Next-Generation iPhone Theoretically Capable of FM Radio Reception and Transmission?

Over the weekend, hints of several additional features for the next-generation iPhone were revealed. Among them was the discovery that text strings in the iPhone OS 3.0 software reference a new Broadcom wireless chip, BCM4329, which supports 802.11n wireless connectivity. In digging through the specs for the chip, 9 to 5 Mac has discovered that it also supports both reception and transmission of FM radio signals.

But they neglected to mention that it also adds the ability to receive and send (the previous model could only receive) information through FM radio signals which theoretically could be used to broadcast sound into car stereos..without external adapters. It could also be used to pick up FM radio music, news and sports broadcasts on their iPhones and even, in August, on iPods. Currently the FM reciever is only used to pick up communications from the Nike+ peripheral.

The finding, however, doesn't mean that Apple will necessarily enable these features in the new iPhone. Apple has certainly been known not to enable all features their hardware is capable of, and FM reception/transmission is one that have shown no interest in supporting in the past.