Bluetooth SAP adaptor / HTC Touch Dual

[alexbligh]

No COMAND does not support HFP without an adaptor (I tried). If I can't get it ti use the car's antenna, I'd probably (though I'm thinking about it) prefer to continue doing what I am doing at the moment, which is to use the SAP adaptor with a SIM in it (little known fact about Bluetooth SAP adaptors is that they have a SIM socket); in practice this works reasonably well, except I don't get a sync'd contact book, given I have another system for distributing calls between phones.

FWIW I have asked HTC tech support and they think it's Mercedes' problem. All HTC are doing is running Windows Mobile 6, and it appears (from research so far) that no Windows Mobile 6 devices with SAP support (which is I think reasonably new in WM6) work with the Mercedes adapter. Given WM6 is now reasonably common, you would have thought Mercedes would like to fix this (or at least work with Microsoft so that one of them fixed it).

Richard: see the PM I am just about to send you.

 

[Diesel Benz]

I cannot see how a customer could prove that the fault is on the MB device or on the phone side. One would have to be able to log the communication and check if the device follows specifications. It should be impossible to log the traffic outside when the data is encrypted. Only a device manufacturer can do it or one with appropriate test equipment, basically removing the option of "the other party" being wrong.

It isn't even sufficient to test the phone on some other BT SAP devices but as suggested earlier, that would be one option (there is this Nokia 616 car kit, and then the different car brands that also use BT SAP). If the phone works on one of those, then it would be more likely that the MB implementation is not right. But it could still be the phone.

In any case if the MB device was proven faulty, I just got a confirmation from our country head office that MB would not have any SW update support for the BT device. This is amazing to me especially for the BT SAP device (refer to the ViseeO BT HF device which has support for SW updates). The BT SAP device is a real GSM phone and I've never seen a GSM phone where the product support did not have SW update (in one or the other form).

With HTC, I would give up at this point and go for BT HF, specifically if the car does not have IR reflecting windows all round (I guess standard on a W221 from S500 onwards).

 

[mjbarnard]

Have had the identical problem with a 2007 E class, using the HTC Touch. This is very similar to the Touch Dual - and also has SAP according to the specifications. Eventually concluded like you it wouldnt work.

Workaround - got the dealer to swap the bluetooth SAP for a bluetooth HFP unit. This paired immediately and works fine. It controls the phone from the steering wheel and downloads the phone book as well. So virtually same functionality as SAP (main difference would be using the phone battery and reflective glass).

 

[alexbligh]

The other difference is it uses the phone's aerial. Right now I am just using another SIM which is what I did in the previous S500.

Rumour has it WM6's SAP BT stack isn't particularly good. WM6.1 is out next year (no idea about legal ways to upgrade to this yet), which may fix things.

 

[DW99]

Jetware

Have you looked at www.jetwaremobile.com? I used their add-on to SAP-enable both of my Orange-branded HTC phones. It worked pretty well in my BMW 5-series.

I switched to a Merc in July and I've been deciding whether to fork out the £300 or so for the SAP cradle, so I can't confirm if it works in Mercs. However, I checked with Jetware before I bought the car and they told me they knew of people using my current phone (the Orange E650) with the Merc kit.

I just checked and they don't mention the Touch, but it usually works with unmodified Microsoft Bluetooth stacks. It has a month free trial, so it's worth trying.

D

 

[alexbligh]

Thanks. That may well be worth a try.

 

[rb1947]

As far as I'm aware, the Jetware software will only allow get your HTC device to work with the Mercedes HFP (hands free profile) cradle. I looked into getting the MB SAP cradle to work with my HTC TyTn ii without success. See here for more - http://www.mobileplanet.com/ft.aspx?k=97898

 

[pilotc182]

Have you tried the HFP rather than the SAP cradle ?

My HTC s730 works seamlessley with the HFP module

 

[fatboy]

There is a thread on the expansys forums that state the reason for the Merc SAP unit not recognising the HTC, basically the issue appears to be that when setting up the partnership the HTC advertises itself as a PocketPC which the Merc kit doesn't understand - it expects the unit to present as a PHONE. See http://www.expansys.com/ft.aspx?k=110266

 

[richard]

Fatboy, that makes absolute sense. We know MB will never upgrade existing cradles though - they didnt between V1 and V2 - and i've never found out the differences (if any) between the 2 V2 part numbers - so I wonder if there is a registry setting or suchlike in the HTC that can be set ?

Richard

 

[rlowy]

Have you tried the HFP rather than the SAP cradle ?

My HTC s730 works seamlessley with the HFP module

So does mine. It makes a good combination. However I cannot get incoming calls to show names and numbers, does anybody know why?

I bought my HFP cradle from Alfie & Richard's firm and they advised me that HTC phones do not work with SAP cradles.

Regards

Richard