Mandatory FM radio on Smart Phones.

[TheBigA]

do you trust the cellphone companies   to make the access of fm reception on a cellphone free?i envision it being charged for .either extra money a month to get or  charge by usage.

The inclusion of FM would be something done by the manufacturer.  Not the carrier company.  FM would be a free feature like weather or anything else.

[Nick]

They should make it mandatory to include HD FM in smartphones. Insignia has shown that it is possible.

Perhaps they could also figure out a way to integrate streaming with HD radio, so that if the HD signal drops out, the stream fills in, and vice versa. It's already possible to instantly start a stream with no buffering.

[Casey]

Making HD radio mandatory for smart-phones is impossible, otherwise they would be trying to that instead of FM. They want mandatory HD radio in phones far more than plain old FM, but they cannot force the companies to pay the IBOC license fees. If it were an open standard, possibly they could. As is, they can't.

In a perfect world the streaming/HD radio hybrid would be great. Unfortunately, streams always have lag behind the actual broadcast. It would be extremely difficult to synchronize the HD/FM/stream. Not to mention bufferless streaming is not wise because without a buffer, the slightest drop in signal would render the stream gone. It is a great idea, but actual implementation would be very difficult.

Regardless, there have been rumors next gen Iphone/Ipod touch may have HD radio. Possibly even the nano. If that were to happen, HD radio usage would surge. However these rumors are nothing new and reappear every so many months. The fact that Apple did apply for patents relating to HD radio within the last 6-7 months does cause some reason to wonder though.

[radiosgalore]

how would that work? HD radio has to be fairly power hungry as the device has a CPU in it. Smart phones tend to have poor or average battery life as it is you add HD radio in there you'd be lucky to get 6 hours out of it let alone 12-18

[MattParker]

Agh!  If anybody wants HD radio on a smartphone, fine.  But why do you insist that it be mandatory?  I don't want it.  Why do you think I should have to have it (and pay for it)? 

Besides, streaming audio IS available and HD would just duplicate that.  So, what's the point?

All these different phone manufacturers and so many different phones.  Every possible combination of features is available.  Except HD radio.  Nobody is offering it.  There must be a reason.

[TheBigA]

Nobody is offering it.  There must be a reason.

It's obvious: licensing cost.  FM is free.

[KTN Corp]

Besides, streaming audio IS available and HD would just duplicate that.  So, what's the point?

The streaming audio won't work if the 3g is congested.  Analog FM should take some pressure off the 3g.  It doesn't make much sense to jam the internet for everyone else when an alternative is readily available.  There is no justification to stream low-fidelity KRTH over the Yahoo Music app in the car when you can tune into the hi-fidelity FM stereo signal.  (I won't listen to audio through my smartphone unless the fidelity is improved.)

We sugest inclusion of the seven weather channels between 162.4 and 162.55 MHz.
They do cover the vast majority of both area and population except for much of Alaska, which is unserved by FM stations, anyway.

Actually Weather should be mandatory in every AM/FM radio.  It's hard to find an AM/FM/Weather radio, much less a car radio.  (I believe there are 4 audio broadcasting services in the U.S.:  MW, SW, FM and Weather.)

[TheBigA]

Actually Weather should be mandatory in every AM/FM radio. 

The weather band is basically a US thing.  Radios today are built for an international market.  Not a practical idea.

[Casey]

I have honestly never found much use for the weather band, although my latest pocket radio (Sangean DT400W) has it built in. Works well too, but I rarely use it. I usually just use an AM radio if there is a weather emergency. I would support a mandate for it should it ever come up, because many people to depend on it. It would be similar to the DAB requirements in the UK. We do not have a DAB system here, yet they have AM/FM/DAB combination radios in the UK. I believe all radios in the UK will have or already have the requirement of DAB. In other countries they have AM/FM/DAB+ radios, why not more AM/FM/WX? Companies will target customers in regions with different products if they are required to do so. And so what if we get radios that also include a useless DAB feature or if they get radios that include a useless WX feature?

[MattParker]

I putting radios in phones is such a good idea, why force it on manufacturers and buyers?  Lots of phones out there with FM radios.  But the Phone Nazis among us want the government to force people to have one.