2 iPhone questions

[BOSS10L]

I'm quite close to deciding to replace my V3 RAZR, Palm T|X and 1st Gen 2GB Nano with an iPhone, but there are two things I'm wondering about first:

1) I understand that the iPhone doesn't support Bluetooth stereo headsets yet. What are the chances it will in the future? I'm not a fan of 'earbud' or wrap over the ear speaker types. If it does get implemented, would it be as simple as a firmware release, or would it require the purchase of a newer iPhone?

2) Can I 100% sync my iCal on my MB with the iPhone? I don't do any heavy-duty scheduling with it, but being able to drop the Palm would be great.

Thanks!

 

[rosemarycane]

I guess the only limitation would be tasks. Currently, tasks do not sink. I also believe it does not support stereo bluetooth headsets, and I have no idea if it will or not. Another forum member might be more knowledgable than myself. But as far as ical, it should sync everything except the to dos.

 

[RonCarr]

There have been no signs of Apple upgrading the bluetooth to allow stereo output. As far as I Know this would only be a software upgrade seeing as the iPhone does have the bluetooth chip inside already.

As far as the iCal sync goes it does sync all of your appointments that are in iCal. It does not however show them listed in the different calenders. for ex: if you have red for personal and green for work then they will show up as the same on the iPhone. You can also make new appointments on the iPhone and set a default calender for them to be put into once you sync it back to your computer. If by chance you pick work as the default but input a personal then you can always change it in iCal once you have it synchronized back to your Mac. Any other questions feel free to ask.

 

[BOSS10L]

Thanks for the replies. Hey, here's a question:

Can I use a "regular" set of headphones (think Skullcandy type) to listen to the iPod part of it and if/when a call comes in, I can unplug the headphones, accept the call and talk on it normally?

Well, that is until Apple gets it's act together and supports stereo bluetooth.

I just got back from picking up an 8GB iPhone, just deciding if I'm going to keep it or not.

 

[ntrigue]

You could take the call with the headphones plugged in. You would have to hold the mic on the iPhone close to your mouth.

 

[taibien86]

You could take the call with the headphones plugged in. You would have to hold the mic on the iPhone close to your mouth.

Just to make it clearer, you don't have to unplug your headphones in order to hear the phone call. you can keep them in your ear to listen and bring the phone mic to your mouth to talk. the iphone headphones allow you to speak into the mic on the wire, making the whole process very easy

 

[BOSS10L]

Just to make it clearer, you don't have to unplug your headphones in order to hear the phone call. you can keep them in your ear to listen and bring the phone mic to your mouth to talk. the iphone headphones allow you to speak into the mic on the wire, making the whole process very easy

Even if it is not the iPhone headphones, correct? I'll be using some Sony ones like this:

I doesn't have an in-line mic on it.

I'll try and get used to the Apple supplied ones, but I've NEVER been able to get used to earbud syle ones. I just want to make sure I can use my Sony ones if I can't get used to the earbuds.

Thanks again, this forum is so informative and helpful.

 

[SFC Archer]

Even if it is not the iPhone headphones, correct? I'll be using some Sony ones like this:

I doesn't have an in-line mic on it.

I'll try and get used to the Apple supplied ones, but I've NEVER been able to get used to earbud syle ones. I just want to make sure I can use my Sony ones if I can't get used to the earbuds.

Thanks again, this forum is so informative and helpful.

You can use ANY headphones you want, some may require an adapter to fit in the recessed port, but you will be able to hear all calls on any headphone you care to use. To talk without unplugging the headphones just hold the bottom of the iphone up to your mouth and talk or buy a set of headphones that are comfortable to you that have an inline mic/controller...there are about 6 different models out there. I use a pair from www.rivetnow.com and they work terrific and sound great for a really low price.

 

[BOSS10L]

You can use ANY headphones you want, some may require an adapter to fit in the recessed port, but you will be able to hear all calls on any headphone you care to use. To talk without unplugging the headphones just hold the bottom of the iphone up to your mouth and talk or buy a set of headphones that are comfortable to you that have an inline mic/controller...there are about 6 different models out there. I use a pair from www.rivetnow.com and they work terrific and sound great for a really low price.

Thanks for the clarification and the link. I'm going to go unpack my iPhone and activate it!

From one vet to another, thank you for your service.

 

[JCastro]

I actually had my wife iPhone hooked up to the auxillary jack on our Nissan Armada's stereo. A call came in and the sound came through the stereo system. We still had to hold the phone up close to talk but it sounded very cool and clear through the stereo system.

Just be careful not to have it too loud so it doesn't feed back!

 

[BOSS10L]

My all-too-brief love affair with my iPhone may be coming to an end. I found out that the plug for my Sony headphones is too big, so in a rush this morning I just grabbed the Apple ones. As predicted, I can't use them. I have odd-shaped ear canals, and earbuds just don't work. They either fall out, or cause me severe discomfort and pain. I'll do a little more research before I give up on that front, but Stevie-boy really needs to implement stereo bluetooth. I can't believe that the best 'smartphone' on the market doesn't support it.

Call volume is HORRIBLY low. I tried calling my wife from campus, and she was able to hear me okay, but I couldn't hear her at all when just using the phone normally. I had to put the earbuds in, and practically hold them in my ears just to get any sound, and it wasn't all that good. Goes hand-in-hand with paragraph 1, so hopefully it'll get implemented or I can find a better set of headphones.

My campus uses a secure login/password to access the WI-FI here. For whatever reason, even after I input both my UN/PW, it is saying that I have entered it incorrectly. I'm having no issues with my MB, so this is frustrating. At least 50% of my logic in purchasing the iPhone was that I could leave my MB at home when I would only need to do light surfing, ect.

