Digital Trends

Cingular has teamed up with Melodeo's Mobilcast service to put podcasts on your mobile phone for just $4.99 a month.

If you can't live without your podcasts—and podcasters assure us there must be one or two of you out there, at least!—and they're the only reason you're still lugging around a big bulky personal media player in addition to you cellphone everywhere you go…then Cingular Wireless has a deal which might let you ditch that iPod.

Cingular announced today it has teamed up with Seattle's Melodeo to bring podcasts to Cingular mobile phone users via Melodeo's Mobilcast service. Users will be able to listen to (and search through) thousands of podcasts covering a wide variety of topics and genres from virtually any location where they can get cellular data services. The service is compatible with most Cingular handsets, and is priced at $4.99 a month (plus data charges).

"Mobilcast further enables the mobile news and entertainment capabilities of your cell phone by providing quick and simple access to podcast favorites while on the go," said Jim Ryan, Cingular Wireless's VP of consumer data services. "We are excited to team with Melodeo to provide a rich selection of audio content that appeals to an array of interests."

Podcast listeners can stop at any point in a podcast to answer a voice call, then pick up from the same spot when the call is completed. Podcast sources include the usual variety of home-brewed and vanity offerings, as well as podcasts from major media outlets like The New York Times, National Public Raio, CBS, FOX, MSNBC, and others. Users can also submit podcasts for inclusion in Melodeo's podcast directory if they can't find a specific podcast they like to hear.