FM Radio to be removed? Seriously?

[Beta V]

Good news: I got the email that said I'm eligible to get the Infotainment and Full Self Driving computer upgrade on my Model X. Yaaaa!
And then I read the fine print. They're no longer going to support FM radio. Wait. What? I listen to the local FM stations every morning and whenever I drive. NPR, the classical station, and more. So now I'm supposed to stream this content. That's worrisome. I'm going to try to do that when I drive today, but I'm skeptical that I'll get this local content at all. I already miss AM radio (I need it to monitor the local emergency broadcasts and the low-power transmitters the state puts up around problem areas).

So these Infotainment games--I know I don't plan to play them except in the Cellphone lot at the airport. Why have something so distracting taking up CPU time on the system and running the battery down? I don't get it.

I think I'll appreciate the 5GB WiFi and the faster processor, but come on...

And I already paid $3000 for the autodrive upgrade. They said something about another $2500. Is that on top of the $3K?

 

[jmaddr]

I listen to local stations on TuneIn. I can’t remember the last time I used FM or AM and I find all of them fairly easily. I even prefer the NPR podcasts over the local NPR station for the shorter drives.

I could see in low mobile coverage areas this would be an issue.

 

[Silicon Desert]

Uh, not to hijack the thread away from your FM comment, yet since you mention 5GB WiFi, I wonder where you got that. And why would I want 5GB WiFi which I don't think is even possible? Maybe I am misinterpreting the comment.

 

[willow_hiller]

Uh, not to hijack the thread away from your FM comment, yet since you mention 5GB WiFi, I wonder where you got that. And why would I want 5GB WiFi which I don't think is even possible? Maybe I am misinterpreting the comment.

Is it possible he meant 5 GHz? Does MCU 1 only have a 2.4 GHz wifi antenna?

 

[Silicon Desert]

Is it possible he meant 5 GHz? Does MCU 1 only have a 2.4 GHz wifi antenna?

yes, and that is what I am thinking.... 5G.... but, it is the first time I heard about that capability in the upgrade. Is 5G really a part of that?

 

[siucity]

Uh, not to hijack the thread away from your FM comment, yet since you mention 5GB WiFi, I wonder where you got that. And why would I want 5GB WiFi which I don't think is even possible? Maybe I am misinterpreting the comment.

5GHz WiFi, not 5GB. 5GHz supports faster speeds. Whether you actually experience that depends on other factors.

 

[Silicon Desert]

5GHz WiFi, not 5GB. 5GHz supports faster speeds. Whether you actually experience that depends on other factors.

Wait a second. I think that might also wrong. You mean 5G cellular? But again I ask... where is it mentioned that is a part of the upgrade from the 2.4 GHz I currently have? Maybe I missed seeing that somewhere.
Are we talking about cellular 5G or WiFi 5GHz?

 

[willow_hiller]

yes, and that is what I am thinking.... 5G.... but, it is the first time I heard about that capability in the upgrade. Is 5G really a part of that?

Yes, evidently. The upgrade page specifies 5 GHz in the Features table under Wi-Fi: Infotainment Upgrade

 

[Silicon Desert]

Yes, evidently. The upgrade page specifies 5 GHz in the Features table under Wi-Fi: Infotainment Upgrade

Ah thanks, I see that now. I guess I would only care about faster WiFi if I were streaming something at a place where there might be WiFi, as in a few of those superchargers. I'd be more excited if the upgrade where 5G cellular

As for the FM thing. Yea, I am going to miss that, but probably not a reason to avoid an upgrade. I have to think about that a bit.

 

[willow_hiller]

They're no longer going to support FM radio. Wait. What? I listen to the local FM stations every morning and whenever I drive. NPR, the classical station, and more. So now I'm supposed to stream this content.

You'd be surprised how many stations are on TuneIn. Here's their top stations for Washington State in general, but you can narrow down to your local area as well: Stream Radio from Washington | Free Internet Radio | TuneIn

KUOW is the local NPR station, right? It's available here: Listen to KUOW-FM on TuneIn

 

[Darmie]

It's crazy I know. I enjoy FM when I'm driving on road trips. I was sadden there was no AM on the Model X which was on our Model S. I have a fiesta that I drive to work while wife enjoys the Model X and I like to keep up with the local AM news. Maybe this is a sign of my age. It's getting harder and harder to live in this millennial world.

