Gadgets Coax Radio Into the Digital Age

From The Washington Post:

Griffin’s bundled software works fine, but its scheduling tools are quite limited — and it lacks any sort of programming guide to let you see what’s coming on the air next day or next week. For that, you need RadioTime.

For a $39 annual subscription, RadioTime (Win 2000 or newer, Mac OS X 10.3, www.radiotime.com) provides a TiVo-like program guide of local radio broadcasts that you can tune into on your computer using a sold-separately radio tuner. You can use a RadioShark, but a simpler-model RadioTime sells for $39 ($59 when bundled with a new subscription) and includes a telescoping antenna that yields better sound quality.

RadioTime’s program grid, which also works with Internet radio streams, shows what’s on the air now and can search for shows by keyword, style, genre and location. This information is based on what stations choose to publish ahead of time, often nothing. (But if you hear about an upcoming broadcast while you’re at work, you can log into the RadioTime site from any Web browser to schedule radio recordings at home.)