I think Saab should have Bluetooth in the US offerings, primarily because there’s customer demand for it and the current situation has more to do with bowing before a service that few people can use in a Saab (OnStar) rather than technical problems.
But…..
Today I joined the 21st century and finally got a Bluetooth capable phone. I don’t have Bluetooth capability in any of my cars, but we’ll be getting it hooked up in our work vehicle, a Toyota Aurion, in the next week or so.
I’m an old school sort of guy. I prefer many older cars to newer ones. And I prefer old-school solutions that are basic and reliable. To use my Ipod in my Viggen, for example, I use a tape adaptor. I love the technology and know how that’s gone into making the Audio Troll, but a combination of having a basic solution at hand and my car being off the road means that I’ve been in no hurry to try it myself.
Similarly, whilst Bluetooth offers great technology and connectivity in the car, is it any better than your old-school cradle, which will charge the phone as well as put the calls through?
Given that I’ve only got one charger, the portable charging option is actually very attractive.
——
Having written this, I fully realise that someone will most likely inform me that there’s a ready made solution at hand, but consider this the ramblings of a techno-idiot just thinking plainly.
And still, Bluetooth should be an option in all markets.
Which century are you living in Swade? Having Bluetooth accessibility in the vehicle is great, at least if you spend a greater proportion of time in there (read sales reps and the like), but for some of us who use the vehicle as a means to get from point A to B and enjoying it at the same time, normal handsfree devices work just fine. In fact, when I drive the last thing on my mind is to answer a call, which in this case with Bluetooth the phone does this automatically. I have a Sony Ericsson K850i which is integrated with the car’s handsfree kit (also a Sony Ericsson product) which either mutes the music when there is an incoming call or even if the phone is in the boot (where it is most of the time on weekends), I can still voice dial and receive calls. A little nifty device really.
I have no comment .
Swade,
I get in my car with my phone in my pocket. I start driving. If I want to make a call, such as “honey, did I forget to put the garage door down again?” or “Sorry sir, I’m going to be late again” all I have to do is hit a button on my steering wheel.
If I forget to make those calls, and my wife calls to “let me know” that I left the garage door up again, my stereo mutes itself, and I see right on my dashboard (right underneath the fuel guage) who is calling, so I can prepare myself and then I hit a button — or — if I don’t want to deal with it, I hit another button and the call is sent to voicemail and the stereo comes back on. All the while, my hands never left the steering wheel, and my eyes were only removed from the road for a split-second… the same time it takes to check how much gas you have or how fast you’re going.
When I finally get to work, I get out of the car and walk into the office. There is no plugging in, plugging out, or anything. It just works. It’s beautiful.
-JF
Yeah it is really better than the ol’ cradle. Full bluetooth integration as seen in Acura and Infiniti cars is really very nice. If the phone is in the car (your pocket, your bag) and you are in the car your calls will get put thru the steering wheel controls. Most cars have a charge port as well.
With a full integration there is also no need for clips, wires, and glue on your new dash.
There’s also the issue that in most US states it is becoming illegal to use your cell handset while the car is moving – including pushing the buttons – so a full hands-free kit is needed.
beren
My LG phone has Bluetooth and it is a nice option. That said, it cut’s my phone’s battery life by 2/3rds when it’s activated!
Another thing to consider about the Bluetooth advantage over the phone cradle is the amount of phones on the market today. Fifteen years ago there weren’t all that many phone manufacturers, and of those manufacturers, they didn’t make many models. Today, the selection is daunting. Bluetooth levels the playing field so your phone, your spouse’s phone, your kid’s phone, and even your dog’s phone will work in the car regardless of the manufacturer.
Plus you don’t have to pay someone to install the kit, and permanently mount a cradle to your center console, and hook up an external antenna, find a place to put the mic, etc. Proper Bluetooth is fully integrated and as other have mentioned, works when the phone is in your pocket. No need to put the phone in a cradle for the 15 or 30 minute drive.
It may be a pretty trivial thing, but Saab will loose customers if they continue to only offer Onstar and not offer BT.
The volume and channel buttons on the steering are not must-haves either. But, once you get used to them, they’re very hard to live without.
There is something very driver centric about bluetooth that fits so well with the Saab design philosophy that I dont understand why they dont have it. It’s a no brainer.
Maybe smart people with elbow patches dont use cell phones?
hehe…
In Europe, the MY2007-2008 as you know have an integrated bluetooth kit, with a cradle in the glove between seats. But…….always there is a “but”…….
A lot, and when I say a lot, is a lot!!!!!!! of customers have problems with the integrated bluetooth kit. Many mobile phones are unable to work or to coordinate the agenda with the car bluetooth. You can imagine what a success, when you pay about 700€ for that option.
