yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] katamari201:
The sensor is not quite the same. It is BSI, meaning it will take better night time pictures. The lens is a bit wider, better aperture. It's not a whole lot, but as a GS2 owner, I can tell the pictures on the GS3 look much better than the GS2, especially shots where there is less light. It's like the best camera shots on the GS2 are consistently on the GS3, no matter what the situation. Noise seems to be a whole lot less too, or at least to me. The most apparent change is color saturation. whereas the GS2 had a drab and sometimes bluish color palette, the GS3 looks much more vivid and enticing. It's not realistic by any means, but neither was the GS2 with its drab colors. I'd take some saturation over that drabness any day. Then of course the super fast capture speeds and burst shots and picture taking while video-ing. Yeah there aren't any other flagship phones that take such good pictures so consistently. The iPhone is its closest rival. The One X and Lumia definitely no. Pureview doesn't really count since its not exactly mainstream.

What Samsung has took a step back in, however, is the audio recording. It distorts a lot and has little bass compared to the GS2. It's not even a hardware limitation. They just decided it would sound better if they crippled it. Too much Korean weed in their tea that day.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] TheJanitor07:
I gotcha. But even during today when the sun was the brightest outside I took multiple photos and they still looked extremely better than the S2 day shots...
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] AttachedSilver:
camera shot quality blew me away, I took some at night with & without flash and they look just amazing. I thought my one S had great looking shots but the S3 blew it away entirely. The one S had saturation issue, also videos look nice and crisp on the S3. I'm very happy with the results :)
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] TheJanitor07:
Agreed.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] nabbed:
The only problem is that you need steady hands. This thing is designed to focus very quickly, so if your hands shake, it may fail to focus properly. This results in an unusually high percentage of out of focus shots.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] NeoDude007:
Shutter sound

Anybody take the stock camera APK and remove the shutter sound yet? I've searched for this for days. I'd do it myself if I knew how to find the camera source and mod it and APK it again... I'm trying!
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] stkiswr:
Even if it was the exact same camera, viewing it on the gs3 will look better regardless. The screen is better therefore it will look better even if it was the same camera. I'm not saying it is.
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] Voltage Spike:
It's actually much easier than that (or harder, depending on where you are coming from). The camera shutter is a file outside the apk, "/system/media/audio/ui/camera_click.ogg", that you can simply rename to eliminate the sound (so that the camera application won't find it).

There is also the approach of editing the build.prop file (I think the field is ro.media.capture.shuttertone).

Either way, you'll need root.

Stupid laws...
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] NeoDude007:
Thanks a TON. The file seems to be called Shutter.ogg. I made it lolShutter.ogg and it works now for sure!! w0000t

Ignore below this line!! fixed it.

Thanks that! I think you're on to it but it didn't work for some reason. I think the camera was silent for like 1 picture then all the sudden it made sound again. I got root explorer and renamed the file (putting an "lol") inside the file name instead of deleting or renaming the extension. Any other ideas? I'm gonna try to tinker more. The reason I wanted to mod the APK was to simply remove the line of code that triggers the sound anyways. I understand your way is easier but it is not working, yet!
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] manny05:
I can honestly say the gs3 had the better camera. Not by alot but the difference is very noticeable.

sent from my GALAXY SIII
[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] rbj13:
If you look under settings near the bottom you can see an option "Shutter Sound" and you get the option of turning it on or off.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] jnadke:
Can someone test this app and see if it works? I saw someone mention the FM Radio app in the U.S. GS3 is missing.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1059296

You will need to plug in a pair of headphones to see if it works.

