Lack of BT functionality in Sprint Hero

[rrr]

From what I have been reading in here, no one else is able to do what I have always considered normal BT functionality:

• True hands free dialing via BT
• Ability to hear SprintNav in BT headset
• BT contact sharing
• BT file transfer

Has anyone solved these issues?

 

[BOO5TED]

I have the Jabra BT530 and can hear the nav in my bluetooth just fine. With the Blue Ant Q1 you can call speed dials with not ever touching the phone. Now the file-contact sharing is a different story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVcf2-khFWM

 

[heimy25]

I have Ford Sync in my car. Contacts transferred fine, music plays over bluetooth, but the big problem is it only actually pairs automatically about half the time. Pretty annoying. When it doesn't pair right away, I have to use the bluetooth widget to toggle off and on. Hopefully 2.1 fixes this. Anyone else have their Hero paired with Sync and have any tricks?

 

[HeikoMax]

I have experienced and read that the BT voice dialing in the Hero is pitiful. It is not true voice dialing. I have to tap the voice dialing widget, wait for the tone, speak very carefully, then have to go back to the Hero to tap the OK or select the specific contact number I want to dial. (Home, office, cell, etc.)

This is especially frustrating when HTC had it perfect with the Touch Pro. I had zero problems voice dialing with that phone and it was truly a leave the phone in your pocket/case/whatever dialing. Hold the BT button down, wait for the tone, speak the contact with or without specific type of number, wait for the voice to confirm ("call John Smith mobile?") and say "yes". That was it. The phone would dial. Why couldn't HTC have it that way on the Hero? It shouldn't be a WinMo vs. Android thing.

 

[Zinja]

I have a Motorola H800 headset and I can pair it just fine with the phone. But, when I hang up the call and answer the next call, the headset is not paired. I am reverted back to a standard phone to phone connection. I have to turn BT on and off again via my widget and pair up again.

Kind of defeats the purpose of hands free when I spend the majority of my time trying to re-pair the BT connection.

What up?

Do I need a differant BT headset?

Also, on my old phone, I could push the BT button once and I was taken to voice command, not with the Hero. Is there a way to be taken to Voice Command with a BT headset?

Thanks,

Zinja - Hi YAAAA!

 

[SamuraiBigEd]

Sounds like a compatibility issue, I had this same issue with my Touch Pro and Kenwood DNX6140 but the Hero works fine.

 

[derspiess]

I have experienced and read that the BT voice dialing in the Hero is pitiful. It is not true voice dialing. I have to tap the voice dialing widget, wait for the tone, speak very carefully, then have to go back to the Hero to tap the OK or select the specific contact number I want to dial. (Home, office, cell, etc.)

This is especially frustrating when HTC had it perfect with the Touch Pro. I had zero problems voice dialing with that phone and it was truly a leave the phone in your pocket/case/whatever dialing. Hold the BT button down, wait for the tone, speak the contact with or without specific type of number, wait for the voice to confirm ("call John Smith mobile?") and say "yes". That was it. The phone would dial. Why couldn't HTC have it that way on the Hero? It shouldn't be a WinMo vs. Android thing.

Experienced the same drop-off when I moved from my Q9c to the Hero. WinMo doesn't even come close to Android in most respects, but my Q9c handled voice dialing almost flawlessly & fully supported my BT headset.

On my Hero, voice dialing and BT headset support are so bad I just don't make any calls whatsoever when I'm in the car, and end up missing most incoming calls. I love this phone, but am a bit surprised that it was released to the market with such a deficiency (and yes, I know the blame is shared by all involved, including consumers like me who demand things be rushed to market).

 

[douglaslem88]

I had the Hero but it would keep disconnecting and then reconnecting to my Audi's bluetooth system. Loved the phone but the lack of a reliable bluetooth system is a deal breaker.

 

[Gaspowered]

I have Ford Sync in my car. Contacts transferred fine, music plays over bluetooth, but the big problem is it only actually pairs automatically about half the time. Pretty annoying. When it doesn't pair right away, I have to use the bluetooth widget to toggle off and on. Hopefully 2.1 fixes this. Anyone else have their Hero paired with Sync and have any tricks?

I have the Ford Sync system as well. My experience is the opposite. It automatically connects 99.9% of the time. Very rarely does it fail to connect.

Cheers

 

[JB in AZ]

Mine works fine in both of our Toyotas with factory BT. Connects everytime. (as long as I don't step on the gas pedal! JK!)

Stock Hero NON Rooted.

 

[astrobill]

From what I have been reading in here, no one else is able to do what I have always considered normal BT functionality:

• True hands free dialing via BT
• Ability to hear SprintNav in BT headset
• BT contact sharing
• BT file transfer

Has anyone solved these issues?

Addressing your points:

1. Hands-free and/or voice dialing. Agree with the other folks who replied to you that the voice dialing in most versions of Android is pretty bad, including the Hero. Even when it works, there's no feedback about what it thinks you said...the Motorola RAZR was years ahead of its time with voice dialing. Hopefully, Google will improve the voice dialing features and apps will come out in the future to take advantage of it.

