Apple Patent For Customized Podcasts
Apple filed a patent January 9 that describes a method for automatically creating customized podcast mashups from various podcasts.
Here’s the Abstract on the Patent from Apple
Improved techniques to facilitate generation, management and delivery of personalized media items for users are disclosed. Users are able to influence or control content within a media item being personalized. In one embodiment, personalized media items are podcasts. Users are able to influence or control the content in or with a podcast. In other words, a podcast can be created in accordance with a user’s needs or specifications so that the content within a podcast is customized or personalized for the user.
What Apple is proposing is allowing users to sample/ take portions of multiple podcasts that meet their interests, and download a combined podcast that includes the specified extracts requested. Think like an RSS reader where you get bits from multiple sites, but in audio.
In the image above, the user would pick content from a list, and that content would then be combined in the single podcast.
From the patent application again:
Besides the predetermined categories shown in FIG. 4C, the dialog screen 480 includes a custom button 482. Upon selection of the custom button 482, a user can be assisted with another dialog screen to create a category of content, namely, media content, that is to be included within the custom podcast. For example, in the case of sports, the user may desire to create a category that is specific to their interests. For example, the user may request to receive sports highlights from the weekend during the NFL season regarding specific teams or teams in the Eastern division. As another example, the user may desire to receive statistics regarding games played during the past week in the NFL.
Where it gets more interesting is the way the data is retrieved. The natural assumption is that this aggregates short form podcasts (which it will do as well), but the patent talks about stored podcast characteristics, which may tie-in with Apple’s patent for “Podmaps.” A Podmap is not unlike a sitemap, but obviously for audio, and would specify what was in a podcast when. In theory this new patent could extract audio from a larger podcast per the specs in the Podmap and place that audio in a new custom podcast besides material from other podcasts.
It’s a neat idea, but sampling data from an audio track would bypass things like preroll advertising in a podcast which may undermine the blossoming podcast advertising market. That said if this was to take off, what we would more likely see is more short form niche content that includes the ads, and possibly a downturn in longer podcasts; one hour long interviews don’t make for great sampling in a combined customized podcast as Apple is proposing with this patent.
(via Apple Insider)
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Podcasts Taking Off (Again): eMarketer
Some interesting new figures have been released by eMarketer today that shows that podcasts are taking off in both traffic and revenue, and the outlook is even better again.
The general view on podcasting is that it had been passed by as video became the hot vertical, particularly as earlier iPod’s gave way to new players that supported video as well as audio. These figures would suggest that there’s a lot of growth still to be had in the podcasting sector.
According to eMarketer, the total podcast audience in the United States was 18.5 million in 2007 and will rise to 65 million in 2012. “Active listeners” (defined as people who download more than one podcast) were 6.5 million in 2007 and expected to be 25 million in 2012.
The revenue figures will bring a smile to any VC firm with investments in the sector. Advertising in 2007 hit $165 million and is expected to grow to $435 million in 2012.
One interesting aside was eMarketer attributing the growth to podcasts being promoted by the mainstream media. What they didn’t add is that many of the top lists globally on iTunes today also have a strong presence from those very sources; while greater awareness of podcasting is growing the overall market for podcasts, the mainstream media is taking a big slice of the pie.
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Scoble To Leave PodTech, Heading For Fast Company
Famous blogger Robert Scoble will be leaving his current job at PodTech in mid January, he says. He will likely be joining Fast Company to start Fast Company TV.
Scoble was with PodTech for just a year and a half. He was previously at Microsoft and acted as their unofficial spokesperson.
Scoble isn’t saying if he’ll continue to use the same format as his current show, ScobleShow, where he interviews entrepreneurs daily. Another big question is whether his sponsor, Seagate, will follow him to Fast Company. It’s rumored Seagate is paying a massive fee to sponsor the show.
This is another blow for PodTech, which has already lost its founding CEO and is nearly out of money. The company has run through $7.5 million in funding. They are rumored to be closing on another million or so in bridge financing. But they’re very, very close to the deadpool.
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PodTech Heading Towards The Deadpool?
Fake Steve Jobs aka Daniel Lyons has written that he’s heard that PodTech will be closing up shop with an announcement imminent.
We can’t confirm the rumor although I have pinged Robert Scoble asking him to comment. If we get a response we’ll publish it.
PodTech has taken $7.5 million over two rounds led by US Venture Partners and Venrock Associates.
Rumors of major problems at PodTech surfaced in July and were followed by founder and CEO John Furrier departing the company in August. PodTech is best known for its production and hosting of videoes by Robert Scoble, and for corporate work. The dry nature of PodTech productions was described by Michael Arrington so eloquently when he said “90% of Podtech content is just slightly more entertaining than watching paint dry.”
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Loic Lemeur Building Video Twitter
Former Six Apart Europe head and well known French Web 2.0 entrepreneur Loic Lemeur relocated to San Francisco recently to build a new startup, and thanks to Robert Scoble we now know what it is: “video Twitter.”
Lemeur himself is documenting his startup every day on YouTube here. It’s not riveting content but listening to a non-American view on building a startup is refreshing at times.
Scoble also notes in the same post that Podtech has some big news coming up; one rumor doing the rounds is that Podtech video’s will be syndicated on some form of television station, presumably a cable one. Podtech competitor Podshow recently started distributing shows via TiVo.
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