I received a Motorola S305 Bluetooth wireless headset for Christmas and I absolutely love it. The wireless freedom for commuting means no longer wrestling with cords. The wireless freedom at work means no longer dragging my iPhone off the desk when I spin around in my cube. The wireless freedom at home means I am free to wash dishes, walk around, and just generally not have to deal with a digital leash.

For all the greatness of Bluetooth, it has one major short fall, syncing to multiple devices. iPhone, iPad, Home Mac, and Work PC are all sources for syncing. The most common problem I have is the iPad/iPhone sync. I use the iPhone to listen to podcasts while intake the train to and from work very week. However, when I get home I am more likely to sync over to the iPad for video or Pandora to unwind.

As it is now, here is the process for changing from iPhone to iPad.

  1. iPhone: Settings, General, Bluetooth, Off.
  2. iPad: Settings, General, Bluetooth, On.
  3. Motorola S305: Hold power button, wait for power on sound. Watch iPad screen for connect confirmation.

Doesn’t sound like a lot of work but it is 8 taps (10 if you count starting with a Home button press for each device). Then I need to assure the Bluetooth is turned off on the iPhone/iPad depending what I’m not using. It’s by no means a deal breaker or killer procedure but it does get tedious when done three to four times a day.

Here is what I envision as a solution.

An audible system for Bluetooth detection. After the initial pairing with a device, upon powering up the headset, it would read the last device it was paired with for easy re-pairing. Then, when you click the power/sync button it would cycle through the other paired devices in range and speak the device name.

For instance, Hit sync. Headset says “iPhone” click “iPad” click “Mac” or read computer name. Once the desired source is found, click a button to confirm and enjoy.

This would serve to allow syncing between a hand full of devices at your disposal and due to the pairing requirement, would prohibit the Bluetooth headset from listing every nearby Bluetooth device.

I have no idea what the feasibility of this is and if Bluetooth will even support it. But it’s a thought.