These days, there is a plethora of audio content available to stream over the Internet. Even traditional terrestrial radio often offers content streamed over the Web, diversifying the choices for how consumers can enjoy music and other audio. Although the legality is questionable, there are--and will always be--ways to record these streams. Streamed audio recordings for music are not going to offer the same sound quality as a ripped CD or even a purchased MP3, but it's a good option for talk programs and mixes that might not be available in other formats. This tutorial will show you how to record streamed audio as an MP3; just be sure to read the usage rules for any recording source before beginning.
Editors' note: This tutorial was completed using Windows XP.
Cost: Free
Time commitment: Varies
System Requirements: Windows
Screensharing comes to Skype
(Credit: Skype)Skyper users, it seemed, either loved or hated the revamped Skype 4.0 for Windows. With Skype 4.1 beta (download), unveiled Wednesday, Skype hopes to earn a little more love by reinstating some beloved extras and adding one big new feature: screen sharing.
Skype's screensharing feature is a clever addition to the VoIP communications application. In our tests it was engaging, especially when paired with Skype's voice calling and chatting capabilities. The fair screen quality and few seconds of lag time won't bother most casual users, but at this point we wouldn't recommend Skype's new feature for replacing a dedicated screensharing application or service for frequent collaborators. Skype's screensharing is view-only; it is not a remote access tool like CrossLoop, which is geared for providing technical assistance. For demonstration purposes, however, Skype's screensharing is just one more way to connect with faraway contacts.
Screensharing begins by clicking the "share" drop-down on a contact screen and choosing "Share your screen." Skype then gives you the choice to record the full screen or a region. Pressing the button to initiate the screen share also launches an audio call. You can later resize by clicking and dragging the thick red borders. During a session, a button toggles you between full and partial screen modes. Because screensharing essentially broadcasts a video recording of your screen to your contact, you can't place a video call and share the screen at the same time--you'll choose one or the other.
You can share all or some of your screen.
(Credit: CNET/Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt)It's also worth noting that Skype's screensharing feature, like many others, is unidirectional, view-only, and by invitation, which gives the host control over beginning and ending each session. With one-way viewing, your guest sees only the screen that's bounded by the recorder's borders. Because it's unidirectional, Skypers won't see each others' screens simultaneously.
Skype's screensharing addition begins to offer an inexpensive alternative for international business communications, though right now it works between two users--one host and one guest--at a time. You can switch roles easily and often. We're guessing that the screensharing capability will be expanded in the future to group calls, so a host can share their screen with multiple recipients. (It will be interesting to see if Skype will then follow that enterprise breadcrumb to compete with well-known collaboration and Web meeting software in the future--but right now this is all conjecture.)
Other changes
Skype 4.1 beta also reintroduces birthday reminder alerts and contacts-sharing, which were two features left out of Skype during its upgrade from version 3.8 to 4.0. Birthday reminders are automatic notices you receive on a contact's birthday if they've added this information to their profile. The send-a-contact feature can be found in the Conversation navigation menu under the "Send" option.
Two other notable reinclusions are the ability to import contacts from Gmail, Windows Live Hotmail, AOL, and LinkedIn in addition to Skype 4.0's support for Yahoo and Microsoft Outlook products; and a screen reader accessibility tool to help visually impaired people use Skype.
All these additions make Skype's latest a substantial beta update. But since it's in beta, there may be bugs and some stability issues--we experienced a couple crashes ourselves during testing. Frequent Skype users will want to experiment with 4.1 beta. So will those who have lamented the absence of birthday reminders, even if you don't intend to use the screensharing feature.
FiRe brings professional recording features to the iPhone and iPod Touch.
(Credit: Audiofile Engineering)There are dozens of voice memo applications available for the iPhone and iPod Touch that do a decent enough job for dictating your grocery list. Professional recording applications, however, are much harder to come by.
