Incoming call alert

by Volker Weber

This is one of these insanely great features in Mac OS X. You pair your Bluetooth phone with the Mac, then you go to the address book and hit the Bluetooth button:

btenable.png

Once you have done this, you gain some interesting features in the address book. Enter a part of a person's name in the search box, select the business card. When you click on the mobile number you will get a menu with three options: Large type, Send SMS and Dial with ...

Large type is an overlay with a really large font, so you can read it from across the room. Send SMS will let you ... you guessed it. And dial? Yup, you are a genius.

But wait, there is even more. [jingle and flashy smile] If you are connected to the phone and it rings you won't have to hunt for the phone. See what happens:

btpopup.png

Cool, eh? Now you can turn the phone completely silent and let your Mac alert you of incoming calls.

Comments

Does it display incoming SMS messages on the Mac? That would be so useful! Still waiting for my 6230 and cant try this until it arrives .... :)

hi - yes it does also display sms... are there any news on upcoming "usual" phones with integrated bluetooth?

No, unfortunately not. It doesn't alert incoming SMS... That was the first idea i had too when I noticed my PowerBook " ringing"... ;-) But - additionally - it works also with non-mobile numbers (sending SMS)!

Schweppes, 2004-05-28 02:18

Very cool. Is there an app that does similar things on XP or a Tungsten T3

Andreas and Schweppes seem to be somewhat indifferent on the SMS thing. Does it display the SMS or not? I'm contemplating getting a T68i since it's not as overloaded as most of the newer models. Volker, can you recomend it for sysncing with the Apple iapps (ical and adderess book) ?

It displays the SMS here (PG & Siemens S55). It also adds the SMS text to the note field in Address Book with a date tag.

Ole Saalmann, 2004-05-28 10:57

For me, it definitely displays incoming SMS on my PowerBook. The window even has a neat "Answer" button.
This is with the Siemens S55.

Sebastian Krauß, 2004-05-28 10:59

Matthias, yes, the T68i very well with iSync. As do the newer T610.

So what happens if you have your phone all across the room, sitting in front of your Mac and you hit "answer"?
Does it use your Mac's mike and speaker to make the call or do you have to run to grab the phone?

Ragnar Schierholz, 2004-05-28 12:06

The phone starts hovering above the table. When you hit answer, it comes flying your way. Two problems: the phone should not be inside a pocket unless ... , and there should be no wall between the Mac and the phone.

Anyone know if this feature works with Treo 650, or any PDA?
Or is it Tiger compatible?

Tony Walker, 2005-06-13 20:38

Hi guys, I have a nokia 6600 and Address book doesn't seem to alert me when I have an incoming call or sms. Is this a know problem for this phone?

James Lovett, 2005-12-04 20:58

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vowe.net is a personal website published by Volker Weber a.k.a. vowe. I am an author, consultant and systems architect based in Darmstadt, Germany.

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