ChitlinsCC wrote:
with respect, Lawrence... {please pardon my righteous indignation}
where is the 30" antenna in this little ditty?
The headphone cord? (likely)

I'll bet that Sprint and the makers of the phones that DO offer chip activation would beg to differ.
I am thinking that "future product" is all one could ask for - and one should get it.
Are you suggesting that iPhones are not regulated by the FCC already? Lets see, GPS, cellular, Wi-Fi, BlueTooth (what am I missing?)
Yes, the solution is simple to a simple problem - don't withhold an existing technology (the chip set is already in the iPhone) and don't lie about the reasons for it - $$ to be made for NOT
My bet is that NPR and the NAB have done their homeworkbest regards as always, amigo and deemed the antenna issue a, well, NON-issue.
Mobile FM radios use the headphone cord as an antenna. This could work for a smartphone also, except for those of us who use BlueTooth headsets.
It's not a question of regulation. The FCC requires every device to undergo extensive testing to verify that the device is not susceptible to interference, and does not cause interference. This testing takes months, and is costly. When you add a new radio device it extends the test cycle. And, BTW, it is highly likely that the cellular signal will cause interference to the FM receiver. My cell phone causes interference to the FM radio a couple of feet from it.
The failure of NPR's fact checking is that the story implies that it is a simple process to make FM work in existing devices, when it is actually impossible without hardware changes. And it should mention the fact that it would only work with wired headphones. Plus the fact that at its best FM sound quality is abysmal, compared to even CD quality; if you listened to an FM station compared to a stream of the same station (I've done this) you would never listen to FM again. FM frequency response is not as wide as digital sources, and FM stations compress the dynamic range of music so it all comes out at the same level. If all you listen to is hard rock you probably won't notice because its all at the same level anyway, but for most other forms of music it's really obvious.
But I'm used to reading the New Yorker, which is probably the best fact-checked journal in the world.