Podcast Picks: All About Android on the TWIT network.

Hello I am David and I am an Android user. 

I have been an Android user for several years now.  All about Android is my favorite Android Podcast. It is not the most geeky podcast, that would have to go to Android Central's podcast but it is entertaining, informative, and frankly fun. 

The Hosts.

The current hosts of All About Android, +Jason Howell, +Gina Trapani, and +Ron Richards are great at presenting news about Android in a clear and enduser friendly way.  +Eileen Rivera was a founding host of All About Android and I have to say that I really miss her.  Eileen offered an every person view point that I really liked and added great balance to the show. 

The Show.

All About Android is broken up into several regular segments.

• News
• Voicemail
• Hardware
• Email
• Apps
• Glassware
• Android Arena

Out of all of these my favorite is Android Arena. Android Arena is a segment where each host plus any guests bring an app to the arena and the listeners vote on their favorite. It is a great way to find out about great new apps. 

Scorecard
The Rating uses G, PG, PG-13, and R while the other categories use A for the best that I know of,B for good but others might be better,C is average, D below average, and F is just terrible. 

• Rating PG Little kids will probably not like this show but there is nothing wrong with the language or content. A big plus is that Jason Howell is a father of a child that is old enough to use a tablet so he has good insights into kids and technology. Gina is also a parent, but her child is still just a baby. 
• Quality A  TWIT is a podcasting network known for high production quality.
• Community A The community around this podcast is one of the best on the Internet. It actually seems pretty friendly and troll free. 
• Depth A The show does a good job of covering all things Android including the offshoots like GoogleTV, ChromeCast, Chromebooks, and GoogleGlass. 
• Entertainment Value A It is a fun show to watch or listen to as a podcast. The Hosts are funny, knowledgeable, and personable and the arena adds a bit of competition and a good bit of fun to the show. 
• Overall A This is one of my weekly podcasts that I download.

How to get the show.

All About Android is available on iTunes and most Android podcast apps or just go to www.twit.tv/aaa. You can also watch it on YouTube and on your Roku box if you have one.

For more app reviews.
My wonderful wife +Cindy Siebert  does real world Android and iOS app reviews on her blog. Cindy just finished a review of PushBullet for Android.

Podcast Picks: Introduction to podcasts.

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Introduction to Podcasts

Podcasts have been around for several years but many people have never listened to them.  Podcasts are great because no matter what your interests are, it is very likely you will find a podcast on that subject.  Cooking?  Radio Controlled model aircraft?  Programing in Java?  Quilting?  I have found podcasts for all of those subjects.

What is a podcast?

Podcasts are audio and/or video shows you can download to your media player, smartphone, or tablet.  They cover just about any subject you can imagine and are usually free.

How do I get podcasts on my device?

Simple, you use an app called a podcatcher. I will start with the free apps first.

iOS: Podcasts from Apple.

Android: Stitcher Radio or if you want something simple OneCast.

WindowPhone: Podcasts!

The podcatcher I use is Pocket Casts from +Shifty Jelly. Pocket Casts works on both IOS and Android but it is not free. Pocket Casts is a really good app and I plan on doing a full review at some point in the future. If you are on Blackberry just search the apps store. You can of course listen to podcasts on your PC or download them to your PC and put them on a media player like an iPod Nano.

Where do I find podcasts?

Podcast apps will have a directory of popular podcasts and that will be the simplest way to get started.  If your favorite website happens to do a podcast, they will often have links for you to subscribe.  Some of your other options are a google search for example, Cooking Podcasts for example.  Another option is a directory like http://www.audio-podcast.fm/.

Video or Audio?

That is up to you.  I happen to like audio only podcasts because I listen to them while driving, riding my bike, mowing the lawn and so on.  They also take less space on my device and take less time to download. Some shows are really best when you watch the video.  The good news is that often you can watch those on YouTube in addition to downloading them to your device.

Where to start?

Look at your podcast apps list of podcasts. A good first podcast is NPR's 7am News Summary, it should be in the library of any good podcast app.

What is to come?

I am planing on spotlighting some of my favorite podcasts that cover a variety of subjects, so stay tuned. And if you find any really good podcasts leave me a comment.