Podcast Aggregator
A podcast aggregator
is also known as a feed aggregator or just
an aggregator. The podcast aggregator is actually
a software application that helps to aggregate
syndicated content on the web such as audio,
video and text podcasts. All the different
files are pulled from one or more locations
and stored in a single place for easy viewing
and searching. The aggregator updates the
content on the computer in case the content
on the web server is new.
The best advantage of aggregators is that
you don’t have to check the websites
regularly for any updates because one you
feed in the URL link in the aggregator you
just have to sit back and relax. At regular
intervals the podcast aggregator will check
for new content on the website and download
the new files automatically. Hence the content
appears to be pulled from the internet on
the subscriber’s computer.
There are many sites that have aggregator
functions built in the website itself. Good
examples of such type of sites are My Yahoo
and iGoogle. Hence the podcast aggregator
provides you with a consolidated view in its
main window. They can automatically download
video, audio and other media files for your
use. There are some podcast aggregators that
will download the text files for you and convert
them into audio format automatically for your
convenience. Atom is one of the best podcast
aggregators around. In case you are always
on the move you can make use if web based
podcast aggregators. These aggregators are
software applications that are located in
the remote server. Hence the applications
can be accessed from anywhere as long as you
have a computer and an internet connection.
Some of the bests web based podcast aggregators
are Google Reader and Bloglines.
The coding techniques used by most of the
podcast aggregators today is AJAX and XML.
There are web widgets also that you may find
on desktop computers that consist of small
amounts of code to full fledged applications.
These widgets allow the users to aggregate
all the files, documents and feeds into a
single user interface. Many portal implementations
such as My Yahoo and iGoogle provide similar
functionalities. The graphical user interface
of podcast aggregators installed on desktop
computers is very much similar to a typical
email application where you will find subscriptions
in the left pane and individual entries can
be seen in the right frame.
|
