Samsung, Why Do You Hate Me?

HOWTO Sync a Samsung A920 with Mac OSX at fusion94.org

I just got a sweet new phone (Samsung SGH-D807), but the sales clerk was misinformed in telling me that it supports iSync. Maybe I should have gone with Motorola’s SLVR? Samsung hates Mac users.

Using the link above I got my contacts onto the phone, but damn bro, why you gotta hate on me like that?

And hey, cell phone makers and carriers: do some user research and make phones for nerds instead of the girls on MTV’s Super Sweet 16. While they might be able to afford purchasing every known available real estate address in Orange County, CA, they aren’t nerds. I’m old. And very cranky.

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  • http://Meghan Meghan

    When I turned on blue tooth to sync my new sony ericsson Z525 (from Cingular) with my powerbook, I just about cried because it was so damn beautiful.

    And yes, the super sweet 16 set always gets what it wants, hence most phones suck in terms of having features anyone over the age of 25 would desire.

    I fought myself for a while before choosing the sony ericsson, and ultimately went with it because they support Mac so well. I was hesitant at first, but I love it. (Plus the battery is amazing, 12 hours of talk time per full charge. I hated how quickly my old moto drained.)

  • http://homepage.mac.com/lousoz lousoz

    Just the words Super Sweet 16 send me into a spin. It is definitely one of those “car crash” shows. You hate to watch but you are compelled ( sp?) to see what is going to happen next.

    I can barely dial my cell phone. I just asked my husband if he knew your phone and your mac could sync. I guess we’re both out of that loop! Since were both up for new phones this year, this is good information to have.

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/72feetabovesealevel/ 72feetabovesealevel

    When my cellphone broke a couple of months back my requirements for a replacement phone were the following:

    1. It had to be a flip phone.
    2. It had to be free.

    1 phone met my requirements.

    I don’t have Bluetooth and I would have had to pay for the USBish cord to my computer so phone #’s were entered the for free by my fingertips.

  • http://missingmojo.blogspot.com Sally

    I don’t know what you just said. Man, you are such a geek. I mean that as a compliment.

  • http://wandaharland.blogspot.com/atom.xml Martha

    I’m old, cranky, and don’t understand a word of it. I’m sure you were wronged though.

  • Bill

    I had a Motorola v710 with a crippled version of Bluetooth. Officially it didn’t work with iSync, but by cutting and pasting a bit of code within the application, it worked just fine.

  • http://www.blurbomat.com blurb

    Bill, I’d love to know the hacking you speak of… care to share??

  • Bill

    Here’s the info:

    http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20050501151747917

    It works like a dream, although I have to redo the hack every time there’s a system update.

    Another one I really like is this simple set of directions to set your Verizon bluetooth phone up as a wireless modem.

    http://stevenfettig.com/mythoughts/archives/000189.php

    it only works in-network (that is, not “extended”), but otherwise it’s just uses your network time (free on evenings and weekends).

  • Bill

    How to set up an A920 as a bluetooth modem:

    http://www.nodrm.com/?p=185

  • http://www.blurbomat.com blurb

    thanks bill!

    The thing is… I’m wondering if someone has done this for Samsung phones.

    Does anybody know if someone has hacked iSync to work with a Samsung phone?

  • criscodisco

    Last week my phone happened to fall really hard into a wall. Luckily, my parents had just upgraded from the TREO650 to the TREO700 (those small computer-phones deserve to be in all caps). I took it to the verizon store, had service switched over for free, and a few days later went about trying to sync it with my computer.

    The software it came with didnt work. Isync didnt work (it just happens to be the one model of Palm that isync doesnt support?) so I had to download “missing sync” which, while having a clever name, could really be a lot easier to use. I dont have any of my contacts… but I do have my whole iphoto library! A lot of good that does.

    [By the way, though I have been reading Heathers and your blog for well over a year, this is the first entry that has meant so much to me that I signed up with this website just to comment. And I am on a foreign keyboard where I cant find the apostraphe so please dont think Im an idiot.]

  • http://www.hauspa.com scoxsmith

    Love the slider form factor!

    I had such a trail picking out a new phone. (see link below) Luckily, my Sony Ericsson W600i works great with iSync and I now have a white case (ordered from China) and a matching white Bluetooth headset.

