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Future Samsung Phones Will Have a Working FM Radio Chip (androidpolice.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the flip-of-a-switch dept.

A few months ago, LG announced a partnership with NextRadio to unlock the FM chip in its smartphones. Now, Samsung is doing the same. Android Police reports: NextRadio made the announcement, rightly explaining that FM radio is essential in areas with low connectivity and in emergency and disaster situations where a connection might be difficult to obtain or maintain and where access to information could be a matter of life and death. With the chip unlocked, users will be able to listen to local radio on their phone using the NextRadio Android app. The press release mentions that "upcoming [Samsung] smartphone models in the U.S. and Canada" will have the FM chip unlocked, however I did find several existing Samsung devices with their FM chip enabled on NextRadio's site.

27 of 215 comments (clear)

  1. antenna by mschoolbus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    for antenna, just plugin your headph..... crap.

    1. Re:antenna by olsmeister · · Score: 2

      Ummm...OK.

    2. Re: Antenna by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You obviously never had the experience of building a crystal radio as a kid

    3. Re:Antenna by Obfuscant · · Score: 2

      Walkman-type radios used the earphone wire as an antenna, which is probably what the phones are going to have to do.

      That's what they already do, if they have FM radio.

      The smallest workable AM antenna is a ~5 inch bar of iron with a super thin wire wound around it hundreds of times.

      Am I the only one old enough to remember car radios and the whip antennas they had, which provided AM coverage? I have an old car radio in my office right now that works fine with nothing more than a 3' piece of wire.

      The "magic" is that the impedance is very high with such a short antenna, so the radio has to be designed to deal with that.

      IF there were an AM radio chip that matched the size of the FM chips they have for cell phones, the earphone wire would work for that, too.

    4. Re:Antenna by JBMcB · · Score: 2

      Am I the only one old enough to remember car radios and the whip antennas they had, which provided AM coverage?

      The whip antennas were for FM coverage. Inside the head unit of the car radio is one of those bar-type AM radio antennas. I'm 100% sure because I used to work for a company that did TA/QA testing for car stereo systems.

      The "magic" is that the impedance is very high with such a short antenna, so the radio has to be designed to deal with that.

      Impedance doesn't matter. The length of the antenna needs to be an evenly divisible fraction of the wavelength of the middle of the band you wish to receive for optimal reception. For FM the shortest you can get away with is a few feet, which is the length of a whip antenna, or the wire for a pair of headphones. For AM it's several hundred feet.

      See here:
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      --
      My Other Computer Is A Data General Nova III.
  2. One Word: by no-body · · Score: 2

    Super!

    (Apart from that, why the FUCK was that locked in the first place and who was benefiting from that an/or who paid them to have it off ????)

    1. Re:One Word: by olsmeister · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think the carriers wanted people listening to streaming services using their data plans.

    2. Re:One Word: by fizzer06 · · Score: 2

      I went from a Samsung S4 to an LG G6 and it has a working FM radio as long as the headphones are plugged in. LG isn't Apple by any stretch, but it's still pretty big.

    3. Re:One Word: by kriston · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The real reason is less interesting. The FM radio needs a reasonably long antenna to work, so wired headphones are required. Market research supposedly showed that nobody wanted to have an FM radio in their mobile phone.

      Pretty much every mobile phone sold since the late 1990s has had a fully implemented, but disabled, FM radio chipset but no provisions for an antenna and no way to turn it on.

      --

      Kriston

    4. Re:One Word: by Narcocide · · Score: 2

      He's just astroturfing for them. If consumers in the US realized that everyone in other countries had native FM radio support in their cellphones all along and why that was the case, there would be massive outrage.

    5. Re:One Word: by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Seems to have been a US thing. A lot of phones released in Europe and the US differed in the mobile chipset (bands, GSM/CDMA) and that the FM radio was available here.

      More recently phones have had world band chipsets so Europe gets disabled FM as well.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  3. Yeah, well OK by willoughby · · Score: 3, Interesting

    That's nice but if the carriers disable it (I'm looking at you, Verizon) what's the point?

  4. Does NextRadio use the FM chip, or Wifi? by ClickOnThis · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I just tried it on my Samsung Galaxy S5, and it works, but it appears to be using WiFi. How do I know if it's using the FM chip?

    --
    If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    1. Re:Does NextRadio use the FM chip, or Wifi? by ClickOnThis · · Score: 4, Informative

      It turns out that the Samsung Galaxy S5's FM chip is supported by NextRadio -- provided your mobile provider hasn't disabled it. Mine has (Verizon.)

      There's more information on supported devices and networks here.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
  5. You could have AM radio. by fyngyrz · · Score: 4, Informative

    My Galaxy S7's FM radio has worked with NextRadio (FM broadcast band) for quite some time now. AM is possible, if they are so inclined to make that happen. Because...

    Also interesting is that for an FM radio to be practical, you need an antenna, and so far, that's been the wire to the earbuds / headphones, which is decently longish. So very likely implicit in this "there will be FM radio" lies an "there will be an audio jack", and also, "if we want AM radio, we can do it." Ever since low power software defined radio has been possible, this stuff can be done. Particularly in a high-power availability device like a cellphone. It can be done the old way, too, but not nearly as well.

