"speakerphone calls thanks to special audio porting."

[appledrone]

I have just been looking on the apple store web page to see if they are advertising any accessories for the 3g iphone yet, although they aren't, I ended up looking at the current dock specs, one of the features stated as follows

"Place your iPhone in the Dock and enjoy clear audio during speakerphone calls thanks to special audio porting."

does anyone know if this means that the audio is routed through the mac? if not does it make any difference to the speakerphone function when in the dock?

 

[waterskier2007]

I have just been looking on the apple store web page to see if they are advertising any accessories for the 3g iphone yet, although they aren't, I ended up looking at the current dock specs, one of the features stated as follows

"Place your iPhone in the Dock and enjoy clear audio during speakerphone calls thanks to special audio porting."

does anyone know if this means that the audio is routed through the mac? if not does it make any difference to the speakerphone function when in the dock?

no, its not routed through the mac, it just has special holes in the dock that direct sound out towards you during the speakerphone call, thats all. i wish it went through your mac

 

[appledrone]

oh well....

Ahh, nevermind, hopefully they can incorporate that in firmware 2.0

thanks for clearing that up

 

[CKtoph]

You might be on to something actually. Looks like there's more to the new dock than meets the eye

A recently published patent application discovered by MacRumors reveals that Apple has been researching more advanced uses of the built in sensors on the iPhone to predict what the user wants to do. The patent application describes various scenarios in which a mobile phone could automatically change its configuration based on built-in sensors.

Apple describes the use of proximity sensors, ambient light detectors, temperature sensors and accelerometers to help determine the current state of the device. Apple has already incorporated basic state detection into the iPhone. When a user holds the current iPhone to their ear, the proximity sensor disables the touch screen to prevent unintentional key presses.

Combined with similar sensors in Bluetooth wireless headsets, Apple proposes some additional possibilities:

- Accelerometer to determine if device is being picked up
- Temperature, ambient light, and proximity sensors to determine if device in a pocket
- Proximity to see if the phone is held up to your ear or Bluetooth headset is being worn
- Audio detection to see if you start talking into Bluetooth headset vs phone

Based on a combination of these situations, the iPhone could change configuration. Examples given include: Turning vibrating ring on when placed in your pocket. Turning off speakerphone when holding the phone to your ear. Routing the call correctly to your wireless headset or your phone depending on which one you are planing on using at that time (based on speaking into, wearing or picking up the appropriate device).

One final intriguing possibility also described is using the docking/undocking of the iPhone to trigger certain events.

Mock design from ACU
Specifically, Apple describes passing off voice over IP (VOIP) calls from the computer to the phone and back again. With the phone docked, the user could answer the phone using their computer's speaker and microphone, and then automatically pass this call over to the phone when it is removed from the dock. This passing-off of phone calls between the iPhone and iChat was previously depicted in a concept iPhone video (at 14m 15s) by Abilene Christian University.

Article Link

 

[PoitNarf]

I hope it works better than with the current iPhone and dock. I've tried having a couple speakerphone calls with my iPhone docked and the other person wasn't able to hear me at all. Not only that, but it was pretty hard to hear them as well when it was in the dock. I really really hope that the iPhone 3G has a much louder speakerphone, because the current implementation basically equates to the worst speakerphone capability I've ever seen in a mobile phone...

 

[MBHockey]

The iPhone speakerphone is pretty much the most awful speakerphone in the world. It's about 1 dB louder than the earpiece (at least mine is). Hopefully that's remedied!

 

[mrtune]

The iPhone speakerphone is pretty much the most awful speakerphone in the world. It's about 1 dB louder than the earpiece (at least mine is). Hopefully that's remedied!

Word! They better get this fixed if they want me to buy another phone. Hell, the volume in general and settings/adjustments for the ringer, text, email sounds is terrible as well. Need more options and needs to be much, much louder. I'd rather have to lower it than leaving it at max just to have hope I can hear it.

 

[SFStateStudent]

Part of the problem with speakerphone calls while iPhone is docked is that it muffles the speaker and blocks the ability to speak directly into the microphone at the bottom of the iPhone. It seems the microphone on the iPhone works like a directional microphone, requiring the person speaking to speak directly into the microphone v. speaking at an angle. IMHO