Yesterday, Dan Moren wrote about Bluetooth, and included this small summary of the iPhone to Mac Bluetooth connectivity:
“I also decided to try and pair my iPhone with my MacBook to see if I could wirelessly sync my contacts via Bluetooth. The short answer? Not so much. The iPhone will pair, but there are no services available to the Mac.”
I thought I’d just expand on that a bit more. As Dan noted, “no services” are available to the Mac. This means, for instance, that you can’t use the Address Book to dial the iPhone. You can’t see inbound caller ID info on your Mac’s screen. And as Dan mentioned, this also means no synching of any data over Bluetooth. You pretty much can’t do anything.
I find it pretty sad that pretty much any other Bluetooth-enabled cell phone on the market will support these features on the Mac, and yet Apple’s own iPhone will not. Hopefully the we-all-hope-it’s-coming-soon iPhone software update will take care of this painfully obvious missing functionality. Even if it doesn’t go so far as to allow data synching, I’d take just the dialing and caller ID features. Having had both at times in the past, it’s not something I was expecting to give up with a move to the iPhone.
I agree. I think it was left out because it would have been a function that Windows users would have missed out on, and because of that they didn't try to get it out on initial release. I would expect to see it shortly, or at worse when Leopard gets released.
I think Apple will add this feature soon enough.
Personally, I hope it allows WiFi sync'ing as that would be faster than Bluetooth.
I'm also hoping Apple adds voice dialing.
I really don't get what this gains you. You just drop the iPhone in its dock, and it will charge and sync. You have to be as close to the Mac with Bluetooth as you'd have to be with the wired dock anyway. It's slower over Bluetooth. You won't be charging over Bluetooth. I understand it's something people have done in the past, and that it should be easy for them to do now, but why do it when you have a dock plugged into your Mac anyway?
I agree, additional bluetooth protocols will be added later. I would like to share my bluetooth experiences so far:
1. My Plantronics Discovery 640 Bluetooth Headset works just fine with the iPhone. Unless there is something really special about the $129.00 Apple Bluetooth headset, I'll stick with my Plantronics.
With my Plantronics I am able to:
a) Redial the last number dialed by pressing the Answer button twice.
b) When a call is coming in, I can hear a ringtone in my headset (great when you're driving with the music playing loud in the car where you may not hear the iPhone).
Whatever ringtone you have set on the iPhone does not play through the Bluetooth headset (which is OK with me as long as I hear something that lets me know the iPhone is ringing).
2. The iPhone Car Kit Bluetooth implementation works beautiful in my 2005 BMW 645ci. The iPhone connected flawlessly, and my entire address book with all phone numbers is accessible through the iDrive Communications in the car.
3. How about this: One of my digital cameras is a Kodak EasyShare V610 with built-in Bluetooth. How nice would it be to be able to transfer pictures via Bluetooth from the camera directly into the photo library on the iPhone. I would than be able to email or MMS (features currently missing from iPhone) the picture from the iPhone, or sync it with my iPhoto library when docked.
I'll add another to the list of BlueTooth works. I have a Garmin Nuvi 660 gps. The iPhone links up and works great with the Garmin as a hands free device. Address book shows up, I haven't tried the voice dial because I've assumed it uses the voice capabilities of the phone rather than the Garmin, but I guess it would be worth trying just to see...
A side note, I also have a Pioneer stereo in my Blazer that has the iPod adaptor and initially when plugged in the iPhone has a message about iPod accessories..., but it works just fine with the Pioneer iPod adaptor.
I recently purchased the iphone and immediately had problems. One, it locks up on Safari when in the Google docs and spreadsheets, plus you are unable to access the Google docs. Additionally, the sync process ended up with Entourage mail not working. Even Gmail (one of the possible mail choices provided) will not work. Apple has no idea how to correct the problems.
I recently purchased the iphone and immediately had problems. One, it locks up on Safari when in the Google docs and spreadsheets, plus you are unable to access the Google docs. Additionally, the sync process ended up with Entourage mail not working. Even Gmail (one of the possible mail choices provided) will not work. Apple has no idea how to correct the problems.
