Motorola V710
- Thread starter DigitalDawn
- Start date
V710 waste of time with Bluetooth
I have a V710 and the BMW Bluetooth kit...
long story short... it doesn't work well.
Verizon purposely crippled the V710 to omit a critical "profile" (called OBEX) from it's Bluetooth implimentation on the V710.
There have been rumors since August that a software fix was forthcoming, but none has yet materialized.
Without OBEX, Bluetooth on th BMW works... but not very well. It takes several minutes (as many as 15) for the car and the phone to sync... and when it does it doesn't sync the phone book, or display callerID... and it falls out of sync at random intervals.
I have never fallen out of sync during a call... but I have imiediately following a call.
I had much better luck with the Motorola V600, Sony Erricson (any model with Bluetooth) or Nokia (any model with Bluetooth).
I have to use Verizon due to where I am... Verizon's coverage is unparraled in upstate New York... but I wish I could switch to Cingular or T-Mobile and enjoy reliable Bluetooth again.
- matthewk
I have a V710 and the BMW Bluetooth kit...
long story short... it doesn't work well.
Verizon purposely crippled the V710 to omit a critical "profile" (called OBEX) from it's Bluetooth implimentation on the V710.
There have been rumors since August that a software fix was forthcoming, but none has yet materialized.
Without OBEX, Bluetooth on th BMW works... but not very well. It takes several minutes (as many as 15) for the car and the phone to sync... and when it does it doesn't sync the phone book, or display callerID... and it falls out of sync at random intervals.
I have never fallen out of sync during a call... but I have imiediately following a call.
I had much better luck with the Motorola V600, Sony Erricson (any model with Bluetooth) or Nokia (any model with Bluetooth).
I have to use Verizon due to where I am... Verizon's coverage is unparraled in upstate New York... but I wish I could switch to Cingular or T-Mobile and enjoy reliable Bluetooth again.
- matthewk
I bought the V710 the day before it showed up on Verizon's website. The phone and Verizon's handling of it pissed me off so much that less than a month later I paid the $175 to cancel my contract with Verizon (after 3 years of being with them) and switched to cingular. Stay away from that phone.
That being said, if you still want one I have one in perfect condition to sell.![[:p]](/images/smilies/tongue.png "Stick Out Tongue [:p]")
That being said, if you still want one I have one in perfect condition to sell.
The profile they crippled is called OBEX. This profile allows unfettered access to all the data on the phone, including ringtones, pictures, phonebooks, etc...
My theory is that Verizon hoped to secure a revenue stream by forcing V710 owners to use their network and airtime to transfer legal content (pictures) from the phone to a computer (which they charge quite a bit of money for, BTW)... and restrict V710 owner's ability to transfer licensed content purchased from Verizon (like ringtones, games and wallpapers) from phone to phone.
OBEX does not inherently provide any DRM or copy protection, and enabeling OBEX (in Verizon's view) essentially allows free-flow of data from V710 to any Bluetooth-enabled device.
Of course, Verizon has enabled other Bluetooth profiles, including headset and speakerphone (that's not their technical names... I forgot what they are actually called)... and that's why the BMW BT kit "kinda" works. The BMW kit wants to transfer the phonebook via OBEX, and when it can't the sync between the phone and the car fails... after repeated attempts (for an unknown reason), the speakerphone functionality eventually works.
One thing to note. I don't work for Verizon. Alot of the information above is an educatd guess. I know OBEX is crippled on Verizon supplied V710's. I know BMW's BT kit uses OBEX to transfer phonebook data. I know BMW's BT kit hardly works with a Verizon V710.
My theory is that Verizon hoped to secure a revenue stream by forcing V710 owners to use their network and airtime to transfer legal content (pictures) from the phone to a computer (which they charge quite a bit of money for, BTW)... and restrict V710 owner's ability to transfer licensed content purchased from Verizon (like ringtones, games and wallpapers) from phone to phone.
OBEX does not inherently provide any DRM or copy protection, and enabeling OBEX (in Verizon's view) essentially allows free-flow of data from V710 to any Bluetooth-enabled device.
Of course, Verizon has enabled other Bluetooth profiles, including headset and speakerphone (that's not their technical names... I forgot what they are actually called)... and that's why the BMW BT kit "kinda" works. The BMW kit wants to transfer the phonebook via OBEX, and when it can't the sync between the phone and the car fails... after repeated attempts (for an unknown reason), the speakerphone functionality eventually works.
