I’ve talked about the new iTunes before, but there’s a few updates on version 4.9’s features that some people are interested in. Adam Curry mentions on his last Daily Code podcast show that the new iTunes will probably be out in 2 weeks. This means it is hurry-up time for other podcast-related companies (like Odeo) to get stuff out there - because from that moment on, competition will be hard(er).

Additionally, he mentions the addition of a new XML namespace - “pod:”. What this means is more ways to tag data - which explains Steve Jobs’s demonstration of scrolling through the tracks automatically updating the information picture at the WWDC keynote. Naturally, this has several other applications that can be used not only by iTunes but any other software. I can think of quite a few uses, like:

• Automatically providing the user with extended information about the specific artist playing at a given time
• Allowing the user to buy that specific track or album, through Amazon or the iTunes store
• Skipping directly to audio content of interest - remember one of the problems with podcasts is how hard it is to skip to what you want to hear, especially in podcasts with several “parts”

Podcast section bookmarking:

Just like you wouldn’t go through an eBook without bookmarks because finding what you need would be hard, podcasting too needs some sort of bookmark support in order to actually revolutionize how audio content works and is used by the listener.

I have a couple of ideas of my own about how one could use XML with current audio file formats (mp3, aac, ogg or PCM files) in order to provide bookmarking support and some of the features I describe above. I will probably write a bigger article about this soon, and how to implement it. This will probably become an important feature for future media players (software or hardware based), if podcasting keeps growing as it is right now.

Yesterday I had a couple of chats about the market opportunities around podcasting, videocasting and internet private multimedia content delivery. Opinions around this subject differ quite a lot. Some people believe these areas to be niche markets - which may be true. Others believe with people like Steve Jobs and Apple as a whole talking about it (podcasting, in this case), the medium may expand exponentially.

According to the numbers I had access to, about 30 million mp3 players were sold last year, and this year the expectations are around the 50 million. The market is also expected to double by 2009, according to a DisplaySearch analyst (the story). However, how many of those who buy an mp3 player use it to listen to content other than music? Its a little early for statistics, because there’s no real way we can count - not before major services exploring podcasts launch.

Videocasting, on the other hand, will take a long time to take off, and there’s a couple of reasons: 1) Portable Media Player sales are low, mainly because there’s no investment in a PMP solution by one of the major media companies, and 2) People don’t feel comfortable with the idea of watching video with a PMP in public. Its not about privacy, but about the sense of inclusion on the society - the fear of being ridiculed. At least in some societies, that plays a huge role on sales - naturally, Japan in an exception.

2004 and 2005 are the years of photo. 2005 and onward will be about music.

Odeo, in case you didn’t know yet, is the new project by Evan Williams (of Blogger fame), Noah Glass and their new company of talented developers. Odeo promises to bring podcasting to the masses by simplifying the process of getting your audio material out there, and by allowing people to subscribe to their interests on audio feeds. So now I’ve seen it, what’s it like?

Lets start with their promise

Odeo’s goal is to make podcasting easy for everyone. And they do accomplish that. They make it easy to subscribe to audio content of your preference by browsing categories, and check what everybody else is listening to. Additionally, they allow someone to add any show that’s not in the system yet, and if you’re actually the publisher of a current channel, Odeo makes it easy for you to take control and customize it.

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