RadioShark Is Vaporware No More

Nothing for you to see here. Please move along. by goldspider · 2004-09-29 05:59 · Score: 4, Funny

...and the headline even said that it's not Vaporware!

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"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy

Re:Nothing for you to see here. Please move along. by prell · 2004-09-29 06:47 · Score: 4, Funny

This was never vaporware.. they were just compelled by the RIAA to wait to release the RadioShark until such time that the programming on the radio sucked enough that none of the filthy pirates wanted to jack it.

...but their site is by TheOtherAgentM · 2004-09-29 05:59 · Score: 3, Funny

Their site is VaporWare. Anyone got a mirror?

Act now! by JUSTONEMORELATTE · 2004-09-29 06:02 · Score: 3, Funny

Now maybe I can finally get some sleep while Dr. Demento is recorded by my Mac late at night...

At least for the 7-10 days that they're up, before Tandy sues them back into vapor.

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Free gmail invites

time shifting? by minus_273 · 2004-09-29 06:02 · Score: 4, Insightful

is time shifting the new buzzword for recording?

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The war with islam is a war on the beast
The war on terror is a war for peace

Re:time shifting? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-29 06:23 · Score: 5, Funny

Yeah, I'm time shifting a bunch of Mp3's off the internet.
Re:time shifting? by DrMindWarp · 2004-09-29 06:44 · Score: 3, Informative

is time shifting the new buzzword for recording? AFAIK, the phrase has been in use for over twenty years so it is hardly new.
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.

hmmmm.... by Anubis350 · 2004-09-29 06:02 · Score: 4, Funny

radioShark eh? does it eat pirates?

--
"goodbye and hello, as always" ~Prince Corwin, from Zelazny's Amber series

If this turns out to be a dud... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-29 06:03 · Score: 5, Funny

...will they say the RadioSHARK has jumped the Fonzi?

What is the demand for this? by no+haters · 2004-09-29 06:03 · Score: 5, Interesting

I don't know about other people, but for me, the radio is something that helps to pass the time when I'm doing something else. I listen to the radio when I'm driving my car, when I'm cleaning my house, when I'm having dinner, occassionally. Granted, I wish I could catch "Prairie Home Companion" more often, but oftentimes many broadcasts that are one-time appearances like that are available online after the fact anyway. Do people see a strong demand for an item like this? At $70? Only available as hookup to your PC?

Re:What is the demand for this? by saundo · 2004-09-29 06:11 · Score: 5, Insightful

There's likely to be a great deal of demand for it. Sporting events broadcast by radio, your favorite DJ's zaniness, or in my case, not being able to listen to Fox Sports Radio because I'm still at work but wanting to catch Steve Czaban's show sometime later.

The "when I'm doing something else" part doesn't change, it just makes it more convenient for me to listen to something interesting when I want to.

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-- The problem with troubleshooting is that sometimes trouble shoots back.
Re:What is the demand for this? by DogDude · 2004-09-29 06:16 · Score: 3, Insightful

I agree. About all I want to listen to on the radio is Car Talk, and I can download all of those. There's really nothing compelling on the radio any more. Hell, if I want somebody else picking music for me, I use launch.com, which for $36/year, gives me unlimited, CD quality (better than radio), ad-free, DJ-free music in a ton of different formats, or as my own personal station. I think that radio's time has really come and gone.

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I don't respond to AC's.
Re:What is the demand for this? by gsfprez · 2004-09-29 06:36 · Score: 3, Insightful

I want to listen to Jim Rome.

I want to listen to John and Ken in Los Angeles.

I can do that with this, because otherwise, i cannot listen to the radio while at work.

there are tons of people - esp. TiVo owners - that often move their hand toward the radio knob in their car wanting to jump back and hear what was said... but then realize that they can't.

Now, if the radio shark makes the "ga-bluck, ga-bluck" TiVo button sound - i'll pay even more for it.

--
guns kill people like spoons make Rosie O'Donnell fat.

Rhymes with Steve-O by jea6 · 2004-09-29 06:03 · Score: 4, Informative

From their vaporized web site:

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.)

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sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

Things that make me go ho-hummmm by Bin_jammin · 2004-09-29 06:03 · Score: 5, Interesting

Seems like too little too late for me and radio. After the corporate buy-outs (Clear Channel, I'm looking at you) the blandification of radio pretty much turned me off from turing radio on. If I could find a station I wanted to listen to, it would probably not entice me to buy another radio to listen to it. If this product had been around 5 years ago, it would have been the latest and greatest. As it is, it's just the lastest. The tech behind it is cool, and it seems like a great product. Commercial free radio would be great, but these days it seems like the songs are the breaks in between the commercials, and not the other way around. Alas radio, you've died at the hands of top 40, and the funeral march will be performed by top selling artists. You sure do look nice in that beige suit though.

