We had reported a couple of days back that the wireless radio component specification distributed with iPhone OS 3.0 beta had revealed support for a new Broadcom chip BCM4329 which could bring support for 802.11n Wi-Fi in Apple's next generation iPhone.
Folks at 9to5Mac have done some more digging through the specs of the chip and have discovered that it also supports reception and transmission of FM radio signals.
Folks at 9to5Mac wrote:
But they neglected to mention that it also adds the ability to receive and send (the previous model could only receive) information through FM radio signals which theoretically could be used to broadcast sound into car stereos..without external adapters. It could also be used to pick up FM radio music, news and sports broadcasts on their iPhones and even, in August, on iPods. Currently the FM reciever is only used to pick up communications from the Nike+ peripheral.
AppleInsider has pointed out that the chip in current iPhones can also support reception and transmission of FM signals but Apple hasn't enabled this feature.
There was a similar rumor when iPhone firmware 2.0 beta was available just before iPhone 3G was launched. So whether Apple will enable the FM radio feature in their next generation iPhone is anybody's guess.
It'll be interesting to know how many of you still listen to FM Radio and will be disappointed if this feature doesn't make it to the official feature list of Apple's new iPhone.
So, please drop us a line in the comments section below.
Thanks Egypt for the tip!
[9to5Mac via Gizmodo]
