Accessing PM podcasts on the Droid

I’ve been on a simple phone for a while. I just recently took the plunge and went back to a smart phone. Instead of Blackberry, I went Droid. Droid2, to be precise. I’m not an Apple kind of guy — way to open source minded for that — and Droid is satisfying my smart phone cravings at every turn!

Today, I spent a few minutes testing out some of the excellent PM podcasting and training options on the Droid. I’ve been using these on an more simple MP3 player for a while and writing about their effectiveness. Now here’s a quick view and how they hold up on the the Droid.

Software and Subscribing

For my Droid Podcasting software, I’m using Google’s “Listen.” Find it in the Droid Market.

If you’re a Google Chrome user on your desktop, subscribing to various podcasts can be made even simpler by installing Chrome-to-Phone on both your desktop browser (extension) and the Droid (app). Find the appropriate web page on your desktop, push it to the phone, then click the subscribing link on the phone. The Droid will recognize the XML podcast format and ask via which app you want to subscribe. Nice and smooth.

Podcasts and the Like

• The Project Management Podcast (Free & Premium versions available): The Project Management Podcast by Cornelius Fichtner is a straightforward podcast and it plays predictably very well on the Droid via the Listen app. To subscribe, visit http://www.project-management-podcast.com, then choose either Premium Download or Free Download, and follow Cornelius’ excellent and complete instructions about subscribing on different platforms / tools. Most simply, identify the direct feed URL and enter it manually into the Listen app.

• The Project Management PrepCast (PMP exam prep): Cornelius, the author, is working on better Droid access (see this link). Until then, here’s how I get it to work. It works very well! The PrepCast consists of Audio, Video, and PDF resources.
  • Video feed: You can subscribe via Google Reader to get access to the video. Install the “gReader” app on your Droid. On your desktop, subscribe to the PrepCast using the Google Reader instructions that Cornelius sends you after you subscribe. Then, in gReader on the Droid, click the episode you want. On the info page, click the globe icon at the bottom (tap the screen once to see the action icons). On the resulting browser page, click the Download link. The video then launches on the Droid video player. It plays nice and smoothly.
  • Audio-only: “Listen” is an audio-only software, but you can use it perfectly well for the PrepCast to get audio resources. It even plays the video resources audio tracks for you.  After you buy your subscription, Cornelius will email you instructions for subscribing. Launch Listen on your Droid and click to add a new subscription. For the URL, use the short iTunes URL that Cornelius will provide you. It will subscribe quickly and easily.
  • PDF resources: Use gReader to launch the PDF downloads. As with Video feeds, open the item in gReader that you want to access. On the info page, click the globe icon at the bottom (tap the screen once to see the action icons). On the resulting browser page, click the Download link. The file download will commence and be shown on your Droid status / notification bar. Open the notification bar to click the PDF file once the download is complete. It will launch in your PDF viewer (mine is QuickPDF).

• The PDU Podcast: The PDU Podcast by Cornelius Fichtner is a traditional podcast and can be subscribed the same way as you subscribed to the Project Management Podcast (above).

• PMStudent’s e-learning: PMStudent’s e-learning system consists of forums, video lesson files, and audio interviews by Josh Nankivel. I find that I can access most of these simply via the browser. Go to elearning.pmstudent.com and login to browser the various resources. The video users an embedded player on the browser.  It works via the browser on my Droid, and I can even double-tap it to zoom it to full screen, but it’s not optimized for mobile and I can’t control playback beyond pause-play. Still, I can successfully access it during my commute on the van pool, so I have no complaints, eh!

Update (2010-11-09): Josh is in the process of updating course content to be mobile-compatible. As of today, Lessons 1, 2 and 7 are all mobile compatible with m4v download links. When you click the “iPod/Mobile m4v” link, the Droid downloads the m4v file. Once the download is complete, you can launch it with a single tap from the expanded notification bar. It launches into the native video player. Nice job, Josh!

• PMStudent’s WBS Coach: The WBS Coach is a downloadable package from Josh Nankivel at PMSTudent.com. Depending on which package you buy, you’ll have video, audio, and pdf files. Because this package does not require a subscription, you don’t need to worry about setting it up in gReader or Listen. Instead, simply put the expanded package on your SD card in a dedicated directory/folder. Then, use a file manager such as ASTRO (see Droid Market), to list the files and launch (click) the file you want to access. The files will open in the default audio, video, or pdf view apps — or ask you which to use. It’s very straightforward, just like accessing it on your desktop via your file manager (Explorer, Nautilus, Dolphin, Konqueror, whatever).

• PM411.org: PM411.org is a traditional podcast and can be subscribed the same way as you subscribed to the Project Management Podcast (above). Visit http://www.pm411.org on your desktop browser and identify the RSS feed URL (currently, it’s http://www.pm411.org/feed), and enter that URL manually into the Listen app.

• What’s Up in PM? What’s Up in PM is a traditional podcast and can be subscribed the same way as you subscribed to the Project Management Podcast (above). Visit http://whatsupinpm.com/ on your desktop browser and identify the URL at “Subscribe to feed” (currently, it’s http://www.whatsupinpm.com/rss), and enter that URL manually into the Listen app.

How’s it working for you? I’ll be interested to hear from you!

Related posts:

1. PM Prepcast – A Review