My attempts to get hooked up on the wireless peripherals of cell telephony has turned out to be a bit of "Bluetooth ache", as failed promises from distributor and manufacturer combined to ruin what should have been a great experience.
The incident also illustrates that the incompetence of the leading brands will always allow for smaller and more agile players to benefit in the ICT industry - a fact that others may do well to remember.
Earlier this month I resigned my contract with my cellular service provider, Autopage. I signed for the new Motorola V600 cellphone, which has several features that I wanted, for at least the next two years.
These features included larger than normal buttons to fit my big fingers, and the wireless periphery protocol called Bluetooth that allows one to do away with the pesky wires and plugs that plague cellphone connectivity.
In choosing the V600 I did some research. I checked out the comments on Web sites such as www.howardforums.com and trolled through the www.cellular.co.za site to see if there was any negative comment about the product. The official www.bluetooth.com site listed the product press releases from the various manufacturers and the Motorola line seemed quite well stocked with features.
Generally, the reviews were good, if not actual raves, and the considered opinion was that this was the phone to have for the time being.
The Bluetooth headset is a requirement these days, especially as overzealous traffic cops like to hit on the relatively soft target of people using their cellphones while driving, as more serious offences are blithely ignored.
Paul Vecchiatto, Journalist, ITWeb
I was expecting a wait for the new phone. There had been numerous comments about Motorola`s slow delivery, not only in this country but in others as well. So I was pleasantly surprised to be told only a week after ordering it that it was available at Autopage. Unfortunately, the Bluetooth headset that I had ordered was not yet available.
The Bluetooth headset is a requirement these days, especially as overzealous traffic cops like to hit on the relatively soft target of people using their cellphones while driving, as more serious offences are blithely ignored. The headset also cuts down on the cost of installing a dedicated car kit as the phone and headset have voice-activated dialling.
So I waited and waited and no headset arrived. Eventually, the Autopage people at the Milnerton branch, who did do their best, told me in an exasperated manner that: "Head office has sent a car kit that you can install for the additional charge of R375."
Well that would not do at all. So I bought a headset for about R500 from Reviva Technology (www.reviva.co.za) the distributor of the Cellink range of Bluetooth accessories. Reviva says it is distributing around 1 500 of the headsets a month to various retailers that are struggling to get the real deal from the actual cellphone manufacturers.
The Cellink product works perfectly well. It has a range of about 10m, 100 hours of standby time, and is voice recognition-enabled. It also comes with a lanyard so I can find it easily when driving and have to answer a call.
I would have loved to have obtained a Motorola headset as it stands to reason that it would work better with the V600 phone. However, Motorola, Autopage and everyone else have failed to deliver one and so I probably will never know if it really is better.
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