Macs and cell phones

Life Technology
1

I’m looking for a recommendation.

Which cell phone communicates best with Macs? At this point I know little about cell phones but am looking for a model with the best possible sounding ring tones. I know iSync will take care of some models in terms of syncing the address et al., but I want to be able to move ring tones to the phone from my Powerbook. Any ideas?

2

[quote=“kelake”]I’m looking for a recommendation.

Which cell phone communicates best with Macs? At this point I know little about cell phones but am looking for a model with the best possible sounding ring tones. I know iSync will take care of some models in terms of syncing the address et al., but I want to be able to move ring tones to the phone from my Powerbook. Any ideas?[/quote]

I have no idea about syncing with a Mac (or even a PC), but I can say from experience that only Motorola and BenQ seem to have a ringer that is loud enough to hear above Taiwan’s traffic. Yes, in the shop where you buy the thing, you can hear it just fine, but it’s another story when you step outside.

3

I sync my Handspring Treo with my ibook - no problems (touch wood)

4

Apple provides a list of Bluetooth-enabled phones that are Mac compatible (ie iSync):

apple.com/isync/devices.html

5

I use the Sony Ericsson T610, quite a popular phone these days. I use it to do the following with Bluetooth wireless technology (Remember that Apple got in bed early with Sony Ericsson with their whole Bluetooth push, so their Bluetooth phones are by far the most Mac-ready out there):

  1. Send digital photos from my T610 to my PowerBook.
  2. Send digital photos from my PowerBook to my T610.
  3. Use Apple iSync on my PowerBook to sync contacts, calendar, etc. on my T610.
  4. Use Apple Address Book on my PowerBook to send and receive SMS messages from my T610.
  5. Give Internet access to my PowerBook anywhere there is cell phone reception by connecting to my T610, which in turn is connected via Chunghua GPRS. Works like a charm. Great for places without Wi-Fi access.
  6. Give Internet access to my Palm Tungsten T3 anywhere there is cell phone reception by connecting to my T610, which in turn is connected via Chunghua GPRS. Works like a charm. Great for places without Wi-Fi access.
  7. By the way, the Palm Tungsten T3 can communicate with the T610 in a similar fashion, sending pictures from the phone, sending contact information, writing SMS messages, etc. Very versatile. Works like a charm.
  8. By the way, the Palm Tungsten T3 can communicate with my PowerBook in many ways, including wireless syncing without the cradle.
  9. Use excellent software from the following company to use my T610 to remote control PowerPoint presentations, Keynote presentations, iTunes, DVD Player or anything else that can be Apple Scripted. Works like a charm.
    homepage.mac.com/jonassalling/Shareware/

Bascially, everything I’ve wanted to ever do with Bluetooth wireless technology and my Mac has been possible with the T610. And it works well. It has become a very important part of my mobile lifestyle here in Taipei. When I don’t take my PowerBook around town, I take my Palm Tungsten T3 and know that I can send and receive e-mail, even opending PDF, Word, Excel and PowerPoint file attachments, not to mention that I can edit them and send them back remotely.

6

As far as ring tones are concerned, the Sony Ericsson T610 provides the latest in digital technology, similar to all new phones these days, like Nokia. You can use your T610 to connect wirelessly to Sony Ericsson’s home site to download new ring tones in addition to the many they already include on the phone. The ring tones are LOUD, so much so that they can cause ear damage if put close to your ear. I love it. Works wonders as a travel alarm. Of course, the volume can be controlled.

Chunghua offers the T610 at discount for those who want to commit to a certain period of service, usually around 15 months. Otherwise, the phone costs in excess of 10K. Chunghua has been seen recently in the 7K ballpark for the T610.

7

One last thing: You can create your own ring tones on the T610 and save them, although exporting them back to your computer doesn’t seem to be possible, at least with my firmware version. There is a composer, somewhat like Apple’s new GarageBand software, on the T610 that lets you compose loops from decent sized menus (drums, bass, guitar, keyboards, etc.) in tracks.

8

Thanks for all that. My old Powerbook doesn’t have bluetooth but I suppose I could purchase a usb bluetooth adaptor to allow for all that cool interaction provided by Salling Clicker.

9

Try the T68i, no Camera and other useless stuff but syncs perfect with bluetooth and works as modem via irda or bluetooth.
The newer Siemens models did as well but took more time to set up.

10

Borrowed a Siemens for a day last weekend – didn’t have a bluetooth adaptor to try that part out but the phone itself felt more like a computer (running Linux) than a phone. My current phone is a T300 which is the only phone I have seen that crashes on a semi-regular basis as well as a multitude of other bugginess.