Hello Tanker,
@Tanker wrote:...Well maybe the carriers asked or rather told the manufacturers to not enable the fm chip....
I still don't think the carriers are telling the manufacturers not to enable the FM chip. If you read the earlier posts, LG, Huawei, and Samsung have devices with the chip enabled. With your case, Fido does not even carry any Asus devices so why would they have any say as to whether the Zenfone has its FM chip enabled or not?
What happens when you try to use the FM radio? Do you get an error message? Some people in other forums have had to download the FM radio app from Asus. Others have noticed that the app was moved to the notification panel. If you're getting an error message, have you plugged in some wired headphones? Some people have noted that the error message they were receiving disappeared once they plugged in headphones.
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
Hello Joesixpack,
Welcome to the community!
Once again, that is not true. As previously mentioned, it's the phone manufacturers, in this case Samsung Canada, who decide on the model variant specifications. As of the writing of my previous post, LG and Huawei already had their FM Radios enabled.
Since that post, Samsung has also decided to follow suit with some of their newer phone models (see here and here). Note how the article states that it's because of a partnership between the phone manufacturers and NextRadio. While not exhaustive, their supported device list does show some Samsung devices. I can confirm that my Samsung device, purchased from Fido, does indeed have a functional FM radio. Unfortunately, that partnership does not affect older models such as the Galaxy S8.
Hope this helps 😀
Cheers
Hello Barry_barry,
Welcome to the community!
You're barking up the wrong tree. It's phone manufacturers, in this case Samsung Canada, who decide on the model variant specifications.
If the mobile providers really don't want the capability with their devices, why did they allow some of their devices to have the functionality (see here). Furthermore, did you see the campaign update on the Free Radio on My phone website? Rogers said they will support/allow it if enabled by the manufacturer (note: LG, Huawei do have their FM radios enabled on Fido).
barry_barry wrote:... Yet, if I bought the exact SAME phone in the US, I would be able to use the internal fm chip as the fm radio chip is somehow magically enabled for this model if bought in the US. ...
Not true. Even in the US there are multiple versions of the Galaxy S8 (see here), with slightly differing specifications so you can't get the exact same SM-G950W in the US. The difference is Samsung Canada chose not to enable the functionality (see here). If you do happen to find one from a reseller, it won't have the FM radio functional.
barry_barry wrote:...I am hopeful that Fido sends an update sometime soon to enable the fm radio in my phone sometime soon please!...
Unfortunately, it might not be as simple as an update. They might use the same chipset, but that doesn't necessarily mean Samsung Canada implemented a FM radio into their design (see here).
You might consider contacting Samsung Canada and requesting they include the FM functionality in their future phones.
Hope this helps 
Cheers
