started back when attracting an audience was easy, OR the people making the podcasts are already established bloggers or celebrities, so they can drive traffic to their recordings.

One of the very biggest podcasts belongs to a prominent conservative blogger, whom I will not mention, because he seems like a decent guy. It's like listening to paint dry. All he does is read aloud. The copy is bad. The stories are boring. The delivery is wooden. He has no personality. But he gets an audience, because he's already well-known. I think this is a great example of the second type of podcast I mentioned above.

I would guess that with RSS included, maybe 2000 people read my blog. I can therefore send maybe a hundred people to hear a podcast, tops. If I had 50,000 people, I could send maybe 2-3000. That seems to be how it works.

Let's get real here as hype, knee jerk and unrealistic reactions like this is what got us all to this point to begin with. Portable downloadable media and blogging usage was always going to be marginal for many years, as it takes time to grow a new medium. It was never going to replace existing radio and TV like many thought it would in the early days of the podcasting boom. I do believe that RSS based syndication and distribution of digital media will continue to grow as more and more people will prefer to get content sent to them that they have subscribed to receive, store and playback on the listener and viewers timetable. The concept is already here for many already with TIVO, DVR's and iTunes. It is all about getting content the audience wants for consuming at a later time is what this is all about. Audio podcasting will grow as it is enabled to all of our cars and on our mobile devices.

Podcasting and Blogging are not Dead, but is still in a very early stage of development. I believe that those involved in these new content distribution and consumption methods are blazing the trail for a dramatic shift that is coming to all of us. The day is coming that we will be in total control of our media and content creators will be all of us and a few of us. We will all or mostly all of us will join in on the revolution of digital media and those that engage will help succeed in this new world and those that don't will slowly loose opportunities. I do believe that you need to be smart about what you do with the time you have on this earth, but expressing your personality, creativity and smarts online will always payoff if one is credible about it. Please step back and take a deep breath and don't fall for the hype or unhype about portable downloadable on-demand media. It is real and YouTube actually confirms it for us all and is not an example that podcasting is dead.

True Broadband Mobility: N95 with US 3G and N800

I am very pleased to hear that Nokia has decided to offer US 3G (HSDPA) support in a coming new version of the Nokia N95 in September. This is big news for those of us that have ATT's unlimited internet MediaMax data plans here in the USA on our mobile phones. MediaMax costs $19.99 per month and the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet is $349. It is a perfect mobility solution.

This unlocked N95 phone will give you access to 3G speeds on the N800 that would normally cost $59 per month on laptops or other PDA phone devices. This ability has been on my mind ever since I returned Cingular's 3G laptop card a few months ago, it felt crazy to pay $19.99 per month for EDGE internet access and another $59.99 for laptop 3G access. Paying $80.00 per month for mobile internet access seemed like to much to pay.

Now it is finally a real value to get mobile unlimited internet access and get 3G speed for $19.99 per month until ATT closes the loop hole down.

The only real short comings of this solution is that you cannot edit Microsoft Office documents on the N800 and the N800 could have a faster processor.

New Blog Name and URL Coming

I am planning to make some changes to this blog over the next few days. The name of it will be changing slightly to Mobilecaster News at http://www.mobilecasternews.com/. I am adding the "e" back to the mobile word that will correct the mispelling from my previous name and URL.

This blog/podcast was also nominated for a Podcast Award and the winners will be given awards at the Portable Media and Podcast Expo. I will be requesting that the name of this blog be changed on the Podcast Awards website.

The blog and podcast RSS feed URL will stay the same.

CelleCast: on-demand audio on your phone

Last night I spoke with Andrew Deal. Founder and CEO of Vancouver, Washington company CelleCast.com and they are taking an interesting approach to mobile phone audio distribution. While the concept of delivering audio content via regular phone audio signal is not new, the messaging of how they are promoting it is and is worth mentioning. They never use the word "Podcast" on their site. Go check them out as they are worth watching in this space as this company does not need to have mobile operator/carriers deals to roll the service out to the market. Andrew has also managed to recruit a very experienced broadcast radio veteran by the name of Dave Van Dyke of Bridge Rating's Research and long-time radio station owner to help him as Sr. VP Operations and Media Partnerships. I have known Dave for many years and he knows what he is doing.

