Regular programming is catered for with hourly, daily or weekly repeat-recording options. Pick start and end times, on the same or different days, select your station and recording format, and you're away. Windows users' recordings are saved as WAV files. You can buffer as much programming as you wish - it all depends on how much free hard drive space you have - and record to uncompressed AIFF or iTunes-friendly compressed AAC formats. The unit has its own earphone socket and, best of all, it's bus-powered, so you only need one cable.
There's a rubber pad on the base, for instance, so it doesn't slide around or fall over. The look may be iPod-inspired, but Griffin hasn't shown any less attention to detail.
Each side sports a cool-blue backlit wave design. Said fin is stylishly cast in shiny (great?) white iMac/iPod-friendly plastic, mounted on a shiny chrome base. Oh, and 'radioShark' sounds a bit like 'radioShack', geddit?!? You've got to sculpt a casing one way or another, and the curvy, 18cm high, 1.5cm thick fin is a darn sight more interesting to look at than an oblong box. The 'radio' part of the name gives away the device's function. Its iTrip - a beautifully designed, AA battery-sized FM radio transmitter - has become one of the key accessories every iPod user should own.īut Griffin hasn't ignored the Mac - or, now the iPod is cross-platform, Windows machines - and radioShark sees the company bringing its new-found design savvy and product nous to the desktop. I then downloaded version 1.03 of the radioSHARK application for Mac OS X, and version 1.1.6.0 for Windows XP, installed them, and was on my way.Reg review Griffin Technology has been offering a nice line in Mac accessories for over ten years now, but it's only in the iPod era that its add-ons have become seriously cool. I have gotten into the habit of ignoring installation CDs for products like this, preferring instead to check online for the latest versions. Shaped like a shark fin, it has three curved plastic panels in the side that light up when the unit is plugged in. It is a very cool-looking device, to boot. Along with the radioSHARK receiver came an installation CD and a *gasp* printed manual. There is a single, 4ft-long white USB cable emanating from the rear of the unit. It is a semi-glossy white plastic with a metal base. The unit itself measures about 7-1/2in x 4in x 2in. The radioSHARK was smaller than I had imagined. Finally, it appeared on the market in late 2004, and Griffin was kind enough to send us a review unit. However, like so many new products, release dates kept slipping and slipping. I could also listen to the radio play-by-play of the Chicago Bears on my Mac (instead of putting up with the insipid TV commentary so prevalent these days) while watching the broadcast in another window. I was thinking the radioSHARK would be the perfect product for me to record shows that I so often miss: This American Life, The World, and Prairie Home Companion on NPR, and Mac, Jurko, and Harry on the sports-talker. When working in my office at home, I often have NPR or the local sports-talk station (WMVP ESPN Radio1000) tuned on my cheap, ten-dollar radio. It supports any PC or Mac with a free USB port on Windows XP or Mac OS X 10.2.8 or 10.3.įrom the time I first heard about it, I wanted one. It cannot be used to listen to satellite radio or broadcasts streamed over the Internet. It can timeshift live recordings, be set to regularly record a program, or simply used to listen to live radio on either the AM and FM band. The basic premise of the radioSHARK is this: TiVo for radio.
Griffin also makes a whole host of accessories for the iPod as well as the iCurve laptop stand. I never got much use out of it, but I thought it was one of the coolest-looking products with its brushed-metal surface and pulsing purple light. I owned one of their PowerMates for quite some time. Griffin Technology has been known for coming out with cool accessories. The radioSHARK from Griffin Technology falls into that category for the second reason. Sometimes it?s because of the styling, other times because of the functionality it promises. System requirements: USB 1.1 port, Windows XP, Mac OS X 10.2.8 or higherĮvery so often a product comes out that catches the eye. Manufacturer: Griffin Technology ( product page)
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