use iPhone to listen FM radio without streaming internet data

And, the correct spelling is "doh!" (Oxford Dictionary of English)

I'm fairly sure the Oxford Dictionary of English didn't write The Simpsons:

!http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3d/Homer_D%27oh.png!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D'oh!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1387335.stm
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=d'oh
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer_Simpson#D.27oh.21

Yet the entry in the the latest edition of the OED, making it an official English word is:

doh dəʊ
► exclamation
informal used to comment on a foolish or stupid action, especially one's own: I keep crashing cars. Doh! What a dummy!

Oxford Dictionary of English (2nd Edition revised)
© Oxford University Press 2005 All rights reserved.

Since this is by far the most significant issue in this entire thread, I suggest discussing and debating it for at least 3 more pages of posts. 😉

There is relatively new Fractal technology that can produce extremely small antennas. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractal_antenna

From that article:

+"Other researchers has shown to the contrary that fractals do not perform any better than "meandering line" (essentially, random geometry) antennas. Specifically: "Differing antenna geometries, fractal or otherwise, do not, in a manner different than other geometries, uniquely determine the EM behavior of the antenna." [1] [2] This suggests that the *supposed benefits of fractals are simply demonstrating the benefits over basic, unoptimized antenna designs.*"+

modular747 wrote:

opamper wrote:
And my last phone that had a FM tuner that used the headphones wire as a receiving antenna picked up all the radio stations that my car and home stereo can pick up. Saying u need a really long antenna to pick up more than 3 stations is ignorant.

Since I actually said it requires an external antenna to receive most stations, not a "really long" antenna, and you confirm this by pointing out that you need to use the wired headset to act as an antenna, your statement is ignorant.

Your earlier comment in a previous post, "within 5 miles", sounded like an effective range.

modular747 wrote:
Julian, maybe you should engage in more critical re-reading. They "technical reasons" are reasons they chose not to include FM - no Bluetooth headset, no speaker, requirement for wired headset to serve as antenna. Apple still could include an FM receiver if they choose to ignore those priorities. I never said otherwise.

And, the correct spelling is "doh!" (Oxford Dictionary of English)

Message was edited by: modular747

To say that u need to ignore those features to get FM to work shows u have no RF/Communications engineering background whatsoever. Please stop making those accusations when u clearly have no technical background in the matter.
1) antennas can be build internally, Sony Walkmans did it for years and long ago
2) with or without an internal antenna, a speaker can be utilized
3) that means blue-tooth would work too

To say that u need to ignore those features to get FM to work shows u have no RF/Communications engineering background whatsoever. Please stop making those accusations when u clearly have no technical background in the matter.

Completely wrong, once again

1) antennas can be build internally, Sony Walkmans did it for years and long ago

They were much larger, for a larger internal antenna, and made use of the headphone cable. Maybe you should review the physics behind antenna design and the relationship between the RF frequency/wavelength and antenna efficiency vs length, taking into consideration the 88-108 mHz bandwidth used by FM and the 850-5000 mHz bandwidth used by cell, Bluetooth and WiFi. FM antennas have to be at least 10X larger for the same "gain" rating.

2) with or without an internal antenna, a speaker can be utilized

Not in the iPhone. All other cell phone that have FM use the headset cable for an antenna. When the headset is plugged in, the speaker is defeated in the iPhone. Apple would have to redesign this just for the FM function - never going to happen.

3) that means blue-tooth would work too

No - not without an internal antenna and no requirement for the headset cord.

Message was edited by: modular747

modular747 wrote:

To say that u need to ignore those features to get FM to work shows u have no RF/Communications engineering background whatsoever. Please stop making those accusations when u clearly have no technical background in the matter.

Completely wrong, once again

1) antennas can be build internally, Sony Walkmans did it for years and long ago

They were much larger, for a larger internal antenna, and made use of the headphone cable. Maybe you should review the physics behind antenna design and the relationship between the RF frequency/wavelength and antenna efficiency vs length, taking into consideration the 88-108 mHz bandwidth used by FM and the 850-5000 mHz bandwidth used by cell, Bluetooth and WiFi. FM antennas have to be at least 10X larger for the same "gain" rating.

2) with or without an internal antenna, a speaker can be utilized

Not in the iPhone. All other cell phone that have FM use the headset cable for an antenna. When the headset is plugged in, the speaker is defeated in the iPhone. Apple would have to redesign this just for the FM function - never going to happen.

3) that means blue-tooth would work too

No - not without an internal antenna and no requirement for the headset cord.

Message was edited by: modular747

Just because u spat out gain/BW relationships, doesn't mean you know what your talking about.
You are still very wrong, Many devices exist with an internal FM antenna. And they are small. In fact here is one example:

http://www.epn-online.com/page/new126638/internal-fm-antenna-module-enables-wire less-fm-radio-reception.html

It is true though, as you point out with your BW relationships that internal is not as efficient as external due to a size difference. But it would still pick up local broadcasts. And if they wanted optimal reception, I would be ok with a headphone antenna anyway. But it wouldn't be the only solution.

null

If you look an the inside of the iPhone, you'll see that the antenna shown would not fit without major redesign of the circuit boards. You also have no info on how the antenna would interact with the multiple existing antennas in the phone.

This device boosts the weak signal from such a small FM band antenna with a preamp of unknown quality, S/N ratio, and RF leakage. It was not designed to be installed in a cell phone with multiple other radios and antennas.

There have been previous similar antennas used in low quality portable radios with poor reception, Since there aren't even any specs provided, I would expect the same, near useless performance without an external connection.

Correct, but i was not trying to say that this device was the solution, just and example of a small receiver.

"Message was edited by: modular747"

...just not edited well.

GO back and re-read your posts; if you can't tell your tone suggests you're a pompous arrogant thinks-he-knows-it-all, then you need to step away from your computer and start interacting with humans, real humans, face to face, the old fashioned way.

The first post was by an obvious newbie and yet you jumped all over him. People like you make visiting these forums for answers just so much fun. (BTW that was sarcasm).

Don't bother replying to this post; I'll be too busy living in the real world to check back for an answer.

Hey Guys keep cool! I just owned my iphone for 1 week. The issue of FM radio is BIG to countries outside the US. Don't think the world is US. To me also FM radio is the big miss of the iphone. In our part of the world it is not just to listen to music but to listen debates, talk may it be religious,social or political.Some of you have never heard that a cellphone can have FM tuner. On a forum we have young and older persons alike:
Have a polite manner to answer people.
I'm trying to get a Belkin FM kit for iphone. I listen to radio programmes while jogging. For some I should use the Nike+ as prescribed by doctor Apple.

Yet I actually do know it all...

This is an article I found which I believe to be true, so it's just a question of time I guess, and yes I would love a real FM radio on my iPhone, I really hate streaming: http://www.9to5mac.com/iPhone-fm-app

This seems dubious and inaccurate. The phone doesn't have a suitable antenna for the broadcast FM bandwidth (88-108 mHz). The Nike+ uses 2400 mHz, similar to WiFi and BT, and isn't indicative of FM reception capability. The radio tuner capability isn't the limiting factor. For useable FM, the phone will require new hardware.