iPodderX Lite (2.1.2) and Full (2.2.5) (Free and $19.95 Demoware)
August Trometer and Ray Slakinski

A combination of two popular technologies sometimes creates a new phenomenon that just makes sense. Such is the concept of Podcasting. For the uninitiated, Podcasting combines audio player technology, news distribution technology, synchronization, and software to bring them all together. The audio player doesn't have to be, but often is, an iPod. The news distribution technology is RSS (RDF Site Summary). The software to bring it all together is, of course, iPodderX...

iPodderX scans RSS news feeds to find news and information that you can then transfer to your iPod. The format of the feed is pretty straightforward, containing information like the Podcast title, the entry name, the name of the file, and the time and date published. The feed itself is represented as a URL that often points to an XML file. The iPodder site has a nice list of feeds that you can start with. You can simply download the media to a folder on your Desktop, but things get so much more interesting when you let iPodderX integrate with iTunes, iPod and iPhoto.

Downloading a Podcast
(click for a larger view)

Enabling synchronization with iTunes allows iPodderX to create iTunes playlists that are synchronized with your iPod the next time you plug it in. If a feed contains photos, you can choose to have these photos imported directly in to iPhoto. The result is that you can get timely news and information as long as you can run iPodderX and sync with your iPod every once in a while. With 2165 feeds currently listed, you're bound to find something to interest you.

There are two versions of iPodderX that you can check out. The free version is functional, but the latest, full version has a bunch of extra features that make managing your feed much nicer. The full version shows a progress bar when content is being downloaded. The full version also offers a media viewer, so that you can interact with content immediately, especially rich content like movies. Without the media viewer, you can of course still access the media directly from the Desktop folder.

So plug into the lively world of Podcasting and check out iPodderX today!

Have any other gadgets that you like to listen to? Send John an e-mail and he'll be sure to check it out.