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Apple Launches Video Podcasting For iTunes
phaedo00 writes "Apple has launched support for video podcasting in the Podcast section of the iTMS. Ars Technica has a decent write up of the news along with speculation on what this means in the way of a video iPod and Apple's recent application for a patent on the phrase 'iPodcast.'" From the article: "The quiet, fanfare-less launch (in fact, it's not even clear when it was launched) is a bit surprising for the company, but there may be a reason: there's not too many video podcasts out there in the wild. Furthermore, video podcasts are currently only playable on your computer, although it seems clear enough that a video iPod is on the way. If you didn't believe it before, you should definitely believe it now. For now, it looks like video podcasting support is limited."
It's a freaking trademark that they used. You can't patent a word.
Ooo man the floppy drive is broken. No wait. The computer is just upside down.
Obviously, as the Ars Technica article correctly reads, they applied for a trademark on "iPodcast".
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
I know the idea of a video capable iPod hasn't been too enticing around here as users complain of small screen areas. I have to say, however, that after purchasing an iRiver H340 and flashing the Korean firmware I love the ability to play video if the fancy strikes me. The screen is big enough to make it worth it to watch movies or tv shows on a flight (or on my lunch break).
I'd be really interested to see what Apple can do for video on a portable jukebox. iRiver's implementation, while nice, seems a bit 'after the fact' so I know there is potential.
I find that some video podcasts are actually quite good. For example, Diggnation is quite good: http://revision3.com/diggnation
as is Systm:
http://revision3.com/systm
It will be interesting to see, with the current amount of media emphasis (especially in the BBC) on camera and video phones being used in reporting stories and being "first on the scene", whether the podcast will rival the mobile phone with regards to use in media. Although the mobile phone is now ubiquitous, the ipod may be capable of recording better quality video and broadcasting it for everyone without the use of a new corporation.
Matthew Grint Midnight Artists
This is nothing new. I've been watching Prem Rawat's "Peace is Possible" on iTunes for a while.
The Dawn and Drew show even had a little video as part of their iTunes rss feed.
Apple already has a specialized "ipod videocasting" application - it's called iMovie.
The "news" will be an iPod designed to support video playback right out of the box.
Spoon not. Fork, or fork not. There is no spoon.
First of all, let's have a quick chuckle over "Apple's recent application for a patent on the phrase 'iPodcast.'" and move on :)
h ow-to-find-and-add-media-to-your-itunes-library-wi th-delicious-110812.php
I noticed that iTunes could handle "video podcasts" in the last version (4.7?) and there's a little writeup of the capability paired with del.ici.us over at lifehacker:
http://www.lifehacker.com/software/entertainment/
Does it mean that a video iPod is "on the way"? Not neccesarily. iTunes has had the ability to play video for a while, and podcasting video is not much different from podcasting audio. Parse
the rss, download the associated media, add to a special playlist. I think the feature was added as an afterthought or experiment: "hey, we can add a couple lines and support this!".
The video iPod remains the white whale of Apple enthusiasts. Often speculated about, never seen.
The overall discussion was about Intel/Apple, but it seems he called this one (at least the first part) right.
"Prepare for the worst - hope for the best."
Well, Sony PSP can play h.264 video format. Okay maybe need some simple tweaking with the container format.
Maybe this is something Sony would like to collaborate with Apple on?
there's not too many video podcasts out there in the wild.
Actually, there is a very interesting graph in this month's Technology Review concerning podcasts. The graph shows the percentage of podcasts available by subject, versus the percentage of podcasts viewed by subject. Music is, of course, the genre that most podcasts are in, and the genre that most people view. However, erotica is one of the smallest genres by availablilty, and one of the largest by viewership. Porn driving technology again, it seems. :)
They would release a firmware update that would enable video playback on all current Ipod models. This would boost customer loyalty, satisfaction, and increase sales of Ipods across the board.
Then, Apple could simultaniously release a new "accessory" for the Ipod. It would be a line of larger portable screens. The screens could have some sort of dock(maybe on the side) that the Ipod could snap into and feed video out to the portable screen while letting you use the clickwheel for control.
Doing something like this would give ipod owners a new "item" to purchase if they so chose. And, I imagine it would sell very well because now, in addition to entire music collections, you could have entire movie collections with an optional screen to get good viewing off of.
Of course, later apple could release a "video ipod" model as well with improved video out quality and perhaps a larger built in screen for ipod owners to "upgrade" to when their old ipods finally wear out.
It would be a win win situation for everyone and boost apple's hardware sales across the board.
You are who you are, let no one tell you different. But, never close your mind to a new point of view.
I've been noticing all the podcasting cognoscenti in Silicon Valley are simultaneously doing their podcast and shooting video of it. What do they know or suspect that we don't?
- Former TechTV ScreenSavers host Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton, John C. "I get no spam" Dvorak and others are doing TWIT and just announced video is next.
- Former ScreenSavers hosts Alex Albrecht and Kevin Rose at Diggnation are shooting video while they podcast and Kevin Rose is doing SYSTM
- Robert X. Cringley's NerdTV debuts. Now you may be wondering, "So what?". It's IPTV...that's what. There aren't a lot of great examples out there yet, but most of the smart podcasters -- who are mini-celebrities or have something people would like to see -- are simultaneously podcasting and shooting video (many in high definition just in case). Read an article about a new report here.
- Silicon Valley podcaster John Furrier from Podtech is embarking on video to augment his podcasting.
Wired magazine has a great article discussing blogging + video = vlogging. While everyone's attention is on podcasting, vlogging is the next hot trend that has almost taken off. This Apple announcement oughta help.It's so hard to believe in anything anymore. If it weren't for my lucky astrology mood watch, I wouldn't believe in anything.
Steve Martin, Comedian