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LiveWire! Broadcast is really a specialized database that allows the user to search for live broadcasts or streaming audio and video by keyword, region, format, or station name. (You are limited to 50 search results in the trial version). You can also choose to browse alphabetically or numerically. When you make a selection, the program automatically launches your preferred media player and captures the stream. The preference setup allows you to search for certain kinds of streams: RealAudio, RealVideo, Microsoft Audio and Video Media, Xing Streaming Audio/Video or mp3 streams. You can even limit these search results by entries above a certain kbps. LiveWire! Broadcast gives you 10 presets which function similarly to the presets on a car radio. To save a station to a preset, you simply press down the SHIFT key and drag the station information from the search results window to the button. One cool feature you'll love is the Station Scanner. Here, you can decide which format to scan and how long LiveWire! Broadcast should stream audio from each station until automatically changing to the next station available. If you wish to go to the next station sooner than the amount of time you have allotted for sampling a station, you can press the NEXT button. If you like a particular station, you can make it a preset. While in Scanning mode, the scan window shows the station name (in hyperlink format if you wish to click and visit the station's homepage), format, location and bps (bits per second). The Scan window stays on top while you work. Another convenience in LiveWire! Broadcast is the ability to easily email a link you come across when you think someone else might enjoy having it. When you highlight any station in the search results window and press the EMAIL LINK button, LiveWire! Broadcast opens your default email program and creates a new message. You just press CONTROL V (the standard Windows paste command) and LiveWire! Broadcast drops a nice link with info into the body of your email message that looks like this:
Name : LIVE PLAYLIST - WBPC: Bringing you, Classic Music from the 50's LiveWire! Broadcast claims "you can find and play virtually anything within seconds. Choose from 10,000 live radio stations or 5 Million streaming files (audio and video)." When I asked the program to list all stations by "live broadcasts" in its database, it gave me 7,243. From that full search return, there was also a percentage of streams that caused an error message in my RealAudio player. Accepting that stations come and go, especially in this age of webcast royalty issues, I don't see this as a major problem. Afterall, if a typical user can't find something enjoyable to listen to from several thousand streams - whether it's 7,000 or 10,000 - then he or she would be better off listening to their own mp3 files. One drawback in LiveWire!Broadcast is if there is a station I particularly like that is not in their database, there is no apparent way for me to add it myself. I have to submit the suggestion to the company and hope they add it to their database. Which brings up another issue: it was not clear from the program, its help section, or their website just how the database is updated. I could not figure out if there are periodic updates to download or if there was some other way of refreshing the database of stations. You can download a Trial version that's good for 30 days. It's compatible from Windows 95 through XP and if you decide to register it, it's reasonably priced at just $24.00. I like LiveWire! Broadcast overall and found it convenient to use and a timesaver when trying to find a web stream worth listening to. - Corey Deitz
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