Last year, 2.6 million individual-episode podcasts, which are recorded programs available on the Internet, were downloaded by viewers and listeners. While many of them were undoubtedly watched on computers, a growing number of the podcasts are being synchronized to and consumed on such portable devices as iPods, mp3 players and multimedia cell phones. (Why do you think the word "pod" is part of the word "podcast"?)

But if you need a computer to download and sync it, it's not quite as portable as it could be. So, Pittsburgh native John Hammer and his team of engineers set out to do something about it. The result was CastGrabber, a device about the size of a pint milk carton, that grabs the podcasts that you want to hear or view, and syncs them directly with your portable media device.

Although Mr. Hammer is starting to get some movement into more mass-oriented retailers, you'll more easily find it at specialty retailer Datavision and on CastGrabber's Web site.

Mr. Hammer describes three types of consumers who would prefer to use a device like CastGrabber instead of a computer to pull down podcasts from the Internet:

1. Sophisticated Internet users who do a lot of listening or watching podcasts but want to come home and not have to deal with their computers -- a separation of home and work.

2. Computer users who have lots of PCs, but not enough open USB ports.

3. Young teens who want to get their favorite podcasts but don't want to interrupt their parents' use of their family computers when they want to download their favorite podcasts

The desirability of CastGrabber is the convenience of not needing a computer to synchronize your favorite podcasts. Since many podcasts come in episodes, this convenience factor could be quite attractive.

Setting up CastGrabber involves connecting it to your broadband network, downloading a small audio file to your portable media player (iPod, mp3 player, cell phone) or USB thumb drive, then typing the name of the file into a screen at the CastGrabber Web site to register your device.

In an optimal world, this takes only a few minutes -- and if your device is an iPod, that would indeed happen. But it might take longer for other types of devices. When I tried downloading the file to several cell phones, I couldn't get it to work. But I was able to download directly to a USB drive with no problem. So now I have a thumb drive full of interesting programs from Business Week's "Behind the Cover Story," to Adam Graham's "The Bargain Minute," to Harvard Business "IdeaCast" to Harvey Mackay's personal blog. OK, they're not all interesting. But you can subscribe to any available podcast that appeals to you. If you decide to use CastGrabber with a thumb drive, you can listen or watch on almost any computer.

Once you set up your account, it's as easy as plug and sync. Your CastGrabber connects directly to a port on your Internet router, where you can keep it forever. Then, whenever you want to update your podcasts, simply plug your media device or thumb drive into the CastGrabber. It will connect to the server and automatically pull down the latest episodes of any podcast to which you have subscribed. You can change your subscription preferences by logging into the CastGrabber Web site.

CastGrabber registers each of your devices separately. So, if you have access to multiple CastGrabbers, you can use any of them to sync your device -- and each device will get the right podcasts. Retail price is $130.