Dragging me into the world of iTunes, my iPhone re-introduced me to the world of podcasts, which now are one of my favorite parts of having an iPhone.  There are WORLDS of both audio and video podcasts on all subjects and I have overloaded my laptop hard drive by sampling so many and filling up my iTunes folder.  With the new updates to the iTunes store interface on the iPhone, not only can you sample songs for sale, if you are connected to WI-FI, you can STREAM podcasts instead of downloading them by clicking on the podcast episode title.

This is great for trying a new podcast you haven’t heard before or just for avoiding the accumulation of digital “clutter” on your hard drive.  You can also manage your podcasts settings (i.e. how many back episodes to store on your hard drive) through options in iTunes.  One WARNING, though: streaming over WI-FI is one of the more draining activities on the iPhone’s battery.