FCC Chairman Wants It To Be Easier To Listen To Free FM Radio On Your Smartphone (recode.net) 209
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Recode: Your smartphone has an FM radio in it, only it's unlikely that you're able to use it. That's because in the U.S., less than half of phones actually have the FM tuner turned on. But FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who just recently assumed the top position at the regulatory agency under President Trump, thinks that should change. In remarks made to the North American Broadcasters Association yesterday, Pai said that it's a public safety issue. Both the former head of the Federal Emergency Management Association and an FCC advisory panel on public safety have advocated for turning on the FM radio capabilities in smartphones, since radio is a reliable source of information when internet or cellphone networks go down in severe weather. Although Pai thinks smartphones should have the FM chip turned on, he doesn't think the government should mandate it: "As a believer in free markets and the rule of law, I cannot support a government mandate requiring activation of these chips. I don't believe the FCC has the power to issue a mandate like that, and more generally I believe it's best to sort this issue out in the marketplace."
FCC can't help ... (Score:5, Informative)
It requires the use of wired earphones because the wire acts as the FM radio antenna. The FCC cannot change that.
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Or you could use one of these [amazon.co.uk].
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Wouldn't that keep the phone from sending audio out the built-in speakers? Only sounds useful if you're also using bluetooth to send it to a receiver...that might also have FM built-in.
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Wouldn't that keep the phone from sending audio out the built-in speakers? Only sounds useful if you're also using bluetooth to send it to a receiver...that might also have FM built-in.
I noted in an earlier post that, at least, the NextRadio app can output to the phone speaker instead of the headphone, so that antenna should work okay like that, though the speaker output obviously isn't stereo.
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My phones (Moto E) stock FM radio app also has a switch in the preferences whether audio uses the headphones or not.
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My smartphone has an FM radio app in it (as have all my previous ones), but I am unlikely to use it.
It requires the use of wired earphones because the wire acts as the FM radio antenna.
Not sure about all apps, but the NextRadio app can play through the speaker while using the headphone wires for the antenna. In addition, it doesn't have to be headphones. I use it to output the radio on my phone to my PC speakers through the PC audio-in jack while at work where streaming isn't allowed.
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A lot of FM radio stations have streaming internet radio.
I listen to one every day via TuneInRadio.
Works both at home and in the car.
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But that requires either wifi or mobile data, which in the case of a natural disaster or severe weather may not be readily available. The argument for having the FM tuner activated has now gone full circle.
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All of the cellphones that our family has are "feature" phones and all of them have an FM receiver. On my latest phone I can listen to the radio without using headphones, so they are not absolutely necessary.
https://www.vodafone.co.nz/sho... [vodafone.co.nz]
http://nz.mobiwire.co/ [mobiwire.co]
http://nz.mobiwire.co/dakota [mobiwire.co]
The Apple iPod nano supports FM Radio (Score:2)
http://www.apple.com/ipod-nano... [apple.com]
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One reason only: local sports. If I'm in Chicago and want to hear Blackhawks, Bears, Cubs or Sox games, I can hear them for free on the radio, but if I want to use an app, I need a subscription and I still get the same commercials (except for the Blackhawks, which are carried for free on the WGN app).
Here in Houston, I can hear every Rockets gam
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Here in Houston we can still get the Blackhawks audio on the WGN app, thankfully. We can't get it on broadcast unless it's something like the Wednesday Night Rivalry. The NHL app is blacked out if they're playing the Stars, as if Dallas is local to Houston or Houston TV would carry a Dallas game by choice.
I used to sometimes listen to Spurs games back in central Illinois as long as they were night games. WOAI 1200 AM carries quite far after dark.
Mostly I use the radio to listen to KUHF, but sometimes I'll f
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Are you a Chicago-Houston transplant too? I enjoyed the other night when it was like 75 at 8pm and I could listen to the Blackhawks in the backyard in my shorts in early February. Back in Chicago, I lived walking distance from the United Center and went to 'Hawks games all the time. Now that I think about it, since they usually make it into the playoffs, I could listen to them in June sometimes, which can be shorts and backy
FM Radio in Europe (Score:5, Informative)
Honestly, I don't even use the radio in my car anymore. It's been ten years or more since I listened to the radio.
