Jonathan, First of all thank you so much for all of the research you have done regarding the bluetooth technology and BMW. The information is very informative and worthwhile. After reading some of the findings you have posted, I see the Palm Centro with AT&T did not pass the test. Verizon (my current carrier) in the next several weeks is coming out with the Centro which I was considering before I read your comments. My question is in any of your research did you notice if the carrier makes a difference with the same phone and its compatibility with the car? Thanks again, JZ
JZ, thanks for your kind words. To specifically touch on your question, yes, the carrier (or mobile operator) makes a difference because, for some mobile phones, the phones themselves use different chipsets and that impacts compatibility. For example, AT&T's network is GSM and VZW uses CDMA - so there can be significant differences right there. I have seen instances where a mobile phone compatible with one mobile operator did not work in a version of the phone made for another operator. Concerning the Centro, I've started testing the Sprint Centro and it did not work at all. Since Sprint is also CDMA, that would not hold out much promise for VZW. The easiest thing to do is to test the phone - but keep in mind that brief tests can be misleading (as my tests have shown) and a mobile that performs admirably in round 1 can flunk round 2. I have tested one Verizon BlackBerry (the 8830 World Edition) and it performd admirably; I would wager, since those devices do share chipsets, that the Pearl would probably perform quite well on the VZW platform. You might want to consider one of those as an option.
I have a Verizon Blackberry Pearl and just yesterday picked up a 535xi. Bluetooth connection works great!
Palm Treo I have a 755 smart phone from Verizon. Its connects great but the address book wont download.