This is a signal of a coming change back to pre-podcasting days -- in how companies position themselves as the hype of podcasting has faded. We are getting to a point where everyone who wants to grow a company in this area needs to reach the other 62% who do not know what a podcast is, but do know what radio and audio programs are.

You may have also noticed that this blog has changed as well to be less about "Mobile Podcasting" and more about mobile phone digital media trends and companies. You will see here less bias towards Mobilcast from this post forward as I no longer work for Melodeo. I am back to producing great digital media and online content. I am looking for my next great mobile digital media opportunity that will keep my dreams alive. Please keep me in mind if you hear of great mobile digital media opportunities and if you would like your mobile digital media company featured here then feel free to send me an email to: (rob at webtalkradio.com). My contact info is also in the right side column of this blog.

iPhones begin Mobilecasting or is it now iPhonecasting?

Mobilcast user logs are proving to us that downloading and storage are no longer barriers to getting content on the phone with Mobilcasting. Somehow as part of this mobile podcast listening discussion we need to focus less on downloading and storage as that is an iPod and mp3 player process and is not an always connected mobile phone experience for most mobile podcast listeners today.

Now with the introduction of the iPhone, Apple or iTunes based mobile audio and video content consumption via podcasting will begin to transfer to the iPhone -"iPhonecasting" has begun. Users will not want to wait for the content to download to the iPhones flash memory. They will want to get the content on-demand via a stream as users will get frustrated with the wait.

We should even consider dropping the use of the term “Podcast” to describe it unless you are only talking about a type of content only. We should call it “Mobilecasting” or “Mobilcasting” and I hope we do not start calling it iPhonecasting. The Mobilcast java client application has been around for over a year and a half now and we have significant usage data on the question of streaming content vs. downloading content on the mobile phone. We have offered both and streaming is winning at over 95%.

The huge benefit to getting audio and soon video from RSS with media enclosure feeds on the phone is that you can always get the latest and most up to date content available in those feeds. So all of those hourly feeds become “Personalized Radio” with potential content sources from all over the world. You are basically creating your own personalized radio station on your phone with almost real time updated content. You only get what you want when you want it. I use the application everyday of the week and my consumption of audio has exploded compared to mp3 based listening like the iPod.

Apple has too many podcasters and listeners in a form of mind control with this iPod and iTunes platform. It is not the future of podcasting, because the future of podcasting is “Mobilecasting”. Give it a try and you will see what I mean.

Downtown Seattle iPhone Line Builds

Updated June 29th at 6pm PST: I just got back from the iPhone release at the Apple store in Seattle at the University Village Mall. I took photos of the 600-800 people who were waiting in line to get in at 6pm. I also got in line and within 1 hour and 10 minutes (7:10pm) was able to get into the Apple store. It was very crowded and I think they had more sales people in the store then customers at any given time. I was asked 10 times while standing in the store if I needed help. See bottom of this post to see my purchase of an iPhone.

I did PURCHASE one of the iPhones. I got the 8GB version of the iPhone for $652 dollars with sales tax. Wow -that is one expensive phone.

I know that I said in prior posts that I would not get one, but the temptation was so great. After purchasing it and diving more into the service plan changes that I would need to make and the inability to trade out AT&T sim cards on the phone with my other Nokia phones.

Unfortunately, I am going to need to either sell it or return it. I need to have a phone that will also run Mobilcast and nuTsie without me having to pay for two lines with data plans.

Fri, June 29th at 2pm PST , Many of us here at Melodeo the makers of Mobilcast and nuTsie have been visiting the Pacific Place shopping center AT&T (Cingular) store this afternoon to check on lines and demo displays for the 6pm release of the iPhone. This photo is from the same store this afternoon.

