Telenor’s DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (DiGi) has launched D’podCast, a first-of-its kind service in Malaysia on October 23, 2007 bringing what is normally associated with the computer to the mobile phone.
DiGi’s Head of Product Development & Management Albern Murty said, “With the advancement of technology and the growing sophisticated needs of the Malaysian market, it has become clear that we need to develop products and services that cater to this lifestyle shift, which is caused mostly by the increased convergence between the mobile and internet. D’podCast is one of DiGi’s ways to make internet-typed services easily accessible on the mobile phone.”
“D’podCast will ensure that our customers will be able to benefit from the ease and mobility of having their favourite podcasts on-the-go, allowing for a new level of personalization in sync with today’s busy lifestyles,” added Albern.
D’podCast is an on-demand service, designed to give users the freedom to determine their preferred content by categories. DiGi customers will be able to choose from 6 categories of popular podcast channels to suit their different interests. The categories include Entertainment, Lifestyle, News and Business, Recreation and Sports and Technology. There are close to 300 shows for both video and audio contents where customers can enjoy viewing and listening to. Number of shows will be added to the service from time to time across the broad spectrum of interests which also include cultures, health and education.
The service is the result of a successful collaboration between DiGi and digital media specialists, Stanton Technologies, and is part of DiGi’s on-going efforts to widen its range of mobile internet services.
“The mobile data market is revolutionizing as we speak. More people are using their PDAs to send emails and surf the web as more advanced phones are introduced into the market. We see the mobile video delivery market coming out from its infancy stage and getting ready to grow up. D’podCast caters to those looking to enhance their digital lifestyle,” added Alan Rajendram, Executive Director of Stanton Technologies.
With D’podCast, DiGi customers can enjoy the mobility of listening to their favourite podcasts everywhere and anywhere, without having to first download them from the Internet onto their portable music players. Mobile Podcast is delivered via DiGi’s High Speed Mobile Network to their mobile phones when the customers watch or listen to the video and audio contents. The podcasts will be updated automatically whenever there are new contents available on the Internet as and when the customers browse the site on their phones. The podcasts can be streamed live anytime and anywhere as long as there is GPRS/EDGE connectivity.
By simply subscribing to either the Daily Pass for RM3.00 or Monthly Pass for RM6.00, users are able to access the wide range of channels. Streaming of video and audio content is free and users only need to pay for normal data charges when browsing WAP pages.
Albern concluded, “The future for podcast is infinite and with the promise of interactivity via a personalised platform, we are confident of a outlook and positive response towards this service.”
