A Secret Radio Inside Your Phone? - Comments Page 1

It would be advantages to have access to FM radio in case of emergency.-Should be required !!!!

I'm surprised that there is not a "hack" to enable this feature!

Many thanks, Bob. I downloaded NextRadio and a very quick test says it's just what I need. I'm a Republic fan, but my fitness center's wi-fi is inconsistent when I try to stream my local NPR station, so I end up switching it off and going WiFi. With luck, the FM signal there will be strong enough to work well. Can't wait to try it.

This really is a public safety issue. Those that were affected by super storm Sandy, other natural disasters or even acts of terrorism (think 9/11) have experienced times where they don’t have access to cell service, but if they had an FM radio, they could simply listen to where to get help, food, shelter, where to go, where not to go, etc.

Yet another example where new and old technologies can coexist, but is disabled out of greed. The heritage of American radio should be maintained just like heirloom seeds. We should strive for diversity and redundancy in communication whenever possible, one of the main reasons for the internets success as a media to begin with. Lets demand the rights to choice and self preservation, and not put all our eggs in one I-basket. After all, isn't this a form of censorship? We deserve better, and I think its outrageous that they have disabled this great convenience and survival tool to simply keep us plugged into internet IV. What a disservice to the technology pioneers of yesterday.

How do you activate the radio on Blackberries?
thanks

"I see many people plugged into earbuds constantly, and wonder what their data bill looks like at month’s end." I'm guessing that they are listening to tunes that they have downloaded to their phone's memory; essentially using it as an MP3 player.

I have an HTC Desire 610 with AT&T Prepaid (GoPhone). From the day I got it, I saw that there were some preloaded apps on it, including an FM Radio app (not NextRadio, just the basic FM radio that shows all the local stations). I was able to choose my favorites and listen to them at will. My plan includes a lot of data so streaming vs. FM isn't really an issue, but I don't see any need to get NextRadio when the built-in, unlocked, free-to-use FM Radio app that came with the phone is fully functional and always has been.

I haven't been a fan of terrestrial radio, ever since satellite radio came on the scene, nearly 20 years ago, especially after the giant chains such as Cumulus and Clear Channel (now iHeart Radio)gutted and homogenized all of their local stations and turned them into voice-tracked zombie operations. However, it would be nice to have the FM band included and activated, for weather related emergencies, when one is outdoors, especially where the local market has a CBS Newsradio type operation on the FM band.

I downloaded the NextRadio app to my Sprint Galaxy S5, but it wasn't working too well. Of course I live in a valley, and therefore would expect to have poor FM reception absent a decent antenna. So the app doesn't seem to be all that useful for me.

In any case it's not something I really need. I use Pandora for my music streaming, which allows me to customize my channels to my music tastes far better than a standard radio channel. I have an unlimited-data cell phone plan, so that's not an issue. My Galaxy S5 battery holds up pretty well all day, and I have spare batteries on hand, so battery drain is not an issue. And for emergency situations all of our cars have superior AM and FM radios.

In short, the lack of FM radio on my cell phone seems like an extremely minor matter. I find it slightly annoying because I dislike having built-in capabilities disabled for no good reason. But on the grand scale of things I don't really care.

Any idea if they're only in mobile phones or are they also in tablets?

I have an old Nokia dumb phone and T-Mobile service with the FM radio chip enabled. I can get all the FM channels I listen to in my local area on my phone. Rarely use it as my go-to alternative is my "commercial free" Mp3 player which also has an FM radio in it, but it's nice to have another option when the battery wears down on the player.

Unfortunately radio in UK is controlled by a Broadcasting Authority, an archaic draconian organization that only allows dismally dull "easy listening" stations on air.

No progressive music of any kind is allowed, with the notable exception of Resonance 104.4 FM which managed to get a license by describing itself as an "Art radio" station. Resonance's FM signal is so weak that only on-line listening is practical.

Thank you Bob for this informative article. I'd like to post it on Facebook to make more people aware, but don't see a Facebook icon for posting or sharing it. I live in an earthquake zone and I'm sure if enough people were made aware we could lobby the CRTC to make it mandatory for service providers to make it available.

As you rightly say, we have paid for the feature in the price of the phone so are being forced to pay through the nose for an alternative.
Do the carriers care more for their customers or their shareholders? For an answer, consider the way that a mobile phone is limited to about fifteen seconds of ring before it cuts to answerphone.
I cannot remember the last time I fished the phone out of my pocket in time to answer it, so to find out what the caller wanted, I am expected to use my carrier's service to call him/her back. Who benefits? Go figure (as you Americans so quaintly command).

Thank you so much Bob, I never knew about this . I have an HTC One M8 so I downloaded the app and it notified me my phone would work across all carriers. It requires headphones or an external speaker to be plugged in so I will try it later when I get home..... cool :-)

You know I pay a LOT of MONEY for that phone and now I feel cheated.

Would have been an awesome app back in the 70's and 80's. Unfortunately,FM is now a corporate wasteland of garbage and lack of choice. Here in Birmingham AL,there is one alleged "rock" station that plays the exact same 25 songs over and over and over and over and over. The same corporations own every station and there is absolutely no local programming allowed, PERIOD. Idownloaded and checked it out going against hope that maybe there were more stations that I was unaware of but as with everything in Alabama, just disappointment. Maybe in NYC where I grew up they still have decent stations but I guarantee that most of the country is owned and programmes by the same two corporations. Good luck with your journey but mine had ended within five minutes.

I went to the link where I could contact my carrier about this issue. I decided to send an email. The site-supplied text bordered on rude and brash; certainly unworthy of review by a customer-service person receiving same. I would suggest a direct, but more polite approach. Something about getting more flies with honey than salt...

Does anyone know about unlocked phones purchased directly from 3rd party vendors? There seems no reason they couldn't be switched on.