iPad

What Do You Really Need To Start A Podcast? – PCN Show 004

~ shawn ~ 1 Comment

Question MarksWelcome to episode 4 of the Podcaster News Show.

In this edition, I decided to step away from the relative comfort of my dedicated production studio and go basic, recording only with my iPad and a free app called Recorder. I did this as an exercise to show that it isn’t really necessary to invest in a mountain of gear just to get your voice committed to disk. I also give a simple explanation of a podcast publishing setup that, while hardly optimal, could technically allow you to publish a podcast (including getting that podcast into iTunes) without spending any money on web hosting.

Links mentioned during the podcast:

Podcaster News on Twitter

Me on Twitter

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Skype “Retiring” Older Versions

~ shawn ~ 2 Comments

Skype LogoI received an e-mail today from Skype that read:

“We are now retiring older versions of Skype and it appears that you’re currently using one of these. To continue signing into Skype on your mobile or tablet, you’ll need to download the latest version. The new version comes with improved performance, the latest features and security updates, so you’ll get the best possible Skype experience.”

I hadn’t ever received an e-mail like this before from Skype. And usually, when iOS apps are updated, the process is pretty much automatic thru the App Store. I decided to investigate further. I launched iTunes and looked at apps I’d already downloaded. I saw that the Skype for iPad app (the only version I’m currently using) didn’t indicate an update was available. I looked at the listing for the Skype iPhone app in the App Store and saw that there was a new version of that app released earlier this month. I’m assuming that I received the e-mail because I had downloaded Skype for iPhone in the past, but I no longer own an iPhone, and I guess Skype somehow knew that I hadn’t downloaded the latest version of the iPhone app, and that’s what triggered the e-mail.

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Bossjock Demonstrates “Frankenskype” For Mobile Podcasting

~ shawn ~ 3 Comments

Bossjock LogoBossjock Studio, developers of the popular Bossjock podcast-production app for iOS have released a demo of a mobile podcast production setup they call “Frankenskype.”

There are two topics of discussion that come up frequently on podcasting-centric forums: 1.) How to record Skype calls. 2.) How to produce mobile recordings. It looks like Bossjock  tried to solve both of these problems by bringing Frankenskype to life. To elaborate, Frankenskype isn’t a product so much as it’s a technique for using battery-powered mobile gear to record both ends of a Skype call into the Bossjock app.

The demo uses an iPhone, an iPad  and the 9-volt powered ART USB Dual Pre along with an Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit. Frankenskype breaks down like this:

  • * Camera Connection Kit plugged into iPad.
  • * USB Dual Pre plugged into Camera Connect Kit.
  • * Analog microphone (the demo uses an ATR2100, but almost any mic will work) using an XLR cable plugged into one input of the Dual Pre.
  • * Audio cable from the iPhone’s headphone jack connected to the other input of the USB Dual Pre.
  • * USB cable from the Dual Pre connected to the Camera Connection Kit on the iPad.

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