    I suspect the whole "there will be FM" thing is known somewhat gleefully in the hallowed corporate halls at Samsung as "taking advantage of Apple's... courage."

    --
    I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    1. Re:You could have AM radio. by bobbied · · Score: 4, Informative

      Me thinks you severely underestimate the size of the required antennas. FM at about 100Mz has a wave length of about 3 meters and AM frequencies are between 400 and 500 meters. FM is doable in a cell phone's size but it's going to be a tight fit. AM is going to get pretty big and heavy pretty quick and I doubt that even a ferrite core antenna will make it in your average cell phone successfully. If you don't have some minimum fraction of a wavelength in your antenna, your receiver will pick up almost nothing so I'd expect that nifty AM receiver to struggle even if you have a 50KW station a mile away.

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    2. Re:You could have AM radio. by viperidaenz · · Score: 2

      As bobbied has already said, a 1/4 wavelength antenna length for FM is a bit less than a metre. A bit shorter than the average length of headphone cords. The shield of the headphone jack is connected via a low-pass filter so it can be used as an FM antenna.

      Trying to get a usable signal for a 525kHz carrier is going to be quite hard with a headphone lead sized antenna. It's a 570 metre wavelength. The top of the AM band isn't too much better at 180m. That's why portable AM radios use ferrite rod antennas.

    3. Re:You could have AM radio. by bobbied · · Score: 4, Informative

      For FM, sure, for AM? Not so much given the very long wavelength. But you also have to have a headphone jack, something not as common as it once was.

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
  6. Antenna by JBMcB · · Score: 2

    You can't fit a decent FM radio antenna inside a phone, especially if the case is metal. Walkman-type radios used the earphone wire as an antenna, which is probably what the phones are going to have to do. This means you'll have to have wired earbuds for the radio to work.

    The smallest workable AM antenna is a ~5 inch bar of iron with a super thin wire wound around it hundreds of times. You're *never* going to fit that into a modern cell phone.

    --
    My Other Computer Is A Data General Nova III.
  7. A bit late by nospam007 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Norway has already abandoned FM completely, the rest of Europe not far behind.

    1. Re:A bit late by zdzichu · · Score: 3, Informative

      Actually Norway was first, but there are dates set to sunset analog radio in most countries. IIRC around 2024 there would be no FM transmissions in Europe.
      Surprisingly, analog radio sunset is harder than move from analog to digital TV. TV switchover was much quicker, it was mostly done few years ago. But radio 1) is much easier and reliable to use in emergencies; 2) is used in many cars, and a car have about 15 years lifetime.

      --
      :wq
    2. Re:A bit late by Misagon · · Score: 4, Informative

      You are generalising. Introduction of DAB radio is not the same thing as choosing to abandon FM radio. Most of Eastern and Central Europe don't have any DAB broadcasts at all and most of the others are only doing trials.
      Sweden has decided not to discontinue FM radio broadcasts for the time being after strong objections from the Ministry of Defence (emergency broadcasts) and because of lack of customer demand for DAB radio.

      People tend to instead replace their FM radios with personalised streaming services on their cell phones, for which there is also more commercial interest.

      DAB does not offer any tangible benefits over mobile streaming and FM. In good conditions, DAB could provide either better audio quality or more channels than FM, but not both.
      In bad conditions, weak reception of emergency broadcasts over FM can still be intelligible where as the same over DAB would just cut off.

      --
      "We mustn't be caught by surprise by our own advancing technology" -- Aldous Huxley
  8. Full Pockets by dohzer · · Score: 2

    This would be really handy. If I want to listen to the radio commentary at my local sporting games, the streaming services are 30 - 60 seconds delayed.
    They force non-commercial broadcasters to route through their app if they want to stream, but delay it so you can't stream it "live" and commercial-free over the top of the TV broadcast.

    But the AM/FM broadcasts are instantaneous, so I always have a pocket AM/FM radio with me at the game.
    Carrying one less thing would suit me fine.

  9. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  10. Re:Wait I want AM radio by dryeo · · Score: 3, Informative

    Depends on how remote, at least during the day, using a standard radio. Where I am right now, I get a lot more FM signals then AM even though the transmitters are about as far away.
    If you're really remote, you should have a good multi-band radio, though I believe shortwave is being used less and less, a strong AM signal can cover a good chunk of the continent at night.

    --
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
  11. Re:But FM is being phased out by Doctor+Memory · · Score: 3, Informative

    Long-wave AM requires a long antenna to pull in a decent signal. It's a shame, but that's physics for ya.

    --
    Just junk food for thought...
  12. Korea - TV by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 2

    When I was in Seoul a few years ago I was surprised to learn that almost all smartphones in Korea include an integrated TV tuner, complete with antenna.

    This wasn't packet data carried over their data plans - This was OTA broadcast-TV.

    You could see all these people commuting on the train watching broadcast TV - Even on flip-phones.

    Picture:

    http://modernseoul.files.wordp...