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Bluetooth 2.1 the Good/Bad News

What do you do to send the contacts to your car system? I've never had a problem with connecting and staying connected with my Kenwood DNX 7600(I think that's the correct number) with 1.5 or 2.1. But I don't know how you send contacts. Can someone tell me please?

It depends on the headunit/system you're using. Yours may not support phonebook transfer. Maybe check in the manual?

On mine, it's automatic. When I start the car, the phone connects, and every time it downloads the phonebook. I kind of wish it wouldn't do that, as it's not usable for the first minute or so, but then again at least this way it's always current.
 
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It depends on the headunit/system you're using. Yours may not support phonebook transfer. Maybe check in the manual?

On mine, it's automatic. When I start the car, the phone connects, and every time it downloads the phonebook. I kind of wish it wouldn't do that, as it's not usable for the first minute or so, but then again at least this way it's always current.

Sounds like your car unit supports the Bluetooth Phone Book Access Profile (PBAP). PBAP is the profile that allows a car kit or other Bluetooth device to automatically connect to the contact list with any other Bluetooth device it connects with (in this case, your Hero) that also supports PBAP. This is sometimes known as the car kit "pulling" the contacts from the phone.

If one's car kit DOESN'T support pulling contacts automatically using PBAP (e.g., like the Kenwood guy above), you can still transfer contacts using the Object Push Profile (OPP)....this is also known as "pushing" or sending the contacts...

...To do this, just open "People" on the Hero, long-press any contact, and choose "Send as vCard" ....make sure you're connected to your car kit before doing this. Remember that on some car kits, before you transfer the contact using the "push" method, you have to prepare the car kit to receive contacts. Specifics should be in the manual for your car kit.

Not sure yet how to transfer MULTIPLE contacts from the Hero now that it supports OPP. I suspect the method is to...

- open your "People" and then hit Menu.

- Then choose "Export to SD Card"

- choose either Google or Phone contacts. This appears to save the entire phone book as a Virtual Card File (VCF) on the SD card

- Transfer the VCF file to your car kit using a file manager on the Hero (e.g., ASTRO) or some other method....
 
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And yet again other issues with Bluetooth. I have a Samsung A2DP stereo headset. On Hero 1.5, the audio stream from the Hero to this headset would cut out occasionally. BUT NOW on Hero 2.1, the audio stream from the Hero to this headset cuts out every few seconds. YUK!

I wonder if this is the native Google Android's crappy Bluetooth enhanced code they put in Android 1.6 and above.

Anyway, OBEX, OPP, dot-dot-dot, I would believe in this day and age that all the Bluetooth profiles and protocols would be included in a 'SMART PHONE'!
 
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Anyway, OBEX, OPP, dot-dot-dot, I would believe in this day and age that all the Bluetooth profiles and protocols would be included in a 'SMART PHONE'!

Dude, you're right, OPP should've been included way back in 1.5 for the Hero....but that's not really the issue at the moment. It's in there now...

The issue now is that HTC has apparently broken the HSP and HFP profiles or mis-coded them...people are now having a lot of trouble connecting to older, legacy Bluetooth car kits and other devices that connected just fine before using the HFP and/or HSP profiles. They need to re-code the stack properly.
 
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Bluetooth file transfer is working for me. I did have to update my Bluetooth stack on my PC notebook (Toshiba) to the latest drivers. After that files transfer fast and without problems. I don't use it for audio except for my ear plug which is a BlueAnt. It works fine. Still very primitive implementation compared to other flip phones I have had in the past several years.
 
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UPDATE:

The Bluetooth connectivity with the Hero under the 2.1 update is HIGHLY dependent on the car kit or Bluetooth device. For example, I was able to maintain a stable connection with a more modern Pioneer head unit in Best Buy, and it even saw the Hero's phone book automatically using the PBAP profile. However, I could not connect at all with an older Pioneer AVIC series unit. I had only partial success with other units, such as a Kenwood 6160. On others, such as Garmin Nuvi's and a Tom Tom with Bluetooth, I was unable to connect at all....
 
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UPDATE:

Well, I finally found the trick to the 2.1 Sprint HTC Hero and the 2005 Prius. I had to have the contact's phone number properly formated to transfer it. I had them formated like (xxx) xxx-xxxx, but when I changed the phone number format to just xxxxxxxxxx the Prius displayed the number for the contact. I could only send one number per contact at a time, but it's something.
 
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I downloaded the update from the Sprint website and installed it on my Hero. I then proceeded to configure it for my Garmin Nuvi760 where, after checking the Hero's "Trust this connection" query, it worked great.

Then on our new 2011 Toyota Sienna, I configured it on the Toyota Navigation System's Phone Connection, and it worked fine there, but I was not successful in downloading contacts, so I entered them manually, which only took a few minutes.

I wonder if there may be a difference in the Sprint Hero Android 2.1 LEAK and the 2.1 Official Sprint release? I say this because I initially loaded the "LEAKed" version which ran fine, but found it to be better once I downloaded the Official Sprint version. The Official version recognized more of my pre-upgrade downloads in the MARKET DOWNLOAD page, and seems overall to be more responsive.
 
