Mobile Audio Platforms

This list is intended to contain information about available mobile audio platforms which satisfy as many of the below criteria as possible. The hope is to have a central place for information on mobile audio tools that are available to help create new participatory mobile apps.

The basic functionalities we are interested in:

record and geotag audio using iPhone/Android
flexible playback of audio on iPhone/Android
store and organize audio recordings in database for easy filtering and accessibility
open-source would be nice (for flexibility, modularity and philosophy)
system for user ranking (and flagging) of content and subsequent filtering/organizing

Summary

Platform	URL	Record and upload	Flexible Playback	Open Source	API	Hosted Service	Summary
Roundware	http://roundware.org	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	designed for artistic purposes to create continuous layers of participatory audio in physical space
Soundcloud	http://soundcloud.com/	Y	N	N	Y	Y	YouTube for audio
AudioBoo	http://audioboo.fm	Y	N	N	Y	Y	primarily a social network for sharing location-based audio with friends
Woices	http://woices.com/	Y	N	N	N	Y	designed for authority to create geo-based tours for others to follow
Broadcastr	http://beta.broadcastr.com	Y	N	N	N	Y	primarily a social network for sharing location-based audio with friends and the world
7scenes	http://7scenes.com	N	N	N	Y	Y	designed for authority to create geo-based tours for others to follow
Guide By Cell	http://www.guidebycell.com	Y	N	N	N	Y	designed for authority to create keypad tours for others to follow

Details

Platform	Pros	Cons
Roundware	open-source flexible, extensible track record of success (Scapes, Ocean Voices) extremely flexible audio playback methodologies (randomization, overlapping, continuous, etc) can record and listen with iPhone, Android or browser based apps standard web-service based API	no corporate support (ie. developed and supported by small but dedicated # of individuals thus far) no hosted services (ie. User must support their own instance designed for artistic purposes, not educational purposes, but is quite flexible
SoundCloud	established and robust online platform established online community evolving API which includes the ability to record and upload to soundcloud.com from within apps currently handy sharing functionality via Facebook/Twitter etc integration	not open-source not free does not support any sort of playback methodologies other than one file at a time inflexible – we can only do what they allow us to do
AudioBoo	established online platform handy sharing functionality via Facebook/Twitter etc integration established online community limited API, but API nonetheless	not open-source does not support any sort of playback methodologies other than one file at a time inflexible – we can only do what they allow us to do
Woices	online platform for recording and listening geo-locates audio and searches/plays back based on location	not open-source does not support any sort of playback methodologies other than one file at a time inflexible – we can only do what they allow us to do no API hooks as far as I can tell
Broadcastr	established online platform some geo-awareness built-in to playback	not open-source does not support any sort of playback methodologies other than one file at a time inflexible – we can only do what they allow us to do no API hooks as far as I can tell
7scenes	easy way to locate assets in real space, including audio, video, text, pictures they advertise that they have an API, but I could not find any technical info on it handy web admin interface for creating ‘scenes’/tours	users can upload photos and text but not audio
Guide By Cell	good for pre-determined tours, but not so much for more open-ended, participatory situations inexpensive and easy to develop and maintain tours via web interface	recordings can be made, but they are intended to be feedback, not actual contributions/additions to the system no API hooks as far as I can tell