[drivecar]

The Jabra SP700 has been replaced by the Jabra SP715 CRUISER.

It now has a dedicated on/off switch and on-board media player controls.
If your phone supports PBAP, it can announce the caller by name.
It is also capable of displaying caller-ID on the radio screen via RDS Text. RDS text seems flaky, but as long as it announces the caller with audio, you can skip looking at the screen and not worry about it.

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[jimk]

I have the SP700 and it does a pretty good job but only when not using FM. Porting a call through FM sounds like a great idea, except for interference. That is sooo annoying. Moving a station up and down is not really something I like to do especially when I'm on a call with an important client. However, the built-in speaker does a good job. If I can find a way to hardwire it and turn it on and off with the car ignition, I would be a very happy camper.

[drivecar]

Originally Posted by jimk

I have the SP700 and it does a pretty good job but only when not using FM. Porting a call through FM sounds like a great idea, except for interference. That is sooo annoying. Moving a station up and down is not really something I like to do especially when I'm on a call with an important client. However, the built-in speaker does a good job. If I can find a way to hardwire it and turn it on and off with the car ignition, I would be a very happy camper.

I found FM to be OK as long as you find the best frequency for your area and set a preset on the radio. Don't just automatically pick the first station that comes up. Spend the time when you first set it up to find the emptiest frequencies and weakest broadcast stations near your home and work and set them as presets on the radio. I was able to drive for 2 hours streaming audio over FM and I didn't have static even though there was a weak FM station broadcasting on the station I was set on. It was able to overpower it with no problem. The next morning, I did notice some static on the same channel. The beginning of the video shows the radio being set on an FM station and the Jabra was still able to broadcast over it without static.
If static becomes a problem, you can just use the internal speaker. The Jabra Cruiser was only $70 at Costco, so occasional static is still worth it so far.

The Motorola T-505 seems a bit stronger with FM transmitting, but it's thicker (I have bumped my head on it while it's on the visor since the car has little headroom to spare for me) and it doesn't read the contact names on calls like the new Jabra Cruiser.
There is a hardwire kit called BlueConnect, but there isn't enough room in the ceiling of an e90 to mount it.

.

If someone made a hardwired bluetooth kit that integrated cleanly into the visor (like the DVD video displays integrate into headrests), it would sell.



Obviously, there is already power going into the visor to power the vanity lights.
They could integrate everything including the microphone and a beefy speaker into the visor and tap into the power right there.
They could do a simple kit with FM transmitter where all you had to do is tap the power and a more advanced kit where you run cables all the way to the stereo and have automatic muting and hardwiring to the car's speakers.
Either way you solve the problem of needing to recharge batteries and needing to remember to power it off and on manually.
The BlueConnect sells for $199, so a visor type kit like it should be around the same selling price if it were available.
Untapped business opportunity going to waste for someone.

[jimk]

^^^

Thanks.