4 ms·

Both the magical and reinvent I'll happily concede, but in defense of the "not possible before" I think there's an argument to be made that their pairing UX is

Both the magical and reinvent I'll happily concede, but in defense of the "not possible before" I think there's an argument to be made that their pairing UX is so much better as to constitute a whole new experience versus standard bluetooth? [Of course, I say this as someone who has been happily using wireless Jaybird earbuds with a variety of iOS and macOS devices for the past three years without many complaints. I won't be buying the AirPods since pairing problems have not been an issue for me.]

piquadrat 10y ago
I recently bought wireless bluetooth headphones from Sennheiser. The pairing process consisted of holding the phone next to the headphones for a second, done (thanks to NFC). Not sure how you can improve much on that.
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FireBeyond 10y ago
Bose and others have had combination NFC and Bluetooth pairing for a while now: https://www.bose.com/en_us/support/article/pairing-a-bluetooth-enabled-device-with-nfc-qc35.html https://www.bose.com/en_us/support/article/pairing-a-bluetoo... "Touch the devices and they will pair".
- MBCook 10y ago
  But that doesn't automatically transfer to all the other devices you own. After using them with your iPhone they would also work with your Mac, your Watch, and your iPad without having to do separate pairing. That's what makes the pairing more than just NFC (you're right, that's been around for years).
  - FireBeyond 10y ago
    I'll definitely grant you that. A shared pairing database would be nice. Hopefully it's implemented well. My Text Message Forwarding still lists: - iPhone - iPhone (2) - iPhone (3) - iPhone (4) - iPad - iPad (2) etc, et al. Note that I don't own four iPhones, I've just upgraded over time. I have to play a guessing game as to "Which MacBook Pro is the one sitting in front of me?"
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semi-extrinsic 10y ago
I dunno. I bought a Sony Walkman NWZ-A829 (OK, Apple kicks their ass at naming stuff) way back in 2008, which had built-in Bluetooth, and about a year later bought some no-name $25 Bluetooth headphones for use in the gym. Never had any issue with pairing or connection dropping, used that combination for a couple of years before going back to wired.

piquadrat 10y ago

I recently bought wireless bluetooth headphones from Sennheiser. The pairing process consisted of holding the phone next to the headphones for a second, done (thanks to NFC). Not sure how you can improve much on that.

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FireBeyond 10y ago

Bose and others have had combination NFC and Bluetooth pairing for a while now: https://www.bose.com/en_us/support/article/pairing-a-bluetooth-enabled-device-with-nfc-qc35.html https://www.bose.com/en_us/support/article/pairing-a-bluetoo... "Touch the devices and they will pair".

MBCook 10y ago
But that doesn't automatically transfer to all the other devices you own. After using them with your iPhone they would also work with your Mac, your Watch, and your iPad without having to do separate pairing. That's what makes the pairing more than just NFC (you're right, that's been around for years).
- FireBeyond 10y ago
  I'll definitely grant you that. A shared pairing database would be nice. Hopefully it's implemented well. My Text Message Forwarding still lists: - iPhone - iPhone (2) - iPhone (3) - iPhone (4) - iPad - iPad (2) etc, et al. Note that I don't own four iPhones, I've just upgraded over time. I have to play a guessing game as to "Which MacBook Pro is the one sitting in front of me?"

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semi-extrinsic 10y ago

I dunno. I bought a Sony Walkman NWZ-A829 (OK, Apple kicks their ass at naming stuff) way back in 2008, which had built-in Bluetooth, and about a year later bought some no-name $25 Bluetooth headphones for use in the gym. Never had any issue with pairing or connection dropping, used that combination for a couple of years before going back to wired.