The Hidden FM Radio Inside Your Pocket, And Why You Can't Use It - Page 4

PandathePanda · 04-25-2015, 12:50 AM

Heard quite a few Cell Adverts for different networks here the last few days, and every one states the FM radio as an "selling" point From your ultra cheap phones to the "new" Galaxy S6.

TechniSol · 04-25-2015, 01:52 AM

I could imagine a ferrite loop stick antenna would take up a lot of space and be quite heavy in something as small and light as a modern cell phone and the AM signal would be hopelessly full of noise due to the proximity of various busses, CPU & memory clocks, etc. I imagine it would be a nightmare to incorporate such a feature and loose all that noise simply because of the decoding method and harmonics and proximity to the noise sources. FM is just much simpler to implement. Why it's not is probably based on cost, and no return for carriers -this is business kiddies. Corporate Voice: Why should we spend a penny to give someone access to an ad supported service they don't need and "we" don't make a profit from?

Back in the day, somewhere between the end of the dinosaurs and cell phones the size of lunch pails -near the discovery time of easily reproduceable fire, we used to play rudimentary "tunes" on an AM radio by controlling the length of loops and inserting waits or NOPs in machine code to produce various frequencies and "notes" before sound chips and sound cards came along... Yes, at times we were all hopelessly lame nerds, but we had fun and learned about how things actually work at the core level.

It was a lot more fun about a year or so later when I secured the parts and built an allophone based speech synthesizer which had an oddly scottish "accent."

Rich_D · 04-25-2015, 12:13 PM

My Blu LifePlay X has an FM radio app. It comes in handy during baseball season. I can listen to the broadcast of my home team without paying for MLB online access.

Teknikal · 04-26-2015, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TechniSol

FM is just much simpler to implement. Why it's not is probably based on cost, and no return for carriers -this is business kiddies

The thing about that is though sometimes the same phone will have the FM radio in UK/Europe but the same hardware in the US has the FM radio missing.

I'm pretty sure I read a post somewhere of it working fine on the US G3 as an example once they had gotten their hands on the LG radio app the carriers had removed.

Truthfully nearly all expensive phones with the exception of the iPhone usually have the radio enabled in europe and japan (sometimes they even get TV tuners built in). I think it's safe to say the OEM's make them with working radios and the American carriers are the ones going out of their way to disable them and taking the software out

TechniSol · 04-26-2015, 11:49 PM

Like I said before, no return for carriers... Plus, if they have to pay for the FCC testing then why require additional testing for features they don't care about. You're getting into areas where a fraction of a cent per unit adds up in quantity... It may also come down to fact that the actual software is carrier dependent and they may drop apps to make more space for the "bloatware" that probably helps pay the bills. I'm sure they get compensated in some manner for every hunk of bloatware present even if it doesn't provide a direct and ongoing revenue stream through data or additional subscriptions.

Further, FM doesn't always work the greatest depending on terrain, large structures, etc. Why present a great phone and then take the chances of someone remarking/reviewing badly about the FM radio's quality when it's a feature they never really wanted to include?

Personally, I think it's more the extra code space, the need to maintain it, the lack of return, etc. all combined with the fact that if you're using more data to stream radio they potentially stand to make more money. If I called US carriers GREEDY it would be a massive understatement -the communications industry and the insurance industry both are in need of intense scrutiny. My cell bill through AT&T was over $100 a month until I went through NET10. I pay under $50 a month now with unlimited talk & text & 2.5 or 3GB(I think they upped the cap a while back) a month of 4G data and I'm still using AT&T's towers and get exactly the same coverage as before... Bear in mind, AT&T is still making money, NET10 is making money, and my bill is literally half what it was! GREED, GREED, GREED!

wodin · 04-27-2015, 01:24 PM

There is at least one free app in the Android Play store (NextRadio) that enables the FM chip in supported phones.

