Lame attempt at sounding like a consumer advocate, when in reality most consumers aren't going to care about having an active FM reception on their smartphone. Maybe this guy should actually put some thought into why prices are so high in the U.S. for internet service. Could it be that the market isn't really all that competitive?
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FCC Chairman Encourages Activation of the FM Radio Receiver Built Into Your iPhone
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This is a good idea.
Here in the UK, if i want to listen to my local football match that is covered by my local BBC radio station, if i use the BBC iPlayer radio app, as soon as the match starts the commentary goes off due to broadcasting rights, i can only listen to the build up. So if my iphone had an FM transmitter activated i wouldn't have this problem.
It is crazy that i cant listen to it on the app when it is on a free radio channel anyway.
Here in the UK, if i want to listen to my local football match that is covered by my local BBC radio station, if i use the BBC iPlayer radio app, as soon as the match starts the commentary goes off due to broadcasting rights, i can only listen to the build up. So if my iphone had an FM transmitter activated i wouldn't have this problem.
It is crazy that i cant listen to it on the app when it is on a free radio channel anyway.
Doesn't Apple boast that they have the best engineers and design team in the world and all those great promotional videos for design, function and engineering. Are you telling me that they cannot find a solution, give me a break considering the focus on emojis, seriously.
But who wants beats? Its is only one view of music and every time I listened to it, it sucked.
Well...North America isn't a country, but if the FCC forced the carriers/Apple to turn on the FM module in the United States, you are correct, other countries might not get it turned on.
Indeed, it's so obvious that the FCC intends to screw over consumers by suggesting Apple allow their customers to do something already allowed by countless Android phones, and for free even! What Trumpian scheme are they cooking up?
In all seriousness, you posit that there's some kind of ulterior motive here that will benefit the government as opposed to the consumer, yet you decline to offer your own reasonable suggestion for this motive beyond your initial proposition that somehow FM radio will be used to track people.
Just because you do not care, does not mean others don't. He can have a priority list for things to be addressed, maybe the high internet price affects certain areas, maybe he is working on it and there are a few details that need to be ironed out before it is proposed. No one know, stop knocking a good idea.
They're compressing it wrong, but if it's coming from a satellite, it's going to be compressed harder than a Powerbar left under a dumpster full of concrete. Good FM sounds amazing, depending on where it sits in the FM "allocation" and it's not VBR. And running the audio signal through those Orban or CRL audio compressors don't hurt, either.
It doesn't matter how "good" your engineers are, there are some problems that just can't be overcome. Radio waves are immensely complicated. Besides, even if they could, is FM radio built into the phone really that important. Why waste the radio engineers time? I would rather have better cell/wifi reception. The fact that no one even makes a lightning FM radio tuner (which would be very easy to do) shows that there simply isn't a market for this when you can buy a FM/AM radio for next to nothing.
i was sure hoping we could politicize FM chips. Well done.
I'm not getting involved in politics here, I am just stating the folks they put in charge of the FCC seem to not really care about the consumer one iota. Shame on me that I have little faith in people who value money over everything else in life.
How can they track people via FM? No clue. Maybe not even possible, just a general distrust of people who again have put profits over everything else.
Actually, no. First these comments come speaking at a broadcasting symposium to broadcasters, not to a consumer rights group, and not as some priority project of his. They were a sentence amoung many others. Second, OTA can provide an important "life line" function during a major disaster where cell bandwidth might be restricted or compromised. FM is less likely to be jammed or taken over by first responders. It's fun I'm sure to knock it down as old fashioned. It may be, but it's tried and true, and typically available when other options are not.
As for cell plan prices in the U.S. actually a lot of the reason it's so expensive is because 1) its a big country with people living in all corners, 2) there is a lot of local regulation and process regarding where cell towers can be placed, 3) those towers have to be leased -- usually the cellcos do not own the land the towers sit on.
you can listen to free radio on iPhones right now. There are a bunch of apps that let users do just that.
So with the rumoured wireless charging, there is magically space in an iPhone and no interference with 3G/LTE/WiFi signals. I don't buy it, remember the "you are holding it wrong" quote. You have to think if it is free to the consumer what financial benefit does Apple have as a conflict of interest with Apple Music. Does Apple Music allow health and safety alerts and announcements on a municipal level. Again not buying it. Next up Apple enables this and your comments will be see its magical and Apple innovates. We should push Apple to be the best it can, rather than make excuses that they cannot. It will only benefit the consumer, unless you are against the consumer.
Affordable Android phones have this capability for years, are you telling me that Android engineers are able to do this under a budget and Apple cannot.
Don't forget, radio carries more than just music. You don't have to use it. Others might like the trade offs. Not everyone uses the same apps. I look at it like it is just another app. Why not have the choice?
Apple could use the headphone cable as an antenna, like everyone else has for 35+ years. Oh. Wait...
Gee, all those GREAT stations on FM! Piles and piles of crap, with advertising. But, that's Pai's point, right? Maybe he'd like an AM chip, so we can get Alex Jones and Limbaugh!
Like weather ISPs are snooping on our browsing/shopping habits to target adds ?
Wait he believes in free markets so he is abandoning this law so that IPSs can snoop on out browsing habits & send targeted adds and make money from advertisement.
People here are brainwashed, it is either Apples choice or no choice. Where Apple's choice is always the best and only choice and no choice is scary and deny that it is a bad idea out of fear.
People give me your money, I have some snake oil in a bottle with the Apple logo. It costs $100 USD.
There are some really great FM stations that Apple Music can't even compete with. If it really is the free market then let FM radio compete. Anything else is complete idiocy. Then again most who advocate no FM fall into that category. My old Nokia had FM radio and it was fantastic, miss that function. It's a really "nice to have" feature in addition to the rest of the mix.
Consumer law advocates, activate the FM chips!
Consumer law advocates, activate the FM chips!
Apple has their reasons as to why they haven't activated the FM radio.
Perhaps it's because they want to protect iTunes and Apple Music. Perhaps it's because they don't want to dedicate any resources to it. Doesn't matter what their reason is/are. It's not activated and probably never will be, unless they are forced to do so.
If having an FM radio is important to you, get one of the other 50+% of phones that have it unlocked.
If you want an FM capable iPhone, then send a suggestion to Apple. If enough people did the same, maybe Apple would dedicate some resources to it.
Perhaps it's because they want to protect iTunes and Apple Music. Perhaps it's because they don't want to dedicate any resources to it. Doesn't matter what their reason is/are. It's not activated and probably never will be, unless they are forced to do so.
If having an FM radio is important to you, get one of the other 50+% of phones that have it unlocked.
If you want an FM capable iPhone, then send a suggestion to Apple. If enough people did the same, maybe Apple would dedicate some resources to it.
