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RadioShark Is Vaporware No More
DLWormwood writes "Well, after acquiring a reputation for being 'vaporware of the year' from Wired News, MacCentral is reporting that Griffin Technology's radioSHARK is finally shipping. Now maybe I can finally get some sleep while Dr. Demento is recorded by my Mac late at night..."
Simply put, time-shift recording allows you to pause a live broadcast and return to it moments -- or even hours -- later and continue exactly where you left off. (it's a lot like a popular TV accessory whose name we can't say...but rhymes with Steve-O.)
sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
radioSHARK
AM/FM Radio with Time Shift Recording
[ Now Shipping ]
The radio airwaves will never be safe again. The RadioSHARK adds an AM/FM radio to any Mac or PC -- but that's just the beginning.
The RadioSHARK can record any AM or FM radio broadcast in real time. You can also program it to record a scheduled show, or to 'pause' live radio so you can return right where you left off moments or even hours before (See 'What is Time-Shift Recording?' sidebar above).
RadioSHARK includes a full-featured application that controls all radio and recording functions. Favorite station presets can be set with the click of a mouse, and new stations can be scanned and tuned with ease. The application is also where you program Time-Shift Recording, either to take a break without missing any of a show or to record your favorite broadcast to listen to later.
The RadioSHARK connects to and is powered by USB. The fin-shaped device acts as an antenna and can be positioned for best reception and recording. Any recorded broadcast can be transferred to an iPod or any other AIFF-compatible digital music player to replay on the go.
RadioSHARK gives you control of how and when you listen to your favorite radio shows. Dive in today and take a bite out of the airwaves!
What is Time-Shift Recording?
Simply put, time-shift recording allows you to pause a live broadcast and return to it moments -- or even hours -- later and continue exactly where you left off. (it's a lot like a popular TV accessory whose name we can't say...but rhymes with Steve-O.)
radioSHARK also allows you to start and stop recording at any time while you are listening, and lets you schedule recording so you won't miss your favorite radio show.
$69.99
Well, since your username is introverted, perhaps you really don't know.
But there has long been an open source project called StreamRipper that does this, and not only does it, but does it better than the various --and there are already quite a few-- commercial products that do the same.
If you have the bandwidth, and hard drive space you can easily run a dozen or more consoles simultaneously all ripping 128Kbps and higher MP3 in near real time around the clock and with ID3 tags. Interestingly though, some of the tags on a certain small but noteable minority of the stations are wrong which makes you think they problably downloaded their "record stacks" off P2P. But since many of them aren't even in the US, it's a complex issue. Ahhh, complexity. That's one thing the RIAA can thank Bush for --making it all very complicated. Dear dear dear.
In many countries (if not all) using a VCR to copy TV programmes off-air is only permitted for the purposes of 'time-shifting', i.e. to watch a programme *once* at a later time. It is clear in this case that the copy is a temporary one that enables the broadcast time to be shifted to a time which is more convenient for viewing.
Of couse, current technology permits 'simultaneous' recording and play-back so that one can time-shift by a period much less than the duration of the broadcast - the phrase has thus taken on a new dimension.
Within minutes of posting this request, an employee of the company let me know that there will be an SDK for software developers, probably available within the next week. He also said that the device is easy to control using HID and Audio class drivers, so that a specific Linux driver is probably not necessary. Just an application. I'll order a RadioSHARK and try to write one.