yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] expertzero1:
the HTC one International has the fm radio. depends on the carrier. note 2 international has the radio.

so I'm sure us versions won't have it
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Squirrel1620:
The US carries just like to screw with the phones too Damn much. They're like, oh it comes with fm radio? Not any more. And that sd card? Nah just use the cloud and our outrageously priced data plans. 'Merica!
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] tbong777:
Exactly... I bought the international Note 2 because I preferred the FM radio to LTE.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] big_b0sss:
Seriously you buy a phone worth of £500 for listening FM radio:rolleyes::rolleyes:
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Squirrel1620:
Well this exynos 5 octa (if it performs like it's said to) will be a pretty good reason to get the international version
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] PLUG313:
but guys... won't all snapdragons be the same? with the code being GT-i9505 in america and my country,

I'm doomed not to get radio? :( or is there any chance?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Councill:
My HTC Desire HD has one but you have to have headphones plugged in, but that might be the way they all work.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mikereidis:
FM Radio is a secret and TBD, LOL.

We still don't know the audio chip and many others yet.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] slapdaddy:
LOL This is very true.

Sent from my HTC Vivid.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Figarino:
Fm radio is very important. I have to use data connection for listening radio stations?

Normally i prefer data connection for web browsing or streaming video.

I'll hope to find Fm Radio in Galaxy S4 as in Htc One ! :good:
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] CreepyDroid:
The 3G S3 and Note 2 (i9300 and N7100) had FM Radio while their 4G counterparts (i9305 and N7105) didn't so it's safe to assume that the 3G S4 (i9500 - exynos octa) will have it while the 4G one (i9505 - s600) won't. So basically you need to choose between LTE and FM radio.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] khein:
FM online streaming hurts battery life (cpu-awake + data usage). While FM radio, afaik, even lets the cpu go into deep sleep.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mikereidis:
BTW, the audio chip is apparently WM5102 on Exynos variant, according to a Voodoo Report sent to supercurio.

Has anyone seen that report posted anywhere ? May have clues.

I'd say "reasonable to assume". "Safe" is a bit strong.

Historically, before LTE, it was the US variants which had no FM. IMO likely 100% due to US carriers, and their ongoing war with US over-the-air broadcasters.

But yes, lately this has spread to LTE devices, regardless of country of sale. I'd call it collateral damage, unless those devices didn't work on US LTE bands. I presume the carriers don't want people using "foreign" LTE devices with FM.

Now Sprint has an IMO tentative deal with US broadcasters, where Sprint gets $15 million and 30% of extra revenues due to the "monetization" features of the coming NextRadio somewhat interfactive FM app. Supposedly Sprint will pump out 30 million phones with FM starting later this year.

I added 2 and 2 when I heard a rumor that Sprint will carry the Exynos version. Rumor could easily be false; I have no idea. And there is no final deal yet it appears, although allegedly some other US carrier may sign up for this ransom soon.

IMO if Sprint doesn't have OTA FM in their S4, that deal w/ broadcasters looks almost worthless throughout 2013. S4 is/will be THE flagship device of 2013 IMO, so it's of little value to have a few less popular devices with FM pop up later in the year.

Then again, the Octa core could be more readily available in Q3/Q4 and carriers with an FM deal could go that way, and/or some new variants with US LTE bands.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mikereidis:
It "depends". Many audio chips/hubs have low power modes, but HALs, drivers & other software aren't necessarily using all capability.

I'm not even sure CPUs can deep sleep on most phones. There's always stuff happening and interrupts firing.

Even just the need for Alternate Frequency support usually means that FM has to use CPU.

I think the biggest battery positive for OTA FM is not needing to use WiFi, or worse cell data, to continuously stream the data.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] slapdaddy:
I absolutely agree with you. I've had FM radio since my Cingular 8525 I believe and its an important feature to many.

Sent from my HTC Vivid.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] gchindi:
Its not important in the so called developed countries, however i second that it is very much important and used immensely in the developing countries till today... For eg. Its like listening to UK top 40 on the go without buying the charts or downloading it from the net, or streaming it online (data saved is data earned)..
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mikereidis:
FM is still the most widespread form of communications in the world, IMO.

I'd be more specific and say there is much less interest in major US/North American cities, say 1 million population and up, and particularly among younger people.

Rural areas in US and Canada are poorly served with reliable cell data for streaming.

But many have moved to media players too. North American radio broadcasters are highly money and popular hit driven. And many of us don't want to hear the same song 4 or more times a day, or the same obnoxious commercials over and over.

There's plenty of interest for broadcast FM in Europe. I think North America is an "abberation" in this regard.

