It’s great news for the radio industry as BlackBerry rolls out its latest software update for BB10 devices, introducing an FM radio player.
The FM hardware is already present so no new phones are required for owners of the Z30, Q10 and Q5 smartphone. All that is needed is a software update to version 10.2.1.
Having dormant hardware, especially an FM radio chip inside mobile phones is quite common – with all current versions of iPhone reported to have both an FM receiver and transmitter inside for future apps to use.
But whilst FM begins to appear in more smartphones, recent attention has been on including DAB chips to boost digital radio listening. Reports say the next generation of mobile devices will include DAB once ‘a few barriers’ have been overcome.
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