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Verizon Crippled Bluetooth Features in Motorola V710
djdoubles writes "Apparently Verizon Wireless has put firmware with crippled Bluetooth features in the new Motorola v710 phone. A lot of people have been anticipating a Bluetooth phone from Verizon, only to be disappointed by lack of OBEX. Verizon says they have no plan to add OBEX because it doesn't fit their business model--greedy bastards. PC Magazine doesn't have very nice things to say either. More discussion here."
They do everything possible to keep people from downloading apps, tones, etc directly to the phone. No J2ME on any Verizon phone, as far as I can tell.
Better to use T-Mobile or Cingular in the US.
My main wishes in a bluetooth phone are dial up networking and cord-free headsets. For those of us who carry PDAs anyway with a SD card slot, there's an easy workaround for picture transfering- just use your PDA whenever your phone gets full, and at the end of the day before you sync your PDA.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
What I don't see is how their business model suffers when a phone's feature exists by default and an extra effort is needed to reduce functionality. They're the ones setting the price, anyway. (since the firmware is being crippled by Verizon, not the OEM, right?)
It's not like it's a customer service issue. They use flashcards for that anyway.
It would be cool if it didn't suck.
Verizon's business model is to force people to place all communications through *them*, regardless of the sensibility of that network model. They're protecting their wireless empire as hamfistedly as they protected their dialup model, charging people 10x for "data lines" for modems over 9600bps, seeking Congressional protection from "always on" ISPs, crushing DSL competition. Too bad the WiFi genie's already out of the bottle. In the future, circuit-switched landlines and CDMA radios might only serve as backups, when our fibers and WiFi associations fail. With luck, the DSL conquest won't be repeated by Verizon Wireless, since colocation infrastructure isn't as necessary.
--
make install -not war
I was pretty disappointed to find out they strip midi files from incoming emails. Making it impossible to send yourself free ringtones.. It's even worse that certain polyphonic phones can't receive SMS messages with midi files either. I had to resort to a motorola phone programmer and USB cable. It's unfortunate, alot of people would never go that route to get a dollar ringtone into their phone.
buy unhindered phones.
or well, if you really like the walled garden aproach then why not, sure, give them away dollars for doing some simple stuff like moving data few feet. if their services are otherwise very cheap then as a customer it could make sense to cave into feature reductions like this, but i doubt it.
this is also why on some phones it's a bitch to get the pictures out even if the manufacturer could have very very cheapily added usb or whatever connectivity. it's left out intentionally so the networks that want walled gardens can feel good about them.
and if you claim that things like this are needed to make running a network profitable/possible.. that's just pure bullshit. you don't even need locked phones for fast adaptation, hell, i'd argue that locked phones being illegal make for a faster adaption.. much easier to compare a) handset prices b) network prices (=less bullshit hidden costs pricing).
oh and if you start with the "i'd only buy a linux based phone", the 'linux' phones coming are locked up tight - tighter than smartphones available now.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
with the 710 you cannot transfer files via BT or via USB. i have one. you can only do it via messaging (only 25 picture messages/month). or by using a transflash card (a micro sd card) that is nearly impossible to remove (you need to power off the phone and use tweezers). there are people that are working on developing usb hack to do this (as of now they can read and overwrite files on the phone via usb. but this is difficult to do and not officially supported)
furthermore, as of now, you can't even synch you addressbook/appointments via BT, you have to buy a USB cable. motorola claims they will fix this, but i doubt it.
but, verizon is still has the best coverage in the US and this phone is pretty good (flip, 1.3megapixel camera, BT(only headset and modem profiles), mp3 player, video player, upto 128mb removable flash memory, nice screen--though definitely not the best)
just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand!
If you didn't catch this from the nuclear elephant article, he's got a reward pot going for anyone who can provide a hack to enable OBEX on the phone. I think this is a great idea... I would love to see Verizon lose control of this thing. I almost bought one of these things just to be able to sync my address book with bluetooth, and at the last minute my intuition (or experience with Verizon/Moto) saved me.
I first got cellular from U S WEST Cellular, which was sold to AirTouch, which was sold to Verizon.
I'm still on a calling plan from the original U S WEST contracts, so I have three phones, sharing 600 minutes for around US$60 per month after taxes.
Right now, I've got a Nokia from Verizon with a firmware mod to prevent any ringtones or BREW apps from running, except through the Verizon BUY IT NOW! downloader. I'd dump 'em in a heartbeat if I could get service from anyone else for a comparable price, but as it is I just use 'em for phone service and I miss out on the fancy phone features fun.