Re:Things that make me go ho-hummmm by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-29 06:27 · Score: 3, Informative

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.
Re:Things that make me go ho-hummmm by RPI+Geek · 2004-09-29 06:27 · Score: 3, Interesting

Try finding a small independent radio station, or a college radio station. They tend to have good programming and the Top40 music is occasional rather than the rule. One of my favorite radio stations is 102.7FM WEQX (Manchester VT, but I can hear them in the Albany NY area just fine) simply because they don't pump out the same crap over and over.

91.5 WRPI plays a lot of eclectic and oftentimes strange music, and they aren't corporate slaves.

88.3 WVCR "The Saint" plays mostly hit music during peak hours, but other than that, you can hear just about anything: classical, folk, rock and rap sometimes within a few hours, especially if you're up for some sleepless night.

The bottom line is that there are a handful of radio stations that are actually doing very well without ClearChannel's meddling. Try finding one of these because they're actually enjoyable to listen to, and you might find that it's better than listening to your music collection over and over. Or try finding a local NPR station. Or listen to any given AM station, they can be pretty damn funny sometimes, especially when they're trying to be serious.

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- "Nobody came out that night, not one was ever seen. But Old Man Stauf is waiting there, crazy sick and mean!"

Gettin' in line to buy one of those... by The+I+Shing · 2004-09-29 06:03 · Score: 5, Interesting

I can't wait to get a RadioShark, record Coast to Coast A.M. every night, and then listen to the cavalcade of freaks and weirdos on my iPod while driving, walking, exercising and so on.

For internet broadcasts, I'll still be using iRecordMusic to bring shows like This American Life and The Savvy Traveler into my iPod via iTunes on my Mac.

Good thing that 120GB external hard drives are on sale at Office Max this week!

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You are in error. No-one is screaming. Thank you for your cooperation.

Re:Gettin' in line to buy one of those... by Hoi+Polloi · 2004-09-29 06:53 · Score: 4, Funny

"and then listen to the cavalcade of freaks and weirdos on my iPod while driving, walking, exercising and so on."

What, reading Slashdot isn't enough for you?

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It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
Re:Gettin' in line to buy one of those... by Lumpy · 2004-09-29 07:33 · Score: 3, Interesting

Why??

I have been doing EXACTLY that for over 2 decades with a FM radio Tuner Card in my pc, or one of the serial port radio tuners, or current USB tuners.

The software that came with all those devices allowed you to specify a time to start recording and a channel. convert the WAV to a mp3 using lame when finished and everything is done.

I do not understand why people think the radioshark is anything innovative or special. It's the same-old from 20 years ago and has been available ever cince.

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Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.

Version 2.0....... by ARRRLovin · 2004-09-29 06:05 · Score: 5, Funny

.....is said to feature a "fricken laserbeam". When asked to comment on the new feature, Paul Griffin (CEO of Griffin Technologies) said, "Every 'former vaporware of the year' ( he said using finger quotes) device deserves a warm meal." He then raised his ring laden pinky to his lower lip and let out a dasterdly chuckle.

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-Randy

It Works On PCs Too... by DLWormwood · 2004-09-29 06:08 · Score: 4, Interesting

...though it is a bit expensive ($70) come to think of it. I still plan on getting one, however. My iMac doesn't have an audio-in, and this device appears to send the recorded data over USB. I don't have cable, so I never got a TiVo, but now I can experience something similar. Staying up late for the Funny Five wrecks my return to work on Monday mornings.

I might start listening to more NPR too, since I've had bad luck listening to their Internet broadcasts. I better curb my enthusiasm, I'm starting to sound like a Griffon shill...

Wow, I'm batting 3 for 3 on getting accepted submissions, anybody have a longer streak?

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Those who complain about affect & effect on /. should be disemvoweled

More expensive by MacGod · 2004-09-29 06:09 · Score: 4, Funny

It's cool to see this finally released. Sadly, they upped the price. Originally it was supposed to be $50US, but Griffin's site now lists it as $70. Does inflation apply to products before they actually exist?

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"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one " -Albert Einstein

The real question is... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-29 06:13 · Score: 3, Funny

Does it come with a laser on it's head (presumably to fend off RIAA lawyers)? :)

From the site by slashrogue · 2004-09-29 06:13 · Score: 3, Informative

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

Why is this interesting? by Redshado · 2004-09-29 06:18 · Score: 5, Interesting

For $70 dollars I can buy a Hauppage Win-TV FM, $10 dollars more I can add Hauppage's radio time-shifting software. So, for a net cost of $10 dollars more I can have all the benefits of the RadioShark and a TiVo, or even better, run it under Linux and MythTV/MythRadio and have it all for the same cost.

Re:Apple Section? Why? by Zebbers · 2004-09-29 06:29 · Score: 4, Funny

Look at the picture. It's much too curvey to work with a regular pc. With those lines, it must be applelicious.

is time shifting the new buzzword for recording? by dpilot · 2004-09-29 06:35 · Score: 3, Insightful

Just in time for the Induce Act, and for some sort of chicanery to reverse the Betamax Decision.

Has RadioShark lined itself up to be the first victim?

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The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.

Re:Linux drivers by Eric+Smith · 2004-09-29 07:19 · Score: 3, Informative

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.

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RadioShark Is Vaporware No More

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