MP3 players: FM tuners with RDS (Radio Data System) Support?

MP3 players & FM tuners with RDS Support

I first discovered RDS when we purchased a
Toyota Prius the year it was introduced (2000).
Besides being a great automobile, the RDS
features came as a pleasant surprise.

With RDS, the FM radio (via touch screen
in the case of the Prius) can search for all
stations that support RDS. It then allows
you to sort them by type such as Rock, Country,
Classical, Information (e.g., National Public
Radio), Religious, etc. This is real handy
when we travel as it allows us to quickly find
the station types we prefer. More importantly,
it allows us to filter out those stations we
would prefer to avoid.

In addition to their frequency, RDS stations
will also display their call letters. Some RDS
stations will also display their slogan (e.g.,
Rock 101) and yet others will also display the
song title and name(s) of the artist(s).

As you browse through station types page by
page, all of the locations where you would
normally see all of your station presets, you
now can see all of the RDS stations of that
type ready to go. It is difficult for me to
describe how this works but then end result
is that you need not blow away your local
station presets when you travel in order
to get the same, or better, functionality.

All in all, it's very slick.

Now that you mention it, I am puzzled why
MP3 player manufacturers that already offer
digital displays for presenting this same
information (artist, track name, etc.) would
not include RDS with their models sporting
FM tuners. In fact, it would make them look
very similar to satellite radios in this
respect.