I’ve been waiting a very long time for some kind of cell phone to come out in Japan which both has Bluetooth and can communicate with Mac software. It seems like that phone is here–the Sony Ericsson Vodaphone 802SE. According to Apple’s Japanese iSync page, the 802SE can communicate via Bluetooth with the Mac’s Address Book and Calendar (which I take to mean iCal, but I’ll have to check that). How easily it syncs or what else can be done between the Mac and cell phone is also a possible issue. At least this guy got it to work (and apparently it’s been out for 2 months now, and has worked natively with Macs since Tiger was released).

Something I’ve been waiting to use is an app like Sailing Clicker, which turns your Sony-Ericsson or Nokia Bluetooth cell phone into a remote control device for your Mac. Apparently, the models available in Japan aren’t on this app’s supported list, but might be with the next version–or perhaps it is supported, as the Sony-Ericsson V800, which some people are saying is the same phone.

Hmmm. Sounds danged iffy to me. I’ll have to look into this more, call up the company or something. Anyone out there know anything about this?

There’s also one other problem: price. Is it all worth it? Right now, I have a PHS phone (the main cell system in Japan is called “keitai,” PHS is a lesser-used system), and I pay 2000 yen a month for the account, and 10 yen a minute for calls. To change to the Vodaphone with Bluetooth, not only would I have to pay maybe 10,000 yen for the phone itself, I’d also have to pay 3000 yen a month for an account and on top of that, 60 yen per minute for calls. Is it worth that price just to have my cell phone’s calendar updated via iCal, and maybe use my phone as a remote control?

In the end… probably not.

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One other new Bluetooth product for the Mac: BTMouse by MacAlly. For $40 to $50, it’s a cheap mouse for Bluetooth, but I like the design very much–also that it’s full-size (I can’t get used to the mini-mice).

Problem is, it seems to be in perpetual “on its way” mode. Mail order houses have it listed as being a wait of 1 to 3 days in some places, and 10-14 days in others. MacAlly’s own web site still has the words “coming soon” on the product’s page. I finally got tired of waiting, and sent an email to MacAlly; they replied, saying the mouse would be ready by mid-September. How can those sales houses, who have listed this as a 3-day wait since May, get away with claiming a 3-day wait when the manufacturer is publicly saying it’ll be months before the thing comes out??

But as soon as it does comes out, I am getting one. Because I won’t have to pay 60 yen per minute to use it.