Audiofile Engineering's FiRe application ($5.99) is by far the most advanced stereo audio recording application we've seen for the iPhone and iPod Touch, going far beyond the limitations of previous go-to apps, such as BIAS' iProRecorder. To get stereo audio into FiRe, you'll need to use compatible microphone accessories, such as the Alesis ProTrack, or our current fave, the Blue Microphones Mikey. You could get away with mono recordings using the iPhone's internal mic or headset mic, but that's certainly not the point.
Advanced features such as location tagging, overdubbing, waveform editing, and Broadcast WAVE metadata make FiRe a powerful tool for journalists and musicians. One of FiRe's coolest tricks, though, is its capability to upload recordings directly to the online audio hosting service SoundCloud. Once a recording is uploaded, you can publicly share and embed the audio just like any other SoundCloud recording, or download the original file to your computer at a later time. It's a nifty trick, and the FiRe application is the first to pull it off.
For screenshots of FiRe in action, check out our photo gallery.
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CNET Networks)
Playing with sound files is something not all of us aspire to do in any greater detail than clicking "Buy Now" in iTunes. But this is one of those cool Mac niches that is filled with possibilities you might not have thought about before.
For instance, have you ever wished you could easily record a phone call for a job interview? How about automatically record your favorite radio program from the Internet, even if it's on in the middle of the night? Ambrosia Software's WireTap Studio, recently updated to version 1.0.8, is an inexpensive and efficient way to record and edit pretty much any audio that you can play on your Mac. You can select any combination of software application (Skype, for example) and hardware device (say, your Mac's microphone), and record the output quickly and easily.
WireTap Studio's dynamic formatting means you can check your sound quality on the fly before deciding on a format.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Once you're set up, simply click record, and the end result will be a clean recording of your conversation for your job interview, podcast, custom playlist, or iMovie project.
WireTap Studio offers a complete set of editing tools and lets you export to a variety of compressions and audio formats. Possibly my favorite feature is called LivePreview, which is a button that allows me to hear what my audio will sound like in different formats and levels of compression, before I start recording. This is great when your needs require the file to be under a specific size, yet you want the best quality possible.
Want WireTap to record while you're asleep? Simply setup a time and date for your session and the software does the rest.
(Credit: CNET Networks)WireTap Studio costs $69 for the full version (link above is to 30-day demo), but if you have specific recording needs, this is the perfect software for the job and may be worth the price.
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CNET)
Folks looking for free screen-recording applications may be well aware of Jing Project and CamStudio. TipCam is equally deserving, if not more so.
The freeware screen recorder loads a scosh more than the basics into an attractive and compact display, and throws in a few tricks all its own. We're talking about drawing on the screen with your mouse while you record, and recording remote desktops via a VNC server. Brilliantly, if you press the hot key to zoom in, the framing brackets will follow your mouse until or unless you lock them in place.
Unfortunately, the TipCam control panel isn't so intelligent. If you're not careful, it might inadvertently star in your screencast. After you become familiar with the icons, it's best two switch to mini mode to keep it out of the way.
TipCam's audio recording feature is more primitive-leaning--there's no post-production studio for editing audio if you mess up. Thankfully, you can rerecord with the voice-over tool. It's not a perfect method, but it's better than having to rerecord takes. Recording a separate audio track and tweaking it with a small editor would be the most ideal.
TipCam's developers have put good thought behind its delivery modes. In a click, you can upload to UtipU.com. There's also YouTube uploading you configure as the default, and the capability to make your recording a private link that's inserted into a new e-mail message for you to send to selected recipients.
(Credit:
Hiroshi Okamura)
If you've been champing at the bit for a way to really scratch up your iPhone, this may be the application for you. No silly, I don't mean "scratching," but more like "scratchin'."