On the other side of the atlantic pond, radio in cars tends to be used a lot, specially for traffic information.
Last time I listened to the car's radio has been lat time I drove it :
the car automatically suspended the music we were listening to announce some traffic jams and incident on the highway.
Most GPS (specially the in-car built-ins) are also able to leverage the digital information (TMC signal on the RDS on FM radios) to also display and take into account such traffic information.
So radio on portable devices can be useful for such traffic informations.
The only thing is, as far as I know, most smartphone with disabled radio chips only have *FM*-Radio (i.e.: plain old analog. Sometimes not even with support for digital metadata over RDS).
Whereas lots of European regions are moving to DAB/DAB+ Radio (digital radio, transmitted as MP2 or AAC digital stream respectively), which is not directly supported on purely FM chips, and would be quite taxing on the battery life if attempting to decode on CPU in software (SDR - software defined radio).
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Re:FCC can't help ... (Score:5, Interesting)
Even if I could listen to FM radio, why would I? Honestly, I don't even use the radio in my car anymore. It's been ten years or more since I listened to the radio.
I've started to ask myself the same thing but perhaps for a different reason than you. I had a couple radios die on me recently which made me think about my listening habits as I shopped for replacements.
When I listen to the radio it's usually for news, weather, and traffic. These things I normally find on AM. There's a couple AM new/talk stations I flip between, one of which simulcasts on FM which is sometimes clearer than the AM cast. When there is bad weather I'll listen to the NOAA weather band broadcasts, the local storm watchers that chat on the amateur radio band, or the same news/talk stations I'd listen to normally. There is a local traffic station that broadcasts on low power AM, which is nice if I see traffic moving slow or the road condition is bad.
It's rare for me to listen to music on the radio, I have a large collection of music on my iPod (which is normally left hooked up to the stereo in my truck) and iPhone, and I can stream music over the internet from my iPhone or computer. Trying to listen to music on FM is typically quite annoying with the advertisements that are often louder than the typical music, which is a turn off. As in, I'll turn off the radio than listen to that crap. The point of listening to music is to gain enjoyment, which is destroyed with blaring adverts and/or blithering idiots for DJs.
I do listen to radio broadcasts, just not typically those on the FM band.
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Podcasts........they're moving to podcasts. You don't have to worry about whether there is a local station that carries your show or whether the signal is good. The listeners can a) stream it or b) download it at home and listen to it on their commute.
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It's not the same for all listeners, part of the interest of radio or broadcast TV, is the idea that others are listening to the same thing at the same time.
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HD Radio (in the US) rides on top of the main analog signal. It does bring some encoding artifacts with it, but it's nothing compared to the cranked up compressor and band pass filters on the analog signal. You generally get FM quality audio out of AM radio and close to 160Kbps MP3 equivalent audio on the FM side. Not perfect, but far from bad - the main problem is that it only gets 1% of the broadcast power of the analog signal, so the range is not so great.
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What this issue is about are those who have the tuner hardware that is crippled or disabled by the vendor.
I haven't listened to radio in at least ten years (who needs to when there's streaming and MP3s), but I object to having the FM radio in my phone crippled like this. It should be my choice to ignore the radio, not the phone vendors.
Re:FCC can't help ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Did the lack of this feature affect your buying decision? If it's a part of the chipset that the phone vendor didn't implement because nobody wanted it, can you really be upset for not having it?
OTOH, Other markets really use this feature. If it's there and people want it, it will happen. This might be the first step.
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Did the lack of this feature affect your buying decision?
Not at all. I was pointing out that the lack of a feature that I, and I'd guess about 99% of the rest of the market, never uses anyway isn't a big deal. As others have pointed out, this seems more like a means of appeasing the broadcaster lobby than something anyone really cares about.
