Macsimum News - Freshly Squeezed Reviews: iPodderX adds to iPod’s ‘gotta-have’ status

Freshly Squeezed Reviews: iPodderX adds to iPod’s ‘gotta-have’ status

Posted by Frank Petrie Apple ico Jan 26, 2005 at 12:10am

TiVo. TiVo. ” Say it loud and there’s music playing, say it softly and it’s almost like praying.” And that’s all well and fine for cable recording, but what about audio or video streams on the Internet?

This is where the new phenomenon comes in: PodCasting. Started by Adam Curry (one of MTV’s first VJs), it’s a way to do just that by using special software. You can find a show/stream on the Internet or a blog or whatever. So long as they have an RSS feed of an MP3 file, you can have your computer download it in the background as you work or while you’re away. Have it transferred to iTunes (or whatever music system you have) then sync it up with your iPod and – voila!—PodCasting!

So, there are apps slowly creeping out onto the streets to help you with your recording. One is iPodderX, a US$19.95 app written, designed and created by August Trometer and Ray Slakinski. In their words: “iPodderX uses the power of RSS 2.0 feeds to bring fresh content to your desktop automatically. Just like a newspaper or a cable TV subscription, RSS feeds can contain different types of content. Depending on which RSS feeds or Podcasts you subscribe to, iPodderX will deliver Audio, Movies, Images, Documents, and any other kind of file right to your computer. With iPodderX, you’ll always have fresh content!”

iPodderX is a work in progress, but it’s not in beta status, either. Let’s see how it’s coming along

The Good

Installation is simple, as is getting up and running. There’s barely a learning curve. You can use iPodderX with any RSS 2.0 feed with enclosures. It includes an integrated directory of available Podcasts, or you can use the iPodderX Online Podcast Directory.

Directories are springing up and growing everyday. To get you started, there’s one on the creators’ site. What is there to record? Anything that you can think of. Professional radio streams to talk show wannabes. Blogs. Video. Images. Some great, some interesting, some awful. Just like cable TV.

The interface is brushed aluminum with your Source list on the left, a retractable drawer on the right and a search field up top Your source list is assembled and laid out exactly like your photo albums in iPhoto or your playlists in iTunes.. In the main pane is a director of current feeds, which you can order by subject, top picks, etc.

Preferences are really simple. You can choose to have iPodderX download your recordings in the background without even launching the program (my favorite). You can choose download folders and actions for the files. You can also set the program to automatically send your list picks back to the main database, where they will be incorporated into said database, in order to generate the numbers to decide which feeds are the most popular.

The Bad

Nada.

The Ugly

Nada.

The Close

Six months or a year from now, you won’t be asking, “What’s PodCasting?” You’ll be swapping links to feeds of some of your favorite sites. This is another thing that makes iPod a must have accessory. Of course, you can use other MP3 players, so if you don’t have an iPod don’t worry. (But be warned: others may shun you! :-)

iPodder Lite offers you a more basic version with a limited set of the features that make iPodderX so fantastic. It is freeware. So, if you’re not sure if PodCasting is relevant to you, you can always play with this. (Also, iPodderX comes with a 30-day demo period.)

I found myself using it constantly within a day or two. It just naturally slipped into my routine.

Try it. I think that you’ll like it. A lot.

System requirements: Mac OS X 10.5 or higher.

Macsimum rating: 8 out of 10

Have a product you’d like us to review? E-mail dsellers@macsimumnews.com

Frank Petrie is a freelance writer, curmudgeon, technologies and products specialist.