Month: August 2014

Mixlr Releases Beta App For Android, iOS Update

~ shawn ~ 1 Comment

Mixlr LogoAudio-streaming service Mixlr, used by many podcasters for live broadcasts, is making some news on the mobile front. The company has released a beta version of an Android app and Mixlr has also updated its iOS app.

These Mixlr apps allow for broadcasting directly from mobile devices and they also allow users to listen to streams created thru Mixlr. The new Android app is particularly exciting as there aren’t many of these types of apps yet on that platform. From the Mixlr blog:

“Broadcast high-quality live audio from all your mobile devices. Just like our other apps, you can also record your live broadcast and save it to your showreel to share and listen back to later.

Listen to all your favourite Mixlr live broadcasters on the go. We’ll also send you push notifications when a broadcaster you follow goes live, so you’ll never miss another Mixlr. You can also follow other Mixlr users from right inside the app.”

Mixlr is stressing that the Android app is in beta and that they’re looking for feedback and bug reports from users. The company has also stated that they’ll soon be adding chat functionality to the Android app and they’re also hoping to make the app compatible with older versions of the Android operating system.

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Women in Podcasting – Interview with Serena Travis

~ jen ~ 1 Comment

ipdb logoSerena Travis started out as a podcast listener, and went on to become involved in two different podcasts. She is the woman behind the Internet Podcast Database, a brilliant idea that can provide information about podcasters in a way that has not been done before.

* Can you give us a brief history of your experiences in podcasting? When did you get started? What are you doing in podcasting today?

My podcasting journey started in October 2010 by listening to podcasts. I became a follower of Podcast Answer Man with Cliff Ravenscraft. I was so inspired that I started a small town news podcast starting on January 3, 2011. The podcast is called Good Morning Scott Valley (GMSV) and kept Scott Valley informed of calendar, weather, sports and celebrations. I produced the podcast in Etna with my family and friends so it was definitely homegrown. People were encouraged with the sense of positive community that the podcast created. I’m not currently producing new episodes for GMSV, but I’ve kept the episodes available and the web site as well. Even though I stopped producing new episodes, the existing episodes are still being downloaded today!

I’ve just started a new podcast with my husband. It’s called The High Road with Drake and Serena Travis. We live in LA now and are having opportunities to interview celebrities and people who work in the entertainment industry.

* What was it that made you decide to become a podcaster?

There were a couple of things that made me decide to become a podcaster. First of all, I love audio. I didn’t realize just how much I loved audio until podcasting became a part of my everyday life. I remember recording myself on a cassette tape as a kid. It’s too bad that I didn’t save anything that I recorded! Second, I love to inform people – in a positive way, of course. I was usually a part of a school newspaper while growing up.

* What is the IPDb? What was your inspiration for creating it?

My biggest podcasting news is the web site that I’m building – ipdb.net – the Internet Podcast Database. It is meant to function as like IMDb does for movies. I’m very excited about having a platform where podcasters and their fans can connect in a dynamic, effective way. I was inspired to create IPDb when I was thinking about the IMDb profile that I was filling out for myself. While I was spinning that plate in my mind, I started thinking about podcasting. The mental plates clanked together and I thought, “Why not have a web site like IMDb but for podcasts?” I’m so passionate about podcasting and the people who produce them! The site is in beta right now – beta.ipdb.net We hope to launch our site fully before the end of the year.

* What words of wisdom would you share with women who are thinking about starting a podcast?

For any ladies out there thinking about starting a podcast, I would suggest start listening to a few podcasts that are similar to your podcast concept. The toughest time for me was the first time on turned on the microphone. I was tongue-tied and stumbled over my words, but I was not going to be deterred. I realized that I could record and delete as many times as I needed. Do not over-analyze – just start. This is an amazing time to begin a podcast!

Posted by Jen Thorpe.

Ads Are Coming To SoundCloud. And To Your Podcast?

~ shawn ~ 1 Comment

SoundCloud LogoSoundCloud, the popular audio hosting/sharing platform, will soon be introducing in-stream ads into its media players. The service, which initially catered to musicians has since branched out into podcasting. And while SoundCloud’s podcasting program is in its third year of an invite-only beta program, many podcasters use SoundCloud for media hosting.

This begs the inevitable question: What will this new ad system mean for podcasters who host their shows with SoundCloud? At this time, it’s not entirely clear. All of the information that’s been made public so far only refers to the music side of SoundCloud’s services. Specifically that, along with the ad system, SoundCloud will also roll out a new premium service so subscribers can pay to skip the ads, similar to other music streaming services like Spotify or Pandora.

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Reviewcast Sends Your Last 25 iTunes Reviews For Free

~ shawn ~ 1 Comment

Reviewcast LogoiTunes reviews are important to many podcasters. They help not only to increase our exposure in the iTunes directory, they can also give us insight into how listeners are feeling about our shows. It’s a good idea to take a look at your iTunes reviews on a regular basis. However, Apple doesn’t make it easy because iTunes reviews are divided by country, based on an individual reviewer’s location. The only way to see all of your iTunes reviews would be to log into iTunes and then manually change your location to each country, going thru the entire list one by one. That’d be a long and tedious process.

Reveiwcast is a simple service (currently in beta) that you can use to have your show’s last 25 iTunes reviews e-mailed to you for free. It’s easy to use and works pretty well.

When you load the Reviewcast site, you’re greeted with the message, “Let us email you the last 25 reviews from all over the world for any iOS Application, OS X Application, Podcast or iBook listed on the the App Store or iTunes Store.”

Reviewcast Main Screen

Enter your show’s title into the field immediately under the greeting text. Select “Podcast” from the drop-down menu and click the Search button.

