podcasts

Podcast is a multimedia distributed over the internet. The term appeared in 2004 in an article in the Guardian. It is a mix of "broadcasting" and "ipod".
The term podcast means both the content and the method of delivery. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster. Though podcasters' web sites may also offer direct download or streaming of their content, a podcast is diferent from other digital audio formats by its ability to be downloaded automatically using software.

The editors of the New Oxford American Dictionary declared "podcasting" the 2005 word of the year, defining the term as "a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player".
However, the word is not registered, and has been defined by the use. It does not belong to one company. Apple is trying to register all the words containing “pod” including “podcast” but it will be a long juridic fight because there is much money involved.
But, for many people, podcast is associated to ipod, we can see it when putting "podcast" on google image. Most of the results shows ipods.
To conclude, podcasts are the visible part of a deep change in people’s comportment towards media. Internet is now used as a place of exchange.