Yet another iPhone-like smartphone will be released next week: the Samsung Omnia is a 2.3-inch 3G phone with a touchscreen, WiFi, GPS, accelerometer, and 16 GB of storage, which will be sold by Verizon. This phone also supports podcast downloads of video and audio files.
Speaking of increasing adoption of podcasting in devices, with Apple's newly released iPhone OS version 2.2, podcast downloads are now natively supported on the iPod Touch and still fast-growing iPhone. With 6.9 million iPhones sold in the July-September quarter of 2008, over 20 million iPhones and iPod Touches have been sold to date. Google's Android will offer multiple applications to download and consume podcasts, with podcast support on Nokia, Blackberry, and Motorola smartphones around the corner. Recent research from Gartner reports that smartphone sales are surging, fueled by the new touchscreen devices. The North American market remained among the fastest-growing markets in the second quarter of 2008 with an increase of 78.7% year-over-year.
Embedding podcast applications natively on mobile phones enables consumers to easily discover new video or audio shows on the go. While these developments are likely to bring more mobile users into podcasting and propel the explosive growth of the medium, iTunes on PCs (most of which are now portable notebooks) will remain the foundation of podcast discovery and downloads due to network restrictions such as AT&T's prohibition of podcast downloads in excess of 10 MB. Previous estimates showed 70% of podcast downloads being consumed on the PC/laptop. This ratio is likely to change as more people discover the availability of free downloads on their mobile phones, but the "automatic" subscription downloads facilitated by iTunes will remain central to how people subscribe and consume their shows of choice.
These are very exciting developments for content owners, who can now bypass the carriers and deliver their video and audio content directly to consumers. This also means the Verizon VCAST walled garden is heading into oblivion along the same route taken by the other famous walled garden: AOL. Content owners are now free to extend their reach to the vast and growing mobile audiences, without the complex gatekeeper dynamics imposed by the carriers.
-Murgesh
Speaking of increasing adoption of podcasting in devices, with Apple's newly released iPhone OS version 2.2, podcast downloads are now natively supported on the iPod Touch and still fast-growing iPhone. With 6.9 million iPhones sold in the July-September quarter of 2008, over 20 million iPhones and iPod Touches have been sold to date. Google's Android will offer multiple applications to download and consume podcasts, with podcast support on Nokia, Blackberry, and Motorola smartphones around the corner. Recent research from Gartner reports that smartphone sales are surging, fueled by the new touchscreen devices. The North American market remained among the fastest-growing markets in the second quarter of 2008 with an increase of 78.7% year-over-year.Embedding podcast applications natively on mobile phones enables consumers to easily discover new video or audio shows on the go. While these developments are likely to bring more mobile users into podcasting and propel the explosive growth of the medium, iTunes on PCs (most of which are now portable notebooks) will remain the foundation of podcast discovery and downloads due to network restrictions such as AT&T's prohibition of podcast downloads in excess of 10 MB. Previous estimates showed 70% of podcast downloads being consumed on the PC/laptop. This ratio is likely to change as more people discover the availability of free downloads on their mobile phones, but the "automatic" subscription downloads facilitated by iTunes will remain central to how people subscribe and consume their shows of choice.
These are very exciting developments for content owners, who can now bypass the carriers and deliver their video and audio content directly to consumers. This also means the Verizon VCAST walled garden is heading into oblivion along the same route taken by the other famous walled garden: AOL. Content owners are now free to extend their reach to the vast and growing mobile audiences, without the complex gatekeeper dynamics imposed by the carriers.
-Murgesh
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