FM Radio

[Ian Stirling]

Tilman Baumann wrote:
> Giles Jones wrote:
> 
>> Ian Stirling <OpenMoko at mauve.plus.com> wrote :
>>
>>> It's valuable if it's very cheap or free.
>>
>>
>> But it's another chip on the already large board.
> 
> 
> Agree
> 
>> DAB radios are more useful given the number of extra channels. 
> 
> Agree.
> Definitely more geekish. :)
> 
> 
>> There's no end of features you could implement, mobile TV would be 
>> another feature now that the EU have standardised on a format.
> 
> A DAB receiver could also supply you with DMB data. Which would be for 
> example video compressed for mobile use...
> DMB is DAB with oder codecs used in the data streams.

A FM radio (using the above mentioned chip) can be implemented in under 
10mm*10mm board space, and under about 10mW power.
A DAB radio takes (ballpark) 50mm*50mm, and 500mW.
Not to mention that in the UK, the sound quality is often worse.
The regulator recently dropped the requirement for 128kbps, and lets the 
broadcasters drop the bitrate as far as they like.
And this is Mp2, not even mp3.

As to why not carry a seperate radio.
It's another thing to lose, charge, and get tangled in my pocket.
It doesn't vibrate to remind me when my favourite show is on.
It needs batteries charged.
It can't timeshift programs.
It can't broadcast sound over bluetooth.
Calls can't break into radio I'm listening to.
It can't compress quiet programs to a high average volume.