Phones should have FM radio again (as an emergency safety feature)
Phones should have FM radio again (as an emergency safety feature)
Radio access could be a critical safety feature in the years ahead.
I didn't even realize Qualcomm removed the built in FM radio from their chips. Huh.
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Is this the latest "sneaky" way to insist all phones need headphone jacks?
Because from an emergency standpoint: Most (all?) cars still have analog radios and it is generally encouraged to have a "weather radio" in any emergency kit. Hell, many building emergency kits will have one (even if it is just the shitty radio the rent a cop uses to listen to The Game in the booth). And in the event of a disaster, you really do want to group up. If only because it makes you an easier target for satellites and rescue flights.
So, from an emergency preparedness perspective, this seems like an incredibly niche situation where people are completely isolated, don't have a car, but still need to tune in to an emergency radio broadcast to figure out where to go and it is not "go to the nearest population center that is not a smoldering wreck".
all phones do need headphone jacks though
Best we can do is a fancy pen for all that art that people do on their phones all the time
Is this the latest "sneaky" way to insist all phones need headphone jacks?
My current phone has an FM radio, and no headphone jack. It uses the headphones as antenna via the USB-C adapter.
Never used it, though - and rarely used radio in any phone which had that feature before that.
Actually many modern electric cars are trying to get rid of FM radios because the electric motors can cause all sorts of interference (or so they say)
IIRC that’s just an issue with AM radios. And it happens with petrol cars too. A friend of mine’s car has this weird quirk where, while running below 50km/h, (I assume) the alternator generates RF interference in the AM band.
We have nothing broadcasting there though, so no biggie.
The vast majority of vehicles on the road still have them so, again, unless you are truly in the middle of nowhere you can generally flag someone down while you watch Clover be a metaphor for 9-11 and remember "oh yeah, Lizzy Caplan was in this"
And as cars move away from AM/FM: Then we have alternate emergency solutions. Which, again, weather radio in the emergency bag that you just leave in your trunk until you sell the car. And we work to improve the coverage and resilience of emergency broadcasts that phones pick up (speaking of...).
Which gets back to all of this being a "sneaky" way to insist phones need headphone jacks. Since you need an antenna for FM and that is usually a speaker wire. Which... is extra useless and increasingly dangerous if you are trying to hold up your earbuds (because we all still have wired earbuds...) while driving through The Mist.
... which also highlights why a phone is a bad emergency radio. Since plugging in earbuds will generally cut off the phone speakers. But you also need to hold up the earbuds to get enough reception to get a signal. Or you are driving with earbuds in which lowers your awareness during an emergency.
Again, emergency/weather radios. They are cheap, a lot of them have backup hand cranks, and you can just put it in the roadside emergency bag right next to the electric flares/beacons that are basically one time use because, if you pull that tab, the batteries WILL have corroded ten years later when you need them again.
right next to the electric flares/beacons
In the US, you can get magnesium road flares. IIRC, some places in Europe don't permit them due to fire risk, but in the States, I can get them even in California (which is probably about the most fire-conscious state out there).
Not sure what the current best guidance is but: Please do not use "real" flares unless you have no other choice.
First and foremost: They are horrible for night vision of you and everyone around you. It is basically like you are blasting your headlights into the eyes of EVERYONE who goes near that stretch of road.
Also, a lot of people don't know how to properly extinguish them. Which results in random ass flares left burning or a hesitance to use them at all.
And cost/space wise? They are horrible. Quick check of amazon says three flares are about 30 bucks. 3 LED flares are about 20. And the road flares are meant to last 15-30 minutes (your mileage may vary). The LEDs last until you turn them off because they are LEDs.
Cops love them because cops are raging assholes who want to make everyone else understand they are doing cop things in the vicinity.
But as a driver? You are better off with the LED flares in basically every single situation.
And, as an aside: Driving back from the airport usually involves going past a stretch of interstate where it seems people can't NOT explode tires on a daily basis. And it is not an exaggeration to say that random ass flares burning in the middle of the road or in the ditch between directions is a nightly occurrence.
You're entitled to use electric flares if you want, but I will use the chemical ones.
First, I would point out that my comment is in response to your comment pointing out that electric flares may-or-may-not have a charged battery.
Second, magnesium flares have much-better visibility.
As for life, you can get longer ones, and use as many as you want; I carry three extended-size ones.
I also have a flasher on something like a 400 Wh, large lithium battery that I keep in the car, but I'm not going to rely on that to have someone not slam into me in the fog.
No. It was more a statement that the LED flares are basically one use only... unless you are spending every night on the side of the road. Their shelf life is more or less the same as a chemical flare in that case.
As for "improved visibility": The goal of a flare is not to make everyone see you and to let you see what you are doing. The goal is to say "Hey, something is over here. Be careful".
But also: You do realize that your tail lights/brake lights are more or less the exact same LEDs, right? So unless you duct tape flares to your car and roll around Fury Road style, I think you are fine there. Even on a foggy day.
Which gets to the other aspect: "Visibility" is bad when it is extremely bright lights at night. There is a reason that headlights (you know, those things people ignore in favor of the high beams) aren't actually insanely bright. They are bright enough and angled enough that you can see where you are going. You pulse your high beams if the way is clear to see farther. If the way is not clear? Then the other headlights on the road provide extended visibility.
And... I am not sure if you have ever had to drive on a country/mountain road with asshole trucks with the high beams on. But it more or less renders you blind for a few seconds until they pass and you just have to rely on maintaining your lane. And if there is a curve? You either risk a header or you slow down and let them by first.
Which is why, as nice as it sounds to have a daylight flare right next to your car on the side of the road, it actually greatly increases the danger to you. Same reason you never use high beams in the fog (even though people do...) and actual fog lights are angled very differently.
As for “improved visibility”: The goal of a flare is not to make everyone see you and to let you see what you are doing. The goal is to say “Hey, something is over here. Be careful”.
Right. For which visibility is important.
You do realize that your tail lights/brake lights are more or less the exact same LEDs, right?
Yup. Which people proceed to slam into in those many-car pileups in the fog when they can't see far-enough away that something is wrong despite people having their hazard blinkers on, and nicely illustrates why you would want to have magnesium flares.
That’s bullshit.
Ride around in a golf cart listening to the radio sometime. It works fine.
Part of the reason the manufacturers want to get rid of the radios is because they make the entertainment center style consoles that all cars have now much more expensive.
For most people, the best radio they own is the one in their car. Radios near interference sources like rotating iron parts need to be well shielded and a lot of the design techniques that will accommodate high selectivity and sensitivity are shared with interference tolerance.
So even the shittiest car had to have a decent radio.
Nowadays the shittiest car could have a godawful quality infotainment system if it weren’t for the damn radio that buyers expect. And it’s not like the manufacturers can just slap down a trash radio into the infotainment system, it would require shielding, separation and a host of other components and techniques that are just left off crappier digital electronics all together.
Since so many other countries have sunset analog fm, theres readily available cheap shitty infotainment systems for use in the rios and versas that make up the majority of car sales in the us and have razor thin profit margins.
So… no, the electric motors aren’t keeping them from putting a radio in electric cars.
E: but if you don’t wanna believe gayhitler420s rant about radio, plenty of electric cars have am/fm radios in em, including the Toyota bz4x.
Right now the iPhone can straight up connect to the Iridium Satellite network, which IMO is far more useful that FM radio in any emergency. At least that system can send and receive messages, including most importantly GPS Co-ordinates.