Washington - Sep 27, 2010 - The National Association of Broadcasters has been pushing for the required inclusion of FM receivers in all cell phones, and has added a showcase built on the idea for the 2010 Radio Show. The lobby exhibit will highlight several models that already have radio receivers built into them, as well as information on devices that can have the function added.

If you're attending the convention, the Radio-Ready Cell Phone Showcase will be located on the Constitution level of the Grand Hyatt, next to the down escalator leading to the Renaissance level, which is where the Radio Show Marketplace and session rooms are located. Phones on display with FM radio will include the Nokia 5030 and the Motorola ROKR EM35 as well as phones from Samsung and Sony Ericsson.

The NAB touts that the primary components needed to include an FM radio in a cell phone include a tiny FM receiver IC, which typically measures about 3mm on a side, and an FM antenna. The NAB also says that FM receiver functionality is also often incorporated into the ICs that many cell phones already have to support wireless Bluetooth and WiFi capabilities, and in these instances the only additional requirement to make these phones FM-capable would be the inclusion of the FM antenna plus some additional software for providing a user interface to the radio feature.

The NAB points out that some FM-capable cell phones use the headphone cable as the FM antenna, but suggests an FM antenna imbedded in the phone is a better option. Three embedded antenna manufacturers -- Antenova, Ethertronics, and The Technology Partnership -- will have posters and literature at The Radio-Ready Cell Phone Showcase describing their embedded antenna technology. TTP and Ethertronics are currently developing advanced embedded antenna designs for handheld FM radio and mobile DTV applications with funding from the NAB Fastroad technology advocacy program.

Also at the Showcase, Global Security Systems, manufacturer of the Alert FM radio-based alert system, will be on hand to highlight radio's emergency alerting capabilities, including FM-based Radio Data System (RDS) text messaging and audio alerts.