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I downloaded the update from the Sprint website and installed it on my Hero. I then proceeded to configure it for my Garmin Nuvi760 where, after checking the Hero's "Trust this connection" query, it worked great.

Then on our new 2011 Toyota Sienna, I configured it on the Toyota Navigation System's Phone Connection, and it worked fine there, but I was not successful in downloading contacts, so I entered them manually, which only took a few minutes.

When you were on the leaked ROM, were you able to pair and use your Toyota Sienna's Navigation System's bluetooth? Were you running the latest leaked ROM? With the official RUU from Sprint, don't you have any issues connecting and using your car's bluetooth?

I'm on the latest leaked ROM, and I have read many people confirming it's the same as the official sprint update. I hate to lose root but if it's the only way I can get my car's bluetooth to work with my hero, I might consider installing the official 2.1 update.
 
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With my 2009 Toyota factory Bluetooth/NAV, using 1.5, I couldn't transfer the contacts, but I was able to do so with my old phone, so all was good.

Using 2.1 (DC 2.0.8.1) works fine for outbound and inbound calls, except now the car's screen shows "private caller" or something like that, rather than showing the number of the caller and the caller's name. Outbound calls continue to show both the name and phone # on the car's screen. Any ideas anyone?
 
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I own a panasonic kx-th1212b bluetooth enabled home phone system for my house. With 1.5 I was able to pair and connect my phone so that when I arrived home from work, I could send and receive calls with my house phone handsets. Now thanks to this great update, I can no longer connect my phone to the base. The phone will pair but never connect. I hope there is some work around to fix this because right now I'm stuck with 1.5 otherwise.
 
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Double bluetooth wammy for me. I also own a panasonic kx-th1212b bluetooth enabled home phone system for my house with same issue. With 1.5, I was able to pair and connect, but with the 2.1 update, the phone will pair but never connect. Next issue is I have a Jensen VM9022HD car audio unit which will does connect for for phone and audio. However cannot hear incoming caller nor them me. Worked just fine with 1.5. Hoping for an update patch soon.
 
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Same here, both car and home bluetooth connection problems. Somebody please find a fix for this, cannot be caught driving while using the phone without handsfree kit! I need my bluetooth back!

Does anybody know what the bluetooth.apk is for? If I replace that with the bluetooth.apk from 1.5, granted that I would be running a deodexed ROM, would that work and make any difference?
 
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With my 2009 Toyota factory Bluetooth/NAV, using 1.5, I couldn't transfer the contacts, but I was able to do so with my old phone, so all was good.

Using 2.1 (DC 2.0.8.1) works fine for outbound and inbound calls, except now the car's screen shows "private caller" or something like that, rather than showing the number of the caller and the caller's name. Outbound calls continue to show both the name and phone # on the car's screen. Any ideas anyone?

Yesterday I reported the above. Today, the car's display began showing the incoming caller's name and phone # again! Weird, but it's certainly makes me happy. Why this happened? I don't know, but I guess when Google syncs the contacts with the phone, it initially only gets part of the information...andthe rest comes with time. Since I had just upraded to 2.1, maybe all the info wasn't there yet when I tested it yesterday??? Anyone have any ideas, or comments?
 
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Just want to remind folks there are a couple of issue's
1. Audio transfer or Bluetooth streaming, ie Pandora and others, that works for me.
2. Bluetooth handsfree pairing and connection, some can pair and not connect, some can connect and have no audio (that's me)
3. Then there is the contact transfer, that has never worked for me and still doesn't.
 
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When you were on the leaked ROM, were you able to pair and use your Toyota Sienna's Navigation System's bluetooth? Were you running the latest leaked ROM? With the official RUU from Sprint, don't you have any issues connecting and using your car's bluetooth?

I'm on the latest leaked ROM, and I have read many people confirming it's the same as the official sprint update. I hate to lose root but if it's the only way I can get my car's bluetooth to work with my hero, I might consider installing the official 2.1 update.

I DID NOT try to link up the LEAKED ROM to the Toyota Navigation system, but I was able to link with the NUVI760, which worked as it should.
 
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I too have an Eclipse AVN-726E in Dash Navigation device and now the Phone will not do bluetooth anymore! I'd rather go back to 1.5 and HAVE bluetooth functionatlity, especially since it's against the law to not be hands free in CA. Anyone know some kind of workaround or fix (or even a way to go back to 1.5)? Is this an Android 2.1 issue or just a botched 2.1 version for the Hero?
 
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Multiple Contacts Transfered from Sprint Hero to Toyota Prius 2005 Navigation system.

If you have not tried this procedure, give it a try. It worked for me on my Toyota Prius Navigation system to transfer entire groups of contacts to the car. Your mileage may vary though.

