Next-Generation iPhone Theoretically Capable of FM Radio Reception and Transmission?

[William Gates]

It's really only the new Mercedes' and Lexus' (Lexi? ) that are starting to have that. Aftermarket stereos have had the functionality for YEARS, but factory systems are always nearly a decade behind (I remember how maybe a year or two back many manufacturers were making a big deal out of their cars' stereos being able to play these crazy things called MP3's... Whilst aftermarket, even dirt cheap aftermarket, stereos were doing that since the late 90's...

Yeah, I actually had one of the first aftermarket stereos that had mp3 capabilities, but that was two cars ago for me. Is it really that hard to put a USB port in the dash and be done with it?

 

[eagle12]

Not all of us are so fortunate. I have an '05 Trailblazer with no bluetooth, not everyone who has an iPhone is driving a car that is 3 years old or newer. And for the people saying they shouldn't add it...It's going to be in there regardless, it's apart of the chip functionality, why not activate it?

Oh, it will decrease battery life you say? Well, it won't decrease yours if you don't use it, let me use my battery life the way I please.

Amen.

The FM would be a great addition in my opinion. I would love to be able to transmit audio to my car stereo.

 

[Xenious]

Dear lord please do not give the car manufactures an opportunity to NOT put in ipod integration. FM transmission of ipod audio to a stereo is crap.

 

[ivladster]

It could also be used to locate where you are without GPS. It could also be used for time sync.

Yep and also let US Government know where someone is at all times. =) LOL

 

[199708]

I sure do hope the battery will be a big improvement over the old one.

 

[William Gates]

Remember FM transmitters for phones are low energy and hence very low quality. A2DP is a much better option.

I agree, but I do not have bluetooth in my car. I know I'm not in the minority. Good business says to make your products capabilities available to as many people as possible. I know Apple doesn't follow this for the most part, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[Stormbringer]

IMO what they really need to add is a compass. Google Maps would be a hell of a lot more useful if after locating myself with GPS, I could tell which direction I'm facing. If you're in an area you don't know and there aren't any street signs then its easy to walk in the wrong direction for a minute or so until you can see that you're gps dot is going the wrong way.

I agree!

My no.1 wanted feature is a LED (or three, like my K850i). There are times I use it more often than my camera!

And I don't give a #$%^ about radio, as I never listen to it. I even hope they won't implement it, so that the OS will be cleaner and the device lighter!

 

[Alisstar]

Is there anything the new iPhone hasn't got?!

The ability to flush toilets handsfree 

 

[Apple Ink]

The ability to flush toilets handsfree 

I'd appreciate that actually!

 

[William Gates]

And I don't give a #$%^ about radio, as I never listen to it. I even hope they won't implement it, so that the OS will be cleaner and the device lighter!

So because you don't want it and never use it they shouldn't allow anyone to have it. That sounds like communism to me. They're not going to include this as an app in OS 3.0, we know that already. The voice memo app is the only new app that is going to be included in 3.0. They could (and should) release an app in the app store that utilizes the functionality. And seriously, how much of a difference will adding the FM functionality make in terms of performance and storage space?

 

[cmichaelb]

You probably ment Adam Curry

No Agenda ftw!

 

[Constable Odo]

I'm sure the FM stuff will remain proprietary. Apple doesn't seem to care much for FM music radios because they seem to be contrary to the point of downloading music from iTMS. I know you can listen to internet music stations on iTMS, but the fact is you still need to go through iTMS and maybe you'll stop and buy something.

I'm sure there will be a number of hardware features disabled on the iPhone. I guess that's just the way Apple does things. I'm used to it by now and wouldn't waste my energy bitchin' about it. I think it's less important of how many features are offered and more important how well the features you do have are implemented for usability.

Damn, I'm such an Apple fanboi. I'm sure whatever Apple allows as far as features are concerned on the iPhone, it will sell in huge numbers. Hurry up with iPhone 3, already.

 

[SwiftLives]

Screw FM. I want the new iPhone to have CB capabilities!

 

[3NV7]

If they *do* add it, it will be about 8 years too late. FM reception made much more sense at the beginning of the iPod's life.

 

[zombitronic]

IMO what they really need to add is a compass. Google Maps would be a hell of a lot more useful if after locating myself with GPS, I could tell which direction I'm facing.

That's the first step towards augmented reality. After we get a digital compass, (horizontal and vertical,) the iPhone is pretty much AR ready. Imagine this:

You enter some directions in your iPhone. From the Maps app, there's a new button to "Show Destination Marker in Camera," or something like that. When you touch this, the Camera app opens. To the left or right on the screen are arrows to show you which way you need to aim the camera to see the destination. Through the display, you see the marker floating in the air in the distance above the destination.

This can all be done with GPS and a compass. GPS gets your coordinates and matches them to your point of view in the camera. Using the compass and data from Maps, the camera knows which direction to display the marker.

