Bluetooth cell phones for Mac OS X

Last fall, there was really only one Bluetooth option for Verizon
Wireless customers, and that was the Motorola v710. I bought it
almost a year ago, and while I'm very happy with the phone, it would
be nice if some of the Bluetooth functionality weren't dependent on
hacking.

One key feature for me is the Bluetooth Internet access for my
PowerBook when I'm traveling, and I find that works absolutely
perfectly. There's no charge other than airtime minutes to use
Verizon Wireless's basic Internet access; you can get faster
connectivity by paying for their fancier offerings.

Just found these instructions; no idea where I found the info last year.

      http://stevenfettig.com/mythoughts/archives/000189.php

There are also lots of web pages with info about getting Bluetooth
support for iSync working using this phone. Here's one.

      http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20050501151747917

Cingular certainly seems to have the most support for Mac users, and
I gather T-Mobile phones work well, but if you're looking for a
Verizon Wireless phone, do consider this one.

Good luck!

==========================================================================
  Mark H. Anbinder | mhatidbits.com
  Contributing Editor, TidBITS | http://www.tidbits.com/
==========================================================================

On Dec 6, 2005, at 15:30, fred128 wrote:

> I continue to be amazed at how difficult it is to find information
> on Bluetooth cell phones that play well with Mac OS X. Here is a
> list of minimum requirements:
>
> 1. Compatible with iSync
> 2. Compatible with Salling Clicker
> 3. able to be used as a modem to connect to the internet (via
> Internet Connect)

I've been using my T-Mobile Nokia 3650 with my PowerBook for 2
years. It does all 3 of those things, plus it has IR so that I can
use it as a modem for my Palm as well (but not at the same time). T-
Mobile hasn't intentionally crippled phone features the way that
Verizon has. Now, if they only offered the Treo 650....

My criteria for a phone was the following :

Has bluetooth. Works with iSync. Can be used as a bluetooth modem. Has a full car kit available with cradle and charger.

I found the SonyEricsson K608i. I think in other places it's just called a k608, but this fits the bill. It works with Salling Clicker too.

I'm 90% happy with it. Coming from a nokia, some of the key positions are a little different, so it's taken a little getting used to. And the interface can be slow at times (sometimes you click on a button, only to watch options change before the button registers, and it clicks on something else). Given that is it's only fault though, I'd recommend it, and I'm happy with it.

Where I am (in Australia) it's available, unlocked from Three.

Cheers, Nick

I have a PowerBook 1.25MHz G4 with Tiger 10.4. My cellular service is
Cingular, and I have a Motorola V551 cell.

Just before a recent European business trip, I enabled international
roaming and Cingular's MEdia net data services. After a little bit of
tinkering with bluetooth connectivity (basically, I must use
Bluetooth Setup Assistant <i>every</i> time i wish to connect to the
phone via bluetooth). However, once the bluetooth connection is made,
I can readily use Internet Connect with password authentication to
get online.

Similarly, once the bluetooth connection is made, I had no difficulty
using iSync to maintain a reduced Address Book (create a phone-
specific group in Address Book) on the phone. The only real pain with
the Motorola phone is that, for a given Mac Address Book contact that
may have several phone numbers and e-mail addresses, you get a unique
phone address book entry for each phone number and each e-mail
address (e.g., a Mac Address Book contact with 3 phone numbers and 2
e-mail addresses results in 5 unique address book entries on the
Motorola phone).

Cannot comment on Salling Clicker as I do not use....

I can comment that there does not seem to be a central clearinghouse
of information on Mac <-> cell phone connectivity. I spent a
significant amount of time researching this prior to the trip, and
feel no more educated on the subject than before I started. After
reading countless articles on whether the phone should be locked or
unlocked, outdated scripts, etc., I finally contacted Cingular tech
support/customer service. They were helpful, intelligent, and walked
me through most of the set-up. The same cannot be said for their
bricks-n-mortar storefronts, who had not even enabled the data
service after 3 business days.

The short answer - I *can* recommend Cingular and Motorola bluetooth
phones.

Best of luck!
Jim

I used my T-Mobile Nokia 3650 for a while with my PowerBook, but using Internet Connect didn't work too well - it would drop the connection about every five minutes or so. I ended up going to a Cingular Treo 650, which is working great as a Bluetooth modem for my PB. Since Cingular's EDGE network is quite a bit faster than T-Mobile's antique GPRS data network, I'm a lot happier, too!

Rather than use iSync, I'm using Missing Sync for Palm with the Treo. And according to the Salling Clicker site, the Treo works well with their product.

Steve

Moto Razr V3 works for me as a modem and iSync but fails with Salling Clicker.

Blue Phone Elite gives you the "proximity" change capabilities though (change Adium to away when I leave my desk)...

I need the Quad band and Salling Clicker was the thing that I had to sacrifice from my wishlist.

(most SE phones are triband, but the new W600 looks promising)

Mike

Not sure about Salling Clicker compatibility since I don't use the product but my Nokia 6600 works well with the other two requirements. I looked on Apple's compatibility page when hunting for a phone about a year and a half ago and liked this model best, among the options available locally (in Paris, France).

<http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/isync/devices.html>

On Dec 14, 2005, at 1:08 PM, nick wrote:
> My criteria for a phone was the following :
> Has bluetooth.
> Works with iSync.
> Can be used as a bluetooth modem.
> Has a full car kit available with cradle and charger.

I have one more criterion: works with a carrier that has a decent
signal here at the house and other places I need it.

That one caused me to jump ship from AT&T/Cingular in mid-contract,
as the service deteriorated to unusable due to additional users of
the towers serving the house. I couldn't get a straight answer from
customer service to "do you have other phones which do better in
marginal areas than mine?"

   --John

James J Rogers wrote:
> Cannot comment on Salling Clicker as I do not use....

The Salling Clicker site has a list of compatible devices and their level of
functionality with Salling Clicker

<http://www.salling.com/Clicker/mac/devices.php>

According to the author the current generation of Motorola cell phones are
not compatible with Salling Clicker and have limited or no functionality.

:----------------------------:

R. Ahteri Forcada-Lowrie
ahteri [at] alumni [dot] ucsd [dot] edu

On 14 Dec 2005, at 14:08 , Mike savory wrote:

> I need the Quad band and Salling Clicker was the thing that I had
> to sacrifice from my wishlist.

Did you try Romeo?

<http://www.irowan.com/romeo/>