I exported all of the contacts I wanted to transfer to a .vcf file. I first exported all the contacts to a .vcf file on the phone using the People app (export), but my car only accepted the last phone number for each contact in this .vcf file when I transfered it to the car, but your's system combination might work. Anyway, I used Google GMail on the web which allowed me to export contacts for any group of contacts I had in my Gmail to a .vcf file. Then because my car system only likes one phone number per contact, I edited the file manually for each contact with multiple phone numbers. Then I copied this .vcf file on my SDCard.

  1. Downloaded Astro File Manager from the Android market.
  2. Opened Astro File Manager and hit MENU/More/Preferences and select 'Edit File Extensions'.
  3. Selected the 'New Extension' button.
  4. Input 'vcf' (without quotes) as the Extension Name.
  5. Input 'text' (without quotes) as the Mime Type.
  6. Input 'x-vcalendar' (without quotes) as the SubType.
  7. Hit Save.

I then backed out until I got to my SDCard file listings in ASTRO, I Long-Pressed the .vcf file on my SDCard, I hit 'Send', I hit 'Bluetooth', I put my car in contact transferring receive mode, and then on the phone I selected the car handsfree system which transfered the .vcf contact file to the car successfully and all the contacts appeared on my car's phone list.
 
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Good News/Bad News with regard to the new Bluetooth 2.1 in Android 2.1 on the Hero...

Good News:

I tested phone contact transfer and receive between my Hero and my other phone, an LG Rumor. Worked fine.

Bad News:

Still can't get FILES to transfer, but I'm working on it.

Worse news....

- My Hero no longer connects to the Bluetooth head unit in my car for telephone functions (still connects to audio streaming using AVCRP just fine)! The details are....

....It worked fine before the 2.1 update, but now the head unit now connects to the Hero for a second, then disconnects and reports that the phone is an "Invalid Device". I've noticed the head unit also seems to have trouble remembering the Bluetooth device name being reported by the Hero. Gets it right at first, then immediately says it can't determine the device name. Oddly, the Bluetooth audio streaming profile (AVCRP, etc.) still works and connects fine.

UPDATE:

The Bluetooth connectivity with the Hero under the 2.1 update is HIGHLY dependent on the car kit or Bluetooth device. For example, I was able to maintain a stable connection with a more modern Pioneer head unit in Best Buy, and it even saw the Hero's phone book automatically using the PBAP profile. However, I could not connect at all with an older Pioneer AVIC series unit. I had only partial success with other units, such as a Kenwood 6160 and some Garmin Nuvi's. On others, such as a Tom Tom with Bluetooth, I was unable to connect at all....
I am a noob to the Android seen but, I was wondering you all are banging your heads against the wall. Maybe it something simple like reset the head units! Then try to re-pair and connect. ????? That what i would try. BTW Hello everybody!!
 
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I reported my problems with my Magellen GPS/BT to HTC. Here is the reply I (finally) got.

"Hi, Stephen. I apologize for the length of time it took me to respond to your email regarding your bluetooth. For the Android 2.1 update, Google has slightly altered the bluetooth stack of the Android operating system to change some functionality, for example adding new profiles to the existing programming. Unfortunately, this did somewhat change the compatibility of the device when pairing to other units. You can attempt to remove the bluetooth partnership with the device by pressing Menu while on the Home screen>Settings>Wireless & Networks>Bluetooth settings. Tap and hold on the device in question and selecting Unpair. After this, you can try to attempt to reconnect the devices via bluetooth to test functionality. Unfortunately, due to the change in bluetooth programming, it not guaranteed to function."

Not so satifying, I think. Needless to say, the suggestion made no difference.
 
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I am having the same BT issues with my Hero 2.1, pairs & connects fine with my G37 but no audio.

Today I spoke with Advanced Tech Support with Sprint and she said that HTC is well aware of this issue and are releasing a small update to fix these issues and that this update is forthcoming over the next few weeks.
 
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I don't think this has anything to do with 2.1 - I have two Android 2.1 phones - An HTC Hero with 2.1 where the bluetooth is broken and I get a connect/disconnect scenario in my car every 10 seconds or so.. I also have an HTC Incredible with 2.1, works perfectly in my car. So this seems to me that it's more of an HTC issue and not a Google issue.

I reported my problems with my Magellen GPS/BT to HTC. Here is the reply I (finally) got.

"Hi, Stephen. I apologize for the length of time it took me to respond to your email regarding your bluetooth. For the Android 2.1 update, Google has slightly altered the bluetooth stack of the Android operating system to change some functionality, for example adding new profiles to the existing programming. Unfortunately, this did somewhat change the compatibility of the device when pairing to other units. You can attempt to remove the bluetooth partnership with the device by pressing Menu while on the Home screen>Settings>Wireless & Networks>Bluetooth settings. Tap and hold on the device in question and selecting Unpair. After this, you can try to attempt to reconnect the devices via bluetooth to test functionality. Unfortunately, due to the change in bluetooth programming, it not guaranteed to function."

Not so satifying, I think. Needless to say, the suggestion made no difference.
 
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