News out of the Consumer Electronics show (CES) in Las Vegas today (9 Jan) is that Research in Motion (RIM) will unlock the ability to listen to FM radio on two smart phones already being used by consumers. If you own either a Blackberry Curve 9360 and 9380 Smart phones when RIM roles out their new 7.1 OS you will be able to listen to FM radio on your device.
Other benefits offered by this new operating system will include mobile hotspot capability, which will allow users to connect up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices to their Blackberry’s internet connection at the same time.
This is very similar to the mobile hotspot function available in the Android platform. The update also offers improved search functions, Blackberry Tag for leveraging NFC(INFO) to share contacts, media, and files; and Wi-Fi calling where supported.
These new phones will include a new version of Blackberry Maps that displays special offers, coupons, and discounts from nearby vendors. There is no word on when the OS will be released.
For the radio industry, the move is an acknowledgement by RIM that many handsets already in the marketplace have FM and we hope this will force other smart phone manufactures such as Apple and Android to also turn on thier FM chips.