    Isn’t it great when technology makes us happy!

    http://hauspa.squarespace.com/home/2006/3/19/my-first-phone.html

  • http://keylimepieicecream.blogspot.com la_florecita

    I’m still discovering everything technology can do for me and none of my Samsung phones (or Macs) have had bluetooth, so it’s never been an issue for me.

    Have you guys seen the SNL spoof of My Super Sweet 16?

    “I want to ride in on an elephant! NO. On a tiger! NO. On Shaquille O’Neal! NO. On Shaquille O’Neal ON a tiger!”

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/72feetabovesealevel/ 72feetabovesealevel

    Hey,

    3 of the top 10 flickr tags for the last 24 hours are Blogher related. Thought you might find that cool.

  • http://www.jillshalvis.com/blog Jill Shalvis

    When you find a phone that supports isync, I want to know about it!

  • mediaguy74

    I just bought a new phone at Sprint yesterday. They didnt know how to swap the phone #s from one phone to the next and said they didnt have the equipment to do so. I am thinking that these places just sell phones and dont care about the other things. Lousy customer service too. Oh and the funny thing is at this location in NYC, theres another sprint store directly across the street. It used to be Nextel but with the merger became sprint. The guy said the 2 stores dont get along and they are on 2 different systems. Hows that for corporate synergy?

  • http://verygeorge.com GEORGE!

    Samsung has a partnership with Microsoft for the XBOX360… so that could be why they hate you.

  • Ranger

    I hope not off subject:

    RAZR + Bluetooth Headset = Joy
    RAZR + PC = Geekless addressbook backup(i.e. just follow the directions)

    I’m just saying.

  • http://www.blurbomat.com blurb

    GEORGE! I believe it’s a vast manufacturing/carrier conspiracy too dark for one person to risk uncovering.

    Ranger, not off subject at all. The bluetooth headset works fantastically, even if it makes me look dorky. The file transfer from camera to Mac works great as well. I knew that it was a risk going in, but the salesguy didn’t know what he was talking about. He did mention that he used a Motorola SLVR with his Mac without difficulty (except the RAM limitation on the phone) and that was my second choice phone. I still may trade for that one, but so far, I can take calls in my basement, which no cell phone has ever allowed. And I can move photos without a cable. So I’m already ahead.

    I just wish carriers and manufacturers would agree on open standards that would allow hardware interactions to flourish. I wonder what’s going to happen with wifi phones if municipalities adopt universal access… Could be the death of the cell phone.

  • http://www.hauspa.com scoxsmith

    Watch out for those data transfer charges! Make sure you are signed up for a monthly program with your carrier as most “customer service” reps won’t tell you the astronomical fee you will be charged for individual data transfer (cause most don’t know what it is or how to do it). We learned the hard way. My husband was sending photos to his laptop (for work, even) and we got a whopping phone bill from Cingular for two months which they would not reconsider or reimburse even after he changed our program after the first huge (HUGE!!!) bill.

    Mediaguy74: Take the SIM chip out of the old phone and put it in the new one. Voila, your phone number and all your contacts are on the new phone! The number lives in the chip, not the phone, if your phone store people don’t know that… well… gosh!

  • http://www.blurbomat.com blurb

    scoxsmith, Cingular charges you for bluetooth transfers?

  • http://www.ransom-note-typography.com jon deal

    The real question is this: Does your new phone support Sailing Clicker?

    http://tinyurl.com/863pk

    Very, very cool little app. Control your bluetooth equiped Mac with your phone. The proximity sensor thing is the best. You walk in range of your Mac and iTunes fires up/gets louder/unpauses/whatever you want it to do. Very ginchy and geeky.

  • http://tastethehappy.wordpress.com monkeyaker

    I didn’t know they allowed MTV in Utah. When I was growing up in Arkansas, MTV was a “pay-only” extra channel that came with Playboy and other night-time-telly-type goodies.

    We also didn’t have cell phones though….

  • Ranger

    Funny thing, Miami is in the discussion/research phase of thinking about, maybe, if it’s not too expensive, and the stars are aligned, providing community wireless access. (article in Miami Herald)

    Miami Beach is just going ahead and doing it.

  • mediaguy74

    scoxsmith-

    Only if it were that simple. Sprint phones dont have sim cards, it would be too easy. I think they like to make peoples lives difficult on purpose. If they had sim cards they could be competitive with the other carriers. I have had them for 6 years (used to be a company phone) and want to switch but in a 2 yr contract. Oh well. Thanks anyway!

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