And "North Americans" can be insular, and often don't really think about the rest of the world, so many will just assume FM is largely crap world-wide. No offense to "North Americans", I am one, 2 by citizenships.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] j510:
At times not for internet music but for local emergencies and news. It is important. And im from NA and i disagree with above
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] -]Megacharge[-:
The HTC One has FM Radio, considering Samsung's current trend of offering what it's competitors do, I would expect the S4 to have it as well and I would be shocked if it didn't.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] RusherDude:
I really hope there's a missunderstanding here, because an FM radio is a MUST for me.

If the S4, that was the star phone for me until I read this thread, doesn't have a FM radio, it's an auto-discard for me. What a f***ing disgrace..
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mikereidis:
I've looked at the two system dumps for the GT-I9500 variant, and I think there is sufficient evidence of FM capability.

There is no FM app yet; I can't even find it hidden in music apps.

My theory continues to be that the FM radio app is not ready yet. Some spec sheets list TBD.

This may be due to the first time using FM on the Broadcom combo chip on a high end Galaxy S/Note class device. All prior devices used a SI470x dedicated FM chip, and ignored FM on the combo chip. If true, FM on GT-I9505 may be more likely, or at least jumper selectable. The Broadcom chip might be on a Murata module based on some drivers I saw.

feature_default.xml contains:

So as a CSC feature, the app may not be on some carrier software loads.

"RTPlus" is interesting as a possible new feature. It combines RDS info with online info to give an "interactive experience" and perhaps push ads at us, LOL.

There is some indication in the libraries that FM over Bluetooth may be supported for the first time in a stock Samsung FM app. Using a combo chip makes it easy, audio data never leaves the chip. I'm surprised it took this long to get that; was at least partially supported in the chips for years.

If using the Broadcom BCM4335 combo chip, I think the chances are better for digital FM audio, without the silly D->A->D conversion when recording on GS2/GS3/Note/Note2. Hopefully, everything will work as with other audio, such as equalizers/effects and external visualizers, and with low power consumption.

Some messages in the framework files:

:)

So, FM is playing. You say "Stop". Then you can say "Wake up" or whatever. I presume.

And I presume voice control might turn off with speaker on ? Otherwise some fancy code is needed to determine if radio guy says "Coming up next..." and it switches to next channel. LOL.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Zahid Ali:
But htc one have fm so its not a chip issue I think
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] soraxd:
confirmed there is no FM radio app, sorry everybody.

hands on source

http://translate.google.com/transla...ellphones/2013-03-27-obzor-samsung-galaxy-s4/
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] zoot1:
According to gsmarena there is no FM radio on GS4..
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] PLUG313:
well it was almost a perfect phone
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] darrendm:
Yep, just to confirm this - no FM receiver in i9500
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] RusherDude:
:(

One option less...
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Mittaa:
What about i9505?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] tcntad:
According to this guy: http://www.swedroid.se/forum/showthread.php?p=1278865#post1278865

It does have radio, it says so in the specifications.

However there are some discussions bout it of course.

Edit: http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s4_vs_htc_one-review-913.php

In this test, the S4 does NOT have a radio, I havent read the test yet so I dont know if its the 9505 or the 9500 or even both..

Edit 2: Last page: 9500/05 has no radio. According to them..
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] darrendm:
The S4 in GSMArena's review is the i9505 (Snapdragon).

It's very confusing as even the spec sheet on Three UK's site says there is an FM radio, but both reviews of the two variants seem to disagree.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] gchindi:
One more reason for not to upgrade from s3 to s4..
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] expertzero1:
just wait for official reviews. should be another two weeks
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] PLUG313:
or is it the only reason?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] hell_storm2004:
I saw gsmarena and both version don't have Radio. Its strictly mentioned "No".

Radio is a nice feature to have, a $50 phone has it, so why doesn't a $550 one?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mikereidis:
This is a VERY common phenomenon specific to the United States of America.

Verizon's lineup pretty much had FM absent on high end devices, last time I looked for someone needing a recommendation.

People who buy high end phones are more likely to be data plan revenue sources. And those buying cheaper phones often don't care about which carrier they choose too much; so they may be more likely to go to the competition for a cheap phone with cheap FM that doesn't need an expensive data plan. I could go on with reasons about rural people vs. city people and others....

And just try to figure out if the phones have FM or not from their websites. In most cases it's impossible to know if FM is there. It's a disappeared feature. Also note that spec sites on the web are highly inaccurate about FM, sometimes because it differs by carrier or country.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] hell_storm2004:
Yeah, i guess so. And plain downright stupid! :mad:
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mikereidis:
I respectfully 100% disagree.

