Mediafly Blog

Stephen A (former ESPN commentator) launched his Mediafly podcast today

Now you can listen to the Stephen A Smith rants... from the comfort of your iPhone, iPod, Blackberry, etc.  (check it out)

To get Stephen A on your blackberry

1. Install the free Mediafly Blackberry application
2. Go to the Sports channel:

This works on any Mediafly-enabled device as well, such as Mediafly Mobile iPhone

Gear Diary: "Mediafly Wants to Bring Personalized Audio & Video to All of Your Media Devices"

 Jason Reese from Gear Diary writes about the most detailed third-party review of Mediafly so far.

Here is the article

"It's a bit difficult to categorize Mediafly in a nice little box, but here goes:   Mediafly provides a free service to manage personalized digital audio and video content.  What is interesting is that Mediafly’s service is is device-agnostic.   You can use Mediafly on an iPhone/iTouch, iPod, chumby, Zune, RSS Reader, or a host of other devices — which makes their offering unique for anyone who wants to access an audio or video podcast through a variety of consumer products.

After speaking with the company’s CEO, Carson Conant, to find out what makes Mediafly different from all the other content providers out today, it is safe to say that this company’s vision is to bring personalized media to all of your audio/video devices..." (Continue reading the rest of the article on Gear Diary...)

Blackberry app (Alpha)

This article mentions Blackberry as one of Mediafly's next new apps.  If you are interested and you don't mind a few rough edges, contact us and we are happy to send you the Alpha version.

Mediafly CEO interviewed on the 'Into Tomorrow' radio show with Dave Graveline

Mediafly CEO, Carson Conant, was recently interviewed on the nationally-syndicated radio show Into Tomorrow with Dave Graveline.

Listen to the interview:

1. Click here to listen to the Into Tomorrow podcast on Mediafly

2. Jump to about 21:00 into the show to listen to the Mediafly segment (see below)

About Into Tomorrow:

"Into Tomorrow with Dave Graveline" is a 3-hour radio program (as well as 60 second Daily Features and ITTV Video Reports) covering the Latest in Consumer Electronics & Technology available today and ... into tomorrow. The show airs on over 100 AM & FM radio stations around the U.S., on SIRIUS XM Satellite Radio, radio stations in Germany, Bermuda, New Zealand, Canada and several other sources including Mobile Broadcast Network, BeOS Radio, Sprint Radio, TiVo, CelleCast and many others - every weekend. "Into Tomorrow" is also heard around the world on the Armed Forces Networks in several other countries. In addition, they stream all their audio and video via their web site and provide free Podcasts of all show archives.

The ONLY international show covering Consumer Electronics exclusively for 14 years, "Into Tomorrow" highlights the way technology is changing our lives! From Gadgets & Gizmos to Home Theater, Digital Photography, Car Audio, Security & Navigation, High Tech Recreation, HDTV, Technology On-The-Go, GPS and everything else that people are talking about.

They also frequently broadcast from many trade shows and CE events around the world -- including CES Las Vegas ... IFA Berlin ... HomeTech Dubai ... Mobile World Congress in Barcelona ... CeBIT Hannover ... CEATEC Japan ... photokina in Cologne ... Electronic House eXpo in Long Beach/Orlando ... CTIA Wireless ... Computex Taipei in Taiwan ... and many others!

Bring back the Frosty, Heidi & Frank podcast

Update: 7/31/2009

Mediafly is now working directly with the FHF team and we have lots of interesting things launching soon which the FHF fans will love. More coming soon.

Original Post:

We have received a deluge of emails recently from people asking to "bring back the Frosty, Heidi & Frank" podcast. Below, is a good example of the passion and dedication people speak with about their "FHF" shows.

So, I wanted to create a place where everyone can post their pleas to at least keep the show archived shows active.

So, please share your passion for Frosty, Heidi & Frank... and if you post a comment, I encourage you to mention would you would be willing to do, to promote their show to help them keep it going."

The new Frosty, Heidi and Frank Podcast

You can get the new FHF podcast show here:

Frosty, Heidi and Frank Uncensored

A message from a fan like you:

"I found out about [Mediafly] through a friend, who is just as hooked on the "Frosty Heidi & Frank Show" podcast as I am. I can't tell you how truly amazing it is to still be able to get my FHF Fix, considering they have been off the air for a few months now.