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The FM receiver is already in your phone. It's just been disabled at the request of carriers [wired.com] so they can make more money via data plans used to listen to music, or in the case of Apple because the manufacturer makes money from streaming services.
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Or because it doesn't work very well, and adding in a feature that doesn't deliver the crisp sound that people expect from a digital device will result in an increase in support calls. People will also complain that it doesn't work without wired headphones. So lots of bad press, most people don't care (but will still be influenced by the press), the company has a higher support cost, and there's no additional revenue attached to it.
What's not to love?
Re:FCC can't help ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Reverse 911 and SMS both require the cell network be functional. Receiving an FM signal does not. In addition, and FM signal can be sent from a single mobile transmitter, that can be picked up for a hundred miles or more, with no signal degradation based on how many people are listening, where cell networks have a finite (and comparatively small) maximum bandwidth available.
In the event of a natural disaster, FM is a far more reliable than any possible signal sent through the cell network. This is the entire premise of ham radio.
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That's all fine and well, but the reality is that very few people carry around a pair of headphones with them at all times, so FM being more reliable simply isn't useful for making smartphones into emergency radio receivers. In a real emergency, very few people would be able to receive the broadcasts.
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I easily pick up Danish radio stations 30-50 km south of the Danish-German border with no degradation except for the one case where a German radio channel further south uses either the same or a very closely neighboring frequency.
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I miss the broadcasts on 208m by RTL that could be heard over most of Europe during the 80's. Rob Jones Dirty Dozen, Stewart Henry with MS and so on.
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AM spreads better during night, then it can be 1000 km range with little problem. However AM is a declining band with fewer and fewer listeners in many parts of the world. Here in Europe DAB might be an alternative - and is the only public radio broadcast band in Norway.
Anyway - radio in a phone requires the use of headphones, and not everyone uses them.
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Broadcast FM (VHF) can easily make it 100 miles over somewhere with flat terrain and where the transmitter antenna is on a tall tower.
AMaphobia much? (Score:5, Funny)
Hey, I like my AM stations better! Down with the FM bigots!
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I prefer shortwave ham. Get off my lawn.
Re:AMaphobia much? (Score:4, Insightful)
Probably marked as "Funny" but in many regions AM radio is where you get new, traffic, weather so it would be more useful in times of emergency than FM.
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The biggest trouble with AM is the wavelength.
Typical FM stations have wavelength of order a few metres, so any sensible length of wire (eg a headphone wire) will make an OK 1/4-ish-or-close-enough wave antenna. So headphones as antenna wire + some fairly trivial demodulation in the existing chipset and you're good to go.
AM bands have wavelengths from around 300m-600m, so forget using the headphone wire - you'll need some sort of tuned resonant loop / ferrite rod or similar for even half decent reception.
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Europe is starting to turn off FM anyway. I think Sweden has started, UK was supposed to in 2015 but it's been postponed indefinitely because our digital radio is too shitty to replace it.
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Ahh, so that's why I can listen to the FM radio on my cellphone without using headphones as an antenna.
https://www.vodafone.co.nz/sho... [vodafone.co.nz]
http://nz.mobiwire.co/ [mobiwire.co]
http://nz.mobiwire.co/dakota [mobiwire.co]
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Nice analogy - well said.
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But you can make your own AM radio using a crystal and a safety pin.
Why are less than half activated in the US? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Android only has them turned on if you get an unlocked or non-carrier specific/marketed variant. Verizon and ST&T - the two biggest carriers, often have the vendors turn off that functionality even if ti exists.
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Android only has them turned on if you get an unlocked or non-carrier specific/marketed variant.
Every smart phone I've owned, both unbranded and branded, have had FM tuners enabled.
FM not as common as the article sounds. (Score:2)
The way they write this makes it sound like nearly all phones have an FM chip/capability already built-in, which I believe is actually quite far from the truth. Its only a few specific models.
