Company: Podscope
Location: Fairfield CT
Launch: April 19, 2005
What is it?
Podscope makes audio files searchable by text keywords. It works pretty well.
Search results show lists of podcasts that include the keyword, with links to the podcast. Also, you can also listen to a short 10 second snippet of the portion of the cast that includes the term you’ve searched on. This requires Macromedia Flash.
This is great for research and ego searches. For instance if you here is a link to search results for podcasts that include the term “Dave Winer”. Click on the + sign next to a result and you can listen to the snippet:
In their own words, “What is Podscope?
Podscope is the first search engine that actually allows you to search for spoken words within any audio or video file. We’re starting with podcasts and will be adding all types of multimedia in coming months.
How does it work?
Just like any other search engine. You enter a word or phrase in the input box, and we’ll show you a list of results. By clicking on the (+) sign next to each result, you can select snippets of audio to help you decide whether to listen to the whole podcast or even subscribe. If you know about Search Inside the Book™, that’s what we do for audio/video.
No, I mean how does the technology work?
Well, we could tell you, but then we’d have to… Um, magic.”
The company is either affiliated with or uses technology by tyeyes.
There are a few easy-to-add features that would make this very useful – persistent search and RSS feeds for searches. I’m betting they’ll be added soon.
Screen Shots:
Relevant Links:
FAQ
submit a podcast
podscope blog
Delicious Tag: Podscope
CommunityGuy on Podscope
Mediapost on podscope
MyDogII on Podscope (negative review)