I thought all devices upgraded to 2.2,

[sniffs]

were supposed to have the FM radio feature unlocked? I could have sworn I remember reading something that Google said that all devices upgraded to either 2.1 or 2.2 would have their FM radio's unlocked..??

 

[YourMobileGuru]

were supposed to have the FM radio feature unlocked? I could have sworn I remember reading something that Google said that all devices upgraded to either 2.1 or 2.2 would have their FM radio's unlocked..??

I'm pretty sure that just like the wifi hotspot feature the phone itself has to have hardware to support it.

 

[sniffs]

I'm pretty sure that just like the wifi hotspot feature the phone itself has to have hardware to support it.

The "wifi hotspot" feature, or lack-thereof on the Droid 1 is a complete and utter lie.

you can obviously root your phone and install wifi hotspot software on the Droid 1 and it works perfectly fine..

I bet it has more to do with them wanting to promote these features on newer devices.. Besides, most SoC devices have FM tuners but are disabled.

Look at the iPhone 3G, 3GS and 4.. a breakdown of specs show they all have FM tuners, just disabled.

The original Blackberry Storm 1, also a SoC, has WIFI.. but disabled.

The Droid 1 uses a TI WL1271 chip, which include WIFI-N, Bluetooth, GPS, AND FM tuner.

It's just not enabled. =(

If you go here, http://focus.ti.com/general/docs/wtbu/wtbuproductcontent.tsp?contentId=29993&navigationId=12762&templateId=6123

you'll see,

WL1271 802.11 b/g/n
WL1273 802.11 a/b/g/n
Note: Both solutions support Bluetooth specification v2.1 + EDR and FM transmit and receive.

 

[YourMobileGuru]

I stand corrected

 

[sniffs]

Was just tryin to inform.

but yeah.. I'm trying to find the article I read that said Google was going to enable the tuners in 2.2

proving difficult..

 

[sniffs]

Ah, here we go.. "rumors" =(

Android 2.2 is coming. What features do you want? – Android and Me

 

[mikestorm]

The "wifi hotspot" feature, or lack-thereof on the Droid 1 is a complete and utter lie.

It is not a lie. The issue has to do with the on board TI WL1271 chip, while to your point does technically allow wifi tethering, it can only do so in 'ad hoc mode'. Froyo calls for wifi tethering to be done via AP mode, and the chip lacks the firmware for that mode.

So, it was between VZW sanctioning a hack to use the device in a manner that's not consistent with Google's Froyo specs and potentially causing usability issues, and superfluous support issues, or taking the conservative approach and following Froyo's specs to the letter, knowing full well that knowledgeable Droid owners will simply go ahead and hack their phones themselves (and consequently take responsibility for the hack in the process).

If you ask me, their decision was the right one.