Droid Does??? Help fix Bluetooth and Voice Dialing!

[BottledHate]

So.... as many if not all are aware who use the Motorola Droid that the bluetooth and voice dialing is a joke. Phones from 6 years ago and every one since function better than the Motorola Droid does in this aspect.

There are a couple of 'Issues' on the Google Code page directly reflecting these shortcomings...
Issue 1181 - android - [VoiceDial] Voice confirmation for Voice Dialer - Project Hosting on Google Code
Issue 1412 - android - [VoiceDial] Bluetooth "voice dial" event doesn't launch Voice Dialer - Project Hosting on Google Code

With over 800,000 units said to be sold(Moto Droid)... the number of stars for this issue are very low.... In fact the overall participation on google code is low i think.

I'm asking everyone to go on Google Code, log in with your gmail account, or do whatever you have to do to be able to 'Star' the issue. Posting replies on their site is not necessary without relevant new info to the issue, and only dilutes the issue. Staring alone is enough and very helpfull!

grrrr at Motorola and Google for neglecting this BASIC functionality! During an argument with a Verizon rep over the issue i was put on hold.... Only to hear an ad for the Droid: "Droid, the fully voice enabled phone.....bleh blah" lolz. fully voice enabled to prompt you 5 times on the screen after!


I know i was surprised the first time i pressed the bluetooth button on the droid and NOTHING happens. A long press on my bluetooth only redials the last called number. I have a Motorola H680 Bluetooth Headset.

I have questions for you!!!

- What happens when you press the button on your bluetooth? Quick press? Long press? Make, Model?

- Does it effect you not being able to dial hands free from the Motorola Droid or HTC Eris?

- Is this issue specific to the Verizon Droids'(Eris, Droid)? Do all android phones lack this basic functionality?
(The Motorola droid is my first Android phone.)

- Last question There are a lot of people who have returned the latest lineup of droids from Verizon (htc and Motorola) because of this issue. Are you already in that group, or going to be in that group?
(...I'm undecided. my 30 days is up on 12/6. 5 days before the 12/11 update. According to a Verizon rep, there is nothing on the 'list' regarding bluetooth or voice dialing.)


Thank you for your time and participation here and on google code!

-BH

 

[bthoward]

Something tells me this is going to happen in the not too distant future... They are currently issues 2 and 5 on the list respectively...

I've stared them (and many others should take a look at the list and star issues that are key to them).

People can get to the issues list here: Issues - android - Project Hosting on Google Code

Personally I don't see this as an issue for me in that my Pioneer DEH-P710MP actually has voice dialing built into it. I simply press a button it asks who I want to call and I say call XX it says call XX say yes to continue. I say yes and poof it connects to the phone and dials. That and streaming pandora while navigating makes for a pretty nice seemless in car experience! Sorry about the BT headset issues.

 

[bthoward]

Looks like issue 3603 could also use the help of extra stars incase this one is the one that lives...

Issue 3063 - android - Bluetooth does not work with Voice Dialer - Project Hosting on Google Code

 

[BottledHate]

Looks like issue 3603 could also use the help of extra stars incase this one is the one that lives...

Issue 3063 - android - Bluetooth does not work with Voice Dialer - Project Hosting on Google Code

yeah, i have that one stared as well... i actually have 17 issues stared. I think its a good place to get feedback directly to the builders.

there are definitely more issues on google code that need to be addressed. i chose to highlight that one as it is my biggest gripe about the phone so far. There are other things too, but this one bugs me daily when i use my phone for work.

like i said in my original post.... with 800,000+ sold, i'd like to see more feedback from users on there. i hope this can help bring a few people to it that might not have known that it's there.

Personally I don't see this as an issue for me in that my Pioneer DEH-P710MP actually has voice dialing built into it. I simply press a button it asks who I want to call and I say call XX it says call XX say yes to continue. I say yes and poof it connects to the phone and dials. That and streaming pandora while navigating makes for a pretty nice seemless in car experience! Sorry about the BT headset issues.

thanks for the feedback on your bluetooth and voice dialing experiences.

 

[BottledHate]

UPDATES!

Issue 1142 is now number 4 on the list! keep star'ing!

Issue 1412 - android - [VoiceDial] Bluetooth "voice dial" event doesn't launch Voice Dialer - Project Hosting on Google Code

Issue 1181 is closing in fast on the number one spot! Glad that I'm definitely not alone on this one!
Issue 1181 - android - [VoiceDial] Voice confirmation for Voice Dialer - Project Hosting on Google Code

 

[BottledHate]

Tomorrow is D day for 'launch day' buyers.... anyone going to return last minute? Does the voice dialing or bluetooth have anything to do with it?