However, recently I have been noticing that alot of the podcasts recorded before November are unavailable... Please please please tell me this is only a temporary problem, and that the old shows will be back online. Is it a legal matter? (If so I am willing to pay for podcasts!) Are there just too many people trying to download shows at once? Please let me know what the deal is and if it can be repaired. I support everything you guys are doing, and keep up the great work! MORE FHF PLEASE!"

Share your passion/dedication now (click here)

Free version of our popular video+audio podcast iPhone app

Our popular Mediafly iPhone app for video and audio is now available as a FREE audio-only version.

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewArtist?id=305352812

You can upgrade to the video+audio edition for only $2.99.

 

Popcorn Hour powered by Mediafly -- best audio/video podcast integration yet

Mediafly.com | Chicago, IL - On September 30th, Popcorn Hour launched Mediafly on all Popcorn Hour devices (A-100, A-110, etc.) today as part of their Popcorn Hour MSP. 

If you are not familar with Popcorn Hour, it is an incredible device and in many ways far superior to the Apple TV (and more flexible, extensible).

Popcorn Hour integrated the Mediafly engine to deliver personalized audio and video channels from podcast sources onto the device (free). See the full Mediafly experience by way of flickr slideshow here.  More detailed information is below.

To launch Mediafly, go to the Popcorn Hour

On your Popcorn Hour go to home screen > Media Services > MSP

You will see the Mediafly dragonfly as shown below

You will then see your default list of channels -- your Hot Channels as shown below. Once you personalize your device (i.e. link it to your Mediafly profile) you can customize your channels by selecting specific video and/or audio shows and episodes which you want. The instant you change something on Mediafly.com it is changed on your Popcorn Hour channels (as well as your other linked devices, such as Chumby).

See all the screenshots here.

Desperate Times. Can the Great Depression happen again?

 This is one of my all time favorite episodes from Dan Carlin's Hardcore History -- and very appropriate to the banking and lending crisis going on right now...

Click on the player to the right or click here to play now.

Mediafly Bounty for the Neuros OSD

   

Neuros and MediaFly are jointly sponsoring a contract to integrate the Mediafly Media Channel service into the Neuros OSD. This bounty pays $2,000 on full completion, as described below.  If you are interested in applying, send an email to bounties at neurostechnology.com and describe your level of experience in a few sentences.  We hope to assign a bounty winner by early September.

For those of you who don't know Mediafly, their free service will allow OSD users to access tons of audio and video media and podcasts for free via personalized channels.  These same channels can also be synced to your mobile player (e.g. iPod, Sansa, Zen, iPhone, and more) in the future - so that you have the same channels at home on your Neuros OSD and on the go.

This is a great bounty for anyone who:
* Wants to see/hear free shows, such as podcasts, on the OSD
* Is interested in honing their Qt GUI and OSD platform development skills
* Has free time and wants to make some spare cash

To complete this contract, you will need to:
1.) Integrate a SOAP library into the OSD.
2.) Implement the Mediafly API via SOAP.
3.) Build the UI in Qt.  This should be based on the UI design.
4.) Tie the UI to the media player and SOAP libraries.

This contract pays USD$1,000 upon successful completion of the blue section of the UI design, and another USD$1,000 upon successful completion of the green and gray sections of the UI design.  Your code must be released under a compatible open-source license (e.g. GPLv2).

We'd love to hear from you!

Note: if you don't have an OSD but feel your are qualified, feel free to apply!  We'll give the hardware to the right candidate.

 

Podcasts featured on BestBuy.com (is podcasting finally mainstream?)

Podcasts are featured on the Best Buy's Summer Hub ... is it raining bananas? Or, is podcasting finally reaching mainstream?.. If you have seen Best Buy's new Summer Hub you might have noticed that each section features podcasts on topics such as Camping, Beach, and Road Trips.  In the ongoing debate about podcasts breaking out of the "propeller-head" tech crowd into the mainstream... this is definitely a step in the right direction.  Good on ya Best Buy for being innovative and creating a website that does more than sell products.