Our kernel indicates the CDMA S3 implements a BCM4334 much like its international brethren. This chip provides:

-2.4ghz and 5ghz WiFi a/b/g/n

-BT 4.0 + High Speed

-WiFi Display

-WiFi Direct

-FM Radio
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] jarnow94:
Very interesting, I won't have the chance to test this soon but it sounds promising! I hope someone can take the initiative and report back :)
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] macdroid01:
Can someone with S III please try using Spirit FM Unlocked, it is an app that enables FM radio on some handsets where the carrier disabled it or did not include a radio app even though the hardware is there. As pointed out, headphones need to be plugged in as the antenna. If Spirit FM does not work yet...Mike the dev might be able to make it work, provided S III has an FM radio inside. That dev works miracles so if he can enable FM on SIII on VZW I'll def. buy the Spirit FM radio app.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] yornotelppa:
Didn't work for me

I downloaded the 'Sirint FM Unlocked Light' and it didn't seem to work on my rooted S3 16gb phone. It may take some settings changes but I didn't have a clue in the settings what to chance.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] jnadke:
Try the settings changes as the page describes. Primarily the Audio Output setting.

I'm really hoping this can work. I'll be pissed if Samsung removed FM Radio for the 2nd time (Spring SGS1 had no FM Radio while international did).
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] yornotelppa:
Didn't get any signal readings or RDS data. Sorry!
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] jarnow94:
I tried the setting "Samsung Broadcom" and got static and a negative signal reading lol. Any idea on what that means, if anything?
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] jnadke:
Broadcom should be the right setting (sorry, BCM4334 is a Broadcom chip, should have mentioned that).

Did you try tuning it to a station in your area?

Negative is probably normal, I'd imagine that's measuring power in db. Negative just means below 1 Watt. Extremely negative (-120) means just noise (thermal noise). But noise is a good sign! I hope.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] macdroid01:
Don't know. But if you read the dev Mike's thread on Spirit FM you will see that if ANYONE can get FM working, it is him. He single-handedly reverse engineers the drivers for each handset. LOL he must have a lot of phones. Once he has an S III... he will let us know..

"Help us Obi Mike Kenobi.. you are our only hope.."
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] jarnow94:
Yeah, none of the stations worked. I thought negative was odd because the Youtube video I saw of the app working did not have negative numbers.

EDIT: My Bluetooth actually turns on by itself when I change it to "Samsung Broadcom." Could that have to do with Bluetooth being on the same chip?
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] jnadke:
Darn.

Yeah, I don't have the device, so I don't know what the app is normally supposed to do.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] jnadke:
Yeah.

I wouldn't be surprised if the App author would have to change some things for it to work. It's probable he's interacting with the IO layer directly, in which case the IOMap could, and likely would, have changed with the different architecture.

The key thing I wanted to determine is if the BCM4334 FM Radio circuitry is even hooked up in hardware. With the move from Exynos -> Snapdragon, the board design would have changed too.

My fear is they didn't connect it up for whatever reason.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] CapsLockKey:
So do any phones on Verizon, Sprint or TMobile have FM tuners? This is probably disabled by the carriers if they don't. Seems like US Cellular doesn't care as a girl I work with has an HTC phone through them with FM radio. Maybe the US Cellular version of the SGS3 will have it and developers can find a way to port it from there if it's not disabled in the hardware.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] jnadke:
The EVO LTE has FM Radio and it works. All the HTC phones on Sprint have had FM Radio (my g/f has an Evo Design 4G).
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] rakeshchn:
I am also interested in keeping this thread alive. Hope the developer of Spirit fm will look at this. Here is a link to tear down of Tmobile version

http://www.techrepublic.com/photos/...?seq=57&tag=content;siu-container#photopaging
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] jnadke:
Odd, none of those pictures show a BCM4334. Or any other WiFi chip.

I know the 8960 doesn't have it built in....
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] mikereidis:
Does this device have a Qualcomm combination chip for FM/BT/WiFi ?

Or is it a Broadcom BCM4330/4334 ?

Someone sent me a debug log from an unrooted SPH-L710 and I see evidence of Qualcomm FM, but there are Broadcom files too.

The Spirit FM June 28 test release link and info are here: http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=27996724&postcount=3894

It's now working on my AT&T HTC OneX(L) which has the same Qualcomm SOC as the US S3, and which has Qualcomm FM.

If you are rooted, please try the June 28 test and send me debug logs with Menu->Test->Email->Logs.

Thanks ! :)

-----

Yes, I'm REALLY, REALLY hoping that Samsung was strong enough now to tell the carriers:

"No, we're not going to remove FM this time. Don't provide an app if you want, but the FM hardware stays, and there are only 2 HW variants."
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] ToiletDuck555:
rooted sprint didnt work, logs sent
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] mikereidis:
Thanks !

