http://blog.liviutudor.com/2008/07/05/playing-music-on-mobile-phones/ I'm a nobody, nobody is perfect, therefore I'm perfect. Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:29:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://blog.liviutudor.com/2008/07/05/playing-music-on-mobile-phones/comment-page-1/#comment-969 liviu.tudor Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:49:29 +0000 http://blog.liviutudor.com/?p=109#comment-969 So having played for a bit with this, I kinda figured out more of what's actually the root of the evil in here: I've upgraded the phone firmware to version 20.x (and by the way I find it disgusting that my phone was shipped with version 11.x -- what the hell was Vodafone thinking shipping it with such an ancient version????) using the Nokia PC Tools. That possibly removed some of the playing problems, however, it's all cool and dandy as long as you're in a place with little interference (bluetooth or from the GSM/GPRS network) -- like the office, at home, deep on the underground and so on. The moment you step outside -- e.g. on the street -- it all goes wrong : tracks are being skipped, sound is fast forwarded and the list goes on. And I'm not sure whether it's all down to Bluetooth yet, but it's definitely down to the phone -- as the Bluetooth headset works fine with a Sony Ericsson that I've tested against for instance! Even though I typically keep my mobile in my trousers' pocket (and the headset on my head -- dur! :) and even though the Bluetooth max distance provided by my Nokia should be 10m, I am guessing that this isn't actually true. Twice it actually happened that the phone reported itself as disconnected from the headset and started blaring music out loud through its loud speakers -- very embarrassing! I am guessing at this point that this might be due to the way the Bluetooth protocol works (in mini-networks of 6 devices) -- so the phone is probably constantly searching for other devices which might occasionally reply -- e.g. random passer-by's mobiles and so on -- and that's when it slows down the media player to respond to the blue tooth queries in real time. Even making my phone invisible to others doesn't help -- so I wonder whether there is a setting somewhere to say "stop bloody searching for other devices over bluetooth"? Or maybe it's because it always communicates with the network? (Though from what I remember that shouldn't happen that often...) Ideas, anyone? :O So having played for a bit with this, I kinda figured out more of what’s actually the root of the evil in here: I’ve upgraded the phone firmware to version 20.x (and by the way I find it disgusting that my phone was shipped with version 11.x — what the hell was Vodafone thinking shipping it with such an ancient version????) using the Nokia PC Tools. That possibly removed some of the playing problems, however, it’s all cool and dandy as long as you’re in a place with little interference (bluetooth or from the GSM/GPRS network) — like the office, at home, deep on the underground and so on.
The moment you step outside — e.g. on the street — it all goes wrong : tracks are being skipped, sound is fast forwarded and the list goes on. And I’m not sure whether it’s all down to Bluetooth yet, but it’s definitely down to the phone — as the Bluetooth headset works fine with a Sony Ericsson that I’ve tested against for instance! Even though I typically keep my mobile in my trousers’ pocket (and the headset on my head — dur! and even though the Bluetooth max distance provided by my Nokia should be 10m, I am guessing that this isn’t actually true. Twice it actually happened that the phone reported itself as disconnected from the headset and started blaring music out loud through its loud speakers — very embarrassing!
I am guessing at this point that this might be due to the way the Bluetooth protocol works (in mini-networks of 6 devices) — so the phone is probably constantly searching for other devices which might occasionally reply — e.g. random passer-by’s mobiles and so on — and that’s when it slows down the media player to respond to the blue tooth queries in real time. Even making my phone invisible to others doesn’t help — so I wonder whether there is a setting somewhere to say “stop bloody searching for other devices over bluetooth”?
Or maybe it’s because it always communicates with the network? (Though from what I remember that shouldn’t happen that often…)
Ideas, anyone? :O

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