Introduction

Have you considered taking your favorite radio program on a long scenic drive? The show you love; the scenic backdrop you crave – can the two really be combined? Yes, you can have your cake and eat it too. Only, this time it's not cake, but your show with nature that your senses crave.

Imagine if you are the only in your car on a summer day and the roads are quiet. You test out the free one-year subscription to Cyrus satellite radio and a free satellite radio receiver you received as a gift. You're tuned into: sports in Spanish, NFL, NBA, College sports, political talk show, NPR, Air America or a country music channel commercial free. It feels good to listen to your shows on the open road, doesn't?

More and more Internet surfers, college students, busy professionals and teachers tune into to podcasts to learn and to enjoy content that across a broad spectrum of interests. A business College in Boston, Massachusetts is using podcasts technology in their IT 101 course. All students purchase a Pocket PC and learn how to create podcasts as part of their course curriculum.

Pod Casting allow students to create strong communication vehicles. Students often create five to 10 minute podcasts that demonstrate what they've learned in a particular lesson or class. Some professors use podcasts for their entire one-hour lecture to students. Students who were not able to attend a class can now listen to the podcasts and not feel like they missed something come exam time. In this article, I will simplify podcast technology and also go over some helpful tips to make your podcast experiences more joyful.

Podcasting Technology -- Personal on Demand

With the right software, equipment and knowledge about podcasting and audio media broadcasting you can experience quite the adventure. Imagine creating your own radio talk show and having loyal listeners tune in on a regular basis. The definition of audio media broadcast means: using software on your Windows PC or Apple Macintosh computer to subscribe to Web feeds of audio programs recorded in MP3 format.

Have you ever heard of XML or eXtensible Markup Language? XML is similar to HTML in that both use tags to describe the text information on a web site. HTML tags display information while XML uses tags to describe the information. Have you heard of RSS or real simple syndication? RSS is a technology that provides constantly updated news, press releases, podcasts and stories to your computer in real-time. Pop testing uses RSS, an XML based format to deliver audio broadcast to your audio enabled PDA, notebook, computer or Pocket PC.

The audio files are sent like e-mail attachments and are routed directly to the folders on your computer labeled "my music" or "my library". If you are a Pocket PC user you can subscribe to a podcasts directory and download an RSS reader onto the Pocket PC and without having to synchronize the podcasts XML file onto the digital audio player for playback. Once you have subscribed to a podcasts directory, you can get regular updated pod casts or audio broadcasts delivered to your podcast aggregator or reader. You then have two choices: if you're not a PocketPC user, you can listen to the podcasts on your computer. Or you can listen to your podcasts on your iPod, MP3 player, digital enabled PDA or Pocket PC. There is an extra step required for synchronizing the pod cast file from your computer to your portable device.

What is a Podcast File?

It is either an audio MP3 file or a video file. These files are saved as compressed audio format or as a wav file. To avoid extra steps in recording professional podcasts, it's best to choose a software or digital record player that will allow you to record the audio podcasts directly as an MP3 formatted file. You can download specific audio episodes of podcasts programs right onto your computer. The podcasts audio file is pulled by the podcast aggregator or podcatching software using an Internet connection.

The term iPod was inspired by the popularity of Apple's iPod personal player.

Another term for podcasting is personal on demand.

How Does a Podcast Feed Work?

An audio broadcast or podcasts both have enclosure tags showing attributes that describe the URL of the media file, as well as what is the media file type (MP3 or video). Podcasts are delivered when you subscribe to RSS feeds. Once you've logged onto your podcast reader or aggregator it will show you the most up-to-date podcast episode with headlines and a short description. A podcast reader can also be called pod catching software.

Pod Casting Is a New Phenomena and Less Than One Year Old

As new podcasts or audio episodes become available, your pod catching software will automatically download this new audio programming onto your pod casting aggregator.

7 Pod Casting Tips - Fresh Audio Delivered to Your Pocket PC

1. Pocket PC users should upgrade storage cards to either 512 MB, or 1-2 GB of storage. If you download one hour long podcasts, even if the MP3 files compress, you can easily take up a lot of memory on your Pocket PC. www.kingston.com offers inexpensive compact flash storage cards with a full life time warranty.
2. Switch off the WiFi and Bluetooth wireless settings while you are listening to your audio broadcast to save battery life.
3. Turn the Pocket PC screen off again to preserve your battery life. This is easy to do.
4. Change the voice recording setting from the standard 800 Hz mono (8 kb/s) to 11,025 Hz, 8-bit, mono (11 kb/s). When I did this, the recording quality improved. I no sounder like I was talking into a tin can or talking underwater.
5. Test your audio podcast recording and change the settings. Play it back on your laptop, desktop, or Pocket PC and you'll hear a significant difference in sound quality as you listen from one device to the next.
6. Go to: mobile-sg.com and get a script to convert the RSS feed to an HTML interface. Save this web site on your Pocket PC. Optimize the RSS feed so it will display nicely on your small Pocket PC screen. Simply cut and paste the URL of the podcasts feed you want to see into the field or box, then select convert to RSS. This saves you from having to download pod catching software onto your Pocket PC device.
7. Consider purchasing a gomadic sync n'charge adapter. The USB end of the gomadic charge system will connect to a universal AC wall charger or a universal cigarette lighter for your car. The other end of the adapter tip is a 1.8 mm female jack that connects to your Pocket PC. For only $39.95, your kit comes with a retractable USB sync and charge retractable cable, a USB universal charger, and a USB universal car charger. For an additional $19.05 you can get an emergency backup charger as well. If you don't own a car or don't have the power supply, you can plug the Pocket PC with four AA batteries to the charger unit. For more information, please go to www.gomadic.com.
8. Boost the volume of your podcasts episode with the Boostaroo revolution at www.boostaroo.com. This unit is only $79.95. This volume booster doubles the volume of your Pocket PC. It's powered by two AAAA batteries and amplifies audio files even when playing games. If it's not comfortable for you to plug a headset when playing back your favorite podcasts episode, Boostaroo revolution offers a great option. It connects to your headphone jack on your Pocket PC, so it'll work on most portable devices.

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Rene Tse is on the look out for mobile devices to enhance her productivity. This website cuts to the chase and has valued information on: cingular wireless phones and which is the best voIP solution available for your Linux PDA, Pocket PC or smart phone.

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