Hiroshi Okamura has released an iPhone application that lets you try out your mix-mastering skills by scratching on a virtual record. The application is called Re
If you've never tried scratching before, you have to start somewhere, right? And this way you don't run the risk of embarrassing your in front of a crowd or forcing you neighbors to make late-night calls to the police. I mean, if people are willing to learn to play the Ocarina via the iPhone, why not scratching?
From the looks of the video, the virtual record functions as a real record would. I would have tried it out, but $1.99 is too much for this cheapskate to spend on applications that would probably amuse me for an hour or two before I got bored. Not a reflection of the product, but I just know me. Your results may vary.
TechSmith raises the bar with version 6 of Camtasia Studio, which was released Wednesday. While the essentials remain the same in this feature-stuffed software for creating and producing screen recordings, a few well-placed adjustments and capabilities make their mark in creating overall faster screencasts.
Among the changes, support for high-definition (Blu-ray) video, independently editable audio and video tracks, and time-saving hot keys are the most critical.
The ability to produce HD-quality screencasts (for the Web and mobile phones) is cool for those with HD computers, but on the technical side, the HD-friendly format (MPEG-4 AVC format with H.264 compression) produces videos faster and in dramatically smaller files than the Shockwave format (SWF) that was Camtasia Studio's default before this release. Videos play back in Flash, so you'll be making Web demos, for instance, that use less bandwidth. You will lose a smidge in quality with the format (about 10 percent, TechSmith estimates), but it's of little notice to the untrained eye.
Larger icons make it easier to cut to the chase while recording.
(Credit: CNET)Editing tools
The brand-new ability to edit audio and video tracks separately is another noticeable improvement to Camtasia Studio 6, and one you'd find in professional video production software like Final Cut Pro for Mac. This is a huge boon for anyone who needs a few passes to get their recording right. If you made a mistake in a previous version, you'd have to restart your narration and screen recording until you got it right. Cropping a video clip in the timeline also meant chopping off your narration along with it. This new division of labor lets you sub in sections of tape and video without wrecking the entire timeline.
Camtasia Studio 6 also scores big with hot keys, introduced for the first time in this version. By pressing a single letter on the keyboard, you'll be able to split the video (S), and add zoom (Z), transitions (T), callouts (C), captions (A), markers (M), and extended frames (E) in the video timeline. We've tried this and it's instantaneous.
A handful of loose tweaks also tightens up Camtasia Studio 6. For instance, the splash screen and recording module have gotten a visual scrubbing. The recorder, which seemed unfinished in the last version, is now much more dashing in a dark module set with large icons for recording areas of the screen. The new design lets you turn cursor effects on or off anytime during your screencast. You can also quash the perpetually blinking and often distracting corners found in version 5.1 that signified when the recorder was on.
In the realm of advanced editing, the 'tilt' feature adds perspective to a screenshot and can be used effectively (but judiciously) in combination with zoom and pan effects to make it appear that you're gliding into the center of the video. A new slider control lets you decide the effect's duration. Our one peeve: it's buried in the Advanced portion of the Zoom and Pan menu.
A new editing feature lets you tilt the video left and right.
(Credit: CNET)The last added feature we'll mention is new support for dropping any self-contained MOV file into the video timeline. The ability to splice and intersperse video with PowerPoint slides, screen recordings, and scenes from the imported video has been available for AVI, WMV, and MPEG-1 formats in past Camtasia Studio builds. Version 6 brings the valuable capability to MOV files, while support for MPEG-4 formats has been unfortunately shelved for another day.
Price
Camtasia Studio 6 costs $299 new, $149 for an upgrade, and has a free 30-day trial that we'll post here.
The steep price tag makes Camtasia Studio 6 better suited for pro bloggers, businesses, academics, and avid amateurs, but those able or willing to make the investment will find a classy screen-recording application that continues to advance its flexibility, speed, and ease of use. Those looking for quick and dirty screencasts should look to CamStudio's freeware.