In 2003-06 models with TEL2 had bluetooth connection(one of the first cars with bluetooth) and it worked well, but it was only to send info from the car to the phone/pda or viceversa, because with the SIM card you have the phone integrated.
regards
Didn’t read the comments, BUT GM is putting Bluetooth (standard maybe) in all GM models starting in model year 09. S
So hold your horses, its coming.
Integrated Bluetooth advantages:
-Safety (eyes up and hands on the wheel)
-Universal connectivity (works with any phone not just one single ancient phone that goes into the physical dock). Works with your iPhone, your wifes Treo, your kids phone etc.
-Simplicity – your phone hooks up automatically as long as it is with you
-Charging with car charger (yes you need to acquire a charger but you can plug it in when you get in and get out with your phone fully charged even if you’ve been talking the entire time)
-No Bluetooth headset to lose, run out of power or mess with while driving
-Stereo muting – you won’t miss calls because you could not hear the call or your phone was set to vibrate
-Radiation reduction – no phone on your face, no tethered line into your ear (as with corded earbuds), no Bluetooth transceiver in your ear
-Resale value – the market will increasingly demand this feature. Even if you don’t use your phone in the car you will want it to be there when you go to sell it. (Saab would be fools to launch the 9-1 and 9-4 without it – as well as without HD Radio)
Edags……..the Idea is that the Bluetooth is universal, but isn’t as true as should be. As I explained the integrated kit for the MY2007-08 Saab 9-3 it has a lot of problems of connectivity with multiple phones.
regards
I’d say throw away the mobile phone. It’s the curse of the millennium.
Why the heck do I need to call about the garage door? Because the mobile phone took away the need for my brain to remember to close the darned door.
Why am I late for the meeting? Most of the times because mobile phone made me sloppy with appointments, it’s just so easy to call and say I’m late.
Folks, we are becoming brain dead zombies because of the mobile phone.
Swade, you really are WAY behind aren’t you.
Look, get 2 cans and a piece of string ok… then…..
I’m not sure I am, Richo….
Just here in comments we’ve got battery use issues when Bluetooth is activated and we’ve got someone using a cable to charge the phone.
The cradle overcomes the first one and is a neater solution than the second one.
It’s handy I’m sure, but is it any more handy than the cradle?
I’d like to point out that a lot of the danger that driving while talking on the phone creates comes from talking and not from actually holding the phone to your head. Dialing while driving, on the other hand, is just as bad as the actual talking. My point is, whether you’re holding the phone or using Bluetooth, you’re still thinking about something other than driving the car, which is dangerous. So don’t talk while driving and Bluetooth integration becomes a non-issue.
Also, Swade, about the tape adaptor: I had one of those in my 900 for the longest time. Then I got a new head unit with iPod integration. Now I don’t have to pause my iPod when I want to stop the music, it charges my iPod and plays the music with the same wire, I can control the iPod from the head, and I get song info without looking at the iPod. It’s much safer and more convenient. Recently, I’ve had to go back to the tape adaptor because I haven’t gotten a chance to put my Alpine head in my Thunderbird, and let me tell you, once you have iPod integration, that tape adaptor just makes you angry. I’m not saying you’re nuts for using the adaptor, I’m just saying make sure you don’t ever get a chance to use something newer, because it will make you hate that adaptor.
I love the blue tooth that I put into my 9-5. It has mine, Kerry’s and Phill’s phones all programmed into it. The phones these days, well ours anyway, keep enough charge to last 3 or 4 days even with the blue tooth turned on. and the chances of leaving the phone hooked up and on display when you leave the car are gone. If I get a new phone, I dont need to get a new cradle which I used too in the past.
Eduard (Edusaab),
I agree that Bluetooth is not as universal (fully interoperable) as it should be. However, it is my understanding that those issues are diminishing as the technology evolves. Of course even at its worse Bluetooth had a ton more interoperability than physical phone docks.
I have also heard systems where either the background noise was too high or the speaker’s voice volume was too low. I guess part of that has to do with the quality of the microphone as well as how advanced the digital signal processing is. So not only does the system need to usable by most (if not all) newer phones, but it needs to produce strong outgoing audio quality.
I use my phone to stream radio stations into my car stereo. I need to do this with a cord. It would be nice if could do this via Bluetooth as I wouldn’t have the cord hanging across the car. Of course many people play music from MP3 players. In either case having being able to make that connection via Bluetooth would be a nice secondary application.
Regards
Charles – how do you know this about GM putting bluetooth standard on 09 models?
I read somewhere in Europe that Spain was planning to ban GPS navigation systems in cars as these darn things tend to cause accidents (in that country, no idea of the stats or research done) as the drivers apparently were focusing too much attention on what the nav was saying as opposed to concentrating on the process of actually driving the vehicle safely. I think this is equally true to handheld or handsfree devices. The rationale is not so much whether it is handsfree or not, but rather that the driver’s attention is diverted to non-core things which has nothing to do with driving safely.