TimeTrax's TraxCatcher

As reported by Engadget special correspondent JD Lasica.

Hang on to your briefs, Hollywood. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today, TimeTrax announced the TraxCatcher, a device that lets you record over-the-air FM radio, capture songs as MP3s, and create a free music library. A base station/receiver that tunes in FM stations serves as a dock to a stick-thin MP3 player, which can capture individual songs through an algorithm technology developed by a Swedith research firm named, not coincidentally, PopCatcher.

CEO Elliott Frutkin said the TraxCatcher would be released toward the end of the March. He expects the company to release three or four models, ranging from a basic $99 unit (pictured) to a high-end unit. Users would be able to set varying bitrates for the 512-megabyte FM tuner in the MP3 player.

"We wanted to take all the complication out of this," Frutkin said. "You just tune to an FM station, hit record, walk away, and you have a music library of 50 songs." Other devices like Griffin Technology's RadioShark let you record FM stations based on chunks of time, but Frutkin said this is the first technology that breaks down over-the-air audio recordings into individual MP3s.

"This is the RIAA's worst nightmare," Frutkin said. "We fully expect a battle royale in Washington over this. The RIAA is going to have to shut down the technology or sit down across the conference table from us and try to make this work for everyone. We've stepped over the threshold, and I'm frankly nervous about what the financial repercussions will be."

Frutkin said the company is developing a prototype that would be compatible with the Apple iPod, allowing users to record FM radio onto their iPods. TimeTrax currently makes software and technology that can record from XM and Sirius satellite radio broadcasts.

[DG @ Jan 6th 2006 9:59AM]

Great. Just what we need -- a device that encourages DJs to talk over more of the songs than they already do.



I don't know. I personally wouldn't want mp3s of over-the-air broadcast. But creating what is, essentially, a high-tech tape cassette recorder for radio is a terrific idea. Especially if you have a good local radio station (here in Louisville, we do not).



Would it pull in track title and information? That would be pretty cool.

[carguy0625 @ Jan 6th 2006 10:14AM]

DING DING DING. LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!

[havanahjoe @ Jan 6th 2006 10:15AM]

Artist and title information would only work if it supports RDS, and even then, very few stations use it. At least in San Diego only one transmitted artist and song information and it was usually out of sync or they would just transmit the station's name.

[JasenJ1 @ Jan 6th 2006 10:17AM]

To me it all comes down to quality. I wish the RIAA would grasp this. FM radio is a pretty lossy medium - not only is the sound on CDs heavily processed and compressed these days, but radio stations add their own processing and compression. Compound that with MP3 encoding and you've got a pretty sucky "copy".



That "copy" may be good enough for listening to on little earbuds while riding on a noisy bus or train, or while jogging, or any other very casual listening experience. But run that "copy" through a decent home stereo set up and it will become painfully obvious how bad it is. (Actually it probably won't for most folks because they don't have a decent stereo, and most of the "music" they listen to has all the life sucked out of it beforehand anyway.)



The home theater folks - especially the display makers - seem to get this "quality" issue. The RIAA seems more focused on the $$$ than the product, and how to differentiate the genuine product (CDs, DVD-Audio, original manufactured material) from all the pirated "copies" people can get their hands on.



- Jasen.

[The Professor @ Jan 6th 2006 10:26AM]

Frutkin is an idiot for running head first at the RIAA. I know the guy and he is way, way, way out of his league. Recording FM tracks and breaking them down to individual mp3 tracks is nice, but it's not like it solves a problem. As number 2 said, the quality will suck, too.

[The Professor @ Jan 6th 2006 10:28AM]

Oh and wasn't Frutkin the one who said the ipod sucked and subsription was where it was at?

[David @ Jan 6th 2006 11:22AM]

If they came out with a HD tuner it would be a little more tempting. Can you imagine putting this on a Pop/top20 station for an hour, tho? You would have at least 4 tracks of "Check on It"

[Dissent @ Jan 6th 2006 11:23AM]

Hey, look at it this way: While this retard is busy playing chicken with the RIAA, the heat is off other more useful filesharing technologies.

[David @ Jan 6th 2006 11:24AM]

This would be GREATTTT for XM, Serius, etc. tho!



Was in a friend's car last week and XM was the only thing that got me through a nasty 45 minute traffic jam in a mall parking lot!

[Greg @ Jan 6th 2006 12:33PM]

All this does is create a standalone version of something like the radioSHARK. Boring.

[Steven @ Jan 6th 2006 4:34PM]

Uh David...they DO have it for XM and Sirius, that's their core product. Check their web site.

[Dimitri @ Jan 6th 2006 4:59PM]

Speaking of copying...



Did anyone else get excited when they read the word TimeTrax, thinking it was a throwback to the mid-90's SciFi TV show which featured Darrian Lambert, a policeman from the 22nd century, who is sent back to the 90's as part of a fugitive retrieval program, armed only with his car-door-opener weapon and his credit-card-computer named Selma?



I got really excited.

[david @ Jan 6th 2006 5:00PM]

they do have a sat-radio product and they now support the sportster. at their booth they said there is going to be an HD version. and it suprisingly sounded great, i think better than the sat mp3 demo. and, by the way, this is NOTHING like the radio shark.

[jd lasica @ Jan 6th 2006 6:28PM]

I think TimeTrax and Frutkin are courageous for standing up and doing something on behalf of users. Why hasn't Apple or Sony come out with a device that lets you record over-the-air FM radio broken down into discrete chunks and encoded into high-quality codecs? Because they have their hands in the entertainment industry's cookie jar.



I can't see how the RIAA can stop this. It's like trying to outlaw recording of radio onto cassette tapes. That'll never happen.

[Gizmo @ Feb 4th 2006 12:34AM]

this time trax offers software for turning xm online into mp3, has anyone ever used it?? I would like a little more feedback before I try and jamb thru this. I've had xm for bout 3 yrs and love it but there are some programs I miss so this would be a savior