The update isn't supposed to come for 5 more days.... what if it does nothing for your biggest gripe?

 

[johnlgalt]

y biggest gripe is my desktop computer's inability to connect via BT - but my laptop did just fine.

I'm sticking with the DROID - the hardware alone makes me wanna keep it.

If I could get it to work globally, I'd be set.

 

[BottledHate]

y biggest gripe is my desktop computer's inability to connect via BT - but my laptop did just fine.

I'm sticking with the DROID - the hardware alone makes me wanna keep it.

If I could get it to work globally, I'd be set.

with are pc.... are you using bluetooth for streaming audio? syncing?

a lot of bluetooth functionality is lacking or poorly implemented. hopefully the first update addresses some of them! i've read articles of this being fixed in the 12/11 update, but a phone rep told me he didn't see anything in his 'list' for bluetooth. that was a couple weeks ago tho.

 

[johnlgalt]

I am trying the get the damned thing to PAIR - can't do any of that other stuff without establishing the Pairing first.

I know it does support OBEX, I could care less for that - I just want to be able to easily browse my files without having to be directly connected to my PC....

Even started my own post in the MOTO forums....Motorola Owners' Forum: DROID: Cannot pair with Windows 7

 

[BottledHate]

I am trying the get the damned thing to PAIR - can't do any of that other stuff without establishing the Pairing first.

I know it does support OBEX, I could care less for that - I just want to be able to easily browse my files without having to be directly connected to my PC....

Even started my own post in the MOTO forums....Motorola Owners' Forum: DROID: Cannot pair with Windows 7

good luck! maybe it is your dongle with the 'custom' system?.... looks like you are getting some good feedback on the issue there. Do you know anyone with another BT dongle you can try on your pc?

my droid paired with my laptop fine. it has built in. i don't have BT on my pc.

 

[johnlgalt]

lol I have an older IOGEAR dongle I should try - but I have been out of commission for a while now due to a back injury. I should be in bed now, but the flexiril is kicking in and I can't lay straight for a while until I get too tired to stay awake....

I might as well get that older dongle and try, eh?

 

[johnlgalt]

OK, I went and got the old dongle. I also went into Device Manager (or, as my friend calls it, the device Damager) and removed all references to BT (including hidden stuff that is not currently connected) and in addition to that I am going to re-install the Logitech drivers for my G15 KB and MX Revolution mouse - just in case.

After that a reboot and then we'll see what is going on with hte old dongle (hopefully it should find the right drivers and such and work OOB like it did before. If not, then I have a larger issue somewhere.

Cheers!

 

[BottledHate]

OK, I went and got the old dongle. I also went into Device Manager (or, as my friend calls it, the device Damager) and removed all references to BT (including hidden stuff that is not currently connected) and in addition to that I am going to re-install the Logitech drivers for my G15 KB and MX Revolution mouse - just in case.

After that a reboot and then we'll see what is going on with hte old dongle (hopefully it should find the right drivers and such and work OOB like it did before. If not, then I have a larger issue somewhere.

Cheers!

i was going to suggest the 'damager' thing... i hope all goes well!

 

[johnlgalt]

O
M
F
G

This is ridiculous.

When I try to pair the DROID with the computer, it would never go through. When I tried the computer to the DROID it timed out.

With the old dongle in place it worked - when I tried a 7 digit code. When I tried 4 digits (like 0000 or 1234 as it suggested) it never worked.

I am pretty positive that I was always trying 4 digits from the DROID side, but what made it fail with the newer dongle going both ways?

I dunno. Gonna try it now. If it fails, it is definitely the dongle. If it works, it is definitely a PEBKAC issue (and I hate saying that considering I have 22+ years of computer experience....)

 

[johnlgalt]

New dongle worked - this time as soon as I put the DROID in discoverable mode, it came right up with a code verification. So, it was not a PEBKAC issue - the was definitely an issue in the Damager that I fixed.

It is what I figured, since I was able to pair with the laptop and not the desktop - either a driver or dongle issue.

 

[johnlgalt]

So, yeah, I have it paired, and it will connect to use my computer as a speaker for my DROID (I wonder if this works with my alarms on the DROID? Muhahahahahah!) but cannot connect to it to stream music, etc. (Yeah, yeah, I know - no OBEX. At least I am this far!)

