Podcast Client Suggestions

[glparker4]

I am hoping that someone can suggest a good podcast client that works with Windows Mobile PPC. Here is my current setup:

I have iTunes configured to run on my desktop PC and download new episodes of subscribed podcasts. I then tell Windows Media Player to scan for those downloaded files and add them to the library. I have an auto-playlist called "podcasts" in WMP that includes the podcasts and is configured to sync them with my PPC.

Here is the problem: Since I travel frequently, I am not at home to sync when new episodes are released. I would like to find some way to make my WMP Mobile sync and download through the EVDO instead of being tethered to the PC.

I have tried mobile RSS readers such as Doppler, FeederReader, and SmartRSS. These download the enclosures but do not add them to my WMP Playlist or the library automatically. This forces me to manually scan the device for the new files. This is a pain to do while driving.

For example, I subscribe to a CNN News podcast. Instead of having a newscast that is 3 days old, I would like for a RSS reader to run in the background and download the most recent version and add it to my playlist.

FeederReader had a similar option called driving mode which was nice but it wasn't as easy to operate as WMP. It did require tapping the screen and going several levels into the directory tree to select the files. Essentially, it would be nice if WMP Mobile could update my "podcast" playlist with new content as it is released without forcing me to go home and sync with a desktop computer. Is this possible?

[pdx77]

I've been using Hubdog (http://www.hubdog.com/) for the past year or so for my podcasts.

[deltaecho]

A cool podcast capable program I found was th Conduits Pocket Player. It is actually a great music / video player, but has some really strong podcast features. The most recent version has an finger friendly navigation feature. It allow you do add podcast and stream them directly. I dont really use this feature. What I do it to use google reader mobile, to download them directly to my device (it can be a bit tricky at time to find the download link in the google mobile reader). Once I have it on my memory card I fire up Pocket Player and scan for new media. Now i can navigate to the podcast section and listen to my podcast. What I love about pocket player is that it remember where you left off in any given podcast. So you can switch be different podcast and / or music. When you get back to any given podcast it just starts playing right were you left off.

[VW]

You could use Hamachi on PC and PocketPC and copy your podcasts and playlist from your pc directly

[JakeS]

I HIGHLY recommend BeyondPod. It does background podcast updates on a schedule, supports using an embedded version of WMP or launching an external player, has lots of organization features, and is just slick all around. I've quit using any sort of desktop podcast solutions and rely on my phone for podcasts 100%.

It's also free and open-source.

[glparker4]

Thanks for all of the suggestions!

pdx77, I have used HubDog before and I found it to be very cumbersome to operate and it seemed to consume a lot of memory. I do like the idea of having my RSS feeds hosted on their server as I do like to listen from my desktop computer at times.

I tried Conduits Pocket Player, and I will say that it is a nice program with a slick interface. The only complaint is that it will not download podcasts. It will only stream them. I drive through areas that do not have EVDO access and the 1x speed is too slow to stream.

JakeS, thanks for the recommendation of BeyondPod. That seems to do everything that I was looking for, and it should allow me to stop using my PC as an extra step to transfer the podcasts. I noticed that you said that it does background updates on a schedule. I have the automatic updates set but updating only executes if I have the program open. Is there any way to make the program run at the time that the updates are scheduled? My sbp Insight RSS reader does it and it's nice that I don't have to remember to open it.

[JakeS]

I don't know why you aren't getting updates automatically. I don't use that functionality myself -- I prefer to switch to wifi and download manually when I can.

You can post a question on their site asking about the exact nature of the functionality, and if it looks like it's not working as they describe submit it to the issue tracker.

[shawn]

Been using this for over a year now:

http://pocketpodcasts.sourceforge.net/

You have to manually update, but it works great. Like JakeS, I prefer to update via wifi. Another plus is that it is open source. There is also a desktop component, but I have never used it.