Radio on new Nokia: usage costs?

Just got myself a new Nokia 5500 Sport, which I note comes with a
built-in radio. However, AFAICS it obtains its radio signal via the
internet, which I would have thought makes it totally unviable since I
have to pay for all data.

Out of interest, how many kb/hour or whatever is it likely to use (and
therefore cost?)

David

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"Lobster" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Just got myself a new Nokia 5500 Sport, which I note comes with a built-in
> radio. However, AFAICS it obtains its radio signal via the internet,
> which I would have thought makes it totally unviable since I have to pay
> for all data.
>
> Out of interest, how many kb/hour or whatever is it likely to use (and
> therefore cost?)

According to Nokia Support, the radio is an FM radio so I would imagine its
just a normal over the air radio. You might have to plug in your headset to
act as an aerial
http://europe.nokia.com/A4160004

But then it mentions the visual radio which requires connecting to a server.
http://europe.nokia.com/A4288135

I think the visual radio and the FM radio are two seperate things.

You can use the Visual Radio application as a FM radio with automatic tuning
and preset stations, or with parallel visual information related to the
radio program if you tune in to stations that offer Visual Radio service.
The Visual Radio service uses packet data (network service).

To use the Visual Radio service, the following requirements must be met:

The radio station and your network operator must support this service.
Your Internet access point must be defined for access to the network
operator's Visual Radio server.
The preset radio station must have the correct Visual Radio service ID
defined and have Visual Radio service enabled.
Visual Radio cannot be started when the Offline profile is active.

The FM radio depends on an antenna other than the wireless device antenna. A
compatible headset or enhancement needs to be attached to the device for the
FM radio to function properly.

On Sat, 21 Apr 2007 12:18:18 GMT, Lobster
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Just got myself a new Nokia 5500 Sport, which I note comes with a
>built-in radio. However, AFAICS it obtains its radio signal via the
>internet, which I would have thought makes it totally unviable since I
>have to pay for all data.
>
>Out of interest, how many kb/hour or whatever is it likely to use (and
>therefore cost?)
>
>David

I got a SE W300I yesterday and it has an FM Radio and it never
occurred to me that reception was any other way than via the normal
airwaves . If it was over the Interwebby thingy then you ( or I) would
need to set this up wouldnt we .

You do need to connect earphones to the phone to get Radio tho'.

As for the phone I have I'm quite impressed by the reception quality .

Stuart

Beck wrote:
>
> "Lobster" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Just got myself a new Nokia 5500 Sport, which I note comes with a
>> built-in radio. However, AFAICS it obtains its radio signal via the
>> internet, which I would have thought makes it totally unviable since I
>> have to pay for all data.
>>
>> Out of interest, how many kb/hour or whatever is it likely to use (and
>> therefore cost?)
>
> According to Nokia Support, the radio is an FM radio so I would imagine
> its just a normal over the air radio. You might have to plug in your
> headset to act as an aerial
> http://europe.nokia.com/A4160004
>
> But then it mentions the visual radio which requires connecting to a
> server.
> http://europe.nokia.com/A4288135
>
> I think the visual radio and the FM radio are two seperate things.
>
> You can use the Visual Radio application as a FM radio with automatic
> tuning and preset stations, or with parallel visual information related
> to the radio program if you tune in to stations that offer Visual Radio
> service. The Visual Radio service uses packet data (network service).

Well if they are separate, I'm damned if I can work out how to access
the "FM" (ie airwaves) radio...

I think they are using "FM" as a descriptor only, and you can only get
it on the interwebby thingy... If you search for 'FM' or 'radio' in the
Nokia "how to" guide all it comes up with is the link you gave above.
If you try to set that up on the phone, it says... "Connect to service?
Terms and prices are available from your service provider". Not looking
good to me!

Is 'packet data' equivalent to internet browsing or something different?

David

"Lobster" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> I think they are using "FM" as a descriptor only, and you can only get it
> on the interwebby thingy... If you search for 'FM' or 'radio' in the
> Nokia "how to" guide all it comes up with is the link you gave above. If
> you try to set that up on the phone, it says... "Connect to service? Terms
> and prices are available from your service provider". Not looking good to
> me!
>
> Is 'packet data' equivalent to internet browsing or something different?

I think packet data might be GPRS. Have you tried connecting your headset
and going from there? It might be the FM radio requires headset to act as
aerial.

I think this is the key paragraph...

The FM radio depends on an antenna other than the wireless device antenna. A
compatible headset or enhancement needs to be attached to the device for the
FM radio to function properly.

