Thursday, September 25, 2008

Bluetooth

bluetoothMost new Volvos come with built-in bluetooth. Why? So one can talk on their cell phone hands-free through the car stereo.

My guess is that anyone with a bluetooth cell phone has a bluetooth earpiece mic/headphone unit. My question is, does anyone out there hassle with getting their bluetooth cell phone hooked up to their car when it's already hooked up to their earpiece? My guess is that the earpiece wins and the car technology is wasted.

(FYI, I'm a follower of tech - but not necessarily a user; my laptop has bluetooth but it goes unused. I don't even have my own cell phone.)

7 comments:

eddie said...

My phone has bluetooth, but I only use it for hooking it up to my laptop to download my diary and any photos I take. I don't have an earpiece (and wouldn't get one) but I have thought about buying an in-car bluetooth set up.

jasonjyee said...

At this point, a majority of mobile owners have bt enabled mobiles, but I suspect that most do not have bt headsets. there are huge numbers of moto razrs and apple iphones, but nearly everyone i know who owns either does not have a bt headset.

All that being said, i suspect that the in-car setup is unused for the same reason bt headsets are not more widely used: your average user is too inept to pair the devices or is too intimidated by the task to attempt it. There's probably also some hinderance of enabling it every time you're in the car. Most BT phones can automatically detect BT devices in range, but i don't know of any that automatically turn off the handset and switch to the BT input.

paulmerrill said...

Aaah, Jason - your final comment yields a product feature for cell phone makers and car makers!

The Lone Beader® said...

I used to have a BT headset, and used it regularly! I loved it! I even used it when I was beading! But, then it broke, and I couldn't get a new one because they no longer sell the headset that is compatible with my 3 year old phone that still works. So, it's back to talking on the mobile while driving my classic car... at least until they outlaw it in my state! :/

paulmerrill said...

Lone beader - I hate that planned obsolescence thing. The minute something goes off the market, they stop selling accessories. You might try going to your mobile phone service provider and complaining. They might give you a new phone for next to nothing. They want to keep your business!

Courtney O. said...

my dad does.
I don't know if he knew he had a bluetooth phone or not but he never used it. Now he has a car with the bluetooth tech and uses it all the time.

Anonymous said...

I don't have a headset (use a wired one) but my car does - and automatically pairs with my treo when the car is started. I really do like that and at least the presumption of improved safety, being able to dial by voice or from the touchscreen in the car (Prius). I didn't think I cared but missed it when I broke my phone.