A few months ago, I came across BluePhoneElite 2, an application for Mac computers that promised to make it easier to manage calls and messages between the computer and my Symbian phones using bluetooth. I was super busy at the time, and it’s only recently that I decided to give it a try and I instantly regretted not having used it a long time ago. It’s brilliant, mind-numbingly brilliant.
After you install BPE on your Mac, you have the option to connect it to a new device. It will then launch a wizard that helps you choose your bluetooth handset, sends a small installation file to it to help connect it with your Mac, and then tells you which services are available for your device. After that, BPE shows as an icon on your Menu bar with animated signal reception, battery level, and missed events notifications, and a drop down menu. This menu gives you access to all the BPE functions, which we will talk about later.
The one function of BPE that I find brilliant in its execution is the hands-free mode for calls. What this means is that when your phone is connected via bluetooth, if you receive a call, you will get a huge notification with the caller’s number (and name if they’re in your address book) as well as the option to answer or reject. If your phone is 10 meters away from you, don’t be afraid to click Answer, because BPE will handle your call ingeniously: it uses your Mac’s speakers and microphone to route the call and let you talk as if on a bluetooth headset. On the other end, I didn’t hear any complaints from my callers, or any delay in the call. You can also initiate a call yourself, from the address book or by typing a new number.
If you miss a call, a nice notification box will appear on the lower left part of the screen and won’t go away until you close it. When you do, the One Missed Call message will also be marked as viewed on the phone, so not only does it sync the new notifications, but also their current state. Genius, I tell you.
Another notification you see is when you receive a new message, this blue box appears and upon clicking on it, shows you the full message with a text box right below it so you can type a reply. When you’re done reading, the message will be marked as read on your phone too.
BluePhoneElite 2′s drop down menu lets you access several functions, such as changing your phone’s sound Profile, initiating a new call or typing a new message, as well as accessing the Call and Message Centers, and quickly checking the last 20 calls and messages. Below is the window for composing a new SMS, as you see, you can save it as a draft, delete it, send it, initiate a chat, but the most important aspect is that once you start typing in the “Send To” box, it recognizes the names and matches them with your phone’s contact database.
The Message and Call centers give you a detailed overview over all your events, with a nifty option to export all your data.
BluePhoneElite 2 also comes with incredible configurations and settings, letting you control simple things like the icon it shows on the menu bar, as well as important settings such as whether or not it’s allowed to sync your phonebook, or whether the screen should blink when you get a new call.
I’ve been hooked on BPE 2 for a couple of days now, and it has become a standard in the way I manage my calls and messages when I’m working on my compute. There’s no stalling in my work flow whether the phone is sitting on the desk next to me, or at the other end of the room charging, and I’m grateful for that. It’s also brilliant in its simplicity, execution and features, and the handsfree function leaves me speechless each time I use it.
BluePhoneElite 2 works with every Symbian phone released to date and more platforms, but just in case you’d like to check, the full list of compatible devices can be found here. You can even connect several devices to it at the same time, and it will keep a tab on everything as it happens. If you own a Mac and you’ve been eyeing Nokia’s Communication Center that is available for PC, BluePhoneElite 2 is definitely an equivalent on steroids.
Now, onto the bad news, it costs a whopping 24.95$! I know, that’s a huge sum, but you can connect it to tons of devices, even other than Symbian, and there’s also a free 2 week trial so you can clearly make up your mind as to whether or not you need it.