 

[Silicon Desert]

You'd be surprised how many stations are on TuneIn. Here's their top stations for Washington State in general, but you can narrow down to your local area as well: Stream Radio from Washington | Free Internet Radio | TuneIn

right, good point, but there are several FM stations that can't be available on TuneIn that I care about (on occasion). Here is what I posted about that elsewhere....

It probably won't be a deal breaker for me to not have FM, yet there are times when it does come in handy that are outside of typical FM stations, like those local weather conditions announcements and emergency annoucements while traveling, the real estate announcements on homes for sale, and local home transmitters. My son is going to laugh at Christmas time if I need to carry a portable $10 FM radio in a $130,000 car to listen to those synchronized Christmas lights displays. He will probably insist we drive around in his 20 year old Toyota (worth about $1,500 now) which has a real FM radio.

 

[siucity]

Wait a second. I think that might also wrong. You mean 5G cellular? But again I ask... where is it mentioned that is a part of the upgrade from the 2.4 GHz I currently have? Maybe I missed seeing that somewhere.
Are we talking about cellular 5G or WiFi 5GHz?

5GHz is about WiFi. 5GHz WiFi supports faster speeds than 2.4GHz WiFi.

Maybe there will be a 5G cellular upgrade option in the future...

 

[Silicon Desert]

5GHz is about WiFi. 5GHz WiFi supports faster speeds than 2.4GHz WiFi.

Maybe there will be a 5G cellular upgrade option in the future...

Thanks for the info. I am greatly aware of that as being an electronics engineer, but it seems to be confusing to some folks. My point was not clear I guess. I am fine with 2.4 GHz in the car for now. 5GHz Wifi would not be a reason for me to upgrade, yet a nice extra.

edit: yes, what I really would hope for is 5G cellular.

 

[willow_hiller]

I am fine with 2.4 GHz in the car for now. 5GHz Wifi would not be a reason for me to upgrade, yet a nice extra.

My concern for you MCU1 folks is that they only mention 5 GHz, I don't see any mention of dual-band. I'm wondering if anyone is going to have to upgrade their router or range-extender from 2.4 to 5 along side this MCU upgrade.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

You'd be surprised how many stations are on TuneIn. Here's their top stations for Washington State in general, but you can narrow down to your local area as well: Stream Radio from Washington | Free Internet Radio | TuneIn

KUOW is the local NPR station, right? It's available here: Listen to KUOW-FM on TuneIn

Back in the summer of 2018, Entercom (which owns hundreds of stations across the country) moved all of their stations from TuneIn over to Radio.com. @Utahken mentioned we should be able to stream from radio.com on the MCU2 browser so I'll give it a try. I'll keep my eyes open for a potential FM tuner upgrade as well.

 

[Utahken]

Back in the summer of 2018, Entercom moved all of their stations from TuneIn over to Radio.com. @Utahken mentioned we should be able to stream from radio.com on the MCU2 browser so I'll give it a try. I'll keep my eyes open for a potential FM tuner upgrade as well.

And it also works while driving! My friend tried it out. It actually mixes the browser and any sound streaming over Bluetooth

 

[Beta V]

5GHz WiFi, not 5GB. 5GHz supports faster speeds. Whether you actually experience that depends on other factors.

Yes, 5GHz WiFi. Sorry for the confusion. Yes, the old hardware only supported 2.5GHz routers.

 

[brkaus]

Tunin has additional advertisements, lower quality than HD FM, more latency when changing, and missing stations.

Yes, I do use tunin for the podcasts and I love it, but sometimes I just want to listen to what's on and not make choices except for between a few stations.

I'd pay more to have FM, but I don't want a car without it. I'm not going to velcro something to the dash that I have to fumble for when I can use steering wheel controls to change stations right now.

Yes, I choice is good and this is a 1st world choice, but It's going to be a tough decision when my eMMC dies. Replace or upgrade. I was putting off the preventative eMMC replacement in hopes of this option being released, but as it stands it isn't clear cut to me for my particular usage model. I use FM way more than I use Netflix and I have a dash cam that has much lower power requirements. It's the more robust eMMC. that I was really looking for.

 

[Beta V]

You'd be surprised how many stations are on TuneIn. Here's their top stations for Washington State in general, but you can narrow down to your local area as well: Stream Radio from Washington | Free Internet Radio | TuneIn

KUOW is the local NPR station, right? It's available here: Listen to KUOW-FM on TuneIn

I tried to find KUOW a couple of ways (local stations and by location) but since you said it was there, I kept looking. Wow it would be nice if we could search by call letters or frequency--and yes, I found it. I guess I can do without the analog feed. Nevermind...