[ NNSquad ] Re: NAB is serious about mandating FM radios in every cell phone

[Nuno Garcia <ngarcia@ngarcia.net>]

In Europe there is a very strong movement to replace FM with DAB (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Audio_Broadcasting). There are already some pilots in Spain, which btw, has shut down its public broadcast analog TV signals and replaced it with digital TV broadcast early this year (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_in_Spain).

I think that (unfortunately) this will also happen to FM, as the urge to clear/clean/free the radio spectrum has not disappeared from legislators at the EU (apart from several other motivations, the need to sell more wavelength licences, along with the fact that it is easier to monitor and control digital contents when compared to analog, are the two key motivators, IMHO).

Best regards to all from Portugal,

Nuno Garcia

2010/8/26 Rahul Tongia <tongia@cmu.edu>

BTW, in places like Bangladesh, almost  EVERY cell phone has an FM receiver in it.

I think part of what "consumers want" is something VERY easy to do in terms of a bill-of-materials but something the !@#$! ecosystem (manufacturers, carriers, content holders, service providers) etc. are loathe to allow is to combine the FM with a flexible, free, tivo-like service (even before asking for MP3 type capabilities so the song can be heard later on in a different device).

As for mini (?micro) USB, Europe has mandated it. Asking consumers if they want it is a misleading question since this is posed as "do you want model X" (which as such a plug) instead of asking - should your existing (or all) phones have such a plug.  

Almost very consumer I've talked to (including dozens in my course) has favored standardization.

Rahul

On Thu, Aug 26, 2010 at 5:51 AM, Barry Gold <BarryDGold@ca.rr.com> wrote:

Lauren Weinstein wrote:

NAB is serious about mandating FM radios in every cell phone

http://bit.ly/aSo8d2  (NAB)

It's all very convincing -- except for one thing: if consumers wanted it that much, it would already be there.  A quick check of Wikipedia shows a total of 17 manufacturers, of whom 6 have agreed to use the micro-USB connector for charging.

With that many manufacturers, it is inevitable that any feature desired by a substantial number of consumers will be available.  Yet I don't see any offered on Amazon or CNet.  That strongly suggests to me that people don't want it -- at least, not enough to pay however much the FM radio chip adds to the price.

One can, perhaps, justify requiring a feature when it's safety-related, like airbags in a car.  But when it's just a convenience, or is *at best* arguably safety-related (like the weather alerts in the
NAB puff piece), let the market decide.

 [ They're playing this very cleverly by emphasizing the     "public safety" aspects.  These do exist -- in disaster
    situations (floods, earthquakes, etc.) cell nets tend to fail
    quickly.  They are relatively fragile especially in terms of
    microcell backup power facilities.  Your cell phone quickly
    turns into a brick in terms of communication when the nets go
    down.  Too bad that inter-phone direct local communications
    aren't possible with these phones.  But that would allow
    bypassing the net, and since billable events wouldn't be
    created, it's hardly attractive to the powers that be.

    My suspicion is that what the broadcasters and NAB are even more
    interested in is the possibility (for example) of stations using
    real-time tagging on cell phones to create a song track sales
    ecosystem (they even mention tagging themselves).  To them,
    anything that can induce people to listen to music on radio
    rather than streaming the audio (since the latter can -- but
    doesn't necessarily -- cut conventional broadcasters out of the
    loop) is a potential revenue enhancer.  By getting an FM
    requirement written into law as a technical mandate they
    accomplish this without any cost to themselves (other than their
    ongoing lobbying outlays).

           -- Lauren Weinstein
              NNSquad Moderator ]