The idea of an FM receiver in the iPhone has excited many a commentator over the last several years, because sometimes, you’ve got to set aside podcasts and iTunes and just listen to the radio.  The hyperlocal nature of terrestrial radio makes it a cultural staple, yet it’s conspicuously absent from the iPhone.  Apparently, that may be changing when iPhone 3.0 hits some time in the next 8 - 10 months.

And how about song-tagging, so you can purchase the currently-playing song from iTunes.  Some folks think High Definition (that is, digital) Radio is required to do this.  Actually, the text labels embedded in most FM broadcasts should be sufficient to drive links to iTunes Music Store…. if this was Apple’s style.

iHeartRadio and similar apps already pipe HD-quality data into the iPhone (over 3G)–and those don’t offer links to the iTunes store. If an FM chip is coming in iPhone 3.0, it will probably be used first and foremost for navigation-related features like traffic advisories and weather, and if we get radio out of the deal (like on some of the Nokie N-Series phones), then it will just be a happy little bonus.

Me, I’ll take photo messaging and a camcorder app, please.

Tags: camcorder, fm, gps, hd, hd radio, iphone, itunes, navigation, nokia, radio, software, video

With the introduction of a DRM-free iTunes catalog, it appears Apple is signaling that ringtones are, in effect, free acceptable use for purchased tracks.   In effect.

Ask them, and they’ll give you a different answer.  But the new GarageBand has a feature that lets you create ringtones out of basically any waveform.  So if you have it–you can put it on your iPhone as a ringtone. Read Jimmy’s details on the DRM-free ringtone debate here.

Tags: create, drm, garageband, itunes, make, ringtone

If you live in the United Kingdom, you no longer have to exist without MMS (media messaging system) messaging on your iPhone, but US iPhone users will have to keep waiting, according to iPhone Hacks.  Also, it appears that this app’s dependence upon UK carrier O2 is the main reason why it’s only available in the UK at this point.  In theory, the same technique could be applied to AT&T.  Any UK users to this yet?  How does it work?

Tags: at&t, iphone, media, media messaging, mms, mms messaging, o2, photo, photo messaging, sms, uk, us

In the spirit of BGR’s “Top Ten Things We Hate About Our iPhone“, I’ll pile on with a top ten list of my own:

1) Spoken UI elements - Sometimes you need to hear it, not see it. Particularly true of caller ID.

2) Screen rotation in E-mail - This one is a must. Fat-fingering email compositions can be very frustrating in portrait mode.

3) Copy & Paste - While this doesn’t kill our routine every day, having access to a simple clipboard for text snippets would be extremely helpful.

4) A standardized import/export format for Contacts - We can already get iCal files into Apple’s calendaring app, and subscribing to them via the web is simple enough, but those of us who use our Macs for serious business REALLY need is a conduit betweem CRM apps like Salesforce/Now-up-to-date/etc. into iPhone contacts.  This is an absolute must.

5) Video recording - Seriously.  We still can’t record video on the iPhone?  Apple, get your head out of your posterior.

6) MMS messaging- See comment on #5.  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that media messaging is a required feature on all cell phones (especially “smart” ones).

7) Better Bluetooth compatibility - Starting with Bluetooth File Exchange, please.

Random wallpaper - Yup, we want our iPhone to choose our wallpaper for us, just like our desktop computer does.

9) Universal charger compatibility - All those old iPod chargers that output the right voltage and have the right plug?  You can’t use ‘em.  Time to fix that, Apple.

10) More than four page panels for apps - It didn’t take long to fill up the four available pages with apps. Let’s add another page or two.

Tags: 2.3, apple, features, iphone, mms, recording, software, top ten, video

Oliver Starr has a good read up today:  He’s tracked what appears to be more evidence that Apple has a handful of personal privacy concerns buzzing around its digital lifestyle ecosystem.  Apparently, the iPhone tells Apple a lot more than Oliver is comfortable with them knowing.  Check it out.

Tags: apple, iphone, privacy, security