One thing to note. I don't work for Verizon. Alot of the information above is an educatd guess. I know OBEX is crippled on Verizon supplied V710's. I know BMW's BT kit uses OBEX to transfer phonebook data. I know BMW's BT kit hardly works with a Verizon V710.
beni said:
I bought the V710 the day before it showed up on Verizon's website. The phone and Verizon's handling of it pissed me off so much that less than a month later I paid the $175 to cancel my contract with Verizon (after 3 years of being with them) and switched to cingular. Stay away from that phone.
That being said, if you still want one I have one in perfect condition to sell.
That being said, if you still want one I have one in perfect condition to sell.
Cingular
Cingular just bought ATT wireless. So here in upstate NY Verizon is no longer the king of cell. If you had an ATT account, like I didi you know have access to the cingular network as well. (and Vice versa)
ATT has many phone options when it comes to bluetooth. THe sony Ericisson T616 works great
Cingular just bought ATT wireless. So here in upstate NY Verizon is no longer the king of cell. If you had an ATT account, like I didi you know have access to the cingular network as well. (and Vice versa)
ATT has many phone options when it comes to bluetooth. THe sony Ericisson T616 works great
Just switched from Verizon to Cingular/ATT to get the V3 RAZR. Love the phone, very thin, easy to carry. One thing I noticed is that all the websites for downloadable ringtones aren't compatible with Verizon BTooth phones, probably related to issues as noted in earlier posts. I did a trial download from one site and it did work with my phone. I'm seriously thinking about the BT kit for the car and ditching Assist; I just don't know who to go to install it. It seems that the dealer would have the most experience with some parts of the installation. Does anyone know if installation of a microphone is needed; I know there's a mic in the maplight console, because I used it to activate Assist. I can't believe that the '04's are not more BT compatible.
From my understanding... if you have assist... BT is MUCH easier to install.
BT and Assist share connections to the stereo. They share the microphone. They share the mounting bracket for the module.
You have to install the BT button on the center beam between the driver and pax. You have to plug in the BT antenna. You have to install the BT module on the exact same bracket as the assist module. There are some DIY sites out there... but I had me dealer do it. They charged me for a half day of labor... it was pricy, and perhaps unecessary.
If you're going to have a dealer do it... I reccomend printing out a DIY manual. My dealer was abosolutely clueless. I had to literally show them how to do it. I don't think there's an official BMW Service guide to doing this...
- matthewk
BT and Assist share connections to the stereo. They share the microphone. They share the mounting bracket for the module.
You have to install the BT button on the center beam between the driver and pax. You have to plug in the BT antenna. You have to install the BT module on the exact same bracket as the assist module. There are some DIY sites out there... but I had me dealer do it. They charged me for a half day of labor... it was pricy, and perhaps unecessary.
If you're going to have a dealer do it... I reccomend printing out a DIY manual. My dealer was abosolutely clueless. I had to literally show them how to do it. I don't think there's an official BMW Service guide to doing this...
- matthewk
Don't take it to the dealership, you can DIY yourself and save a couple hundred bucks of labor charges. The new firmware for the Motorola V710 has been released and it supposedly fixes the data tranfer problems we have with our bluetooth kits and cars. I'm on a trip in germany right now, but i'll be flashing my 710 tuesday/wednesday with the new firmware. hopefully it fixes the phonebook/caller id sync problem or i'm going to cingular and getting the razr.
Motorola V551
I switched to Cingular because of the Verizon Bluetooth and got the Motorola V551, which works great (I have NAV and assist on my 05 330xi). The built-in car mike and speaker are perfect. Independent dealer I got it from gave me the phone for free ($50 charge, and a $50 rebate from Cingular), ported my number over, and only a 1-year contract was required. It took about 15 mins to upload the phonebook to the car the first time, but subsequent updates are handled quickly. Cingular coverage in the NY/NJ and DC areas seems to be equivalent to Verizon.
I switched to Cingular because of the Verizon Bluetooth and got the Motorola V551, which works great (I have NAV and assist on my 05 330xi). The built-in car mike and speaker are perfect. Independent dealer I got it from gave me the phone for free ($50 charge, and a $50 rebate from Cingular), ported my number over, and only a 1-year contract was required. It took about 15 mins to upload the phonebook to the car the first time, but subsequent updates are handled quickly. Cingular coverage in the NY/NJ and DC areas seems to be equivalent to Verizon.
There currently is a class action suit in CA over this issue. I suggest you join it to force Verizon to stop pulling this crap. There is BREW fix that supposedly hacks the phone to enable it back to its full function but I am a little worried about hacking into my phone.to try the fix. Go to the BREW homepage to view the ongoing discussion about the hack and how to implement it. I guess the worst thing that could happen is that I frag the phone and make them pay for a new one after I lose it. I got the insurance on it so I might as well use it if needed.