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Tech News and Commentary
Dave and the team discuss Facebook changing its name, Infinity SUVs getting CarPlay, and more.
Robert in Miami listens online and called in using the AskDave button at IntoTomorrow.com and asked: “My question is about tablets that have the capability to receive over the air television and – if possible – AM/FM radio built-in. Do you know of such a thing and what do you think about them?”
Robert, there were some attempts at Android tablets with TV tuners a few years ago, RCA even used to have one for a very short time, but no one really bit and they disappeared very quickly.
These days the closest you can get is an app like PadTV paired with a plug-in TV tuner and antenna.
The devices themselves are not very expensive, something around $30 should get you one, but they may or may not work.
Some people have decent luck with them and they seem to be able to make them work, but the market is very small and the devices are largely old versions that are not being updated to work with new hardware and new operating systems, so some of them are dead on arrival.
Still, if you order from a retailer with a decent return policy you may want to give a couple of them a shot to see if you get a working one.
Weve also seen some reports of battery life really suffering when those devices are plugged in, so dont expect to be able to watch TV for very long.
For radio your best solution are apps that play stations over the internet. There are plenty of free ones and most tablets come with an FM that is not turned on and are just plain not capable of AM reception over the air.
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