Disclaimer; I have no affiliation with NextRadio, nor have I tested it for functionality.

theducks · 04-27-2015, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TechniSol

My cell bill through AT&T was over $100 a month until I went through NET10. I pay under $50 a month now with unlimited talk & text & 2.5 or 3GB(I think they upped the cap a while back) a month of 4G data and I'm still using AT&T's towers and get exactly the same coverage as before... Bear in mind, AT&T is still making money, NET10 is making money, and my bill is literally half what it was! GREED, GREED, GREED!

I was with Verizon for 10 years @ $50/mo for Local only (2 phones) and Peak/off peak games.
Tracfone (same parent as Net10). $100/YEAR 1 phone, Nationwide, no time restrict. 2 yearly phones for 4 month of the biggies

IIRC The manufacturer does the FCC testing once per, as long as the electronics is the same. The test would include all modes.

Digital FM receivers would fall under Part 68, the same as your computer
(there is no cert for Analog FM tuners)

Ghitulescu · 04-28-2015, 03:12 AM

I have seen rarely that a stupid article makes so much noise - type in FM radio cellphone in google and see how many fora are contaminated with.

Why stupid? Because it is known. Imagine an article disclosing that politicians are legally paid to implement laws contrary to those that voted them into that position of decision. It's the same thing, these things are known but ignored until someone connects the dots in a newspaper manner

Since early '90ies the companies intentionally worsen the bottom line products. Does any of (European-based) you remember the MiniDV case? When the camcorders have been software-disabled to reject DV-IN? Or for the exact reason, almost no photocamera sold within EU can record more then 30 min of video?

So what if a cellphone doesn't have FM? It was never designed to have one. FM was a bonus for portables, not a design feature. Besides, FM reception works best only in cities (and not even there), as the FM part is extremely rudimentary and less sensitive than a real standalone or even a portable radio. Besides, radio today air only commercials that are sometimes interrupted by news and snippets of music.

Ekaros · 04-28-2015, 08:08 AM

The chip is probably same and has the option for FM radio. Lot is done with software nowadays and as such the option exist in there. What is probable is that there is some marginal cost to license the use of that FM feature from chip manufacturer. And as we talk of hundred of thousands or millions of devices few tens of cents per chip start to add up and it really isn't that selling feature.

So chip makers charge extra for use of FM and some companies don't want to pay for it...

tompe · 04-28-2015, 11:28 AM

I think the real issue is the antenna and poor reception and that people will complain abou t poor reception. And the reviews will mention "poor FM radio" and so on.

GlenBarrington · 04-28-2015, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shane R

Probably a battery life issue. No need to look for conspiracies where they don't exist.

It is the nature of conspiracies to have minimal to no evidence concerning them just laying about. We can't find conspiracies if we don't look for them! I know my ancient Motorola X and X2 had them (and battery life was fairly good, while my later Droid Bionic (terrible battery life) and my Galaxy S5 (battery life dependent on os version!) do not.

The FM radios SEEM to have been phased out at Verizon about the time Pandora and other online audio services started up. This is more than enough coincidence for me.

GlenBarrington · 04-28-2015, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ghitulescu

So what if a cellphone doesn't have FM? It was never designed to have one.

Clearly if there IS one in most cell phones but it is turned OFF, that would make your statement false.

tubemonkey · 04-28-2015, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wodin

There is at least one free app in the Android Play store (NextRadio) that enables the FM chip in supported phones.

Disclaimer; I have no affiliation with NextRadio, nor have I tested it for functionality.

I use NextRadio on my LG Volt and it works great. I haven't had any issues with it so far.

piper28 · 04-28-2015, 11:43 PM

Personally I'm getting annoyed at all the ads that have been on the radio talking about this. They're either playing off disasters and how having the chip enabled might have saved people, or they're the annoying one with skipping audio. They're annoying enough that I woudn't really want to deal with enabling the radio just so I can listen to more of these ads.

Jessica Lares · 04-29-2015, 04:15 PM

I use the FM radio on my iPod Nano. But the real reason it's on there is because Apple wants you to tag stuff you like, hook it up to iTunes, and then buy the songs in question from the store. Very clever.

