Times like these...

February 24, 2006. It's been an interesting day, to put it lightly. Mobile phones were being whipped out all day, with people receiving and forwarding tidbits of news. "State of Emergency declared!" "Randy David arrested!" Stuff like that. Those with mobile WiFi devices were logging onto the INQ7 news site until, by midday, it was already congested. Fortunately there was also Google News, the BBC and the CNN websites, thank heavens. But life went on. At least as far as our haunt at the Hinge Inquirer offices was concerned. We had our meetings, people worked on their respective publications, and we joked and talked and wondered what in the world was going on. Everybody was hungry for news. Times like these, I end up wondering... why in the world don't mobile phones come with AM tuners? AM radio, after all, is still the most efficient way to get the latest breaking local news anywhere. Unfortunately, all phones with tuners thus far only come with FM alone. Sometime last year, we asked Nokia's dashing country general manager PB Bhasin if we will ever see a Nokia phone with an AM radio, and he replied that AM radio is primarily a Philippine phenomenon, and so we can't expect to see regionally-targeted phones to carry these. Here's what I think though -- there's a big potential market for phones with AM tuners here. And the size of the potential market would be lucrative enough for any phone manufacturer brave enough to pay a little extra attention to the needs of our market. Because I've done studies before, and what I've uncovered was that AM radio is no longer just a broad market's tool -- a surprising number of upper-income folks listen to AM radio while on the road. Many senior businessmen who are stuck in traffic are opting for AM news over FM music. And there's a good chance that this would imply that even high-end phones may benefit from having integrated AM tuners. Heck, right now I wish my phone had AM radio. Hmmm. Perhaps I should just hunt for a cheap, mobile AM tuner to while me over for now.