HD Radio On Your Next iPod/iPhone?
The goal for Mac Insomniac is to stay as far away from rumors for as long as possible. HD Radio is more conjecture than it is a rumor though with a new patent application showing up today from Apple focusing on it. Although Apple regularly files for a significant number of patents that never actually make it into a shipping product, this one seems very reasonable.
The title on the patent reads “Digital Radio Tagging Using an RF Tuner Accessory”. To make that less confusing and to sum up, it means being able to flip through HD radio in Apple’s own unique way, and allow users to buy music based on their listening (most likely right from iTunes), or tag the tune for later purchase.
Apple and iBiquity (the owner of the HD Radio format) partnered in 2007 to bring iTunes Tagging to devices like the iPod nano. The format is also used in the iTunes Tagging feature with HD Radio that allows users to tag songs for later purchase using the iTunes Store.
Having access to the radio could significantly boost iTunes sales, and expand the user experience for millions iPod and iPhone users. This seems like an eventual Apple move for sure, and it would not be surprising to see it crop up in iOS5.