I rarely look at the SOCs too closely, but it appears the MSM8960 has integrated "digital" Bluetooth and FM, AFAICT. An external WCN3660 is sometimes used for analog.

Otherwise, if the antenna pins are hooked up, we may have FM. Audio should be digital and internal. Heck the Qualcomm chips allegedly support an "internal antenna", but not sure if that's on the chip.

The most important FM file on the OneX LTE version is the driver:

/system/lib/modules/radio-iris-transport.ko

It's not on your ROM. Kernel differences might prevent just using a file from another device.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] jarnow94:
When I tested the June 28th release it said "Fm: QC OEM," something I had not seen on previous releases (I'm guessing "QC" means Qualcomm).
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] aNYthing24:
Not to say you're wrong, but the LTE One X/XL also has the WCN3660 - which is a FM/GPS/Bluetooth combo chip similar in function to the BCM4334.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] mikereidis:
Could be. What evidence do we have ?

I saw this some time ago, but don't recall seeing WCN3660 in the photos (and can't access them now): http://www.techrepublic.com/photos/cracking-open-the-htc-one-x/6363151?seq=54

The snapdragon-specs.pdf says "*-Digital integrated in SoC, Analog added via WCN3660/80" so I think this means adding such a chip would be wasteful (why ignore what's in the SOC?), unless they needed analog (for FM output or input I guess).

But who knows, the external chip may be better than the internal SOC functions.

WCN3660 seems to be Bluetooth/Wifi/FM only AFAICT. No GPS mentioned here except in a general sense in "About Qualcomm Atheros" : http://www.qualcomm.com/media/relea...ghly-integrated-connectivity-solution-superio
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] tuxStyle:
Random noob to S3 here ...

On my S2 i was using Siyah kernel and i'm following his kernel thread (for international S3 version).

I noticed this:

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=29150278&postcount=2332

Which means the international has a working FM isn't it?

Maybe somebody can compile a kernel using whatever flags he used when he compiled his kernel.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] LLStarks:
Why are you suggesting that when the international S3 uses different chips?
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Greg1007:
One simply needs to respond by saying they use different chips. tux clearly admitted to being a noob, and probably was not aware of this. No need to answer with such hostility (at least i think i detected hostility. I hate how text cannot convey meaning the way voice does.)

edit: maybe "hostility" isn't the best word. i don't know, just give noobs a break, and don't assume they know things like which chips are used, or that the kernel wont work on different chips. We were all noobs at one point...
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] mikereidis:
:)

I'm not sure there is any hostility there, but whatever...

This thread is in a general forum, so we can expect newbs and people who only read a few posts etc.

I guess the "newb rule" on XDA should be that if you're a "newb", don't think you have ideas that devs haven't already thought of or dismissed etc.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] aNYthing24:
I meant to say Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/FM, my bad. I was going off of that website you linked since they had it in the description. Don't know why they'd lie.

AnandTech also says it has it: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5779/htc-one-x-for-att-review/7
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] mikereidis:
Not saying they lied, but there are a LOT of mistakes and mis-information on the Interweb.

Now that I have my glasses on I can see the WCN3660 right in the middle of the main pic for that "Cracking Open the HTC One X" Image gallery with a few descriptions.

Interesting, the Anandtech site says:

So that implies that the logic for WiFi is on the SOC, and the WCN3660 does RF stuff. Maybe some fancy stuff for the 5 GHz WiFi support, Bluetooth co-existence, and who knows about FM.

If read expecting a standalone combo chip, you can easily interpret as a standalone from this: http://www.qualcomm.com/media/relea...ghly-integrated-connectivity-solution-superio

But it also says this:

The last part may indicate special support for FM transmit and receive.

If I go back to the asterisk in the snapdragon spec sheet:

I now interpret that as indicating the main logic for WiFi and perhaps BT and FM is in the SOC. The "WCN3660/80" provides the external analog antenna (/amp) interface.

