iLounge

By LC Angell

Senior Editor, iLounge
Published: Tuesday, June 7, 2005
News Category: Mac Software

Roxio this week will announce the Boom Box, a software bundle comprised of five Mac OS X applications designed to “reveal the iPod’s full power and potential.” The $49.95 suite includes Roxio’s CD Spin Doctor and the latest versions of four third-party software titles—MusicMagic Mixer, iPodderX, Audio Hijack and iSpeak It—to help users rediscover their music collection and to go beyond it with podcasts and Internet radio broadcasts.

CD Spin Doctor, which is available as part of Roxio’s Toast CD burning software, helps users digitize their LPs and tapes. It includes options for automatically detecting tracks, removing unwanted noise and enhancing sound quality.

MusicMagic Mixer from Predixis is an innovative application that creates “perfect playlists” by analyzing acoustic elements of each song in a user’s music library. The software is said to be able to match your mood with complementary playlists.

Roge Amoeba’s Audio Hijack is a powerful tool that lets users capture and save audio from nearly any application in real-time. Audio Hijack also offers scheduling options to record Internet radio shows and other broadcasts.

iPodderX from Thunderstone Media is the most popular podcast client for Mac OS X. The software lets users easily subscribe to podcasts and have them automatically downloaded to iTunes and synced to an iPod. The latest version, iPodderX 3.0, offers new media aggregation features.

ZappTek’s iSpeak It enables users to convert text-based documents such as web pages into spoken word audio files (MP3 or AAC) using the built-in text-to-speech capabilities of Mac OS X.

The Boom Box will be available from Roxio’s online store on Thursday and will be in retail stores on June 22. The package will come with a $10 rebate for iPod owners as well as coupons and offers from Wiley Books, Audible.com and Belkin.