The name "podcast" obviously was derived from iPods. Adam Curry (the curly blonde VJ of MTV) was first to market the name by which RSS (really simple syndicate) may have audio contents as well. Riding from the popularity of iPod, I don't give doubts on why they used the term "podcast", but is it really made for iPods? The godfather of podcasts may think so, but I don't necessarily agree.
iPods are for music (using it for audiobooks and podcasts doesn't appeal to me at all). I mean, who would like to listen to a person talking? The mere fact that you got yourself an iPod is for you to eliminate the talkies (when you listen to a radio station). Podcasts and audiobooks are talkies. If I have an iPod, can I just want to listen to my music?
If podcasts were not appropriate to occupy your iPod space, then where should it belong? I ask you this: Where do you put those RSS feeds, e-books, and other info related materials? Did I hear "your Palm"? Ofcourse it should be inside your Palm! Now hear this, if you're using a Treo or a WiFi enabled handheld (like a Tungsten C, perhaps) that would be better! So how can podcast be the killer content for the Palm and what should be the killer app? I've got two words - Quick News.
Quick News for Palm OS allows you to download RSS news feeds, either via a HotSync or using a direct internet connection on your Palm Power Handheld, and then read them later. Use it to keep updated with the latest news, sports and financial updates as well as read your favorite websites. Aside from that it supports downloading your favorite podcasts!
Quick News is actually an iteration of Hand/RSS (which I have reviewed late last year). Some of the major enhancements include:
- Support for embedded images
- Flexible UI
- Attachment support
- Large feed (> 64k) support
- Podcast support
- Auto-updates
- Customizable shortcuts
- Proxy support
- Advanced search capabilities
- Ability to find new feeds by keyword
- Improved OPML import support
So what made this to be the killer app? If you happen to know, podcasts are merely RSS feeds with audio content. When using Quick News, you'll be getting the whole bunch of news feeds from your particular podcast channel (then you could freely choose which podcast content to download). You can now treat podcasts like any other news feeds that you download and read (or should I say listen) anytime. Isn't that sweet?
Aside from that, Quick News has every flexibility you could think of (from user interface to the freedom of classifying your news feeds). One thing I really love about Quick News is the ability to collapse and expand feed content and the capability to send the content link/article through e-mail (provided that an e-mail app is installed on your handheld).
So the next time you hear about podcasts, the killer app should be Quick News and the killer device is your very own Palm.
W
P.S. You should have an mp3 player app installed on your device to take advantage of podcasting. Quick News supports AeroPlayer, Pocket Tunes, and MMPlayer.
UPDATE: StandAlone won the PalmSource Powered Up Awards for Best Wireless / Over-The-Air Solution for 2005.