Keep in mind that "real" technical documents of any kind are closely guarded secrets. Those of us not in the know, and without informed sources, can only try to follow clues in source code and found in obscure corners of the Internet, besides vague Qualcomm webpages and press releases.

Still waiting for the Samsung service manual with schematics for the S3 LTE... I think that will help confirm what's going on in the WCN3660/3680.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] mikereidis:
I don't think it will help too much, but the kernel source for AT&T OneX LTE (with the same MSM8960 and with working FM) has been released.

The kernel build config file is here: https://github.com/h8rift/android_k.../blob/master/arch/arm/configs/elite_defconfig

Basically I think we need a kernel with matching *SMD* options defined. That might, however, cause conflicts with the BCM4334 Bluetooth and WiFi on the S3 LTE.

I wonder if just flashing a OneX LTE kernel would boot and at least be sufficient for testing ? I don't know and have no idea if that might brick the S3 or cause other problems.

radio-iris.c and radio-iris-transport.c were essentially identical.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] LLStarks:
Reposting from the other topic

Btw, this was on the stock kernel. Don't know how to roll AOSP.

http://www.mediafire.com/?5lb86go016pnc69
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] mikereidis:
That's our problem now. We need to get at least parts of the Bluetooth / HCI software running for the Qualcomm SOC internal Bluetooth/FM core. That's where the radio_hci_* functions are.

Unlike the AT&T OneX (L), the North American GS3 uses an external Broadcom chip for Bluetooth and WiFi.

So the drivers we need aren't loaded by default. I'm not sure if we can even load the needed Qualcomm drivers if the Broadcom drivers are loaded.

AFAIK, the Linux/Android kernel only supports one HCI provider.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] mikereidis:
Thanks for pointing out to me the leak of an MSM8960 document and Verizon GS3 service manual.

As posted verbatim on my thread:

Sadly, it looks as if FM is not possible on LTE GS3s.

I now think Qualcomm was being "disingenuous" (misleading/lying) when they said here: http://www.qualcomm.com/media/relea...t-generation-snapdragon-mobile-chipset-family

I'm guessing "All chipsets in the family" means including the external WCN3660 combo chip. I think misdirection like that lead Anandtech to say here: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4940/qualcomm-new-snapdragon-s4-msm8960-krait-architecture/4

"...only require some external RF to use." seems to mean you need a WCN3660/3680 BT/WiFi/FM combo chip: http://www.qualcomm.com/media/relea...ghly-integrated-connectivity-solution-superio

Saying "some external RF" should have meant some minor components, not a full blown combo chip.

The MSM8960 seems to have two so called "FM" pins, and they are NOT antenna pins: GPIO_26 / FM_SSBI and GPIO_27 / FM_DATA.

The Verizon GS3 service manual schematic shows that these are used as UART in and out pins for the Broadcom BT/WiFi/FM combo chip. I'd guess they are used much the same way with an external WCN3660, as on the LTE HTC OneX.

Calling them "FM" pins is a stretch. They are general purpose IO and/or UART pins that can be connected to anything, including FM or FM combo chips.

Yes, the Qualcomm drivers can treat them as FM interface pins, but that's just software. My guess is that the vast majority of the FM hardware is on the WCN3660, not the MSM8960.

And the Broadcom chip FM antenna pin is shown as not connected anywhere. Hypothetically, if someone could attach an antenna wire there it might work, but tests have shown an RSSI around -13/-14 otherwise.

I don't expect to spend any further time investigating LTE GS3s, unless someone comes up with something convincing, which I now seriously doubt.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] v8bait:
Thank you for all of your hard work, I know a lot of people got their hopes up about the FM thing, but at least now it's settled for the most part.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] mikereidis:
:)

I doubt it would do any good, but if you're in the US, feel free to lobby the FCC or politicians to consider the National Association of Broadcasters efforts to enforce or "promote" the inclusion of FM in cell phones.

Here's an article on the most recent meeting: http://radioworld.com/article/cea’s-shapiro-strong-on-fm-chip-issue/214541

Unfortunately I think the Consumer Electronics Association has the upper hand in this argument. They, as well as a host of Internet and media companies, including Google, have a lot more money and "new economy" jobs to argue for than the relatively poor over the air radio industry.

