Finally Apple Goes Podcasting

Apple Computer will support and organize podcasts in the next version of its iTunes and iPod software, the company said Monday.

Podcasts, which are sound files and audio content such as radio shows, have surged in popularity. They do not require an iPod to listen to them on the go. Any digital MP3 player will work.

"With the next version of iTunes, due within 60 days, there will now be an easy way for everyone to find and subscribe to" podcasts, the company said in a statement.

Steve Jobs, Apple's co-founder and chief executive demonstrated on Sunday evening how Apple's podcasting organization and downloading process would work at a Wall Street Journal technology conference, said Tim Bajarin, an analyst at Creative Strategy, a market research company.

"From the demo, we saw you could put podcasts under categories," Bajarin said. "It makes it much easier to have, access, organize and sync podcasts to an iPod."

The updated digital music jukebox software, which Bajarin said Jobs said was version 4.9, "organizes the podcasts within the iTunes store."