Don't get me wrong, I think it is an amazing piece of technology and has a lot going for it, but I'm more perplexed by the lack of features this $400 phone doesn't support, when my V3 RAZR that I got for free from AT&T less than a year ago does.

I understand and respect the fact that Apple has kept their stuff a fairly closed/controlled platform (hence the stability of Macs/OS X), but in the arena of consumer electronics, there is no excuse for not supporting things that should be mere afterthoughts.

Sorry for ranting, just want this to work.

 

[arkitect]

My all-too-brief love affair with my iPhone may be coming to an end. I found out that the plug for my Sony headphones is too big, so in a rush this morning I just grabbed the Apple ones.

Perhaps an adaptor like this might help?

 

[JCastro]

Perhaps an adaptor like this might help?

That is what I was going to recommend. There are several companies out there that make them too.

 

[SFC Archer]

Thanks for the clarification and the link. I'm going to go unpack my iPhone and activate it!

From one vet to another, thank you for your service.

Thank you for your service as well...I retire in 4 months after 25 years.

Good Luck on your iPhone experience. I gurantee you will enjoy it and wonder why you didnt try sooner and you will never look at another cell phone the same again!.

I read further and see that you are having problems...I did say that you would need an adapter or to look at the different types of headphones that are currently available for the iPhone. I gave you a link of what I use do to the same precise fact that you stated...the Buds sucK! and do not fit in my ears either. The link I gave you should work perfectly and do not require an adapter. Alot of the others are also made to fit. even Bose has an extender now that has a microphone inline and you plug your previously owned in-canal-buds into.

As far as you college situation...get with IT department on campus and they should be able to direct you on getting it set up. You may have missed a step or two as it should work without issue. The volume issue could be a few things...and I am being serious without insult....Check to make sure that the protective film has been removed off of the glass, The volume switch controls volume at different points of use, ipod mode controls music, home mode controls ringer volume, while on active call controls volume-check to make sure it is at max volume while you are on a call.

Hope this helps and your experience gets better!

 

[Roxerroneous]

For your campus network problems you'll probably have to set up a VPN. Here's a link on how to set it up http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305827, but as someone else mentioned, you'll probably have to get in contact with the IT department to get some settings.

For the headphones, I'm having the same problem and just bought the griffin tunebuds mobile http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/tunebudsmobile#. I haven't gotten them yet but I'm hoping that they'll fit better than the apple ear buds. The best part is that they maintain the microphone/button features that the ear buds have.

If you want to use your own headphones griffin also has an adapter that contains the microphone that you plug your own headphones into. http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/smarttalk. It's another way to go if you're interested in keeping the microphone button (which was a must for me because it's very convenient pausing/skipping songs and answering calls without pulling my iphone out of my pocket).

Good luck

 

[BOSS10L]

Thank you for your service as well...I retire in 4 months after 25 years.

Good Luck on your iPhone experience. I gurantee you will enjoy it and wonder why you didnt try sooner and you will never look at another cell phone the same again!.

I read further and see that you are having problems...I did say that you would need an adapter or to look at the different types of headphones that are currently available for the iPhone. I gave you a link of what I use do to the same precise fact that you stated...the Buds sucK! and do not fit in my ears either. The link I gave you should work perfectly and do not require an adapter. Alot of the others are also made to fit. even Bose has an extender now that has a microphone inline and you plug your previously owned in-canal-buds into.

As far as you college situation...get with IT department on campus and they should be able to direct you on getting it set up. You may have missed a step or two as it should work without issue. The volume issue could be a few things...and I am being serious without insult....Check to make sure that the protective film has been removed off of the glass, The volume switch controls volume at different points of use, ipod mode controls music, home mode controls ringer volume, while on active call controls volume-check to make sure it is at max volume while you are on a call.

Hope this helps and your experience gets better!

I always wondered where I would have been had I stayed in. I'd be at 16 years right now, being able to put in 20, being able to retire at 42. Oh well, everything happens for a reason, had I stayed in, I wouldn't have met my wife or had my two wonderful boys.

It's nice to see I'm not the only one who has issues with earbuds, I just can't understand WHY Apple has not implemented stereo bluetooth yet.

I talked with the IT staff, I'll be following up more on Friday when I have classes again.

No insult taken. Trust me, my mantra is "Ignorance can be cured, stupidity is forever". I freely admit that there is much I am ignorant of, and I welcome the chance to learn more and more. FWIW, I did turn up the volume on a call with my wife a few minutes ago, and it was much louder.

I'll order a pair of those Rivetnow headphones and see how they go.

Thanks again to everyone for all the informative and friendly posts, this place rocks!

I love my iPhone, and I can't wait to learn more about it and seeing Apple and 3rd parties really push the boundaries once the SDK is released this month.

 

[rosemarycane]

Stick with it man. I have tried the other smartphones: AT & T Tilt, Blackberry 8700G and 8310. The iPhone blows those other phones out of the water. I finally have a phone, PDA, and iPod all in the palm of my hand. Now if they can just add GPS, I will **** myself.

 

[SFStateStudent]

The iPhone will fade when receiving a call...

and I recommend an adapter w/microphone (I use the iJack http://www.boombags.com/product_p/ijack.htm). I bought one at Macworld SF '08 and they gave a discount so I walked to the BART station with a new iJack for 12.00 plus tax. It's great to clip the microphone to my jacket lapel and adjust my iPhone iPod settings with a double-click. Shure was selling the same style of adapter for $49 plus tax. I currently utilize the Bose In-Ear Headphones and they BOOM!