Microsoft is killing off one the world’s first podcasting client - although it wasn’t a podcasting client. Sync & Go held promise, but it was locked down by proprietary formats and flaming hoops. They could’ve owned the Podcasting world, but… they’re turning the other cheek to it (seemingly) altogether. I don’t think Microsoft will ever have an official podcasting strategy. Rob Greenlee is certainly mourning the passing of the “original” podcasting app:

FYI, Microsoft’s Sync & Go for audio and video synchronization to the Pocket PC platform has now been officially shut down. As a Sync & Go subscriber this is a sad day for many reasons. The biggest one is the loss of a very cool podcasting like audio and video application that 10’s of thousands of Pocket PC users used everyday to get content delivered from MSNBC, NPR, Forbes, MSN, Ken Radio, WebTalk and others. The other sad part is that those Pocket PC users never got any notification of the cancellation and have no migration path to any new technology platform. Subscribers will just stop getting new content when they ActiveSync the device.

The “if only” phrase keeps coming to mind. It is sad that Microsoft did not take advantage of the clear opportunity to extend the platform to include video and audio podcasting. I know that I am really biased about the opportunity because of being a content provider to Sync & Go, but it was so clearly an opportunity for Microsoft to counter the mind share and market share lead that Apple iTunes and Yahoo now has in the marketplace.

Meanwhile, I’m working on a nice daily video project that I’ll share with you soon enough… if you wanna beta test it, let me know.

[tags]sync,microsoft,podcast,audio,pocket pc,podcasting,content,subscription[/tags]