[PLUG-TALK] Bluetooth For Cell Phone

John Jason Jordan johnxj at comcast.net
Sun Dec 27 18:55:52 UTC 2009


On Sun, 27 Dec 2009 08:14:02 -0800 (PST)
Rich Shepard <rshepard at appl-ecosys.com> dijo:

> I've not used any bluetooth device, but now that I need to get either
>wired or wireless headset for my cell phone I should learn more about
>them. I assume that some folks here have experience and will offer
>advice.
>
> In the past I've used a small wired earpiece with a short tube for the
>microphone. They've worked well until they fail and I think it's a
>problem with the phone. What are the relative advantages of buying a
>bluetooth headset instead?

I have a bluetooth enabled phone and I can connect it to my laptop
(Fedora 11, x86_64) without a problem. But I connect it only to
download pictures from it. I don't need bluetooth for actually talking;
I'm not very popular so no one ever calls me anyway.

In reading about bluetooth phones it seems the biggest issue is getting
two way communication. That is, people don't seem to have any problem
hearing what their interlocutor is saying, but they can't get bluetooth
to pick up the input from the microphone. 

I have been using bluetooth devices since Gutsy, and connections have
frequently been an issue. You should be aware that the entire bluetooth
module setup was rewritten around the days of Intrepid. As is always
the case, the rewrite fixed some things and broke others. Even before
Intrepid I found relief by installing a utility called blueman. When I
originally installed it (Hardy) the installation needed to uninstall
some of the default bluetooth modules, plus it had a long list of its
own dependencies, some of which were not in the Ubuntu repos. It was
not easy to get it installed back then. But I note that in my current
Fedora 11 the blueman utility was installed by default. That is, right
after installing Fedora I clicked on the bluetooth icon in the panel in
order to connect my mouse. I immediately saw the familiar blueman
dialog box appear on my screen. I don't know if blueman has been
incorporated into the latest Ubuntus, but if there are issues with
connecting, it may be worth trying. 

Another complaint is that, assuming bluetooth picks up the microphone,
the quality of the microphone is sometimes a problem. I read lots of
complaints about the physical location of the microphone being an
issue. After all, if it is a headset, the microphone has to be in one
of the earpieces. Since the days of Alexander Graham Bell we have known
that the proper place for a microphone is in front of the mouth.

> Does it matter what bluetooth device one buys, or where one buys it?
> Is the brand or model dependent on the phone or service? (I've a
> Treo 700p built for Verizon Wireless.) Are there some that better
> accommodate sunglasses while dangling from the ear?

I'd just start looking at what's available and then I'd whittle the
list down to the ones that have the features I want. Once you have a
short list you can google for Linux support and issues. 

As for phone service dependency, if you get one that is not
locked to a specific service I think all you need to do is put your
SIM chip into the phone and you're good to go. I bought my last phone
like this on eBay. Just go to eBay and search on "cell phone" and
you'll find most are advertised as "unlocked."



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