See my post 32 in this thread for my reasons. Most telling:

I don't think they added that message just for fun and to confuse us.

The FM app is not ready. So review units don't contain it.

If someone would run my FM app on a review unit, I'd bet we could get it working, with perhaps a few patches needed to my code. Anybody have a review unit who is game ?

All the above only applies to GT-I9500.

9505 may be a different ball-game.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] PLUG313:
this guy: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2207592
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mikereidis:
Derp ?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] PLUG313:
I meant, the OP of the thread: http://xdaforums.com/member.php?u=1285174

ahah
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] RusherDude:
I got to agree with this.

I don't expect them to put those messages and then leave radio out of the picture, at least on the international version.

Infact, they'd be idiots, because I'm a 100% sure buyer that may get another option instead just for a FM radio which must cost them cents..
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] bosotros:
Thanks for this. I always wondered why carriers (AT&T in my case) would disable a feature like FM radio when a phone has everything onboard for it to work. I've also seen many examples of international versions having FM and US subsidized versions not. It's greed... why didn't I think of that.

Internet radio uses lots of data. FM uses none. That's capitalism I guess.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Figarino:
Dear Samsung, no FM Radio in Galaxy S4? I'll buy Htc One, it has Fm Radio built in.:eek:
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] gchindi:
This is like cheating a loyal customer from Samsung, for a customer who buys sgs4,he will be shocked to see that it has no fm radio but can't give up the phone just for that reason, neither the customer will be completely happy with it until the customer uses the phone.. This is exactly what iPhone does with not giving fm radio and limited bluetooth option to name a few.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mikereidis:
It's not just about data plan revenue. It's about carriers wanting to be the gate-keepers of content, and not just dumb pipes.

And there is a battle going on between the multi-nationals about content. Everyone is involved really: Google, Apple, Samsung, Sony and many entertainment companies, radio, TV, Hollywood and many more I'm sure.

Sprint has a tentative $15 million deal (+ 30% of extras) with US broadcasters to enable FM chips in 30 million phones over 3 years. Press releases about this "marvellous new FM thing" were hilarious. This MIGHT be related to a rumor of Sprint selling the Exynos variant.

Negotiations are under way with other carriers. See my post here for further info on this FM ransom: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=37641690
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mikereidis:
I'll play my own devils' advocate and say it's theoretically possible Samsung has, or will, change their mind at the last minute.

I think the reason Samsung is beating HTC substantially is due to a few marketing bullet points. GS3 had 20 points and OneX had 18 points let's say. So reviews will say they are both tops, but GS3 has the edge, say removable battery and SDCard. So the GS3 is called the best. And when buying a $500-$1000 phone. most people want best, not 2nd best.

So, every feature matters. Wolfson audio codec: check, FM radio: check, etc,... I think again, GS4 will beat HTC One, on Samsung brand momentum if nothing else.

I also see these symbols, looking at the audio HAL library audio.primary.universal5410.so :
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] scott14719:
This same type of thread appeared when the GS2 Skyrocket was announced. I bought the phone one week after AT&T offered it. One of the questions I had about the phone was the FM ability. Some reviews I found for it listed it as an option while others didn't. So, I wanted to know if it had FM or not. Even after the phone was released for sale, there was still speculation. It turns out, the I727 does not offer FM radio. Just like in this thread, people started saying how if it didn't have FM they would not buy the phone. Guess what? People still bought the phone and nobody cared. I am willing to bet carriers like AT&T are pretty sure it will still be the same with the US GS4 offering. People said the same thing about it because it had a Snapdragon processor...again, people bought the phone and loved it. Plenty of development and options still til this day. It's hard to say for sure about various options because carriers like AT&T like to control hardware options through software controls. An example with the I727 would be NFC. The phone has it, but it didn't become functional until ICS was released (or custom ROM was used). I am willing to bet people threatened to not buy the GS3 and other phones for similar reasons. However, I am planning on buying one. It doesn't matter if it has FM radio or a Snapdragon processor or a Sony photo sensor or whatever...I will still buy it because it will be a great, fast phone, with excellent development and support here at XDA. I am willing to think that most others that buy the phone will get it for the same reason (even the ones that beat their chests and make threats of not buying it for one reason or another). So, I guess its good to have threads like this because it gives an opportunity to find out what the exact specifications of a phone will be in a given region and that is always good to know. However, it is also helpful to realize that Samsung, AT&T, Verizon, or anyone else isn't going to change the design and function of a phone because of a few threats from a few people. They will continue to produce what sells. I agree, we will not know if the GS4 US variant will have FM until someone gets one in their hand and actually makes it work.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] slannmage:
I have never used an FM Radio........ I've never used the radio, not ever since I was born in the 80s...... like I'll listen to the music I want to, when I want to thanx.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] RusherDude:
Not caring about if it wears an Snapdragon processor, a Sony photo sensor or other **** is irrelevant to 99% of the people in terms on both "importance" and "REAL importance".

