VisorCentral.com - AM/FM module?

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VisorCentral.com (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/index.php)
- Springboard Modules (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=10)
-- AM/FM module? (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/showthread.php?threadid=11249)

Posted by nashdj on 01-31-2001 12:11 PM:

Buy one in a second

My two points:
- An opensource SDK so that people can write their own applications to control it.
- International Shipping!!!

Posted by Vertigo on 01-31-2001 12:11 PM:

Re: Re:

quote:
Originally posted by DBrown

BTW, there have been more than 700 reads of this message thread. PLEASE, even if you have no interest in radio on your Visor, respond anyway. It's just as useful to know what percentage of visor owners DON'T want a radio as those who do.

c) Not interested. Radio is dead.

The only time I listen to the Radio is when I'm in my car on my way to class or work, so my car radio suits me fine.

I think this is one of those things that doesn't really benefit from being in springboard form. Why would you need an LCD screen on a portable radio?

That stylus antenna is a nifty idea though.

[Edited by Vertigo on 01-31-2001 at 07:14 AM]

Posted by gordons_m on 01-31-2001 02:04 PM:

First off, I like the idea of raidio. Radio provides access to local talk shows, news and random assortment of music based on a specific FM/AM station.

Here is a statement made in an article in June of 2000:

Springboard modules for the Handspring Visor finally ship... soon.
pc expo story
Spring Forward

Audio modules were popular too. Singapore Shinei Sangyo showed off two such devices: my-Raydio, a $50 FM-radio with 24 preset stations, an auto-scan feature, bass control, and of course, an audio out; and the $70 my-Vox, a digital voice-recorder with voice dictation capabilities and up to eight minutes of recording time. Both will be available in July.

Below is the link to the full article:
http://www.techtv.com/print/story/0,23102,2595801,00.html

In the past I have found information about this module on their web site, although I just tried today and I couldn't view product offerings and specs.

Its been 8 months since the announcement and still no ship date. What's taking so long? It's a radio, you can buy radios every day. Why can't someone design a simple radio to utilize the Springboard slot? We have modems (wired/wireless), mp3 players, GPS, and phones but no radio. Oh well.

Posted by asonnebe on 01-31-2001 02:12 PM:

T [/B][/QUOTE]

You make a good point. Most radios I've had needed a decent antenna to get good reception. My "stroke of genious" was to design the thing to use an included special stylus as an antenna. The stylus slot is obviously the best place to store such a thing. When you want to use the radio, you "snap" (no tedious screwing in or out) the stylus into a jack on the radio module to become the antenna.

Whatcha think?

Dave ;-) [/B][/QUOTE]

That's a great idea, except what would one write with on the visor while listening to the radio.
Don't quit your day job.

Posted by critic on 01-31-2001 03:47 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by asonnebe

T

My "stroke of genious" was to design the thing to use an included special stylus as an antenna. The stylus slot is obviously the best place to store such a thing. When you want to use the radio, you "snap" (no tedious screwing in or out) the stylus into a jack on the radio module to become the antenna.

Whatcha think?[/B][/QUOTE]

That's a great idea, except what would one write with on the visor while listening to the radio.
Don't quit your day job. [/B][/QUOTE]

Misspelling of "genius" aside, there's no reason to be rude to the guy. If you haven't a better idea, you shouldn't be making snappy comebacks like "don't quit your day job". (And what if his day job is SpringBoard designer, eh?)

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, I would also buy a radio Springboard in a second, providing it uses the minimum form factor and carries both AM and FM formats - and that and applicable software is MAC compatible. (You listening to me, Good?)

Answering the LCD screen question from earlier, the manufacturer of the Springboard/software could provide a sync solution where the module uploads station lists and program schedules, and displays them as you scan the dial. As with the MP3 players, it could display a small graphic EQ. Or, at the very least, the module could carry extra flash memory, making it useful for e-books, etc.

As for the antenna, I like the idea of the clip-on stylus, but an extra all-metal stylus might add extra cost. I think AM reception would be adequately served by a small internal antenna, and the hardware designer might be able to design in a small retractable antenna that pulls up from the top of the unit for FM. Although the more I think about it, the more a "clip on" antenna makes sense. Just as long as it doesn't add cost.

Posted by DBrown on 01-31-2001 04:25 PM:

Hmmm... "What do you write with when listening to the radio?"

I guess you'll have to buy my ACME Quantum Stylus Duplicator. With it your stylus can be in two places at once. $49.95, free shipping. Please allow 2 to 3 years once your payment has been cashed.

Dave

__________________
There is nothing yet made by man that cannot be improved upon.

Posted by bkbk on 01-31-2001 04:38 PM:

1,000 replies so far, SB developers.
Gotta keep the price low, though.
B/c the day a TV/Radio tuner comes out, w/out a competitive price...

Posted by Roundy on 01-31-2001 05:04 PM:

1) buy one in a second

Especially with the ability to listen to AM. I don't much care about FM anyway.

I only have 2 stations to mention:

1) News - 24 hour, around the clock news.

