Phillip's latest Engadget podcast was enough to get me out of my Podcasting shell and I'm hooked, even if I have great disdain for the term.  What convinced me?  Well, I ran into Lenn Pryor, an old friend a few weeks ago and I've been listening to Adam Curry's podcasts in the background for a few weeks.  Doppler does a good job with Windows Media Player 10 sync and that helped (still need a browser in the app though for surfing vs. searching podcasts though)

But what really convinced me is that I finally got a 2.5mm to 3.5mm stereo adapter for my Audiovox SMT-5600 (less than $4 at Vetco in Bellevue for those in the Seattle area) and now I'm listening to the latest in my car on the drive to/from work (remember, ~$70 gets you an Aux in cable on most car stereos- installed! CarToys in Bellevue did mine, zero damage or mods to car).  Listening to podcasts in your car is the killer app for me.

If you have a Media Center PC and you're not playing with Orb Beta, you're missing out.  I've been playing with Orb for a few weeks now, watching live TV on my Smartphone, streamed from my Media Center PC at home.  It still has some kinks to iron out (eg. discovery of recorded TV stored on another drive etc.) but I enjoyed showing Christmas photos I forgot to sync.  I've tested it out on the local GPRS network and it works great.  More field tests to come from CES.

Speaking of CES, I'll be on stage again with Bill :).  I can't talk about what I'm going to be showing yet, but it will be very cool.  I'll also be in the MS booth between partner meetings to help answer questions about Media Center and what we're showing.

More to come.