What phone companies need to realize is that phone are becoming more and more like small personal computers. They have their own set of multimedia capabilities. Take sound for example. First it was a piezoelectric 1 bit speaker, then FM polyphonic sound, now PCM audio. Hell, in Japan, I've seen quite a few phones that have TV tuners. Point being that they now have capabilities similar to desktop computers and need the same freedoms to operatate like them. That includes unrestricted data transfer, creation (ringtones, backgrounds, java games). Imagine being able to store files on your phone in a format not initially supported by it, but then having somebody write software to handle it. (Obvious /. examples being PNG backgrounds and Ogg Vorbis ringtones)
I hope Verizon either adapts or dies in regards to this.
It would be cool if it didn't suck.
If Verizon is indeed purposely crippling bluetooth, and has no plans to "fix" it, then they need to be looked at for false advertising. From their own website I quote:
"And with Bluetooth wireless technology, you can make hands-free, eyes-free calls, and connect to your PC or PDA whenever and wherever you want."
I want a new quote. One that won't spill. One that don't cost too much. Or come in a pill.
Not to troll, but honestly. Isn't it perhaps just a rung on the ladder above IR transmission? I mean the range, security, etc. isn't anything to do handsprings about. The only people I typically hear ranting and raving about Bluetooth are PHB and other execs who like cashing in on buzzwords so they sound savvy.
I personally would hope for eventual adoption of the 802.11i standard so that wifi has added security. Once that happens why not add that feature onto phones? After all most of the dataflow PHB's and execs are trying to hook into involve public wifi hotspots, corporate WLAN's, etc. Bluetooth is more for standing 10 feet away or closer from another device and using a divining rod if that doesn't work.
Here's what you do- call 611 on your T-Mobile phone, get to customer care rep., and ask to open a trouble ticket for bad coverage. They'll ask for the address where the trouble spot is and a brief description of the situation (inside vs outside, number of bars, etc.). They'll send out a crew to the towers around that address and you'll get text message and call updates about the progress, including when they intend to put new towers in, etc. Best policy of any cell provider I've seen.
(Standard disclaimer applies- don't work for them, just a happy customer)
This works, swear to god.
About 3 years ago, one of their account people noticed that my contract had expired and I was a month to month customer. He called me, pushing a new 2 year contract. I didn't really want it, but he swore new bluetooth phones were coming that fall. Since I wanted bluetooth, and none of the other carriers had good coverage in my area, I figured why not... the new plan was cheaper and all. Seemed good.
Cut to 2 years later, with 6 months left on my contract. I have a Bluetooth PDA, laptop, and the car I was expecting delivery of (Prius) had the Bluetooth Handsfree in it. There were rumors of a Motorola with bluetooth coming soon on the Verizon network, but I couldn't risk it. I had to get out. Here's what I did...
I emailed customer support. Sounds simple, right? But the beauty of this is, a real live person emails you back. Sure, it's a form letter at first, but if you keep emailing back, and keep bringing up your original points (bluetooth, customer rep lied to me, etc), they'll go off script.
And clearly they underestimated my resolve to keep hammering at them. It cost me nothing to email them. They had customer service reps spending time trying to figure out how to respond. The time they spent with me couldn't be used for other customers... And, honestly, it was funny as hell for me.
After nearly 2 dozen back and forth emails, they agreed to let me out of the contract early. I switched to Cingular, and now have an uncrippled and fully functional bluetooth phone. And a signal. Life is good.
the only thing VZW wants to 'secure' is their get it now, text messaging, and data traffic revenue.
if this was purely because of security concerns then why don't they support the transfer of files via USB?
the reason is that they don't want to is because cellular voice traffic is commoditized and a loss leader these days. their business model is to offer competively priced and widespread availabilty of voice plans then ream everyone on data, picture messaging and other features.
this isn't necessarily bad. but when i buy a $350 phone that claims to synch and x-fer files via BT i want it to perform as advertised.
that being said, i'm still keeping my v710. furhtermore the v710 made me switch from sprint. verizon is definitely shrewd.
just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand!
Verizon is releasing thing phone with some features disabled, they will be enabled in November for full compliance including OBEX come November. Will someone fact check before this is posted. They released that information last monday. -GReg
Two years ago, I was a Verizon fanboy. Loved the system because the service in NJ was so damn good. Then came the camera and Bluetooth phones. WHen I saw that Verizon didn't support them, I jumped ship to AT&T and got a Nokia 3650. It's a damn fine phone and AT&T doesn't cripple it. Now I can send and receive pictures to/from my phone, set wallpapers, dowload apps, and create my own wav-based ringtones. Why Verizon won't allow this is beyond me. $0.99 for a song on the iTunes Music Store and $2 for a ringtone from Verizon, AND you have to pay to transfer it? What "business model" does that fall under other than "greedy bastards"?