Zune Podcast Basics
Podcasting is one of the best new features that was added to the new Microsoft Zune Firmware 2.2. This new Firmware 2.2 is available for any of the Zunes to include the first generation Zune 30 and second generation 80, 4 and 8. last I looked there were 130,000 Podcasts available for download on the Microsoft Zune Marketplace with new ones being added literally each second.
Podcasting is not new, but is just now hitting the mainstream. It was made popular by iPod users (thus the name “pod” casting), but is used to refer to digital videos or media that are syndicated over the internet for use on your computer or portable media player like iPod, Zune or PSP. Typically, users find a daily, weekly or monthly video feed and subscribe to it. Many savvy podcast subscribers set it up so their subscriptions are downloaded to their device while they sleep and it is available for viewing when they want to view it during the day.
I hope to show Zune users the best way to use their Zune to subscribe and download podcasts to your Zune.
The first thing you want to do is start your Microsoft Zune software on your computer. Then click on the “Podcast” link at the top of the screen.
Microsoft really hit a homerun with the podcast feature on their Zune Software. You simply find a Podcast that you want to subscribe to and simply click, drag and drop the Podcast with your mouse to your Zune, writable CD/DVD or to your play list. Here is an example of the three icons at the bottom left of your Zune Podcast screen.
The Zune Podcast area offers several ways to find a Podcast that you may enjoy. First, at the top right is a simple search box. Type in some keywords and you are sure to find great Podcasts. Second, there are 15 standard categories you can browse through like Music, News and Politics, Entertainment and other broad categories.
Once you find a Podcast that you want to add to your Zune or computer simply click on the Podcast title and it will bring you to an information screen with options for download. For my example I downloaded the VH1 Best Week Ever Podcast. It is currently the #2 most subscribed to Podcast on the Zune marketplace and is FREE.
It is very intuitive and Zune Podcasters can download individual Podcasts and/or subscribe. Once the Podcast is downloaded simply grab it with your mouse and drop it to the Zune icon. Then go to Podcasts on your Zune and enjoy!
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I have been podcasting for a year and impressed with the podcasting section and must say it works tremendously well. Since I have been podcasting for a while I elected to manually add the URLs I was interested in since they are not main stream. I din’t waste my time looking for them on Marketplace. Manual additions are always a very feasible option.
[…] is a great video of Podcasting with your Zune! I wrote a Zune Postcasting basics article a few weeks ago and this video helps expand on […]
How can I manage the podcast collection and keep the best podcast episodes in the collection and delete the rest.
I went to explorere and deleted the file, but it is still listed in the Zune Software Collection.
Then I went to the details section of the podcast tab in the Zune software, I right clicked on the episode to delete…and the ‘Delete’ option is dimmed.
Any suggestions?
How can I delete some of the weaker podcasts for a show and still save the best podcasts in my collection for the same show?
How do I delete a Podcast after I watch it? I want to be able to delete stuff on my Zune without using the computer.
How can I subsribe to a podcast (RSS XML file) that resides on my local hard disk? I need to enter ‘file://’ in the ADD A PODCAST box but the Zune software does not like anything that does not start with ‘http://’ and I would hate to have to run a web server just to serve up that file to the Zune software!
Well Rob, the truth is that the podcasts they get are from the internet and are stored in the zune market place all your doing is adding ones you found it didnt.
and if you want to subscribe to a podcast on your HDD,you should easily be able to find it on the internet