Yesterday RIM released their official podcasts app. Whether you’re familiar with podcasts or not, this app is worth trying out. Navigating and searching within the app is extremely simple and there are plenty of channels. The app supports audio & video and all podcasts are downloaded to your media card so you can access them whenever you want. Everything else is pretty much straight forward as well. Hit the jump for a full breakdown from InsideBlackBerry>>

Access a growing catalog of free audio and video feeds

The catalog has some great feeds and is growing every day. Get podcast favorites like The Onion or feeds from your favorite networks and shows.

It’s easy to find what you’re looking for

Go to ‘Explore Podcasts’ and scroll through the feature carousel to view top downloads, search via categories like news, arts, business, TV & film and more. You can even conduct a key word search if there’s something specific you want to find. What’s great about this feature is that as you browse the BlackBerry Podcasts catalog, your device will highlight which ones you already subscribe to. Once subscribed, podcasts are delivered automatically along with a notification to your BlackBerry smartphone so you can access them effortlessly.

Other reasons to love this new app

Apart from access to entertainment and the mobilized experience that allows me to enjoy nearly “anywhere, anytime” access (like the time I was stuck waiting over an hour and a half for an oil change – thank you, podcasts, for keeping me entertained!), there are a lot of reasons to love this service:

  • Download episodes to be enjoyed offline or during downtime: Your favorite episodes are downloaded to your media card, you do not need to be within coverage to view your feeds
  • Leverages push technology: You can benefit from push notification, and of course, it’s more battery-friendly
  • Access BlackBerry “how to” videos: You can learn how to use your device directly from your device, covering a variety of common questions like how to use BlackBerry® Media Sync, how to manage Bluetooth® or how to mobile browse
  • Opt to get the BlackBerry Connection®newsletter as a video podcast: Catch up on what’s new and popular with BlackBerry smartphones!

Control your download preferences

BlackBerry Podcasts was conceived with users in mind. In designing this service, it was important to consider that not all users have unlimited data packages and that the size of media cards vary. Therefore, the following download preferences are included in the ‘Options’ pull down menu:

  • Choose delivery over WiFi or OTA or both – Manage your data charges by selecting download preference. Opt to download via WiFi only (the default), or WiFi and mobile network.
  • Choose the number of episodes to retain – Manage your storage by choosing whether you only want to keep non-played episodes, the last 1-5 or 10 episodes, or choose to keep them all.
  • Choose what and when to download – Choose to download either the most recent or all available episodes, or choose only to download episodes when you are charging your device.

BlackBerry Podcasts is available in US and Canada on BlackBerry App World™ and comes preloaded on all devices running BlackBerry 6. It is supported on the BlackBerry® Bold™ and BlackBerry® Storm™ series of smartphone devices; a microSD card is required for use with the BlackBerry® Pearl™, BlackBerry® Curve™ and BlackBerry® Tour™ series of smartphone devices. There’s more information available at www.blackberry.com/podcasts.

Give it a try and let us know what your favorite podcasts are!

[Via: InsideBlackBerry]

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