Yet More Signs For Podcasting Growth

BBC News: One in 10 adult Americans - equivalent to 22 million people - owns an MP3 player, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project. [] MP3 players are still the gadget of choice for younger adults. Almost one in five US citizens aged under 30 have one. [...] People are beginning to use them as instruments of social activity - sharing songs and taking part in podcasting - the [podcasting is taking off. Here's yet another sign: 3GSM, the world's biggest communications trade fair in Cannes. He said entertainment features on mobile phones such as high-quality music, video clips and live television would drive demand for third generation (3G) mobile services. Making it even easier and more convenient to listen to audio - whether that's music or conversations: they're all digital audio files - wherever, whenever and however you want, and whether it's for business or for pleasure. There's also this: Loudeye, Nokia agreed to put Microsoft's music player software into its handsets. [...] Consumers keep a lot of digital music in personal computers and will be able to simply transfer those tracks to their phone. [...] The Finnish firm sold 10 million phones in 2004 with an integrated music player, and a spokesman told Reuters Nokia would launch a phone in 2005 that would support Windows Audio. Hardware (the means...) and software (...unto the end) convergence. The more devices, the more content. And the more content, the more devices. And sooner rather than later, transferring your digital audio content to your mobile phone will be as easy as it is now to sync stuff to your Reuters: Swedish-Japanese mobile phone maker Connect. The new Walkman phones, which will be available early in the second half of 2005, will have large memory, good quality headphones and the ability to easily import tracks from a personal computer and other devices. This is a great time to be in the communication business! Neville Hobson is the author of the popular Crayon. Visit Neville Hobson's blog: