Zune will play Podcasts

One of the big concerns that we had with the Microsoft Zune Player is : Will it be able to play podcasts. According to Cesar Menendez of Microsoft, it will play Podcast!

Well this is an excellent news for the Zune, because without that feature, it would have been very difficult for the Zune to be a real ipod competitor. The way I see this is that the ipod may be owned by Apple but the podcasts are owned by people. That makes a big difference...

Comments

[zune scene]

Thanks for the scoop on zunecasting!

[no zune]

but not play for sure files -
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004910.php

[Zune]

Great news about Zune podcasting. I think that podcasts go well with Zune wireless. Podcasts tend to be topical and timely, so the ability to share them Zune-to-Zune quickly and wirelessly seems even more useful than sharing songs wirelessly.

- Harvey

[zune]

I wish the marketplace would have posdcasts for download. But I guess it's easy enough to get them from iTunes.

[enuz]

its a lie.
zune will support fm only

[BJ Nemeth]

"According to Cesar Menendez of Microsoft, it will play Podcast!"

Yes, and so will every MP3 player ever produced, including my Rio that I bought back in the 1990s. Because a podcast is just another MP3 file.

PLAYING a podcast isn't exactly "supporting podcasts." Apple's iTunes software has a nearly comprehensive directory of content from major media outlets and independents alike. Once you choose a podcast, it is automatically downloaded to your computer on whatever schedule you choose. And anytime you sync your iPod, the latest podcasts are downloaded to your iPod.

It sounds like Zune's "podcast support" is that if you find and download MP3 files, your Zune will play them. So you'll either need to manually download individual podcast episodes, or use separate 3rd-party podcatching software.

To call this "podcast support" is extremely misleading.

[Colton(zune Owner)]

a podcast is just a larger, more informal mp3, or music file...which means for most ppl to just download a podcast and place it on the zune, nothing to it, soem people sound so lazy saying,"oh no, i have to download each individually" so you have spend a couple minutes downlaoding daily, oh well

[James]

I can handle updating audio podcasts manually, but the video podcasts are annoying. You have to convert those m4v files to wmv. To me, that's a much bigger problem with the Zune.

[Greg]

If 3rd party software is the only way to download a podcast, that's a bit disappointing. The music library transferred fine. What would get me "Truth for Life" podcasts onto tne Zune?

[sally]

I've found some podcasts I want to put on my zune, but they are on their website in quicktime format. Do I need quicktime pro to save the podcast? Then do I need to convert it to mp3?