2) Traffic - In Chicago, IDOT broadcasts 24-hour traffic information on 530 and 1610 AM. Very useful, even when I'm not in the car.

Thomas

Posted by phurwitz on 01-31-2001 10:07 PM:

Definitely!!!

If it has AM in addition to FM, I would definitely get it. NOAA weather would be a plus.
It should have controls from the Visor (presets etc...)

That's my $.02

phurwitz

Posted by BEN on 02-01-2001 01:34 AM:

Re: Definitely!!!

quote:
Originally posted by phurwitz
If it has AM in addition to FM, I would definitely get it. NOAA weather would be a plus.
It should have controls from the Visor (presets etc...)

That's my $.02

phurwitz

Well, if it has AM then adding NOAA wouldn't be that hard to do. I think that the frequency ranges are very close.

BEN

Posted by LuckyChuck on 02-01-2001 03:51 AM:

I've already said that I'd buy it in a second, but I thought of something else that might be useful. You could add the song "snapshot" functionality that has started showing up in small keychain devices. That's the idea that given the fact that you know what station you were listening to and what time you were listening to it, you could theoretically look at a radio station's play list and figure out who sings the song in question, what it's title is, or what CD it can be found on. This should be a pretty simple addition to the built in software. Just my 2 cents!

Posted by Vertigo on 02-01-2001 08:58 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by LuckyChuck
I've already said that I'd buy it in a second, but I thought of something else that might be useful. You could add the song "snapshot" functionality that has started showing up in small keychain devices. That's the idea that given the fact that you know what station you were listening to and what time you were listening to it, you could theoretically look at a radio station's play list and figure out who sings the song in question, what it's title is, or what CD it can be found on. This should be a pretty simple addition to the built in software. Just my 2 cents!

If this feature was added, I probably would buy one.

Posted by Hoser_back_home on 02-01-2001 09:04 PM:

try http://www.starcd.com

they have a pqa for those of you with wireless capability!

__________________
Ever feel like the train left while you were busy reading the paper?

Stealth-Mod.

Posted by DBrown on 02-02-2001 02:47 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by Hoser_in_USA
try http://www.starcd.com

they have a pqa for those of you with wireless capability!

OK, so how many Visors come with wireless capability? Do you know something about the "next" Visor that the rest of us don't?

BTW, what does PQA mean? It's not mentioned in my Visor manual.

Just curious.

Dave

__________________
There is nothing yet made by man that cannot be improved upon.

Posted by meitsjustme on 02-02-2001 03:38 AM:

A) buy 1 in a sec

As said b4, it would be nice to have it with extra memory for ebooks and stuff =)

Posted by DBrown on 02-04-2001 02:43 AM:

How much RAM does a RADIO need?

quote:
Originally posted by meitsjustme
As said b4, it would be nice to have it with extra memory for ebooks and stuff =)

This is a common request. Some modules are strictly software and simply a flash module that came with preloaded software. Some modules are hardware based, but have their own flash RAM, and usually 8meg of it for their own related software. When that 8megs is not used completely, I agree it's nearly disrespectful for the module makers to NOT make remaining free space available for the Visor owner's use.

I can't imagine a radio module needing much RAM. The small database of stations you might create could easily be handled on the Visor's own memory. Whatever the cheapest way to get the included tuner application into the module would be, is the one I'd take. A small EPROM, perhaps.

But I promise, If I ever make a radio module that has unused flash RAM on it, I'll give the visor access to it.

Dave

__________________
There is nothing yet made by man that cannot be improved upon.

Posted by Vinny on 02-04-2001 02:46 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by LuckyChuck
You could add the song "snapshot" functionality that has started showing up in small keychain devices.

Yes but what would we all use for keychain holders if we lost our Emarkers

(does anyone else make these)? I knew of a free one that is out of business now and all I know of now is the Sony E-Marker). I almost bought it, if it were just $5 cheaper... I would be even more willed to buy it if this springboard had that capability.

Also, in regard to earlier in the thread someone saying there's no point in the convergence, I have this to add. Sadly enough many people don't have springboards. Some have backup modules but that's not really meant to be kept in the springport all the time. So this would be a good replacement for the dummy cartridge. A little bit of self assurance that we didn't go Handspring just for the 5 fruity flavors. I just want something to shove in that slot personally, and besides I would love having two devices in one because I already have to carry enough small electronics around! This is how many people justify spending $200+ on an mp3 player, and we're only talking $30 here!

__________________
-Vincent

Posted by gordons_m on 02-04-2001 07:32 PM:

Check out this link.
http://www.i-vox.com/my-raydio.htm

Posted by miradu on 02-04-2001 09:07 PM:

All these features are going to make it more that $50. Remebr palm is simplicity, and the Visor is expansion. Put those together you have Simple Expansion. When you want all thes e features the price is going to be $150, and than you cmplain about it being so costly! SIMPLICITY!

__________________
-miradu

Posted by Vinny on 02-04-2001 09:12 PM:

The marking thing shouldn't add anything to it. Infact, if the software allowed for plugins someone else could develop it w/o bothering the developer with it. Mmmm simplicity.

__________________
-Vincent

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