Your phone is now a broadcasting implement. MyVox is opening up a new set of APIs today that will let Web developers add voice notes and audio advertising to any Web application. Instead of making people record their voice on their PC mic or upload an audio file, with MyVox, they use their phones as their mics instead. Website visitors can simply call a number on their regular phones and follow the voice prompts to record a note or message.
Some examples of applications that can make use of this voice functionality are: adding voice notes to Google maps, recording a voiceover for a Flickr slideshow, creating a RockYou widget that lets people’s friends leave voice comments on their Facebook page, recording vocals for a WeMix song or a Blabberize video, or even turning your iPhone into a voice recorder. Check out this gallery to get a sense of these and other applications. For instance, you can see how a Google map with voice-enabled push pins looks like here. Just click on one of the push pins and pres play. You could narrate a tour of landmarks or points of interest. To create your own map with voice notes, go here, click on “Add Marker,” select the push pin abd click on “call in audio.” Once you are done, save the map to generate a unique URL.
MyVox is operated by VoodooVox, which makes money from playing in-call audio ads to people while they are on hold. The more call volume it can generate, the more audio advertising inventory it can sell. But instead of making Website visitors suffer through audio advertising, only people who use the service to create a voice track will hear an ad when they call in. And Web developers will get a cut of any advertising dollars associated with their applications. Sounds like fair trade.