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Well, the chips to do it tend to be everywhere - WiFi and Bluetooth chips tend to be triple duty with FM radio thrown in because it isn't hard to add.
The real issue is whether or not it's actually hooked up - usually they aren't. So the phone may have the hardware for it, but not actually be wired up.
The real question
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If the feature is already in the chipset then it seems stupid to not add a couple of tracks to the PCB so you can actually use it.
I get what you are saying that most people stream, but FM works better for a couple of reasons. The obvious ones are that you're not using up your valuable data plan and can get FM out in the boonies where you can't even get cell, but also listening to FM apparently uses way less battery than streaming does.
Re:But why? (Score:2)
Because the circuitry required to utilize the shield (ground) wire on the headset as an FM antenna increases the ground impedance and causes left-right and capture-playback crosstalk. The latter can be fixed by the phone's echo canceler, but the former cannot.
That's why FM radio is mainly confined to lower-cost phones. Premium phone buyers tend to be more particular about the headset audio quality.
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Also, 92% of statistics are made-up.
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Partial list of FM-enabled Android phones/carriers (Score:5, Informative)
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Controlling your phone is the problem (Score:2)
The FM chip is a tiny part of it. Phones in general are just far too locked down and prevent people from controlling the way they work.
Safety... for the rich (Score:2)
In remarks made to the North American Broadcasters Association yesterday, Pai said that it's a public safety issue... Although Pai thinks smartphones should have the FM chip turned on, he doesn't think the government should mandate it: "As a believer in free markets and the rule of law, I cannot support a government mandate requiring activation of these chips. I don't believe the FCC has the power to issue a mandate like that, and more generally I believe it's best to sort this issue out in the marketplace."
It's a public safety issue, but it should be left to the marketplace, and if you can't afford an extra $10 per month for this "public safety" feature, then you deserve to die in an emergency?
Is there an app for that? (Score:3, Insightful)
Let people download an app and make up their own minds about FM. This whole 'the marketplace has decided' bullshit is often just cover for 'We have our reasons. Go away and stop bothering us.'
There are some subtle differences between broadcast FM and streaming content revenue models and middlemen. I wouldn't be surprised if the streaming proponents just want to steer the ad bucks their way. Follow the money.
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There are apps for that but where I am (Canada) the software support in the OS to use the radio is missing. At least that's what the NextRadio app is telling me...
S.A.M.E.? (Score:2)
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I just tried on my phone, no luck. I think the weather frequencies are VHF.
WX and BCB FMW (Score:3)
Broadcast FM in the US is 88-108 MHz. NOAA is generally around 162 MHz. It's quite a stretch for an analog tuner, pretty much requiring more hardware for filters and so on; for most SDRs that can already tune FM broadcast, these frequency ranges aren't really a lot different. For a dedicated digital receiver, it may not even be remotely possible.
So ultimately it depends on just how the phone is doing FM, and of course, if the software lets you do what you want to do.
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Wonder if this FM chip has the ability to tune to the NOAA weather frequencies?
Nope. They are just for FM. They're a common toss-in. For markets in the developing world where people still listen to the radio at times other than the commute, they make a lot of sense. I used the one in my Panamanian Nokia (that's where I bought it anyway) when I was down there, occasionally.
Ajit Pai sez... (Score:3, Informative)
My hands are tied - honestly! I just tied them myself!
He says he wants FM on all capable phones, and in the same breath says he doesn't "believe the FCC has the power to issue a mandate like that". Well, Ajit, you slimy fuck, I have news for you: your alleged belief doesn't mean shit, you do have the power, and any assertions you make to the contrary are simply inept and sophomoric bullshit politicking. Being a liar is bad enough - being incompetent at it is just diarrhea icing on the crapcake you're trying to get people to swallow.
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He can't require it any more than he can require a radio in every car sold. Yes, most cars have a radio, but it is not a legal requirement.