I agree with the Russel. As long as a solution is provided out of the box for tranfering pics and files, that's fine. It's when a phone has connectivity built-in - and Verizon turns it off (obex). THAT'S annoying.
The phone was compared to the Nokia E62 which was supplied to me by work. It does not dial over BT which is a real pain, but it does sync very nicely. My previous Sony T637 did everything and was a joy. I expect nothing less from Apple, no excuses. I need to sync without the dock as I will likely leave it on my desk at home and not have it at work. Salling clicker functionality is also a must... that is if this is the 'uberphone'. This should be a model of BT functionality... transfer photos to iPhoto, dial, etc.
I'm not terribly concerned about Bluetooth syncing. Wi-fi syncing seems like a much better option for the obvious speed and distance issues. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to put the iPhone dock some place convenient (the living room perhaps or close to the door) and have it sync without having to take it to the computer (which I would assume is not located in a central location. This would also open up the possibility of remote syncing over the internet possibly using .Mac. You can't access the iTunes Store via the iPhone, fine. But imagine if you had a Season Pass to a TV show or subscribed to a bunch of Podcasts. You're on the road but still able to keep up with them by syncing over a wi-fi hotspot.
The missing Bluetooth piece for me is stereo headset support. Seems a bit crazy to have to carry around 2 different accessories, a mono Bluetooth earpiece and the wired stereo headset for listening to music. It's kind of ironic considering that one of my big complains with my current Verizon phone is the crippled Bluetooth (apparently I wouldn't be so hampered if it were a Motorola phone instead of an LG model, which has no devices listed on Apple's iSync device page).
I use Bluetooth pairing to dial and receive calls directly from my compuiter using a handy software called BluePhoneElite which taps directly into my address book. This is much easier interfacing with my actual cellphone while I'm at my computer - where I'm at most of thge day. Not being able to have this functionality on the iphone is a HUGE deal for me.
Without going into too much detail, I am aware of some efforts to get the dialing and caller ID features working ... and progress is being made.
-rob.
At least the iphone sync perfectly with the blue tooth of BMW cars.
once you have paired the devices, any time you enter the car you just plug the BMW fob/key and iphone and car will sync in few instants.
you can scroll the adress book, last 8 calls menu , most called numbers menu and place calls from your steering wheel.
BMW has a voice dial feature, I did not try if that works, yet.
BTW you can sync the laptop and iPhone using the usb2 cable from the iphone or the mimi ipod. you do not necessarily need the dock.
Car charger adapter from the mini ipod works as well on the iphone.
Hi I have had iPhone since launch and I had some troubleshooting problems and other issues with it. recently I found a great tech support site that helped me fix it.
Here is the page for iPhone Support
Enjoy
If you really want bluetooth sync'ing, go to:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html
and request it. If many thousands of users request a feature, Apple does, usually, listen.
Bluetooth works seamlessly with my new 335i.
To address Andrea's statement about voicedialling, yes it works. This is because really the voice to phone number connection database is stored on the car, rather than on the phone. Essentially, when you tell the car to call, say "John", the car will then tell the iPhone to call John's number...whatever number you told the car John's number is. So if when you set up voicedialing for John, you would have told the car John's number is (for example) 212-222-3333, then the car will interpret your voicedialing request and tell the phone to dial 212-222-3333. The car isn't actually telling the phone to call John. Just John's number.
I hope this doesn't sow any more confusion, I tend to ramble in a vague attempt to make things clear. Sometimes I am unsuccessful.
the latest iphone 1.1.1 release was such a disappointment. Voice dialing - a must - to avoid touching the iPhone screen that at times end up dialing someone other than the intended party
I wouldn't be optimistic of including BlueTooth OBEX, even if the carrier is with AT&T. Since the iPhone has been hacked already, why make it easier? I am unhappily stuck in a contract with Verizon - I don't expect them to change their ways with turning off OBEX, neither do I expect Apple to change their ways.
Its really stupid how thats works you would think out of all cell phones to be compatible with macbook the iphone would be one of them.