In the last 9 months or so, podcasting has rapidly gone from being an interesting technology being investigated by a few, to a full blown meme, and now the money is stepping in. There are several upcoming players, not the least of which are Apple , ODEO and Sirius.
Sirius is a satellite radio broadcaster in the US, who have launched a Podcasting Channel, that is being edited/run by Adam Curry (host of The Daily Source Code, one of the original Podcasts that set the ball rolling.
Apple have announced that they are going to integrate podcasts into iTunes 4.9 when it is released in the upcoming weeks. From what I can gather, this is not really going to be anything more than a simple directory of podcasts, the contents of which are controlled by Apple. They have got the ubiquitous Adam Curry on board, so it’s unlikely that it will be totally corporate. I do, however, stand to be corrected once the application is actually released.
Yesterday, I received an invite to create an account with ODEO, which is an online podcast directory, synchronising agent and a tool that allows you to create your own podcast.
First impressions of ODEO are fantastic. Great design, clear and simple user interface, easy navigation. Everything speaks of thought being put into the product. The site simplifies the discovery and downloading of podcasts. I’ve listened to more casts in the last 24 hours than in the last month or so. Absolutely fantastic!