North Carolina based SolidSpace Llc. will launch a new podcast hosting service called SolidCasts tomorrow at the CommunicAsia conference in Singapore. Hardcore Web2.0 heads here may not find the SolidCast interface exciting, but this is a tool that could go a long way towards making podcasting for organizations easier. I have people ask me what the simplest way to start podcasting is all the time and this looks good.
SolidSpace offers a variety of enterprise web applications. The company CEO is an IT manager named James H. Capps III, VP Andrea Rice has an international marketing and business background. The local VC firm Silk Road Equities is their primary investor.
Without bells and whistles, SolidSpace’s offering combines easy upload with download tracking, RSS and iTunes feeds and simple instructions on use. The interface is available in English or Spanish.
The company’s flagship alpha test customer is HOOAH!!!Radio, an online radio station for US soldiers, their families and supporters. If you’re looking for middle America, enterprise customers that’s a great demographic to target. Broadcast radio stations are another key market SolidSpace is pursuing with their podcasting service, see for example local Virginia radio station Z104.
A SolidCast account enables up to 100mb of storage for free, a standard plan is 1 GB of podcast storage (5 GB monthly transfer) for $12.95 and a premium plan is 2 GB of storage (10 GB monthly transfer) for $19.95. That’s competitive pricing.
The company told me today that co-branded feed URLs (not SolidCast URLs for your feeds) and other features are in the works – but most of the development process has been all about simplifying the service. I think that’s a good move, and I wouldn’t be surprised to start seeing the words “powered by SolidCast” around the web.
