Talkr has announced a new service targeting the owners of iPods and other mp3 players with a new service that automatically converts blog content to podcasts.
Talkr aims to target the 11% of the US adult population that owns an mp3 player. The service monitors blogs and converts those written-word stories into podcasts. Talkr’s customers can then configure their desktop computers to retrieve those files automatically and load them onto their mp3 players. The service has been in beta testing since the beginning of April and user feedback has been positive.
The service costs $9.95 for 9 hours of audio a month or $16.95 for 25 hours of audio. The audio for a number of sites being currently monitored by the service are also offered for free.
(ed note: I wonder if there are any copyright issues here, surely republishing my work for commercial gain is a breach, I’d welcome your thoughts….)
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It looks like they’re using only selected blogs with permission of the authors. This would cover them, copyright-wise.
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LATER: Guess I spoke too fast! Apparently you can get any feed you want. Yes, that is a sticy wicket, despite what their disclaimer says.
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I certainly would not allow them to convert my blog unless I was asked in advance. Anybody working on a plug-in to block this?
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This is a sticky one. On the one hand, if someone at home wanted to convert a blog to audio for listening, that’d be fair use, IMHO. On the other hand, paying someone else to do it does seem to make this another question.
Of course, my RSS feed won’t work for them anyway, since I only publish excerpts via RSS.
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Good Evening All:
As the Director of Network Development for Talkr.com, I am appreciative of the comments made here! We are always looking for our users (and potential users) to pick apart the product and give us some great feedback for future development. Please feel free to contact me at any time if you have any questions or further inquiries about the service!
Also, keep in mind that the main product for bloggers to use is the ability to create podcasts for your own blog. Just go to the main page and click on “Want a Free Podcast of your blog?”
The tool allows for a seamless integration into your CMS and also allows for you to maintain your CSS and formatting while still including a link for your readers to grab the file.
Again, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions!
Dave Liloia
Director of Network Development
Talkr.com
dliloia@talkr.com
http://www.talkr.com