One of the guys here reported that, "There was a line of 19 people queued up out the door waiting to buy an iPhone and one very confused looking guy waiting to buy an LG Sync (he was from Ballard). The demographics appeared to be late 20’s to early 30’s and nearly all male. The AT&T rep in the store stated that there would be 24 in-store sales reps in the store tonight when the iPhone goes on sale at 6pm. On a typical Friday evening 8 or fewer reps would be working the store. We also found out that the iPhones sold in the AT&T store would NOT be activated in the store, but instead on-line from the iTunes site."

I also stopped by the store and took the above picture. They also have plenty of display space open for the window and it is empty and I also saw other displays up that did not have any iPhones in them. Melodeo is buying one of the iPhones, but I am not sure if anyone else here is getting one. If Robert Scoble and his son still lived in Seattle then he would be waiting first in line here instead. Ryan from Engadget, please add this post to your iPhone multi-city post. To read more posts from the Pacific Place line read this blog. Rob Greenlee

Possible iPhone Launch Monday with 3G in Europe (UK)

Guy Kewney of the NewsWireless.net blog is reporting that a 3G version of the iPhone is launching on Monday in Europe with Vodafone, T-Mobile of Germany, and Carphone Warehouse.

From his blog post;

"Hints of the European launch emerged yesterday when Bill Condie of the London Evening Standard tipped Vodafone to be the official carrier, which will be confirmed Monday. But Voda is just part of the picture, with Apple going for a three-pronged European strategy with carriers - again, responding to disappointment in America with the exclusive deal with AT&T/Cingular."

This is all very interesting if it is correct, because it would mean that Europe is getting a more capable iPhone in Europe before the USA gets it.

This other piece of his post has me wondering if this is really correct;

"Shipment date is still unknown, but "on course" for the year-end date predicted last October by Apple CEO Steve Jobs."

I am speculating that since the deal with Europe was done later then the deal with AT&T that it gave Apple more time to pull a better phone and carrier deal together. This European deal addresses the core two complaints about the US iPhone release. Slow data network and only one carrier/operator release.

The post also describes a possible French Telecom deal that could be in the works;

"Writer Condie quoted sources inside Credit Suisse which suggested that France Telecom was in line for a franchise. That is unlikely to be fulfilled, possibly because of Orange's insistence on "strong branding" on any handset it carries. Orange has irritated several phone makers by insisting on disabling technical and user-oriented features which didn't sit with Orange."

This news has not seem to have broken much in the USA, but it is an interesting twist to the iPhone rollout story. Keep in mind that any 3G device deployment in Europe will not work with USA 3G as it is on different radio frequencies. So you cannot buy in Europe and get 3G here with the phone, you would be back on EDGE again.

AT&T Boosts EDGE Data Speeds To Over 200K

Engadget has broken the news that it appears the AT&T has boosted its EDGE data speed to over 200K for the impending launch of the iPhone. I just ran the same mobile speed test three times on my Nokia N73 and it has shown 222K, 197K and 210K. It is my understanding that EDGE has an upper limit maximum of 473.6 kbit/s for very short transmission distance. This is very realistic that AT&T has done this in light of how badly they have been beatup in the press about its data speed with the iPhone. This is a boon for all those not buying an iPhone. This will really help with podcast and music playback with AT&T users of Mobilcast and nuTsie.

EDGE MEdiaNet Unlimited Data Plans cost $19.99 per month at AT&T. It will also be a great help with my Nokia N800 experience. If you want to test your speed on your mobile phone then type this address into your phone browser: http://www.dslreports.com/mspeed

N800 to support Skype VOIP and IM coming in July

This is an update post to an earlier post I made about the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet device that I use to connect to the Internet through my mobile Nokia N73 phone. It enables me to get on the web anywhere with my $19.99 per month MEdiaNet Unlimited data plan through ATT (formerly Cingular).

