Will the iPhone soon be able to not only receive FM and HD Radio stations but also provide an electronic program guide?

Apple Insider reported on a patent filing (“Digital Radio Tagging Using an RF Tuner Accessory”) this week. The filing notes that “enhanced metadata and searching can provide the listener the ability to refine station choices without having to listen at length to any particular station …”

Sounds like a simple electronic program guide. The key listener benefit of such a system is the ability to discover more easily the stations and programming they want to hear. Video systems offer this service but broadcast radio never has.

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