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Livestream Adds “Vertical Broadcasting” To iOS Producer App

~ shawn ~ 1 Comment

Livestream producer appLive-streaming media service Livestream has added a new “vertical broadcasting” capability to the iOS version of its Livestream Producer app. Vertical broadcasting allows users to maintain a 16:9 aspect ratio for video, even if the phone is held vertically. Most camera-based iOS apps change their aspect ratios based on if a device is being held vertically (with the “top” of the device facing up) or horizontally (with the “top” of the device facing left or right). It’s often easier to hold a device in vertical mode rather than horizontal mode. But this can often lead to the undesired “vertical video” effect. From Livestream:

“In previous versions of the Livestream app you were required to turn your device to ‘landscape’ mode (horizontal) in order to broadcast. There are some benefits to using the camera horizontally but the primary reason we locked it was because ‘portrait mode’ would have resulted in a vertical video, which most users don’t like.

However, there are some fundamental problems with using the camera in landscape mode. First, if you’re broadcasting a live event for any length of time that exceeds a few minutes it can be tiring to hold the device horizontally. It is also inconvenient to chat with your audience when the keyboard and messages are overlaid on top of the video.

With the newest version of the Livestream app for iOS we’ve developed a way to let you hold the device vertically while continuing to stream perfect 16/9 video. This makes it both more comfortable to hold for long periods of time and easier to chat with your audience.”

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Adam Carolla Settles Podcast Patent Lawsuit

~ admin

Breaking news:

According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Deep Links blog, Adam Carolla has settled with Personal Audio over the podcasting patent case they brought last year.

“Big news from Texas: Adam Carolla has settled with the podcasting patent troll Personal Audio. Although the settlement is confidential, we can guess the terms. This is because Personal Audio sent out a press release last month saying it was willing to walk away from its suit with Carolla. So we can assume that Carolla did not pay Personal Audio a penny. We can also assume that, in exchange, Carolla has given up the opportunity to challenge the patent and the chance to get his attorney’s fees.”

I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about this soon.

Validate Your Podcast Feed – FeedValidator.org gone?

~ admin ~ 1 Comment

Over the last weekend, I noticed that FeedValidator.org has gone to a webhosting parking page.  I don’t know what the future is for feedvalidator.org, but that got me to researching other feed validators.  Here is what I found:

Podcast RSS With Headphones

First off, *most* feed validators out there are using the same code as feedvalidator.org was (or is). One of these is W3c Feed Validation Service. This is VERY much like feedvalidator.org in that it also hasn’t been updated in a while and isn’t neccecarlly 100% for podcasting. One thing is that if you are using the Powerpress Podcasting plugin for WordPress, you will get a “Recomondation” that says:

“This feed is valid, but interoperability with the widest range of feed readers could be improved by implementing the following recommendations.
line 2, column 0: Use of unknown namespace: http://www.rawvoice.com/rawvoiceRssModule/”

The Rawvoice Namespace has been out there and is OK with iTunes, Stitcher and most (if not all) podcast aggregators and apps out there. Still, using the W3c Validator will let you know if something is VERY wrong with your feed.

Another one I found a while back is still in “Preview”, but still interesting. It’s called Podbase Podcast Validator. It doesn’t give you the same info as the other ones. The unique thing it does do for you is give you is a kind of checklist that will let you know if your feed elements are there and correct. It also will warn you of any size issues as in your feed size or if your art is too big (file size). This one has promise as a useful tool for podcasters.

The best one I found so far is CastFeedValidator.com. This one gives you a full preview of what your listing will look like on most podcast apps. It will also warn you of the normal things that can cause your feed to not perform as it should.

Whenever I setup a new podcast feed for a client or want to troubleshoot someone’s feed, I use all 3 of these. It’s a good idea to check your own feed once in a while just to make sure everything is good.

If you know of another feed validator that works good for podcasting, let me know.

Posted by Mike Dell from The Podcast Help Desk

Women in Podcasting: Interview with Lazy Daisy Quilts – PCN Show 002

~ jen ~ 1 Comment

pcn002-artworkEpisode 2 of the Podcaster News Show was hosted by me (Jen Thorpe).  In it, I bring more news about women in podcasting. This episode featured Daisy, from Lazy Daisy Quilts, which is a podcast that is primarily about quilting.

Links mentioned during this podcast:
Lazy Daisy Quilts
@PodcastingNews
@Queenofhaiku

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Stitcher Releases New Embeddable Podcast Player

~ shawn ~ 2 Comments

PStitcher Radioodcast aggregation and streaming app Stitcher has released a new embeddable audio player. Stitcher describes its so-called sPlayer as, “An easily embeddable player that makes it easier than ever for your audience to listen to your show on your website.” The new player can be used to create a multi-episode playback system that’s optimized for mobile compatibility and the look of the player can be customized.

The new player will also incorporate Sitcher’s handy Listen Later feature, so listeners can add episodes from your player to a queue inside of Stitcher for future playback. Social-sharing features are built in to the player, making it easy to share your episodes across different social networks.

Stitcher is touting the mobile compatibility of the player:

“Stitcher understands more and more people are visiting websites from mobile devices so we designed our player to be completely mobile optimized. The player will resize itself to ensure a great user-experience on any mobile webpage and still include all of its great features.”

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Is Nobody Likes Onions The First Podcast To Have Its Own Cryptocurrency?

~ shawn ~ 1 Comment

NLO Coin logoLong-running comedy podcast Nobody Likes Onions recently released a self-branded form of cryptocurrency called NLO Coin. The launch of NLO Coin was announced thru the show’s Twitter account:

The link to download the NLO Coin client is only available thru the show’s Facebook group. The client was developed by one of the show’s fans and is currently only available for OS X. (NLO Coin clients for other platforms may be developed over time. As an interesting aside, NLO Coin is probably the only cryptocurrency exclusively available to Mac users.)
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