11
2006
How to create a Podcast using Smartphone
Ingredients:
- a smartphone with email and Web access
- a free account on Audlink.com
- a blog that supports enclosure tags and RSS feeds
Optional: Blogging software for your smartphone, like mo:blog
Getting Started: Create an Audlink Account
The very first thing you need to do is set up a free account on the website Audlink.com.
Audlink is a tool that allows you to call a telephone number and leave
a voicemail message that’s automatically converted into an MP3 file and
placed on the Audlink website. It also has the ability to post your MP3
in a directory on your blog; this will work for bloggers using Movable
Type, Blogger/Blogspot, LiveJournal, JournalSpace and Nucleus. When you
set up your account, you’ll have to come up with a numeric voicemail
password; this will be used to when you call the Audlink phone number
to record your voicemail. You’ll also need an admin password, which you
can use to access your Audlink account online and change your settings
if needed.
Once your Audlink account is set up, create a new contact in your phone for the number 1-(214) 752-7621.You should also make a note of your Audlink account number and your
passwords, since you’ll need these on hand whenever you use your phone
to create a podcast.
Making the Podcast
Essentially, creating the podcast follows three basic steps:
- Record it
- Find it
- Blog it
Step One: Record It
Once you have your Audlink account set up, you’ll need to pick up your smartphone and call the Audlink voicemail number: 1 (214) 752-7621.
Please remember this is not a toll-free number, so long distance
charges will apply. After dialing the number, you’ll be prompted to key
in your account number and your numerical password. Then, you’ll be
able to record your voicemail. You can record a message up to five
minutes in length. Since there isn’t an easy way to edit your voicemail
on your smartphone once you’ve recorded it (well, at least not yet),
you may want to practice what you’re going to say. If you screw it up,
you can always call back and make another recording.
When you’re done with your voicemail, hang up. Audlink will then
take a minute or so to process the voicemail into an MP3, which means
it’s now time for
Step Two: Find It
Now that you’ve recorded your message, you’ll need to find it.
Unfortunately, Audlink generates a long file name for your recording
based on a timestamp (for example, http://www.audlink.com/mailbox/1111/0501151149.mp3),
so there’s no convenient way you’ll know ahead of time exactly what the
URL will be. So you’ll have to do one of two things to find it.
The easiest thing to do is to go to your in-box on the Audlink
website. All Audlink in-boxes follow a similar pattern, like this:
http://www.audlink.com/mailbox/XYZ/
The XYZ would actually be whatever your account number is. For example, my Audlink account is #1111, so my in-box URL is this:
If you’ve set your Audlink account to FTP your voicemails to a
directory on your blog’s website, then you’ll want to go to that
directory instead.
Whether you go to your Audlink in-box or you use a directory on
your blog, you’ll have to go to that URL to find the voicemail. If this
is your first voicemail, it’ll be easy to find it; just look for a file
name like this:
0501151149.mp3
If you have more than one voicemail in your in-box, you’ll have to
figure out which one is your new recording. Since the name of each file
is basically a time-stamp, you just need to figure out which one looks
like the right date and time. For example, if you break down the file
name 0501151149.mp3 you’ll see it means this time-stamp:
Year: 05 (2005)
Month: 01 (January)
Date: 15
Hour: 11
Minute: 49
Hence, 0501151149.mp3.
Once you’ve figured out what the proper file name is, make a note of
it. It’s not a bad idea to write it down, but otherwise you can use
your phone’s copy-and-paste feature to copy the file name and then go to
Step Three: Blog It
There are various ways to blog from your smart phone. For example,
some blog tools have the ability to send an email to a particular
address and automatically post the text of your email as a blog entry.
Or, you can use your Web browser to go to the URL you use for posting
new blog entries. Additionally, there’s mobile phone software you can
download into your phone for posting blog entries. For example, I
sometimes use Mo:Blog,
a shareware application available for the Palm operating system. It’s
like a simple notepad that will post the note to your blog.There are softwares like Pocket Blogger for Pocket PC,Typepad Mobile etc . available for mobile blogging.
Whichever way you choose to do it, the key thing is that you’ll want
to use the phone for posting a blog entry to link to your podcast. When
you fill out the blog entry, create a link to your voicemail MP3 file.
If you’re using Audlink, you’ll want to link to the file inside your
voicemail in-box, which will look something like this:
http://www.audlink.com/mailbox/1111/0501151149.mp3
If you’ve set up Audlink to post to your blog, the URL would look something like this:
http://www.andycarvin.com/audio/0501151149.mp3
Whichever way you do it, the key thing is to create a hyperlink that
points to the voicemail URL. Then, when you post your blog entry, the
blog will link to the voicemail on your blog homepage and in its
accompanying RSS feed. And that’s it. Instant mobile podcasting in three (relatively) easy steps. Happy MoPodcasting!
How to create a Podcast using Smartphone
Originally from Technophilia by