iSync, SE K530i, SE T715 and Volvo C30

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Level 2

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iSync, SE K530i, SE T715 and Volvo C30

Here I am again.

I have some trivial questions about the changes in the way iSync (with Feisar plug-in) works.

Previously, I had a SE K530i with Feisar plug-in. No problems at all.
The Mac synced with the 530, and the 530 was duly synced in my genuine car Bluetooth handsfree (Volvo C30). All address books showed the contacts as follows : LASTNAME Firstname

I "upgraded" the K530i to an T715, again with a Feisar plug-in.
Mac and 715 sync nicely, they still show LASTNAME Firstname.

By now, when synced in the Volvo, it shows (in the car) Firstname LASTNAME.
There's no possibility for the car system to change the display.

I tried to change the AddressBook preferences, to have it sorted by LASTNAME, etc ... to no avail.
The Mac and the 715 show the info in the correct order, while the Volvo shows it inverted (and thus sorted on the firstname).

What has changed between the way it was handled in the 530i and the way it is managed in the 715 ?

Julian, I guess that not only you will have an idea, but also a solution 😀

iMac 24" 3.06 GHZ, 2GB/750 GB nVidia 8800 GS, Mac OS X (10.6.2), SpeedTouch Router, 802.11g, Nikon D80, PBG4 1.33

Posted on Dec 27, 2009 9:49 AM

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Answer 1

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Julian Wright

Level 8

35,014 points

Dec 27, 2009 12:38 PM in response to Claude Cauwe

Nothing has changed in the way iSync syncs with the phones. The sort order in Address Book is not synced between Mac and phone - it's purely for the display in Address Book.

You say the sync between Mac and phone works as expected and displays as you want on the phone. So it's only between the phone and car handsfree that the names are switched. I don't know how the sync between phone and car is done, but it's certainly nothing that the Mac, iSync or the plugin has any control over. Getting the data from Mac to phone is as far as iSync and the plugin is involved, and this is all working as expected.

I would make a guess that Sony Ericsson has changed something in the sync process between the phone and car or there is some setting in the phone that us different, but what exactly I don't know. Have you tried changing the sort order in the phone before syncing it with the car handsfree?

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Answer 2

Claude Cauwe Author

Level 2

220 points

Dec 27, 2009 12:44 PM in response to Julian Wright

Yes, I have played with the various possibilities offered by AddressBook :

- sort by first name
- sort by last name
- show first name before/after lastname

and also on the phone :

- sort by first/last name.

Really strange is that it worked flawlessly with the K530i.
Only with the T715, it appears inverted : firstname LASTNAME, and sorted on firstname ...

Bizarre bizarre !

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Answer 3

Claude Cauwe Author

Level 2

220 points

Mar 11, 2010 6:17 AM in response to Claude Cauwe

Here I am again, as I have some more time to devote to this issue.

Let's first sum it up :

* September 2009 :
iSync (with Feisar plugin) + SE K530i + Volvo C30 : all synced as LASTNAME Firstname

* December 2009 :
iSync (with Feisar plugin) + SE T715 : synced as LASTNAME Firstname
SE T715 + Volvo C30 : synced as Firstname LASTNAME

As I understand from the Volvo Manual, the in-board Bluetooth module does not really SYNC, but only COPY from the phone.
The Volvo BPM (Bluetooth Phone Module) is reported built by Motorola.

Tests between the phone and the Mac do show that the correct data is placed in the good fields (first in first, last in last). And still, the data is inverted during the copy process.

So I keep on scratching my head : where does the inversion occur ?

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Answer 4

Mar 11, 2010 6:53 AM in response to Claude Cauwe

The inversion must be occurring when the T715 sends the data to the Volvo. The only thing that has changed is the phone model.

My guess (and it's only a guess) is that, the K530 - being an older phone, used a different Bluetooth protocol or older vCard version when sending the contacts to the car, and this is where the difference is.