An FM radio is just a basic thing EVERYONE should carry IN ABSOLUTELY EVERY MOMENT. It is by far the most important thing to carry on, more important that the phone itself..

It's a shame how people is forgetting about how a simple FM radio can be EVERYTHING in a hard situation... until they live one, after that they will understand my lines.

And it's even worse how companies like Samsung are deleting such an important element, whey they can make it themselves for no cost at all.

Remember... if some disgrace happens, wireless phone signal and internet will almost inmediately stop working.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] slannmage:
Yeh back in 1950
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] scott14719:
In such a case, it is more than likely that all reliable electrical sources will be unavailable as well. You will be much better served by keeping a small self-chargeable (crank) AM / FM / weather and emergency radio around. Wasting available electric charging a smartphone that will more than likely only work for FM and GPS is not a smart choice. That being said, I hope it has FM if only because it will be another feature for the phone's portfolio. But relying on it during times of emergency would not be a selling feature for me.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] saintsimon:
Folks, don't give up too early on FM. Even if an FM app is not present, installing an FM Radio app from the Play Store might bring FM to life.

Best example is the Motorola RAZR i XT890 with Intel chip. There was no word of FM in the official specs or any FM app installed, but under ICS, the FM Radio app from the Play Store works well. Sadly, for the Jelly Bean update Moto removed any FM API or library or whatever from the release and FM no longer works.

The reason why they hide the existing FM functionality in the RAZR i is unknown, since the XT890 is not meant for the US market.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] RusherDude:
I really hope that you live the rest of your life the way you've lived until now. Because that could change in any second, and not even in the best of the chances we would go back to 1950 only.

Obviously a better radio is a way better option, but you don't use to carry all the emergency stuff (that kind of radio, water, medicines, etc..) to everywhere, right? Instead, you carry your smartphone wherever you go. And in a bad luck situation, you cannot chose where you will be. I agree that a dedicated two-channel AM/FM radio is better.. but without that in hand, you have to agree that some temporary FM radio is way better than nothing ;) (using the radio, you can gather a bit of information, that will make you take one or other decision, which can change your status or multiply your survival chances.. for example).
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] AlienzWar:
surprised

its really a big surprise to see that no fm radio imformation any of the mobile specifations providing websites.......:victory:
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] scott14719:
This isn't completely true. Someone posted a link in the "benchmark" thread about the octo version that mentions the exclusion of FM radio. It was mentioned in the music player section and towards the end...

http://translate.google.com/transla...ile-review.com/review/samsung-galaxy-s4.shtml

However, I have also seen mention on several sites about it having FM.

The bottom line is that you can not trust any of these sites until someone gets one of each variant and actually tests them for FM chips. Some sites / reviews will list it as a feature because they saw it listed elsewhere, but haven't checked it for themselves. Others will list it as not having it because of the exclusion of an app to control it (which doesn't mean the chip isn't there). So, basically, all of this speculation is useless until someone trusted gets one in hand and either completely verifies it does have FM or it doesn't. Mobile review sites are useless.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mikereidis:
Yes. I regularly speak with people hoping I can enable FM on their phone. I tell them they need a different phone and they respond that they love their phone and will not give it up.

The US NAB was trying to get a law passed mandating FM in US phones. Electronics industry (much bigger than radio) successfully fought back. They released survey results indicating a high percentage of people didn't care about FM at purchase time.

Survey was reasonably true I think (but also a reflection of how little thought people put into phone selection). But sometime after "purchase time", and perhaps after some data plan bill shock, many look for the free OTA FM that many just ASSUME was there, and are disappointed.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] hell_storm2004:
We need something like IEEE for phones now.... to streamline phones all over the world.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mikereidis:
Try finding it on North American carrier web-sites. For the most part, it's not there. Phone the Phone OEM and they'll say to ask your carrier.

I've had to download user manuals in most such cases to try and find out. Even then, it's not 100%, particularly if it's a generic manual from a phone OEM and the phone has different software loads for different countries and carriers.

In some cases, the carriers screw up with initial ads that came from the phone OEM and were meant for International version (AT&T notably). Even the phone OEM can screw up, as LG did with Optimus G in France at least.