iPhone to get an FM radio? Let the rumors fly!

June 3, 2009

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference opens next week in San Francisco, and it's already sold out – a hint at how important the event has become for the computer industry at large. At last year's WWDC, for instance, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone 3G. At the '09 conference, with the app store frenzy at its peak, what does Apple have in store? (Excuse the pun.)

Over at Ars Technica, Chris Foresman wonders if the company may "be considering ways to 'share' apps with friends in an effort to increase app discovery and spur wider distribution."

In a post at the NewsFactor Network, Frederick Lane writes: "A successful app-sharing capability would address one of the long-standing gripes among iPhone app developers and customers: The lack of an easy way to test applications before purchase (hence the large number of apps with 'lite' versions). A sharing capability would presumably come with the ability to try out the app before purchase is required."

Meanwhile, writing on AppleInsider.com, Katie Marsal floats the possibility of a "FM radio in next-gen [iPhone] models." This speculation, she continues, comes "from references in early iPhone 3.0 software betas to a new Broadcom chip that would enable lower-power 802.11n Wi-Fi connectivity and the ability to send and receive FM radio transmissions."