BluePhone Elite integrates Mac with cell phones

I'm still transferring phone numbers from my old cell phone to my new phone. The new phone has BlueTooth, so with any luck I'll never have to go through this nonsense again. Actually, I shouldn't have had to go through this at all: the old Nokia 7160 has an IR port and I was able to get a sketchy and unreliable connection to it now and then, but I was never able to transfer its address book that way. Oh well, I still have fingers.

Once I have everything in, I can easily transfer it to Apple Address Book using iSync. On the Mac side, you just go to System Preferences->Hardware->Bluetooth and tell it to find your mobile phone. I couldn't remember how to make my cell phone "discoverable", but fortunately Motorola has very nice online, interactive manuals. After refreshing my memory there, I was able to quickly iSync the phone's data to the Mac's Address Book.

As chance would have it, I then happened upon BluePhoneElite. This is a $20.00 app that logs incoming and outgoing phone calls. It also lets you initiate calls using entries in Apple Address Book. However, it unfortunately doesn't have the ability to use the Mac's speakers and microphone. From their FAQ:

Can I use my computer's microphone and speakers to talk on my cell phone?

This feature is not currently possible given Apple's Bluetooth
implementation in Mac OS X. Once it becomes possible, it will added
as a feature to BluePhoneElite 2. Please DO NOT email as to when
this feature or BluePhoneElite 2 will be available; BPE 2 is still
in the early stages of development.

SMS and SMS chat can be done through your keyboard, though that's not a feature I have much interest in. I really would like to be able to use the mike and speakers though, so I'll be keeping an eye on this for stage 2.

You can run Applescript scripts at the start of a call, when it's answered and when it ends. Obviously this could be used for custom time tracking and other applications. For those who aren't necessarily working, there's a separate "integration" setting that can pause iTunes, the DVD player and set iChat away messages as well as automatically exporting the call details to iCal or Address Book.

A free download lets you try this out for 10 days. Payment ($20.00) gets you an activation code. They do allow payment by PayPal, so I used that, and received my activation within seconds.

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