It was enabled on my Android phone too, and then my Windows Phone. Neither are that great, except that the Android app let me type custom names for the stations.

It's such in poor taste to tell people that having it on your smartphone would save your life though. Your phone won't last three days on battery. This is a situation where you need a proper radio and a case of AA batteries to get through it.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
IMG inside SVG inside TD?	Kasper Hviid	Sigil	4	05-25-2014 06:57 AM
Do you ever use the inside pocket of ereader case?	Chi Cygni	General Discussions	56	04-08-2014 06:16 PM
Photos Inside the Pocket eDGe	rvcullen	enTourage eDGe	9	05-10-2011 04:57 PM
Photos Inside the Pocket eDGe	rvcullen	enTourage Archive	13	05-08-2011 11:05 AM
Does anyone have Pocket Pro and Sony Pocket?	Davimee	Astak EZReader	10	05-05-2010 11:20 PM

04-25-2015, 12:50 AM	#46
PandathePanda a toy panda Posts: 2,568 Karma: 26020474 Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Onboard the Queen Anne's Revenge Device: Various Android dvices	Heard quite a few Cell Adverts for different networks here the last few days, and every one states the FM radio as an "selling" point From your ultra cheap phones to the "new" Galaxy S6.

04-25-2015, 01:52 AM	#47
TechniSol GranPohbah-Fezzes r cool! Posts: 1,056 Karma: 3151024 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Nook STRs, Kobo Touch, Kobo Glo	I could imagine a ferrite loop stick antenna would take up a lot of space and be quite heavy in something as small and light as a modern cell phone and the AM signal would be hopelessly full of noise due to the proximity of various busses, CPU & memory clocks, etc. I imagine it would be a nightmare to incorporate such a feature and loose all that noise simply because of the decoding method and harmonics and proximity to the noise sources. FM is just much simpler to implement. Why it's not is probably based on cost, and no return for carriers -this is business kiddies. Corporate Voice: Why should we spend a penny to give someone access to an ad supported service they don't need and "we" don't make a profit from? Back in the day, somewhere between the end of the dinosaurs and cell phones the size of lunch pails -near the discovery time of easily reproduceable fire, we used to play rudimentary "tunes" on an AM radio by controlling the length of loops and inserting waits or NOPs in machine code to produce various frequencies and "notes" before sound chips and sound cards came along... Yes, at times we were all hopelessly lame nerds, but we had fun and learned about how things actually work at the core level. It was a lot more fun about a year or so later when I secured the parts and built an allophone based speech synthesizer which had an oddly scottish "accent."

04-25-2015, 12:13 PM	#48
Rich_D Fanatic Posts: 581 Karma: 1314896 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Pittsburgh, PA USA Device: Android phone, Kobo Glo HD, nook ST with Glo (backup)	My Blu LifePlay X has an FM radio app. It comes in handy during baseball season. I can listen to the broadcast of my home team without paying for MLB online access.

04-26-2015, 11:49 PM	#50
TechniSol GranPohbah-Fezzes r cool! Posts: 1,056 Karma: 3151024 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Nook STRs, Kobo Touch, Kobo Glo	Like I said before, no return for carriers... Plus, if they have to pay for the FCC testing then why require additional testing for features they don't care about. You're getting into areas where a fraction of a cent per unit adds up in quantity... It may also come down to fact that the actual software is carrier dependent and they may drop apps to make more space for the "bloatware" that probably helps pay the bills. I'm sure they get compensated in some manner for every hunk of bloatware present even if it doesn't provide a direct and ongoing revenue stream through data or additional subscriptions. Further, FM doesn't always work the greatest depending on terrain, large structures, etc. Why present a great phone and then take the chances of someone remarking/reviewing badly about the FM radio's quality when it's a feature they never really wanted to include? Personally, I think it's more the extra code space, the need to maintain it, the lack of return, etc. all combined with the fact that if you're using more data to stream radio they potentially stand to make more money. If I called US carriers GREEDY it would be a massive understatement -the communications industry and the insurance industry both are in need of intense scrutiny. My cell bill through AT&T was over $100 a month until I went through NET10. I pay under $50 a month now with unlimited talk & text & 2.5 or 3GB(I think they upped the cap a while back) a month of 4G data and I'm still using AT&T's towers and get exactly the same coverage as before... Bear in mind, AT&T is still making money, NET10 is making money, and my bill is literally half what it was! GREED, GREED, GREED!