It has leaked all over the web that Skype for the N800 will be coming in July of '07. That is in only a week or so from now. That is great news and will really make the N800 extremely useful as a VOIP and IM device. Very Cool. (photo and source from jkontherun)

Mobilcaster that doesn't Podcast, an interesting question

I have had a few readers of this blog comment that "A Mobilcaster should podcast or Mobilcast some content". Well, I do agree that it would make sense for me to do that and I still might do it.

I created a Mobilcaster RSS feed URL: http://www.mytalkradio.com/melodeo/rss/rss.xml and intended to do it on a regular basis. I even have my own studio in my office here at Melodeo that is right behind me and I still don't do it.

I also have a home studio with over $10K in audio equipment that has been the home studio base for two popular podcasts called WebTalk Radio and the Boston Legal TV Show podcast. All of my past podcasting has been with my wonderful wife Dana and we have been a team. We even got to do podcasts for CBS TV Network back in 2005.

I admit to becoming a podfader and letting down many listeners who have followed my radio shows since 1999.

I suppose that what I am about to write is a list of excuses, but these are realities that I have faced in keeping any podcasts alive. I have be very lucky for many years to have jobs that allowed me the time and energy to produce a broadcast syndicated radio show. I have also had large stretches of time when I was doing consulting work and focusing on the radio show. These stretches of consulting time have been the times when I had the time to devote to building the show and its distribution. Since starting to work at Melodeo, I have had less time and energy to battle with producing content for a variety of work, family and personal reasons that I will not bore you with.

Producing quality radio show content is very hard work and I just don't want to go down the path if I cannot produce a top quality program. I have had a very popular and financially rewarding radio show for many years and I know what it takes to do it right. I also admit to now having a clear vision on what content would actually work now. Podcasting has changed the Internet radio market beyond recognition and it is now dominated by major media companies that have the talent, resources, audio quality, marketing horsepower and time to make content that builds an audience. When I started back in 1999 it was wide open and opportunity was everywhere, but now it is so crowded and there is so much top quality content being produced that it would be very hard to rise above the noise of the Internet these days.

My position here at Melodeo Mobilcast and now nuTsie is very demanding on my time and energy. I also have a 3 hour daily commute to Seattle the eats away at my content production time and I am remodeling my house. I am building mobile phone podcast catalogs for mobile carrier/operators all over the world. I am responsible for localized language podcast catalogs in many countries around the world right now. This Mobilcast listening on mobile phones is growing and coming into a time when the phones and the wireless networks will make it possible for mobile phones to be a great way to get to podcast-like content. The iPod is old technology as seen by the excitement around the new iPhone.

You may see me run back up to the content fence again soon as I do have a new WebTalk Radio site almost completed. I don't see myself doing a Mobilcaster podcast on a regular basis, but could do a few episodes now and then. I do seem to be getting more and more pulled towards video. Look out as I have a face for radio.

Rob Greenlee

Walt Mossberg Posts iPhone Video Review

Walter S. Mossberg the famed tech reviewer from the Wall Street Journal has finally posted his review of the Apple iPhone. He has had the phone for two weeks and is now talking about his experience. Check it out here. He likes it very much, but does not like that it does not support 3G and that other carriers like Verizon, T-Mobile and others will not be offering it.

Here is part of his review;

Our verdict is that, despite some flaws and feature omissions, the iPhone is, on balance, a beautiful and breakthrough handheld computer. Its software, especially, sets a new bar for the smart-phone industry, and its clever finger-touch interface, which dispenses with a stylus and most buttons, works well, though it sometimes adds steps to common functions.
The Apple phone combines intelligent voice calling, and a full-blown iPod, with a beautiful new interface for music and video playback. It offers the best Web browser we have seen on a smart phone, and robust email software. And it synchronizes easily and well with both Windows and Macintosh computers using Apple’s iTunes software.

It has the largest and highest-resolution screen of any smart phone we’ve seen, and the most internal memory by far. Yet it is one of the thinnest smart phones available and offers impressive battery life, better than its key competitors claim.

