January 7th, 2006
TraxCatcher Rips Songs from FM Radio
By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews
Washington-based Time Trax Technologies announced Friday a product sure to catch the eye of many … and probably the RIAA, as well. The TraxCatcher is a MP3 player that sits on top of a FM radio docking station. It will tune into your favorite FM radio station and record songs from the radio into “near perfectly cut” (whatever that means) MP3 files.
The first model to be announced is the TraxCatcher Classic, retailing for $159.99 USD and providing basic functionality. According to the company, future higher-end models would include HD radio support, digital inputs and outputs, USB connectivity, versatile MP3 docking capabilities, clock-radio functionality and satellite radio receiver integration.
Those models are expected to range from $99.99 to $499.99 USD, Time Trax said. Source: BetaNews
We Say: Questioned about the legality of this, Time Trax said the TraxCatcher it falls under Fair Use … and I would agree. I remember (yes, it was a loooong time ago) recording songs off the radio onto tape. I don’t see this as any different. Plus the TraxCatcher will embed product serial numbers within that file to track files that reach P2P networks. I do wonder how the device will make the “cuts” between songs. And yes, I still think the RIAA will take a cloooose look at this.
Rob says:
Meh … $150 for FM radio rips? I can rip shoutcast streams at 128 and 160kbps for free. Not to mention FM DJs seem to talk over the intros of song every single time, without fail.
Now, if this worked with Sattelite radio…
January 7th, 2006 at 9:19 pm
Michael Santo says:
That’s a future option, as the article says.
January 7th, 2006 at 9:22 pm
Mimp says:
If this thing does what they say it is fantastic!
Saves A LOT OF songs from your favorite radio stations, and you do not even have to do it yourselves! Finally a new product with some vision and guts!
January 9th, 2006 at 10:23 am
Edwin Davidson says:
My XM2Go by Delphi lets me record XM to 128MB internal flash. From my understanding, the RIAA did have to give approval on this device and has limited what I can do with the device.
The one big thing this device is missing, imo, is FM and FM timeshifting. When the weather is bad, it is nice getting local updates off of AM/FM.
January 9th, 2006 at 2:17 pm
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May 18th, 2006 at 9:37 am