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Except he's 100% correct that such an order would exceed the authority of the FCC. Congress could do it, but the FCC cannot. And you should be THANKFUL for that fact, otherwise ATSC/HDTV tuners would all implement the "broadcast flag" and DVRs would be all but illegal. How soon we forget.
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start???
Dissonance (Score:2)
On the one hand, TFS quotes Pai as saying enabling the FM Radios is a "public safety issue". On the other hand, he says that the government has no place in dictating carriers turn the radio on.
Until the wireless carriers are going to provide an emergency-grade SLA in return for their oligopoly using public airwaves to make money, the government does have a mandate to make sure those carriers are acting in the public's, as well as their shareholders', interests.
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On the one hand, TFS quotes Pai as saying enabling the FM Radios is a "public safety issue". On the other hand, he says that the government has no place in dictating carriers turn the radio on.
Both are facts. They do not contradict each other.
the government does have a mandate to make sure those carriers are acting in the public's, as well as their shareholders', interests.
The government has no more authority to demand that cell phone companies provide you an FM radio than they do to require you to buy a cellphone that has one, or to buy a 72 hour kit, or to buy lots of other things. That's one reason why ACA was unconstitutional -- there is no authority in the constitution for the US government to force people to buy a commercial product -- and why it created a horrible precedent.
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Calling something a public safety issue doesn't not magically give the government authority. Forcing people to wear bubble-wrap suits would be a public safety issue, too. Do you really want to go there?
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Calling something a public safety issue doesn't not magically give the government authority. Forcing people to wear bubble-wrap suits would be a public safety issue, too. Do you really want to go there?
In this case, the government, on behalf, of the people, allocates a finite resource (bandwidth) to a small number of competitors (oligarchy). The government does indeed have a role in ensuring that these companies are acting in the public interest. Your analogy would apply more to something like seatbelts.
I want a god-damned pony... (Score:2)
but if I don't ever do anything to get one except tell people I should have one, I won't ever have one.
Pai will have about the same luck with his desire for FM radio on phones.
Re:So how is this any different than before? (Score:5, Insightful)
No, this is the free market working as intended, putting the consumer at the mercy of the corporations with no government protection whatsoever.
The BS about the free market solving problems by allowing consumers to choose better solutions is a fairy tale told to pacify everyone in the hopes that they won't wake up and realize that corporations collude with each other to maximize their ability to extract profit from consumers by making sure they don't have choices available.
Re:So how is this any different than before? (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, "free market" used this way is a glittering generality. Most people who use it aren't referring to the technical economic sense in which individual consumers and producers make consumption, production and pricing decisions autonomously. What they typically mean would be better described something in the direction of anarcho-capitalism, although many are somewhat selective in their application of that philosophy (e.g. they aren't for the free market determining the number of abortions performed, birth control pills dispensed, or marijuana grown).
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A little more subtle than that. Teamsters lightbul (Score:2)
The quote at bottom of Slashdot earlier today was:
How many teamsters does it take to change a lightbulb?
17, you got a problem with that?
The chairman has told the companies "I (who can royally fuck you over at my leisure) think you should enable the FM chip. I'm not going to waste my time with the whole bureaucratic rule making process for just this one thing right now, but I think it would be a good idea for you to enable it before I start on the next round of rules I put on you."
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The quote is now, "The best things in life are for a fee".
Also appropriate here.
That lightbulb is burnt out. (Score:2)
What about "I don't think I have the authority to make this decision" says to you that he's planning on exercising that authority in the future?
but I have the authority to kick you in the balls (Score:2)
Perhaps he's not going to force the issue, but if you're AT&T or Samsung and you're presented with an easy way to get on the FCC chairman's good side, you do it.
A more forceful way of saying the same thing would be:
I may not have the authority to force you to turn on the FM chip, but I do have the authority to kick you in the balls re spectrum allocation and a thousand other things you really care about.