It feels solid and comfortable in the hand and the way it displays photos, videos and Web pages on its gorgeous screen makes other smart phones look primitive.

The iPhone’s most controversial feature, the omission of a physical keyboard in favor of a virtual keyboard on the screen, turned out in our tests to be a nonissue, despite our deep initial skepticism. After five days of use, Walt — who did most of the testing for this review — was able to type on it as quickly and accurately as he could on the Palm Treo he has used for years. This was partly because of smart software that corrects typing errors on the fly.

The above review is an early sign that this iPhone may generally meet expectations which is a good thing for the whole mobile media industry as it will raise the bar for OEM device makers to make smart phone mobiles that are compelling for consumers. This may also mainstream the acceptance of these type of devices, but it could end up being like the iPod and other competitors have a hard time competing against the iPhone because the design is locked down in patents. I still say wait for iPhone 2.0 with 3G. I am lucky that I already have my plan with AT&T, but it would still cost me $600. I am still not going to do it as I have a N95 coming very soon from Nokia.

Coming Battle of the Super Smart Phones: iPhone and N95

While I think it is great that Apple is coming out big with iPhone 1.0 this coming Friday, June 29th. It is very likely that the iPhone 2.0 will be out in 2008 and it could be much better.

I was reading a New York Post article by Seattle resident Glenn Fleishman who is also saying to not get "Hung Up on buying an iPhone" he says, "Oh, it's a technological marvel. But Apple's all-in-one handheld isn't the best cellphone - or even the best iPhone - that will be sold in the next year.

I hate to be the one to always fly against the wind of popular culture and this iPhone is a social and culture phenomena. It has been talked about and publicized so much that anything less then selling millions of iPhones will be considered a failure for Apple. The iPhone hype has set expectations very high and I just don't see how it could ever match expectations. I do think that it will sell well and that the reason for the sales will be the expectations being set so high.

Many bloggers and print journalists have said that if you compare the iPhone smartphone to a phone like a Nokia N95 that the iPhone fails the comparison on many key aspects. The N95 has also had very high expectations and mostly it has delivered on the advanced technology promises.

This is a very interesting time as mobile devices seem to be on the edge of a big break through in capability and technology convergence of portable digital and high speed wireless Internet access.

Here is a feature and function comparison between the iPhone and the N95 super smartphone:

• The iPhone has a 2.0 megapixel camera while the N95 has a 5 megapixel camera. N95 wins.
• The iPhone supports GSM/GPRS/Edge/WiFi wireless data speed and the N95 supports GSM/GPRS/Edge/3G/WiFi. N95 wins with overall data speed with 3G support (3G support is only European).
  
• The iPhone touch screen software User Interface is unproven with users, but is very attractive visually and generally Apple users are very visual and are attracted to these clean software UI's that Apple produces. N95 is more of a conventional mobile keyboard that most users have used and is a slide out key pad. The conventional mobile keyboard works great for most people. I don't think we can declare a winner yet, but at this point Apple has the popularity lead and many tech pundits are unsure on this one as well.
  
• The iPhone comes with either 4 or 8 GB's of internal storage. The N95 and most other smartphones do not come with that much memory. The only other Nokia phone to have that much memory is the Nokia N91 with 4 or 8 GB's of internal hard drive. iPhone is clearly the winner.
  
• The iPhone screen size is 3.5 inches and has brilliant colors and sharp image resolution. N95 has a 2.8 inch screen that also has brilliant and sharp impage quality. Winner is again the iPhone.
  
• The iPhone is $599 (8GB) and $499 (4GB) with two year ATT wireless plan. N95 cannot get it with a wireless carrier in the USA and to buy unlocked is $750. The iPhone wins here as well.
  
• The iPhone supports Google Maps, but the N95 has built in GPS support. N95 wins.
  
• The iPhone does not support Microsoft Outlook Sync and N95 does support PDA features and Outlook sync. N95 wins
  
• iPhone audio playback quality is unknown at this time, but the N95 has stereo external speakers and a great clean sound processor. The iPhone is also an iPod and so you can assume that the audio quality will be very good as well. Both tie on this one.