Beck wrote:
>
> "Lobster" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>> I think they are using "FM" as a descriptor only, and you can only get
>> it on the interwebby thingy... If you search for 'FM' or 'radio' in
>> the Nokia "how to" guide all it comes up with is the link you gave
>> above. If you try to set that up on the phone, it says... "Connect to
>> service? Terms and prices are available from your service provider".
>> Not looking good to me!
>>
>> Is 'packet data' equivalent to internet browsing or something different?
>
> I think packet data might be GPRS. Have you tried connecting your
> headset and going from there? It might be the FM radio requires headset
> to act as aerial.
>
> I think this is the key paragraph...
>
> The FM radio depends on an antenna other than the wireless device
> antenna. A
> compatible headset or enhancement needs to be attached to the device for
> the
> FM radio to function properly.
>

Doh! spot on. It does indeed seem to function as a conventional radio
that way (if I get a huge bill from Vodafone next month I'll take it
back tho!) Apparently if the headset is in place, the software
functions as an ordinary radio tuner; if not it swaps mode to an
interweb thingy.

Think I'm getting too old for this stuff...

"Lobster" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Doh! spot on. It does indeed seem to function as a conventional radio
> that way (if I get a huge bill from Vodafone next month I'll take it back
> tho!) Apparently if the headset is in place, the software functions as an
> ordinary radio tuner; if not it swaps mode to an interweb thingy.
>
> Think I'm getting too old for this stuff...

You are never too old. My Mum is 60 this week. I just gave her my Sony
Ericcson k750i. Its got radio, mp3 player, camera etc. She is in her
element putting mp3 files on the phone and even bought herself a bigger
memory stick.

Beck wrote:
>
> "Lobster" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>
>> Doh! spot on. It does indeed seem to function as a conventional radio
>> that way (if I get a huge bill from Vodafone next month I'll take it
>> back tho!) Apparently if the headset is in place, the software
>> functions as an ordinary radio tuner; if not it swaps mode to an
>> interweb thingy.
>>
>> Think I'm getting too old for this stuff...
>
> You are never too old. My Mum is 60 this week. I just gave her my Sony
> Ericcson k750i. Its got radio, mp3 player, camera etc. She is in her
> element putting mp3 files on the phone and even bought herself a bigger
> memory stick.

Ah well mine's 75, and she phoned me this week to find out where she can
get a good deal on buying Adobe Photoshop...!

On Sun, 22 Apr 2007 11:06:12 GMT, Lobster
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Beck wrote:
>>
>> "Lobster" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>>
>>> Doh! spot on. It does indeed seem to function as a conventional radio
>>> that way (if I get a huge bill from Vodafone next month I'll take it
>>> back tho!) Apparently if the headset is in place, the software
>>> functions as an ordinary radio tuner; if not it swaps mode to an
>>> interweb thingy.
>>>
>>> Think I'm getting too old for this stuff...
>>
>> You are never too old. My Mum is 60 this week. I just gave her my Sony
>> Ericcson k750i. Its got radio, mp3 player, camera etc. She is in her
>> element putting mp3 files on the phone and even bought herself a bigger
>> memory stick.
>
>Ah well mine's 75, and she phoned me this week to find out where she can
>get a good deal on buying Adobe Photoshop...!

Tell her to try P/shop Elephants .It's easier and much much cheaper .

Stuart B wrote:
> On Sun, 22 Apr 2007 11:06:12 GMT, Lobster
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Beck wrote:
>>> "Lobster" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>> news:[email protected]...
>>>> Doh! spot on. It does indeed seem to function as a conventional radio
>>>> that way (if I get a huge bill from Vodafone next month I'll take it
>>>> back tho!) Apparently if the headset is in place, the software
>>>> functions as an ordinary radio tuner; if not it swaps mode to an
>>>> interweb thingy.
>>>>
>>>> Think I'm getting too old for this stuff...
>>> You are never too old. My Mum is 60 this week. I just gave her my Sony
>>> Ericcson k750i. Its got radio, mp3 player, camera etc. She is in her
>>> element putting mp3 files on the phone and even bought herself a bigger
>>> memory stick.
>> Ah well mine's 75, and she phoned me this week to find out where she can
>> get a good deal on buying Adobe Photoshop...!
>
> Tell her to try P/shop Elephants .It's easier and much much cheaper .
>

Oh don't worry I already have - in fact that's what she uses happily
now; just that she'd heard about the 'full version' and thought she was
missing something!

"Beck" <[email protected]> writes:
>
> But then it mentions the visual radio which requires connecting to a server.
> http://europe.nokia.com/A4288135
>
Once you set visual radio up manually it works fine, otherwise it is a waste of
space.

It has some sort of visual service, which only works on Virgin Radio in London,
so I haven't got a clue what it does.

It also allows you download frequency lists from the net by specifying where
you are. They were both incomplete and wrong. Specifying Leicester got me a
partial list and the BBC National frequencys were for a transmitter that wasn't
Sutton Coldfield.

Phil