And we at Mediafly are thrilled that they turned to our Presentation Engine technology to power the podcast display.  This allows easy control of which podcasts to promote and the ability for users to subscribe directly from the Summer Hub via Mediafly and sync with the usual iPod/iPhone as well as all the other great devices for consuming podcasts, such as Sansa, iriver, creative zen, Zune, Chumby, and more. (NBC5 Chicago and PodcastPickle are also using the Mediafly Presentation Engine).

I hope this sparks a trend to promote topical podcasts on company websites websites as a value add to keep visitors coming back... and a great way for podcast creators to get their shows out there.  I think Whole Foods would be a perfect site to leverage this strategy. (anyone know who someone high up at Whole Foods... tell them we're waiting to talk about it :).

What is Podcasting (and why should I care)?

Podcasting is a very simple concept... with about as many definitions as companies doing “podcasting”. Personally, I like to describe podcasting in two ways -- First what it is not and second what it is as described by the user experience. (If you want the full history and technical definition that includes confusing terms like RSS, XML, and so forth, you can find that on Wikipedia).

What Podcasting is... NOT!

#1: Podcasting is NOT only for iPods

First, despite the name, Podcasting is not only for iPods. Confusing already huh? Well, take comfort in the fact that the Television was originally conceived in 1880 by Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison as a device to transmit images and sound… over the telephone (hence the “tele” in television). And the name stuck.

I’m sure that in the early 1900s the name television was similarly confusing (because there is no tele involved in the television). I’m sure companies tried all sorts of clever names, such as videovision or videobox, but in the end television stuck. Similarly, the “pod” in podcasting is probably here to stay despite the efforts by some to “netcast” and others.

So, Podcasting describes a method of consuming media and not the device on which it is consumed.

#2: Podcasting is NOT only audio

There have been some attempts to distinguish between audio and video podcasts by coining “vodcast”. However, podcasting is the medium, not the format and therefore, terms like “vodcast” just confuse an already confusing space. Podcasts can be audio or video – or holograms for that matter (of course Holocast does sound pretty cool).

So What IS Podcasting?
(now that we know what it is not)

I like to think of Podcasting as the medium for content owners (e.g. CNN) to broadcast their content so that consumers don’t have to go back to their websites to download or play the latest episodes of shows they like. By way of Podcasting, the user indicates what stuff they want and then as new stuff is released it is automatically delivered to the end user on any device of their choice.  This method of broadcasting is referred to as "syndicating" but for simplicity think of it as broadcasting.

The new episodes are “syndicated” to your device primarily through a technology called RSS (Real Simple Syndication). You can personally tune into the RSS “feeds” but this is a lot like picking up the broadcasts between networks like NBC and their local affiliates. The RSS feed conveys information but it is not terribly useful unless you know what to do with it. (Note: Podcast "feeds" are pretty much the same thing as a "show". A podcast feed is just a collection of episodes, just like NBC Nightly News or Lost is a show made up of episodes. So, I use "feed" and "show" interchangeably).

Fortunately, there are many companies acting as virtual affiliates of the networks. These virtual networks are called “aggregators”. A few of the popular ones are: Mediafly (my company), Apple's iTunes, PodcastPickle, and PodcastAlley. These services allow you to browse for shows and manage which ones you want and on which devices you want them on. To find some shows and test it out, go to Mediafly.com and search for something you are interested in. You’ll see shows from big companies like CNN, NPR, Wall Street Journal, etc. as well as GREAT shows from smaller companies and independent people like you and me -- such as my favorite history show, Hardcore History with Dan Carlin.

iTunes is one of the most popular podcast consumption methods, hence the term "podcasting".  You can easily access the selection of Podcasts in iTunes by clicking on the Podcast text on the left side of iTunes.  But, you use services like Mediafly to sync with iTunes so that you don't need to manage your podcasts in iTunes -- but you can still get your current episodes in iTunes and on your iPod.

So... Podcasting is just a medium, like radio or cable tv, albeit a very innovative medium. It is also one of the most effective and flexible methods for media owners to distribute their content to interested people – without the need for expensive infrastructure, such as tv/radio stations or satellite networks. It essentially levels the playing field so that the biggest media companies in the world are putting their content out on the same platform as the smallest guy.

