And a ray gun!! Maybe even a light saber too!!
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Umm... iTunes was around then, Der!!!
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National Association of Broadcasters Again Urges Apple to Add FM Radio to iPhones
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And a ray gun!! Maybe even a light saber too!!
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Umm... iTunes was around then, Der!!!
Broadcast has been in a freefall since the consolidation strategies came into play; now a handful of companies own all the stations. The NAB is fighting to ensure that its membership remains relevant. One might think they have hitched their cart to the wrong stars; in any case, they've picked the wrong fight.
First of all if content is available today via any FM radio it's not An "outdated method of content dispersal", it's current and secondly no-one is suggesting "be able to force others", people are merely asking the question why not?, hey Apple are free to give their side of the issue.
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That may well be the case; but however you look at it it it's still financially free.
Yes, and Apple added an FM radio to the iPod nano during the iTunes Music Store heydays. You cannot get around the fact that the main reason the iPhone doesn't have FM functionality is that demand for it is simply too low. An iPod was much more limited in accessing content than the iPhone and thus an FM tuner added some noticeable additional capabilities which meant there was some demand for it. On the iPhone, the demand for it was imply not there.
The fallacy is making that assumption and basing things off of that. There are plenty of people that use radio on a daily basis while they rarely use a flashlight.
Don’t give the FCC any ideas or they might just do it... Federal regulators work on the idea of “wouldn’t it be cool if” and then force everyone to comply with their inane ideas no matter how insane or impractical.
If the FCC wants all phones to have an FM tuner, then all phones will have an FM tuner. As far as regulatory is concerned, this seems like a very modest and doable request. They should just be thankful that the FDA hasn’t dropped the hammer on them for selling an unregistered medical device (Apple Watch).
sounds like they want more listeners because radio is a dying industry
And CarPlay / Android Auto are vastly diminishing their commuter market. (think the only time anyone tunes to radio is to check on traffic - and it's just a matter of time until all markets have that built into Google/Apple maps).
The FCC would need to mandate this for all handheld makers to be fair. I'm sure Apple could use some of the pins on the lightning cable to make a wired pair of headphones work (as you need a decent antennae). But, you'll always get thousands of people bitching that they can't do it with their AirPods. (how many calls do you think they'll get over that?) A feature that will do nothing but cost them money.
Anyone that actually gives a rats ass about FM...listen to it in your vehicle, buy yourself a transistor radio that takes a couple AA's and leave the smartphone market alone.
The FCC would need to mandate this for all handheld makers to be fair. I'm sure Apple could use some of the pins on the lightning cable to make a wired pair of headphones work (as you need a decent antennae). But, you'll always get thousands of people bitching that they can't do it with their AirPods. (how many calls do you think they'll get over that?) A feature that will do nothing but cost them money.
Anyone that actually gives a rats ass about FM...listen to it in your vehicle, buy yourself a transistor radio that takes a couple AA's and leave the smartphone market alone.
Ironic that the source of fake news can't realize there is NO WAY to enable this radio feature. Their avoidance of facts is disturbing and hits across many levels. It's like asking why an iPhone isn't a cow.
It is sad that there are few smartphones that include a 1seg tuner, at least outside Japan.
They want the subscribers yes and I have the sense that they are also biased against radio the same way they’re biased at 1/8” jacks. Except this bias is radio is cheap, a plebe feature you’d find on a lesser phone. You can’t control radio. It’s for the passive.
I have a Galaxy S7, and even with the 3.5mm jack and wired headphones, the radio reception is HORRIBLE. If you live near a radio station, it might come in, but where I live almost nothing comes in on the S7, while many stations come in on an actual, dedicated FM radio. You need a lot of metal in the air in order to get good reception, and there’s nowhere to put that in a phone. Cars have massive antennas embedded in the rear window glass, and thus can pick up stations much farther away. I like the *idea* of FM radio in a phone, but the physics just don’t pan out. Terrestrial radio has its place, but it’s not going to work well on a phone.
Have you used a portable radio? I don't know where you live, but the wire in a headset is plenty to pick up radio effectively. Works fine on my Note 8.
As a step back, and to hopefully mitigate some of the idiotic comments in this thread, here is a short explanation of why radio is used in emergencies. https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/9/1...ergency-broadcasts-storms-hurricane-explained
If you want to come up with edge cases, political comments, or cute comebacks... whatever. The reality is that most don't think about this stuff until the worst happens and they will be the first to whine that the government didn't save them. If FM isn't the solution, then there should be something else put into the device that everyone keeps with them, that works well in worst case disasters. FM, is low hanging fruit because its already in most smartphones... except in the case when a company like Apple courageously removes it, along with a feature that is useful to many users.