04-27-2015, 01:24 PM	#51
wodin Illiterate Posts: 10,279 Karma: 37848716 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: The Sandwich Isles Device: Samsung Galaxy S10+, Microsoft Surface Pro	There is at least one free app in the Android Play store (NextRadio) that enables the FM chip in supported phones. Disclaimer; I have no affiliation with NextRadio, nor have I tested it for functionality.

04-28-2015, 03:12 AM	#53
Ghitulescu Fanatic Posts: 563 Karma: 403106 Join Date: Aug 2014 Device: PRS-T1	I have seen rarely that a stupid article makes so much noise - type in FM radio cellphone in google and see how many fora are contaminated with. Why stupid? Because it is known. Imagine an article disclosing that politicians are legally paid to implement laws contrary to those that voted them into that position of decision. It's the same thing, these things are known but ignored until someone connects the dots in a newspaper manner Since early '90ies the companies intentionally worsen the bottom line products. Does any of (European-based) you remember the MiniDV case? When the camcorders have been software-disabled to reject DV-IN? Or for the exact reason, almost no photocamera sold within EU can record more then 30 min of video? So what if a cellphone doesn't have FM? It was never designed to have one. FM was a bonus for portables, not a design feature. Besides, FM reception works best only in cities (and not even there), as the FM part is extremely rudimentary and less sensitive than a real standalone or even a portable radio. Besides, radio today air only commercials that are sometimes interrupted by news and snippets of music.

04-28-2015, 08:08 AM	#54
Ekaros Illiterate newbie Posts: 661 Karma: 1702090 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Finland Device: Sony PRS-T1	The chip is probably same and has the option for FM radio. Lot is done with software nowadays and as such the option exist in there. What is probable is that there is some marginal cost to license the use of that FM feature from chip manufacturer. And as we talk of hundred of thousands or millions of devices few tens of cents per chip start to add up and it really isn't that selling feature. So chip makers charge extra for use of FM and some companies don't want to pay for it...

04-28-2015, 11:28 AM	#55
tompe Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,452 Karma: 7185064 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Linköpng, Sweden Device: Kindle Voyage, Nexus 5, Kindle PW	I think the real issue is the antenna and poor reception and that people will complain abou t poor reception. And the reviews will mention "poor FM radio" and so on.

04-28-2015, 11:43 PM	#59
piper28 Zealot Posts: 113 Karma: 1178328 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: none	Personally I'm getting annoyed at all the ads that have been on the radio talking about this. They're either playing off disasters and how having the chip enabled might have saved people, or they're the annoying one with skipping audio. They're annoying enough that I woudn't really want to deal with enabling the radio just so I can listen to more of these ads.

04-29-2015, 04:15 PM	#60
Jessica Lares Wizard Posts: 2,240 Karma: 5759170 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Near Dallas, Texas, USA Device: iPad Mini, iPod Touch (5th gen)	I use the FM radio on my iPod Nano. But the real reason it's on there is because Apple wants you to tag stuff you like, hook it up to iTunes, and then buy the songs in question from the store. Very clever. It was enabled on my Android phone too, and then my Windows Phone. Neither are that great, except that the Android app let me type custom names for the stations. It's such in poor taste to tell people that having it on your smartphone would save your life though. Your phone won't last three days on battery. This is a situation where you need a proper radio and a case of AA batteries to get through it.

Advert

Advert