Then all we need is LIDAR and a stereo camera to judge distance to display augmented reality images in relation to their real world surrounding. That'll be in the $1999 iPhone.

 

[madman365]

Forget FM...where's the XM?

Yeah, I herd a rumor a while back about an XM application being used on the iphone for people who are already subscribers. Who wants FM? Bring me XM Sirius...something I have ALWAYS wanted on my iPhone/iPod.

 

[t0mat0]

That's the first step towards augmented reality. After we get a digital compass, (horizontal and vertical,) the iPhone is pretty much AR ready. Imagine this:

You enter some directions in your iPhone. From the Maps app, there's a new button to "Show Destination Marker in Camera," or something like that. When you touch this, the Camera app opens. To the left or right on the screen are arrows to show you which way you need to aim the camera to see the destination. Through the display, you see the marker floating in the air in the distance above the destination.

This can all be done with GPS and a compass. GPS gets your coordinates and matches them to your point of view in the camera. Using the compass and data from Maps, the camera knows which direction to display the marker.
Then all we need is LIDAR and a stereo camera to judge distance to display augmented reality images in relation to their real world surrounding. That'll be in the $1999 iPhone.

Don't even have to go that far - there's already been an apparent siting of ordinal direction hinting at the use of a compass in OS 3.0, hinting that like the Android, there will be direction sensing.

Look at ENkin (which might have been bought out - they've gone off the radar) or Tonchidot.

That's why Panoramio, Latitude, StreetView are so interesting. DOn't need LIDAR as you know the bigger points of reference on a map - have there location, have your GPS location ==> distance.

It's called the next iPhone, in all likelihood - that or an upcoming Android - there are already prototypes, but like Gomite etc - the companies doing this tech have gone off the radar :/

 

[ZunePod]

I think I already found this out first:

http://www.ipodtouchfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=165222

(if you scroll down to Bluetooth)

This was submitted a week ago

 

[ilfn143]

Is there anything the new iPhone hasn't got?!

IR - would be cool to have an app that control my tv

 

[G4R2]

Simply because the chip supports it should not be meant to signify that Apple will enable it. The chips that are the brains in most iPods, for instance, have photo editing abilities among other functions that go unused by Apple's software.

I would speculate, given Apple's practices, that this feature will be highly controlled by Apple in a way that squeezes as much money out of licensing fees as possible while balancing the focus Apple has on keeping its products uncluttered.

 

[Jimmy James]

IR - would be cool to have an app that control my tv

Actually, that would be useful. One device to rule them all.

 

[lftrghtparadigm]

Dear lord please do not give the car manufactures an opportunity to NOT put in ipod integration. FM transmission of ipod audio to a stereo is crap.

I agree, fm for transmitting is ridiculous. Its total garbage. Why would I have local music on my device only to listen to it at radio quality? Makes no sense. Yes its universal to all vehicles, but its universally crap.

Almost any car now can access an iPhone either through an iPod integration, simple aux jack (last several years of vehicles), or tapedeck adapter. Even a simple patch directly into the stereo is universal and preferable to FM.

I doubt Apple does anything with it besides Nike+, but I
sure there will be a set of apis for development.

 

[str1f3]

FM receive and wireless-N are great additions, A2DP Bluetooth sounds cool as well ... sure, but Holy Cow, what's holding up the voice-activated dialing please?

No voice dialing has always been odd to me especially considering apple has voice recognition technology in the mac. It would be just the case of moving it to the iphone. Clean and simple.

 

[zombitronic]

DOn't need LIDAR as you know the bigger points of reference on a map - have there location, have your GPS location ==> distance.

LIDAR and a stereo camera wouldn't be as much about the distance of the destination, but the distance of objects blocking the destination.

Imagine this in a close range scenario:

You're at one end of a small park and you add a destination marker to the other end. Let's assume that this augmented marker is just red ball, about 10 feet tall if you were right up to it. First of all, the GPS would have to be precise enough to accurately display coordinates based on latitude and longitude but also altitude, so it can display this marker at ground level. The accelerometer would need to be sensitive enough to adjust data based on the tilt of your iPhone, as well. Assuming that it can, you would see this marker as a small globe on your display, fixed at a certain point in the distance.

The problem would be that this marker would block out trees in the foreground, so the only way to judge distance would be as it appears larger on the screen as you get closer to it. To remedy this, a combination of LIDAR and a stereo camera could analyze objects in the foreground and allow these objects to appear closer to you than the marker, so the ball would appear to be partially blocked by trees. This would make it appear, when looking through the camera display, that there really is a big red ball on the other end of the park.

 

[cswiger1]

Screw FM. I want the new iPhone to have CB capabilities!

I'd sooo switch to AT&T for that! "breaka-breaka one nine..."