Not that I'm saying he's making a statement quite that forceful. He's expressed an easy way for compa
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I understand what you're saying, but I think that a more literal interpretation will prove to be more correct. There are a great many people in this country whose belief in free market principles is absolute. I don't consider that to be a particularly sensible position, but many do, and his public statement aligns quite well with that viewpoint. I mean, call it a character flaw if you will, but I think he means what he says, in the sense that he will only use his statutory authority if compelled to. I don't
You may be right (Score:2)
You may well be 100% right.
> I mean, I'm sure I'm a terrible person, but surely everyone else can't be as bad as all that, right? :)
I'm naturally a bit of an asshole, so I work hard on being pleasant.
> that people will go along with it because it makes sense and he's asking nicely ... And I particularly try to be nice to my bosses, my wife, and one or two other people who can easily affect my life. So the two aren't mutually exclusive - perhaps he's asking nicely, amd CEOs know it's a good idea to b
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A large part of the problem is likely consumers just not knowing about it and the carriers not enabling the chips to drive business to their subscription services. A proper efficient market requires accurate information on both sides of the transaction.
Back when I had a Note 2 I hadn't even know it had come with an FM chip in it. After I found out I called Verizon to complain it wasn't enabled and their support in turn didn't even know anything except to tell me I need more data plan if I wanted to stream r
Re: So how is this any different than before? (Score:2)
He's an idiot.
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The ads are the best bit, you insensitive clod!
Re:Misguided priorities for sure (Score:5, Insightful)
You misunderstood shit.
The enabled FM chip could be insanely useful in case of a major catastrophe. You would be able to listen to information and instructions on the only device you're carrying with you at all times.
It's not about you using it more often, it's about it being there hen you need it most.
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Also amazingly useful for just having FM tuner. Listen to the news while you hike rather than only what you remembered to preload (I don't preload stuff on the phone, that's what an ipod is for). If I go jogging then it's nice to have the phone but I also have to carry around something else to listen to. And no I don't have a data plan that allows me to stream audio for free, and I am not always somewhere with good reception.
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Providing you happen to also be carrying headphones to act as the antenna... Providing there's actually meaningful updates converting somewhere.
Radio is generally accessible. If you were in a disaster and your only source of information were FM radio you would be listening to it anyway without your smartphone. Every car, every pub, most offices... Radios are everywhere.
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One could probably find a radio, but then you have to keep yourself in proximity to said radio. That is, if your most readily-accessible radio is in your car, it's bloody inconvenient to sit in the car just to listen to the radio (assuming you're not actively driving somewhere - sheltering in place). Restaurants, offices, ..., sure, they may have a radio, but you take it with you to go somewhere else? One person probably could, assuming it could be run on batteries, but that one pe
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on the only device you're carrying with you at all times.
Assuming that you also had your headphones with you, of course. And if people are expected to have ready access to headphones then they probably also have ready access to another radio.
Re:FM = clear channel (Score:5, Informative)
Not really. Find your local college radio station. They usually have diverse and interesting programming. I find most of my new music now adays from eclectic DJs on small university transmitters. And there are never any commercials on CBC radio. So you have options for sure.
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NPR.
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Install NextRadio Free and open it. I just tried it on my phone (Rogers in Canada) and the NextRadio app told me the FM chip was disabled. Or, more specifically, bits needed to use it in software weren't present.
Bastards.
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It depends upon the station. I listen to one in Ft. Bragg, California that has very few commercials (KOZT).
Streaming FM radio via TuneInRadio gives you the choice of listening to FM stations that aren't receivable in my area so I can pick ones that aren't cramming a lot of commercials down my throat.
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Oh sure, I would use the headphones on it. Without bluetooth how else would you listen to the phone without holding it to your ear? And no, I won't be using bluetooth.
Free market for unlocked phones (Score:2)
Its not a free market anywhere. The radio spectrum is very limited.
I thought there was a free market for phones that work with any major carrier's spectrum license, especially now that all four major U.S. carriers use LTE. LTE is patented but, as far as I'm aware, licensed under a uniform royalty regime.
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Yeah, I used to love that my N900 could both receive *and* transmit FM - you could use it as your personal FM radio station in the car.