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FCC Chairman Wants It To Be Easier To Listen To Free FM Radio On Your Smartphone (recode.net)
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."
It requires the use of wired earphones because the wire acts as the FM radio antenna. The FCC cannot change that.
If he's not changing policy, then its still just the free market at work. If the free market hasn't enabled FM receivers, that must mean that the free market won't enable FM receivers. The only conclusion I can draw from that is he says that the free market isn't implementing a feature he thinks is necessary - sounds like a failure of the free market to me.
Even if your phone has the FM Tuner built in (it's not true that all smartphones have one, BTW--I worked at a major phone manufacturer and some of ours lacked the chipset) you have to have headphones plugged in to make it work, as the headphones are used as the antenna.
There's at least one phone lacking that feature...
Hey, I like my AM stations better! Down with the FM bigots!
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
Carriers have little financial incentive to do so because they profit from streaming data, says Barry Rooke of the National Campus and Community Radio Association.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
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.
http://nextradioapp.com/suppor...
The ads are the best bit, you insensitive clod!
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
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.
That's fine in the Android space where there is some real competition, but it's not fine in the iOS space where Apple has a monopoly.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
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?
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.
Have gnu, will travel.
Wonder if this FM chip has the ability to tune to the NOAA weather frequencies? The GPS in the phone could be used to figure out the S.A.M.E. code and automagically tune to the correct freq and provide alerts when the cell towers are down???
Karma: Bad
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."
Sometimes streaming get erratic or just quits when I'm listening to some of my favorite commentators. Since the same show is broadcasted on AM I have turned to my radio to hear the rest of the program.
The quote is now, "The best things in life are for a fee".
Also appropriate here.
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
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?
Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.
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.
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
Big Brother would never use this to listen in on you.
Big Brother cares only that you can get radio FM signals on your cellphone.
We have always been at war with AM-Asia.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
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 companies to get on his good side. If you are a peon in the IT department of your company, and the director of manufacturing mentions that your cubicle sure is a mess, you probably tidy it up - even though he's not in your direct chain of command and won't officially order you to tidy up.
I agree, commercial radio is the best way to inform (and influence but we'll be positive today) the unwashed masses. That's why every disaster survival kit is meant to have a receiver, separate from a telephony/computing device and accepting 1.5 volt standard batteries. It's why cars should still receive the commercial FM band, not just digital audio: A large number of people will be in their car when disaster strikes.
I suspect he wants to revive the US emergency broadcast system as a state-controlled service and possibly, move Amber alerts to it. This will reduce the pressure on the digital communications network in times of disaster. The problems are two-fold: 1) The small batteries in modern phones, means reception is limited to about 12 hours; a fraction of the 168 hours (7 days) the government says it may take to save you and restore normal services (electricity, water, communication). 2) Most people don't carry the earbuds required for Phone radios to work, so several of them may need to be part of the disaster survival kit.
I would like to note that navigation devices such as radio beacons and radio compasses use the AM band.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai wants FM radio services in smartphones, and as head of the FCC he could do something about this. He won't do anything about this though because he doesn't believe in the FCC. So he's going to talk about the issue and issue soothing nostrums about consumer choice and the free market and rule of law.
Well, if those things were going to lead to FM radio services in smartphones, frankly it would have happened by now. Really, is there anything a smartphone doesn't do these days? Whip up a tasty latte? Hold your hand after a breakup? Keep the zombie invasion at bay? FM radio services are small potatoes compared to the other things smartphones do.
As my Father used to say, "eyewash". Pai wants to justify his salary and stay in the public eye. He'll be working for AT&T, or Comcast, or T-Mobile within 3 years, count on that. What he will do beyond that, will be nothing. Until then it's just collect some sweet government coin and become a "person of importance".
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.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
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.
'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
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).
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
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 necessarily think it's a bad managerial style, I just think that you have overstated the level of implied threat somewhat. I don't agree with his principles, but I do think that he has taken a principled stand on this issue and respect him for doing so. In point of fact, I would rather believe that he is doing this because he thinks it's the right thing to do and the right way to do it, and that people will go along with it because it makes sense and he's asking nicely, at least until some further hint of ill intent comes along. I mean, I'm sure I'm a terrible person, but surely everyone else can't be as bad as all that, right? :)
Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.
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.
As a potential lottery winner, I totally support tax cuts for the wealthy
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.
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.
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.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
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.
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 be nice to him. :)
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.
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.
NPR.
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.
Now that they are back, I wonder if FM will be enabled on them
The Apple iPod nano supports FM Radio
http://www.apple.com/ipod-nano...
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.
My Galaxy S2 had a FM radio in it with the proper app to use it, my Moto G2 also had it, my current Zenfone2 also has it. And they were all unlocked. You have to choose what you buy :)
"Science will win because it works." - Stephen Hawking
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 person is probably not you.
The beauty of unlocking the capability of your smartphone is that you are likely to have it on your person a lot of the time, and it is trivial to take with you.
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.
You're special forces then? That's great! I just love your olympics!
I must be one of the few who always carry headphones with them. I stream digital radio while commuting, that's every workday. During weekend the headphones stay in my pocket. :)
Pragmatically speaking, I would be better prepared than you in case of a zombie outbreak
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
I fail to understand the logic behind this...
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
None of these smart devices allow AM radio because everyone other than Peter Thiel in Silicon Valley wants anyone to listen to AM since most AM listeners are in Rush Limbaugh's audience.
Thanks, tech companies for your dystopian liberalism.
If we leave it up to free market, then when it comes time to check the radio for emergency evacuation information, those who picked up the "Cheap" hardware are going to experience Free Market Darwinism.
Just to recap:
Sadly, a Libertarian cannot force his views on another, and freedom cannot spread as does the cancer known as religion.
I do as well. But they are wireless.
http://freeradioonmyphone.org/
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