 

[BottledHate]

So, yeah, I have it paired, and it will connect to use my computer as a speaker for my DROID (I wonder if this works with my alarms on the DROID? Muhahahahahah!) but cannot connect to it to stream music, etc. (Yeah, yeah, I know - no OBEX. At least I am this far!)

kick ass! if you have bluetooth stereo audio capability it should just play out your media/pandora/phone calls no prob.

makes me want to get a BT dongle for my pc now...

 

[johnlgalt]

I'll test that tomorrow. It's 4:30 AM - and the flexiril is kicking in....

 

[BottledHate]

I'll test that tomorrow. It's 4:30 AM - and the flexiril is kicking in....

1:30 here... and the beer is kickin in... i'm heading in soon myself. i hope all goes well.

 

[johnlgalt]

Thanks, m8 - same to ya.

 

[DZRhino]

Contrary to what some think, bluetooth voice dialing has been a solved problem for well over a decade. Some of my engineers worked on the early bluetooth specs and that was a significant part of the standard. Motorola owns the code for one of the solutions that was found in all their early bluetooth enabled handsets. Unfortunately, Google decided to re-invent the wheel. When you do voice dialing on an Android phone it sends it out to the cloud for a google-hosted application to parse and then sends the results back to the phone. The application code for this doesn't support the bluetooth standard. In fact the entire bluetooth standard is poorly support in the OS. There is no excuse for not supporting voice dialing via bluetooth, except technical incompetence or a "not invented here" mentality by the engineers that worked on this part of the OS.

Hands free dialing is not just car-centric. I require it in my workplace as I am on a keyboard or walking between meetings and do not want to go find my phone, pick it up to dial, switch it to hands free so I can talk, etc., etc.. I also use it at home . . . note I am older so texting is not the center of my life so I use all of the features of a phone. My son kept his droid as most of his communication is via text, I have returned mine until this problem is solved and went back to my Moto flip phone. According to contacts in Verizon, there are several thousand returns because of this lack of support.

I've starred everything that mentioned "Bluetooth". Hope the message is getting through.

 

[ritchwilliams]

I find it hard to believe that in this age of state mandated hands free cell phone usage in vehicles that a phone without this basic and essential capability can still be sold. This capability is so basic, in fact, that I did not even think to check specifically for it. My bad.

 

[BottledHate]

I find it hard to believe that in this age of state mandated hands free cell phone usage in vehicles that a phone without this basic and essential capability can still be sold. This capability is so basic, in fact, that I did not even think to check specifically for it. My bad.

i didn't check either...

good news tho, these two issues(1181 and 1412) have been merged together making it the NUMBER 1 issue on google code! yay!

 

[wjmg1960]

Contrary to what some think, bluetooth voice dialing has been a solved problem for well over a decade. Some of my engineers worked on the early bluetooth specs and that was a significant part of the standard. Motorola owns the code for one of the solutions that was found in all their early bluetooth enabled handsets. Unfortunately, Google decided to re-invent the wheel. When you do voice dialing on an Android phone it sends it out to the cloud for a google-hosted application to parse and then sends the results back to the phone. The application code for this doesn't support the bluetooth standard. In fact the entire bluetooth standard is poorly support in the OS. There is no excuse for not supporting voice dialing via bluetooth, except technical incompetence or a "not invented here" mentality by the engineers that worked on this part of the OS.

Hands free dialing is not just car-centric. I require it in my workplace as I am on a keyboard or walking between meetings and do not want to go find my phone, pick it up to dial, switch it to hands free so I can talk, etc., etc.. I also use it at home . . . note I am older so texting is not the center of my life so I use all of the features of a phone. My son kept his droid as most of his communication is via text, I have returned mine until this problem is solved and went back to my Moto flip phone. According to contacts in Verizon, there are several thousand returns because of this lack of support.

I've starred everything that mentioned "Bluetooth". Hope the message is getting through.

*****very well put! thanks*****

 

[Bthis]

If you are considering purchasing an Android phone, be aware that all phones using this operating system do not support hands-free voice dialing via Bluetooth headset or "hands-free" kit. This flaw can put you in violation of state and local laws that require hands-free capability while driving, in addition to being a major inconvenience that more primitive phones have addressed for years.

Google has not addressed this issue with a resolution date, so there is no indication when it will be resolved. In addition, the resolution may or may not work on the Android phone and/or headset you buy today.