Griffin Technology, makers of the iTalk hardware add-on that allows you to record lenghty audio on non-microphone-equipped iPods, recently released a software-only recorder for the iPhone, iTalk Recorder. It's halfway to being a great app. But the other half is really annoying.
The iPhone side of iTalk Recorder is quite good. It's very easy to set up a recording in one of three quality levels, rename it as you like, and then play it back on your phone.
The problem comes on the PC or laptop side. To get your recording onto your computer, you can't, as you would think, just dock your iPhone and then drag the file over, as you can with pictures. Apple doesn't yet give developers the hooks to allow that. So what Griffin does is give you a little app for your computer that lets you sniff out your Recorder-equipped iPhone over WiFi, and transfer the files that way. The snag? The Windows version of the sync software isn't available yet (update: it's in closed beta; Griffin just sent me a preview).
If you're on a Mac, this is worth a try. PC users might want to wait, or try one of these other iPhone recorders.
YouTube isn't the only way to share video, and it's certainly not the way to store and share professional screencasts with hiked-up bitrates. After 18 months as a beta mewling, on Wednesday, TechSmith's Screencast.com graduated to a full-fledged release.
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CNET Networks)
Version 1 of Screencast.com continues to receive screen recordings produced in the freeware Jing Project (for Windows and Mac) and premium Camtasia Studio, though it's available to anyone willing to register and pay for storage. It has come some distance from the site covered by Webware.com as part of a July 2007 review of Jing Project. Webware editor Rafe Needleman had remarked that
"the well-established Screencast.com site is the weak link in the chain. It's unattractive, and the links you need (the embed codes) are nearly impossible to find. Plus, after 60 days, the free trial service expires--so don't get hooked if you can't stomach the $6.95-a-month fee for screencast hosting."
A lot has changed since then. Screencast.com's makeover addresses most of these critiques. In addition to a revamped interface, said Dirk Frazier, Screencast.com's product manager, in an interview with CNET, "we've moved from what was a very confusing workflow to a polished workflow."
Clicking "Share" pulls up URLs and embed codes you can copy to the clipboard.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Though still simple, Screencast.com's UI is intuitive and pleasant to behold. As a new addition to version 1, a details dialog springs up with each newly created folder. A portlier Help Center features a new design with improved search and deeper answers to common questions. Similarly, a new Tools page lays out links to TechSmith tools, like a media uploader for desktop videos and the MediaRoll embed widget that shares folder content for public folders.
The navigation buttons along the left remain useful for executing uploads and managerial tasks. Clicking an entry in the visual file system similarly offers up intuitive icons to open, edit, delete, or share the recording. (P.S. Clicking "share" is one way to get at those embed codes.)
Screencast.com's developers have also been sweating over back-end changes, like adopting a multiserver architected back-end that can bear more visitors and their recordings. Over the past six months, Frazier added, "lots and lots of improvements have been made on the data center side."
Fans of the service can expect more, too, in the upcoming months. Frazier's blog shares a snippet of Screencast.com's technical road map that includes H.264 encoded playback and social tools to "create a conversation around your content." "Oops," he writes, "that might be too much sharing."
Correction on June 13: The spelling of Johnathan Nightingale has been fixed.
On Wednesday, Mozilla announced next Tuesday, June 17, as "Download Day" for Firefox 3. The company also released Firefox 3 release candidate 3 as a final step toward full release.
With Firefox 3, Mozilla is attempting to set a Guinness Book of World Records for the largest number of software downloads within a 24-hour period. There is currently no Guinness Book record for that accomplishment.
Firefox 3 includes a new rendering engine, so pages load faster. It also uses fewer system resources, addressing a complaint in earlier versions.
On this week's Security Bites podcast, I spoke with Johnathan Nightingale, Mozilla's "human shield," about the security features within Firefox 3, including its antimalware protection and support for Extended Verification SSL.
The current Firefox 3 release candidate, version 3, can be downloaded for Windows, Portable, Mac, and Linux systems.
