Jesus Diaz reports for Gizmodo, “In addition to the previously unearthed features, the next generation iPhone’s guts will have full FM transmission and reception capabilities, according to its spec sheet:”
The BCM4329 includes both FM transmit and receive capabilities. FM transmit enables consumers to stream music directly from a personal media players (PMPs) or mobile phone to car stereos or home theater systems without having to purchase special adapters or use bulky cables. FM receive is already a popular feature that enables consumers to obtain real-time traffic information as well as listen to music, news and sports broadcasts on their mobile phones.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: The iPhone OS 3.0 developer beta contains code referencing the BCM4329. According to Broadcom:
The Broadcom BCM4329 integrates a complete IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n system (MAC/baseband/radio) with Bluetooth2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate), and FM radio receiver and transmitter. By combining several proven wireless technologies onto a single silicon die, the BCM4329 enables mobile devices to support today’s toughest media applications — without impacting device size or battery life.”
The BCM4329 eliminates the barriers of adding the latest wireless connectivity features to small, battery-operated devices. In addition to bringing greater Wi-Fi throughput and coverage to mobile consumer electronics, the BCM4329 is Broadcom’s smallest and lowest cost dual-band 802.11n solution. It features integrated 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz WLAN CMOS power amplifiers, which reduce BoM costs while maintaining superior performance. The BCM4329 also utilizes advanced design techniques and process technologies to reduce active and idle power consumption and extend battery life.
Apple could, of course, disable functions via software (as they did with WMA playback in iPods), so which capabilities they will enable in the shipping product is anybody’s guess.
More from Broadcom here.
MacDailyNews Take:
Imagine a device… from Apple, capable of utilizing wireless GSM/GPRS networks, with SMS ability, [that] could also run iCal, Address Book, iSync, and incorporate Rendezvous technology. I mean, Apple is obviously laying the foundation for something special… and I don’t think it is just for the standard-issue “Digital Hub” Macintosh desktops and portables.
Running Mac OS X or a mobile variant, it would allow the user to communicate via text, audio, and video. It would snap digital photos and organize them, do email, and browse the web. It would sync automatically with your desktop or portable Mac. It would run Sherlock for web services. With its large hard drive inside, and its included FireWire port, it would absorb the iPod by playing AAC / MP3 audio and interface with iTunes, but it would also play feature-length MPEG-4 movies, too, in full color. It would have the FM tuner that iPod lacks, too… It would have built-in Bluetooth, which would allow for, among other things, short-range personal broadcasts; your own radio/TV station and any number of websites in your pocket. McDonald’s Drive Thru’s would accept payments via Bluetooth from “The Device.” And, of course, it would have the basics like any PDA; your date book, to do list, calculator, etc. I figure a form factor about the size or a Newton or a bit smaller would do the trick.
This would be “The Device.” iDevice?? And only Apple, in concert with a partner like Verizon, Cingular, or Sprint, has everything in place to make “The Device” a reality today. I wonder if they are close, yet, or still far away from fruition? I really hope they are building it. Everything seems to point to it or am I just wishing too hard? I’ll tell you one thing, if Apple can produce it, they’ll really change everything this time, and they’ll never be able to make enough. – SteveJack, MacDailyNews, December 10, 2002
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “RadDoc” for the heads up.]
