While iPod nano users have been enjoying the ability to tune in FM radio for quite some time now, the users of other Apple devices such as the iPod classic and the iPhone have been left out the over the air audio party. A new patent for the Cupertino-based company in the area of HD radio may signal that this bizarre exclusion's days are numbered.
According to AppleInsider, Apple filed a patent application earlier this week for the tech surrounding HD Radio. HD radio varies from standard radio in that both analog and digital signals can be simulcast within the same channel. The patent, titled "Digital Radio Tagging Using an RF Tuner Accessory" details a handheld device that could allow users to scan all of the stations available to them, and through some pretty nifty metatagging magic, return station selections based on the music that they were listening to when they commenced the scan. While this sounds pretty sci-fi, it's not really all that out there: Apple's iPod nano radio already boasts metatagging that allows radio listeners to purchase songs they heard on FM stations in iTunes at a later time.
Remember, while the possibilities for this tech are pretty cool, you'd do well not to go out and get crazy excited just yet. Apple files scads of patents every year, and not all of them see fruition.
