Windows Phone Thoughts: HTC Universal Car Kit including Handsfree

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Wednesday, August 4, 2010

HTC Universal Car Kit including Handsfree

Posted by Don Tolson in "Windows Phone Accessories" @ 07:00 AM

Driving around town

Well, with every thing hooked up, it was time to give it a try. The first time a call came in, I didn't have the 3.5mm phone plug inserted, and I thought the call pickup button on the top of the charger/speaker unit would automatically switch the unit into speakerphone mode. Unfortunately, I was wrong on both accounts. Nothing worked. As I mentioned earlier, a quick email to WirelessGround got everything straightened out. I located the jack for the stereo phone plug in the side of the cradle, connected it up and tried again.

In discussions with WirelessGround, I also found out that the switch on the side of the charger unit (marked On/Off) actually switches between charger and speakerphone modes. So, when you want to pick up a call, there is actually a two-step process involved. First, you have to switch the charger to the 'Off' position to put it into speakerphone mode (the LED will change from orange to green), then you need to press the Call Pickup button on the top to answer the call. A little involved, but workable. It would have been better if the unit could recognize that the phone was in 'phone' mode, and automatically switch on its own, or use the Call Pickup button to switch modes.

During the call, I could hear my caller quite well (there's a Volume control on the right side of the charger/speakerphone unit), but they said my voice was very weak -- they could barely hear me, even though I was speaking up in my 'presentation voice' rather than normal speaking volume. This was confirmed over a couple of other calls as well. I think they need to increase the sensitivity of the mic a bit. Increasing the volume on the speakerphone portion didn't seem to have any effect (as I would expect).

If you press the call pickup button while in a call, it will put the call 'on hold', and you can do other things, talk to the officer who just pulled you over, etc. (Just kidding!). Pressing the button again, places you back in your call. A double press will hang up the call. You can also accomplish the same thing by switching the charger unit back to 'Charge' mode (orange LED).

Conclusions

All in all, this is an OK solution to my problem. It provides a good secure cradle for my Tilt2 and includes a speakerphone capability as well, without having to go through the Bluetooth tethering each time I enter the car. Plus, I can keep the phone on external power. I did notice though, that the joint at the back of the flexible arm, near the suction cup, is a little looser than it should be, so the phone tends to swing from side to side as you drive around. And they really need to do something about the microphone sensitivity to make this truly useful.

Don is a Solution Architect with Fujitsu Consulting, specializing in Security and Project Value Management. He's been working with PDAs and Smartphones since the early days of the Sharp Wizard, iPAQ and Jornadas. As the Enterprise Mobility lead for North America, he works with clients who want to take their applications that one step further into 'mobility' by putting them right on the corporate phones.

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