Is Podcasting the Death of Big Media Companies?

Some have said this. I personally think the medium as irrelevant without quality and this medium empowers the big companies to create great content just as much as it does the little guys. In fact, for years the big companies have been hamstrung into focusing on shows that work to the mass market. NBC only has one 7:00 PM slot every Thursday.  It has to run the show that will appeal to the largest audience. But Podcasting gives media companies infinite slots. So, they can create content that appeals to a more narrow band of people (often called the “long tail”). Or they can create multiple shows that appeal to the same mass market because those people can now consume the shows when they desire.

Are Podcasts Free? ... "Yes" (mostly)

Most podcasts are free (to you the consumer). Some have advertisements but still do not. This is an area that companies like Mediafly are helping media companies earn enough money on their Podcasts so that they continue to release more and better content for free.

Podcasting is also a great emerging advertising opportunity because it offers a platform for advertisers to reach relevant, interested consumers without needing to annoy people who are not at all interested in their product or service. (Of course there will still be advertisers who will try and convince people to buy products and services they are not interested in but it is my hope that the systems are designed to economically rewarded the best matches of advertiser-to-consumer interest thereby maximizing the benefit to both members of the same ecosystem)

Podcasting, Podcast, and Podcasts...
(what is the difference?)

You’re probably noticing that I referred to the medium as “podcasting” but then refer to a podcast like a substitute for a show or episode. This is one of the points of confusion. In my TV example above, there is no such thing as televisioning and a TV show is referred to as a “tv show”. Unfortunately, the derivatives of podcast are used liberally to mean a lot of things and you pretty much have to determine which based on the context.

Here are a couple of the quarks in using podcast terms:

• A “Podcast” can refer to a podcast show (e.g. CBS 60 Minutes) or a podcast episode (e.g. Last Monday’s CBS 60 Minutes’ coverage of the war).
  
• “Podcasts” can refer to a collection of podcast shows (e.g. see NBC5’s Podcasts) or it can refer to the episodes in a podcast show (e.g. here are the latest MSNBC Hardball podcasts with Chris Mathews)
  
• “Podcasting” or “Podcasts” can refer to the medium or the act of doing (e.g. “MSNBC is now doing podcasts” or “Is CNN Podcasting the 2008 election coverage?”).

Just think of Podcasting in terms of TV or radio. There are Publishers, Shows, and Episodes. The only difference is that the content is sent by a different method and can be consumed on a wider category of devices.

Is Satellite Radio Dead?

If you define Satellite Radio companies as companies that distribute media over a satellite network then I believe they don’t stand a chance against podcasting. Here are my reasons why:

1. It costs billions of dollars to maintain the proprietary network infrastructure to manage a satellite network. The parallel podcasting “network” is the internet and its costs are distributed over all Internet users.
2. Satellite radio has had an advantage in the car market because the Internet is not readily available in cars. However, it is only a matter of time until the Internet is ubiquitous and easily integrated into all devices, such as car stereos. We are already seeing this with cellular data networks achieving broadband speed. (I’m holding out hope for quantum bit separation networks but I won’t digress).
3. Devices can be enabled to receive podcasts by making them internet-enabled and adding a little bit of software. In contrast, satellite companies need to convince device manufacturers to build in proprietary satellite technology which doesn’t have too much benefit other than receiving their satellite signal.

So, I just don’t see how a company can compete when it costs many millions of dollars more to deliver similar media to fewer enabled devices.

Now, that being said, I think that XM could leverage its device and content relationships to position itself in the podcast space as one of the leaders. But this would take a significant change in strategy and focus. (I hope they do; and if they do, they should call me… Mediafly can help).

How do I get started?

I’m biased but I’d say start at Mediafly… Enjoy!

Carson
President
Mediafly

P.S. If you want to contact me directly you can reach me through Mediafly at Mediafly.com/contactus

P.P.S. Please forgive any spelling or grammatical butchering above. I’m busy striving to make some of these things a reality and don’t have much time for proof reading.