If you send the same contact from each phone via Bluetooth to the Mac as a vCard, and then open those vCards up in TextEdit, are they identical or different?

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Answer 5

Claude Cauwe Author

Level 2

220 points

Mar 11, 2010 7:58 AM in response to Julian Wright

Hmm, can't test anymore, since the 530 is already sold...
But still I can test with the 715 and see what happens.

I would also tend to believe that the inversion is made during the download from the phone to the car, but as it is supposed to be only a "copy" of the phonebook, it wouldn't make a lot of sense.

Can I try and sniff the data in Bluetooth with my old PowerBook ?
Would that provide a clue ?

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Answer 6

Mar 11, 2010 8:20 AM in response to Claude Cauwe

Without both phones to compare against each other I don't see anyway that you can determine what's different between them.

Even if you could "sniff" the Bluetooth data getting sent to the car, you've got nothing to compare it with anymore...

There are no settings in the T715 to change the vCard version it sends, or the Bluetooth Profile it uses, so I don't really know what more you can do.

My guess is that the K530 maybe used vCard v2.1 and the OBEX Bluetooth Profile to send the contacts, whereas the T715 might be using vCard v3.0 and PBA Bluetooth Profile. And presumably your car supports both to give it the widest phone compatibility.

I looked on the Sony Ericsson Developer site, and although they have a technical whitepaper for the T715 listing its Bluetooth Profiles etc, they haven't published the same for the K530.

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Answer 7

Claude Cauwe Author

Level 2

220 points

Mar 11, 2010 9:29 AM in response to Julian Wright

Thank you for your efforts, Julian, they are pretty much appreciated.
I'll use part of the WE to keep on testing and trying - at least, try to make something CHANGE !

For sure I'll post the results here !

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Answer 8

Claude Cauwe Author

Level 2

220 points

Mar 11, 2010 10:45 PM in response to Claude Cauwe

And what if we explore the track of "Address Format" in the Preferences ?

In this drop-down menu, we can choose from a wide variety of countries.
What effect does it actually have on the data (because I don't see a single change, when I switch from belgium to United States, for example) ?

And Apple's help, is, as often, quite evasive about it, to say the least.

Message was edited by: Claude Cauwe

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Answer 9

Mar 11, 2010 11:51 PM in response to Claude Cauwe

What effect does it actually have on the data?

I think the only effect it has is on the layout of addresses when printed on mailing labels. It doesn't change the data, just the layout of that data when printed.

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Answer 10

Claude Cauwe Author

Level 2

220 points

Mar 12, 2010 12:52 AM in response to Julian Wright

Hmmm, not totally sure.

I changed it from Belgium to United States, iSynced the phone, went to the car, and ... OK, it didn't change a thing, but still, the "phone book dowload in progress" was rather long, as if it was copying the whole book.

So perhaps something DID change in the format - but was not reflected on the car's display.

What if I change the vCard export from 3.0 back to 2.1 ?

Does that have an effect on the way the data are formatted ?

PS : Had the confirmation that Volvo's Bluetooth Handfree system is a "standard" Motorola.

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Answer 11

Mar 15, 2010 6:26 AM in response to Claude Cauwe

the "phone book dowload in progress" was rather long, as if it was copying the whole book.

It probably was. I don't know how these car sync systems work, but I would assume it's just a single one-time copy of all the data, rather than a true only sync the changes type of system.

What if I change the vCard export from 3.0 back to 2.1 ? Does that have an effect on the way the data are formatted ?

Not so much the formatting, but the fields and data that is included.

You can open v2.1 and v3.0 vCards in TextEdit side-by-side and compare them, to see the differences.

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Answer 12

Claude Cauwe Author

Level 2

220 points

Mar 15, 2010 11:42 AM in response to Julian Wright

very interesting comparison indeed between vCard 2,1 and vCards 3,0

And for the moment, still no further progress in my tentatives...
I heard Volvo might have a Bluetooth update.
Am curious to see if it could fix the problem (maybe by supporting new phone functionalities ?)

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