Radio Takes The Big Leap Forward
Finally I have a TiVo for my radio. Well, not quite but it's close enough. Just as TiVo does for TV, RadioShark from Griffin Technology (griffintechnology.com) lets you listen to, record, pause, rewind and "time shift" radio programs
Unlike TiVo, the RadioShark is not a stand-alone product. It must be connected to either a Windows or an Apple Macintosh computer. It's a piece of hardware that plugs into the USB port of a PC or a Mac as well as software that allows you to use your computer to tune in stations and control the device.
Programs are stored on your PC's hard drive to be played back through the RadioShark software or any other media player. Mac users can import the files into iTunes to copy to an Apple iPod. Windows users can save files as WMA, a format that is compatible with the Windows Media Player and most portable music players (except iPod).
The first thing you notice about the RadioShark is that the device itself is stunning. It looks like a shark fin with lighted blue gills on the sides that turn red when the machine is recording. Even though this product works on PCs as well as Macs, the device is clearly designed to look good next to a white Macintosh.
You can use it to listen to or record any AM or FM station. As CBS News' technology analyst, I'm admittedly prejudiced, but I use it to record the network's hourly broadcasts.
The software lets you record "recurring" programs but you can only set them up as "daily," "weekly" or "monthly." It would't let me set it for "hourly" to record the top-of-the hour newscasts so I had to program in 24 separate events.
I also recorded some National Public Radio programs from the FM dial but I'm a bit disappointed by the device's FM sensitivity. It doesn't come with an external antenna but if you plug in a headphone, the cord will act as an antenna.
Of course, you can also use it to record from a music station but the software isn't smart enough to separate the songs from the talk. With a little work, you could edit the songs into their own individual files but that takes work. Sharing such files could be considered a violation of copyright laws.
The product records standard audio files that can be listened to or edited with any compatible program. On the PC, it creates WMA files that are compatible with Windows Media Player and other media programs. On the Mac it creates AAC and AIFF files that work with Apple iTunes. It's also possible to use iTunes to transfer the recording to an Apple iPod portable music player.
You don't need headphones to listen to the RadioShark even though it has no speakers. That's because it plays through the PC's sound system. You can control the volume through the device's software independent of your computer's volume control. That way you can be silently recording a radio show while listening to an MP3 file or other audio source from your PC.
At a street price of about $65, RadioShark is cheaper than a TiVo and unlike TiVo, there are no monthy fees. On the other hand, it doesn't come with a program guide. You program it by time and station - not by selecting a particular radio show.
There are a few idiosyncrasies, at least on the Windows version that I tested. There are times when the program seems to hang up for a few seconds, though it usually works fine if you wait. The playback interface looks clear enough - just like the controls on a tape recorder - but if you press pause and then press play, nothing will happen until you press pause again to get it out of the pause mode.
The sound quality depends on your reception, the quality of your PC's speakers and the level of compression that you record at. Music files will never sound as good as those you rip from a CD or buy from an online music store but the quality is certainly good enough for talk radio.
Despite some flaws, for radio buffs like me, this is a very useful product but it could use some fine-tuning.
By Larry Magid