No, a crappy half-functional radio is worse than no radio at all. That would result in "hey why didn't it work? I was expecting it to work!" Can't you see why that's a problem? It's expectation. And physics. The FM frequency is of a certain size wave height requiring antenna to receive that waveform. See the one there on your car sticking up? Yeah that. As another poster wrote, the old Nano antenna was the headphone wire itself. This just isn't going to work on iPhones or iPads.
You'd think the FCC would understand how the first *C* works...
While I agree with your sentiment, I find it ironically hilarious that the article you linked has a massive mistake in it...
"The NOAA uses low-frequency radio’s ability to travel long distances to its advantage. It broadcasts on an even lower frequency than AM radio, between the 162.400 MHz and 162.550 MHz frequencies."
Wow. Just... Wow
It would actually be easier for Apple to integrate a NOAA-only receiver into the phones as a way to appease the FCC, not compete with iTunes / Apple Music, and because it is HIGHER frequency than AM and FM stations, it would mean smaller components in the phone.
In return, they could say "Okay FCC, we have installed the ability to hear nationally broadcast weather for free. Now, it's your turn to put emergency alerts on those channels in times of dire danger."
Problem. Solved.
I'm sorry but this is a simple case of the 80/20 rule in effect. Apple isn't going build a feature that requires more effort than market return, it's simple ROI. Besides, Amazon sells FM radios for less than $15.
https://www.amazon.com/Rolton-Porta...keywords=fm+radio&refinements=p_36:1253503011
If people living in rural areas or areas where bad weather is guaranteed (see any where in Florida or any coastal city), then they should be prepared. It's not Apple's job to do that for them, it's they're choice to live in these areas.
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You should look at how small a fm radio can be. One is a few atoms. Power draw is very very low. And on any phone the power cable could be used easily for a antenna not just headphones. It would literally cost pennies to add fm radio to a phone. People didn't ask for a fm radio on the many Android phones but it is there.
It absolutely is outdated and poised to be disrupted out of existence. Check out Arbitron, terrestrial broadcast has been on a steady downward slide since the early 80s and dropping off faster with adoption of streaming services. As connected in car infotainment systems continue to gain ground that's going to continue the death spiral for broadcast. This has NAB in panic mode and why they are taking these types of actions.
And they're not "merely asking the question." Lobby groups don't simply ask questions via press releases, they are attempting to put pressure. They are also putting efforts via the FCC to attempt to regulate their existence in mobile devices as well. If you think they don't want to force this into existence using any means at their disposal you are naive.
For 5 dollars you could get a external battery also. Then you could recharge your phone and radio at once
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Why not increase the price of a iPhone by a few pennies and you can use the battery already in your phone that is probably waterproof as well? And people who complain that it will add bulk to a phone has no clue how small they can be. World record is a few atoms thick. And the power draw will be minimal much less than wifi or Bluetooth being on.
Irrelevant to my post.
I specifically referenced both headphone and power cables being leveraged as an antenna.
I get the sense that you don't even bother to read my post before replying.
BTW, how's using a power cord for an antenna work with Qi charging?
This is not that difficult to understand. Do you understand the function of public safety? There are things that are done without an ROI, and in the case of Apple its clear that if the government wants this to happen they will have to force them to do it, which they can certainly do. You can't leave everything up to the public, or when disaster strikes other people will end up spending money and risking their lives to save idiots. And you can surely say, "they weren't prepared, so let them die.", but no one is going to do that. There are some basic public safety things that need to be in place, and this is one of the functions of the government to carry out.
If its not FM, then it should be something. Like said, most phones have FM because its already part of the chipset they are using for the radio. Apple has just gone out of their way to not make it usable. And there was no ROI involved in that, it was the stupid and courageous removal of the headphone jack.
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Umm why would half of what your talking about even matter? You still have a port on your phone where you could add a antenna. Phones have had Qi charging and a fm radio for a while.
Let's summarize every complaint so far. People don't listen to fm radio, it will take up battery space, it will use up the battery, no headphone jack so can't have a antenna, to many ads on radio, they have cell service so no need for a fm tuner. And you are worried about Qi charging and getting a fm signal?
Every complaint about having a fm tuner in a phone is a non issue. Very little battery use, won't add bulk, and even works with Qi charging.
But if Apple had added a fm tuner before anyone else it would be groundbreaking on here and magical. It's just a fm tuner that could use anything you plug in for a antenna. You already have all of the other components for a radio. Why buy another dedicated radio when for pennies Apple could add it? Won't take up any space, will use zero battery unless on and even then uses very little.
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