When you compare features and function side by side like this the iPhone starts to look very good, but the things that are missing for me are significant. The missing 3G wireless data speed is important to have in the iPhone 2.0, but the N95's 3G support does not work here in the USA. I heard that T-Mobile's new 3G network will support the N95's 3G radio.

As for listening to podcasts and other portable media the iPhone and N95 are both powerful devices as the iPhone will side load from iTunes and the N95 will run applications like Nokia's podcasting application, Mobilcast, nuTsie for iTunes play list streaming and many other Java applications. The iTunes, YouTube and iPhone relationship is very powerful for music and podcasts. The N95 is much more diverse in alternative/open media application support. I tend to lean towards the more open platform of the N95 and java support.

It appears that writing this post has convinced me that the only real thing to wait for with the iPhone is 3G support and a second generation device that has all the firmware bugs worked out. the Nokia devices also have this issue. Go wait in line this coming Friday if you must, but realise that a better iPhone is coming.

Nokia N800 Internet Tablet Great For Mobile Web Browsing and RSS Feed Reading

I have been reviewing the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet over the past few weeks and it has been a companion to my Nokia N73 phone. The photo you see to the left of this post is taken with my N73 phone on my desk in my office at Melodeo.

I have very much enjoyed this phone companion device as it has extended my phones abilities and AT&T/Cingular MEdiaNet Edge unlimited data plan that I use on my phone. This tablet has a much larger screen then my N73 and gives me a really good web browsing and RSS feed reading experience. The text can still be very small on the N800, but it has a toggle on top of the device that easily makes the text much larger or smaller. I mainly extend my mobile Internet/web experience with the device. It is like having a very small laptop with fairly fast anywhere Internet connectivity.

Though the N800 has many great features that I will expand on, it has had a few issues and shortcomings. I had to return it to Nokia and have them reload the Linux operating system as it just stopped loading after my first two weeks of using it. I got it back quickly as part of the Nokia Blogger Review program. It has worked great ever sense. I am just getting it all customized to my preferences, bookmarks and RSS feed subscriptions.

The N800 is also limited by outside software compatibility issues as it just does not support much outside software like most of the Instant Messenging software. It only supports GoogleTalk and Google Gmail. The browser is ok with the ability to play YouTube videos on the screen via a good Wifi connection. If you could get a solid 3G connection it would be great for mobile video, but on Edge it can be a really slow buffer. The RSS feed reader does a nice job, but is really basic and operates like Bloglines. The N800 has a built-in video and still camera that pops out from the side of the device, the image is a little poor. The device also can stream Internet radio stations to its two stereo speakers and play music anywhere in your house via wifi.

I have not been able to locate any podcast catching application that will run on the N800, but Google searches work great and it is very fast and is great to have if you have a Nokia phone. I did not try it with a different make of phone so I do not know if it works with Motorola, LG or Samsung phones. The N800 is great for friends and my wife to jump on the web while in the car to find and research all sorts of things while away from my computer or that are just to hard to research on my small phone screen. The device sells for over $300 dollars and is worth it if you spend a lot of time commuting on a train or bus and don't want to spend the $60 per month it costs to get 3G on your laptop.

Mobilcast Top 5 Unknown Features

I was thinking today as I was reading through some of the answers to my open ended questions in our recent Mobile Podcasting User Survey that many core features that have been built into the Mobilcast technology is not well understood by current and future users.

Here is the Top 5 list:

1) You can link your mobilcast.com podcast playlist account to Mobilcast on your phone! After you get a simple code from Mobilcast.com and link Mobilcast phone application with your account, you will share your favorite podcasts in My Favorites between Mobilcast.com and Mobilcast phone application. Simply put, you can have the same playlist of your favorite podcasts on the web and the phone using Mobilcast.

2) Quick access to over 9,000 audio content feeds via search on the Mob