And given the comments I've heard from people who "love" their latest Nexus or other devices without FM, I think they make a valid point when they say most people don't care about FM in cell phones, at least at purchase time.

But some of those buyers will change their minds after purchase, especially if they are paying high rates for streaming data. And some just assume FM is there and never thought to verify.

And next time we see a roughly Katrina size event, perhaps we'll see if more people might see value in mobile over the air radio. Hurricane season coming... Batteries may not last too long, but at least no 3G/4G etc. may help.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] macdroid01:
Mike thank you for all of your hard work.. Rest if you can now! I will definitely look to buy your app on my next phone if it has FM which is one of the things I will consider when looking for the next phone. And you are right, in a hurricane that's one serious example of FM. I also told some of my friends to get your app that have phones it supports. Thanks again to you and everyone else here providing feedback.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] jeffro23:
more thanks for all the work gone into this effort.

I was considering the switch to the S3 but am extremely happy with Spirit FM unlocked on the HTC One X.

i hope going forward that at least there are smartphone options that allow the connectivity that HTC left in place.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] FiendFyre:
Thanks!

I just wanted to say thanks for your hard work mikereidis, I had been following this thread but didn't post at all (was hoping you would be able to get it working because I figured you would be able to if anyone could) and well maybe my next phone will have fm... should have checked on that before I got the phone I guess
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] mikereidis:
:)

The Electronics Industry Association successfully argues (against NAB attempts to legislate FM) with a study showing the vast majority in the US don't care about FM when they buy a phone.

I believe the study, more or less, with the caveat that many/some people will regret they didn't check for, or get FM capability.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] UP.EagleEye:
Access to the .ko files?

I don't suppose the iris files are available anywhere? I have a rooted "stock" I747 and can't find these files onthe phone anywhere (searched with ES FileManager. Running FFMConfig in terminal produced info, but enabling gave nothing but error.

I'm glad to help where I can.

OK.. sorry for responding before getting to the end ot the thread...

THANK YOU Mike for your work and efforts. If I flash a ROM on my G3 that opens up the FM (which it seems there are some getting there) I'll be getting your unlocked Spirit.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] mikereidis:
Rumored upcoming HTC G3 ? At least almost every HTC device has usable FM. US variants of high end Galaxy's almost universally do not.

If I recall correctly, the logs I've seen combined with the service manual for the US GS3 is reasonably conclusive that FM is not possible.

But you never know. For almost 3 years it seemed impossible for the original Motorola Droid to get FM audio out. And just recently someone managed to unlock it.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] jesusprice:
Can say I have never used this feature when I had HTC phones..
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] mikereidis:
I had a cheese sandwich for lunch. I don't like pastrami.

OP: Feel free to close the thread.

But sooner or later another will pop up anyway, and truth be told, you never know for sure if FM is possible or not. :)
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] noingwhat:
I don't see any reason for it to be closed. Perhaps be sure to mention in the OP and in the last post that we have concluded it can't be done, but I wouldn't underestimate the devs here on XDA. We may be able to get it eventually, even if that means 3 years from now.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] joederp:
Close the thread, I'm going to post the why thread.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=31576462
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] joederp:
Google for "SWB-QC30H_Datasheet" you will see what Qualcomm means. It can do FM there are two pins for FM antennas. So it is possible, just not incorporated into any of the Murata wifi/BT SoC modules that are used in the current phones.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] mikereidis:
Thanks for the lead. That doc is for the WCN3660, which is how the HTC OneS, OneXL and EVO 4G LTE get Bluetooth, Wifi and FM.

Problem is that none of the US GS3's have the WCN3660 chip.

Like pretty much every Samsung device out there, they use a Broadcom combo chip for Bluetooth and WiFi. But the FM portion of the Broadcom chip has never been enabled with antenna connections on the Galaxy S/S2/S3/Note/Tab class devices.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] KennyG123:
Popular opinion seems to say close the thread because it currently can't be done.

I hope sometime in the future someone figures it out

It never happened for the Samsung Epic either

Thanks

FNM