2. I think this depends on the headset. See the other posters for more feedback.

3 and 4. If the other device supports the Bluetooth Phone Book Access Profile (PBAP), then contact sharing may work well with the Hero. If not, we're out of luck until they add Bluetooth Object Push Profile (OPP) support to the Hero. Same thing goes for BT file transfer. The Medieval Software apps on the Android Market adds better Bluetooth file sharing to Android phones, but they don't support the Hero yet.

 

[rrr]

I am glad to see I am not the only one. Thanks to all for the replies

 

[HeroSquid]

I started using a Sprint HTC Hero a couple of weeks ago and like many was frustrated by the difficulty of using it in the car. After much searching, I ran across the Parrot Minikit Slim, which stores contacts from a phone in its memory and decided to try one out. According to Parrot's website, the Minikit Slim will connect to the Hero but not sync contacts. As a possible work around, I was going to pair the MK with an old Mogul that supports OPP over bluetooth. The worst that could happen was I'd return the MK to the store if the workaround didn't yield results.

Before leaving the parking lot, I decided to pair the MK with my Hero, and try a call on it on the way home. Having read what I did, I was surprised to hear the MK announce after a few minutes "Download complete." I tried placing some calls via the MK, and it made the calls.

Whether what I'd read about OPP and PBA not working on the Hero is true, I don't know, but I know the MK read my contacts!

I've not used the MK enough to know if I'm truly happy with sound quality, etc., but it works! The only drawback I see thus far is the MK doesn't confirm before placing the call.

It's still a damned shame I had to drop cash for new equipment to work with the Hero and that it's the MK that tells the Hero to make the call when Google should have that capability built into Android.

I'm not a shill for Parrot--your experience may differ, but I'm happy to find it.

I'll post and update when I've had time to use the MK some more.

 

[rckozma]

I think the SprintNav is like the Visual Voicemal, you have to have a BT that supports AD2P.

 

[MarkHirt]

I think the SprintNav is like the Visual Voicemal, you have to have a BT that supports AD2P.

Or........

Phone * * call and like magic your "connected" Bluetooh devise will hear media audio

 

[cirehawk]

Or........

Phone * * call and like magic your "connected" Bluetooh devise will hear media audio

Care to elaborate? Not sure what you're saying.

 

[MarkHirt]

First turn turn on you devise and Bluetooth on

then from any screen

Press PHONE
then "dial" ** and hit the call button

media audio will now come over Bluetooth

 

[SamuraiBigEd]

First turn turn on you devise and Bluetooth on

then from any screen

Press PHONE
then "dial" ** and hit the call button

media audio will now come over Bluetooth

Tried it, I still don't get media audio over the stereo. Did with my Touch Pro, whatever ringer I had selected would play over the stereo.

Bluetooth works great for calls, though, which is all that is really important for me. Well, that, and I wish they would add the bluetooth text ability, my stereo has it but only a couple of phones have it.

 

[MarkHirt]

Sorry but I never said it works on a Touch Pro after all this is the Sprint Hero forum

Tried it, I still don't get media audio over the stereo. Did with my Touch Pro, whatever ringer I had selected would play over the stereo.

Bluetooth works great for calls, though, which is all that is really important for me. Well, that, and I wish they would add the bluetooth text ability, my stereo has it but only a couple of phones have it.

 

[SamuraiBigEd]

Sorry but I never said it works on a Touch Pro after all this is the Sprint Hero forum

If you will look I have a Hero, I said my Touch Pro would transmit all media sounds, not that I tried it with it.

I was pointing out the inconsistencies of which HTC phone are capable of what.

 

[miamicanes]

I have major problems with Ford Sync (2k8 SportTrac) and my Sprint Hero. When I first got it, it connected to Sync automatically about half the time, and the remainder of the time it worked if I toggled bluetooth on and off. About a month ago, it quit working entirely. If I go into settings -> wireless -> bluetooth, long-press 'sync' & select connect, it will connect and makeToast("headset connected") for about a half second, then immediately report that it was disconnected. If I try to connect to the phone with the radio instead, it almost never works (I don't remember it ever working, but I don't want to actually say 'never' because it might have worked once or twice).

I also have an AT&T cordless phone system at home that pairs like a headset and treats the cell phone like a second line, but I've NEVER gotten THAT to work reliably with my Hero. It used to work more or less fine with my old Sprint HTC Touch (Vogue) -- the main problem I used to have back then was with SYNC and the AT&T cordless phone fighting with each other for ownership of the phone. At least once or twice per week, I'd have an episode where the phone would ring, but the AT&T system was completely oblivious to it. I didn't actually figure out that the problem was a fight between them for ownership of the phone until I got the Hero, because then I got to see the brief alerts that would fade in letting me know that the phone had just connected to AT&T or SYNC, and the occasional battles between them when the phone would keep switching back and forth. Sometime around December, I gave up on the AT&T system entirely and disabled its bluetooth until 2.x so it would at least work reliably with SYNC... and of course, now it's not working with SYNC, either.