I wanted to share a successful story in trying to use an (almost) handsfree setup in my vehicle with the new iPhone 3G. My basic hope was to be able to stream music from the iPhone through my car stereo system while at the same time use a handsfree mic and the car speakers for answering phone calls.
In researching the products currently on the market it looked like the Motorokr T505 would be a great fit. Unfortunately, and as I'm sure most people are aware, this product will work for the phone portion (listening to calls through the speakers and using the built in mic for speaking) but the iPhone cannot send music to the device through the internal bluetooth setup in the iPhone (no A2DP file support).
After looking around at a few stores I found a Sony bluetooth adapter for the iPod. This unit connects to the bottom of any newer generation iPod and sends the music out through a bluetooth signal. It's relatively compact and is powered directly via the iPhone. After speaking with the tech people at the Sony store most of them were convinced it would not work, but I decided to give it a try.
When setting up, all I had to do was turn the Iphone bluetooth antenna on, turn the motorokr on (it pairs automatically and doesn't require a passcode) and then plug the sony adapter into the bottom of the iPhone.
It turns out that the motorokr unit can pick up both bluetooth signals simultaneously. After setting the appropriate FM channel (the moto has a voice that tells you which channel to use) I started the music on the iPhone and it worked perfectly. The sound was fine, no crackling or static. I was even able to pause, skip and reverse songs from the motorockr unit.
I then had my parents call me and as soon as the phone starts ringing, the music pauses, the moto unit tells you the phone number of the person calling (talking caller ID) and then you hit the phone button on the moto to pick up the call. The call sound was excellent. My parents noted a slight echo but nothing of concern. As soon as the call ended the music started back up where it left off.
The only downsides of this are: 1. cost (the two pieces together can be 150 - 200 depending on where you purchase them) 2. you can't charge the iphone while playing the music (you take up the connection with the adapter) and 3. if you want to call someone you still need to dial with the phone as voice dialing is still not an option on the iphone
Overall, very happy and a very easy setup.
In researching the products currently on the market it looked like the Motorokr T505 would be a great fit. Unfortunately, and as I'm sure most people are aware, this product will work for the phone portion (listening to calls through the speakers and using the built in mic for speaking) but the iPhone cannot send music to the device through the internal bluetooth setup in the iPhone (no A2DP file support).
After looking around at a few stores I found a Sony bluetooth adapter for the iPod. This unit connects to the bottom of any newer generation iPod and sends the music out through a bluetooth signal. It's relatively compact and is powered directly via the iPhone. After speaking with the tech people at the Sony store most of them were convinced it would not work, but I decided to give it a try.
When setting up, all I had to do was turn the Iphone bluetooth antenna on, turn the motorokr on (it pairs automatically and doesn't require a passcode) and then plug the sony adapter into the bottom of the iPhone.
It turns out that the motorokr unit can pick up both bluetooth signals simultaneously. After setting the appropriate FM channel (the moto has a voice that tells you which channel to use) I started the music on the iPhone and it worked perfectly. The sound was fine, no crackling or static. I was even able to pause, skip and reverse songs from the motorockr unit.
I then had my parents call me and as soon as the phone starts ringing, the music pauses, the moto unit tells you the phone number of the person calling (talking caller ID) and then you hit the phone button on the moto to pick up the call. The call sound was excellent. My parents noted a slight echo but nothing of concern. As soon as the call ended the music started back up where it left off.
The only downsides of this are: 1. cost (the two pieces together can be 150 - 200 depending on where you purchase them) 2. you can't charge the iphone while playing the music (you take up the connection with the adapter) and 3. if you want to call someone you still need to dial with the phone as voice dialing is still not an option on the iphone
Overall, very happy and a very easy setup.
