iPhone 3,1 to have Broadcom BCM4329, 802.11N/5GHz Wireless, FM transmitter/receiver

Cleve Nettles
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April 05, 2009
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According to the fine folks over at AI, the soon-to-be-released iPhone 2,1 references the Broadcom BCM4329 wireless chip in the boot script.  This is a significant upgrade over the current Broadcom BCM4325 for a number of reasons. As they pointed out, the component upgrade adds power savings and new support for 802.11n features, including the ability to find and join 5GHz networks. 

But they neglected to mention that it also adds the ability to receive and send (the previous model could only receive) information through FM radio signals which theoretically could be used to broadcast sound into car stereos..without external adapters.  It could also be used to pick up FM radio music, news and sports broadcasts on their iPhones and even, in August, on iPods.  Currently the FM reciever is only used to pick up communications from the Nike+ peripheral.

MobileDevDesign points out:

The BCM4329’s FM transmit capabilities enable consumers to stream music directly from their mobile devices to car stereos or home theater systems without special adapters or bulky cables. With the FM receiver, users can get real-time traffic information as well as music, news, and sports broadcasts on their mobile devices.

Apple has been known to disable some features on its iPhone/iPod chips (see Bluetooth on the iPod touch or A2DP on iPhone) so which features will be available from the outset are uncertain. 

As the current iPhone models can recieve FM transmissions, Apple could theoretically enable "radio" functionality in an upcoming update. 

 

 

Comments (21)

Boubitch (not verified) | April 05, 2009 - 6:11am

Awesome !

I know, poor comment, but...

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 05, 2009 - 6:22am

The idea of FM transmitting a great one, hopefully its truthful...

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 05, 2009 - 6:32am

radio transmitter = builtin nike+

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 05, 2009 - 7:26am

I haven played with nike+
But I can't see why the iPhone need to transmit stuff to the nike+
I can understand that it need to resive stuff.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 06, 2009 - 9:58am

Are you a lolcat?

feDe bAier (not verified) | April 05, 2009 - 9:05am

Why the articles are different in the RSS? I read 9to5Mac in Google Reader, and turns out that when I read it here, the article is different! I mean, it has more information. Do you edit constantly the articles? And without advise? Then how can I know that the article has been updated? ¬¬

Seth Weintraub | April 05, 2009 - 3:20pm

we have a funny caching system that sometimes saves earlier editions to the feed.

feDe bAier (not verified) | April 05, 2009 - 9:13pm

Thanks for the explanation!

Gidgidonihah (not verified) | April 05, 2009 - 11:23am

It's called a teaser. The rss only gives you the first bit of the article so you'll come hear to read the rest, then browse more and click on ads, etc.

411macjunkie | April 05, 2009 - 6:41pm

That is why most people subscribe to only feed subscriptions that offer the full story instead of the first paragraph or two of the article.

Resources: http://411macjunkie.com
Tweets: http://twitter.com/411macjunkie

feDe bAier (not verified) | April 05, 2009 - 9:07pm

What I meant is that sometimes the same paragraph in the RSS and in the web version have different text. If you look, Seth answered to me, explaining that they "have a funny caching system that sometimes saves earlier editions to the feed." That's why you can find differences between RSS and web articles. BTW, the 9to5Mac RSS always shows the entire article.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 05, 2009 - 12:51pm

I am just trying to understand.. is that a windows window??

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 05, 2009 - 4:42pm

Is iPhone2,1 going to be skipped or is 3,1 supposed to be the 'Pro' model? All we've had so far are 1,1 (matte aluminium back) and 1,2 (shiny plastic back).

billso (not verified) | April 05, 2009 - 11:57pm

I thought Nike+ used ANT - not FM.

ANT uses a frequency that's very close to Bluetooth's range.

Wasn't that one of the big wins behind the iPhone 3.0 upgrade - unlocking the BT transceiver on the 2nd-generation iPod Touch?

9to5Mac rofl (not verified) | April 06, 2009 - 12:14am

As much as i would love the fm transmitter built into the iphone, its very unlikely that theyll do it.
one minor thing is that it "drains your battery" ("so for the better experience we left it our")

Major part would be that there would be less peripherals sold for the iphone.

it is just too convenient...

Jay (not verified) | April 06, 2009 - 8:48am

I think Apple has put a fair bit of effort into its power management, since installing os 3 I'm getting much better battery life, and this has been widely reported by other users too. In fact, I've not seen anyone disagree with this. A sign of possibly unlocking more features, and good timing as reports state push notifications are quite draining.

zato (not verified) | April 06, 2009 - 5:31am

As the current iPhone models can recieve [receive]

mac (not verified) | April 06, 2009 - 7:21am

With the new ads in UK for the iPhone saying "there is an app for everything", it seems funny that the iPhone doesnt have an FM Radio app!

I think it is only a matter of time before the iPhone is the only gadget you need as you will be able to do everything on it, especially with their "app for everything" principle.

I am sure FM and probably DAB radio is just waiting in the wings!!!

http://www.gimmeitfree.co.uk

ODB (not verified) | April 06, 2009 - 10:11am

I want an app that delivers electro stim to my opiate receptors via my ear buds. i High?

Tech-Ex (not verified) | April 06, 2009 - 11:18am

BTW, if you look carefully at the screenshot (and read the AppleInsider story), it refers to iPod3,1 NOT iPhone3,1. Look at the graphic carefully.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 12, 2009 - 5:44am

I haven played with nike+
But I can't see why the iPhone need to transmit stuff to the nike+
I can understand that it need to resive stuff.