Planet Geek

I have a MyBlu, which I use as a remote for my iPod and a BT headset for my phone. It's not quite as good as having multi-source BT headphones, alas, but it has the distinct advantage of actually working. (Though I must also note that my phone isn't running PalmOS, which also gives the distinct advantage of not being built from an ancient pile of duct tape.)

OK, I realize the N810 has other things going for it, but I can do what you describe with my RAZR V3xx, and often do. I load up music on the MicroSD card, have some playlists setup, and listen away via my Motorola H700 Bluetooth headset. When a call comes in, I tap the button on my headset, the music pauses and I get my call. When my call is done, back comes the music. I admit that the H700 is just a plain old mono headset, which is fine for me, but the same should work with stereo I would expect. Just a data point in case you didn't want to spend as much for a new phone. :-)

@ckd :
Ahh, MyBlu looks like a great idea... and it looks like it can use generic headphones. The only drawback is the microphone would be on the little dangly wire thingy, right? As opposed to up on the headset. That might be okay though - at least I'd hear the phone ringing and take appropriate action.

Course, it also requires a newer ipod than I have. Ahh, upgrades.

Thanks for the pointer!

@Perley
Well, that sort of defeats my purposes there. I'm quite the music snob, and listening to anything in mono in one ear would drive me batshit. I usually use music to help me focus, and having some beautiful orchestration in mono in one ear... *shudder*

Thanks though!

Hmmm, the google ads on this article just pointed me at:

iMuffs at Wi-Gear.com. They seem awfully close to what I want. Hmmmmm.

I knew you wouldn't care for mono, which is why I suggested that a stereo headset should work the same. As much as I like Palms, perhaps they don't make great phones. :-) And the N810 may not be your only new phone option.

If I understand you correctly, you want to be able to use A2DP Stereo mode to listen to music on your Laptop. You also want the same Headset paired with your cell phone to accept and make calls. And when a call comes in on the cell phone, the music is paused automatically so you can take the call and resume music when the call has ended??? With the ability to reject a call from the headset. I can say I am using the Southwing SA505 headset and it just that. Has controls on the headset for audio, ie play, pause, forw, rew , volume and a retractable (hidden) mic. Respectable sound quality and bass. Paired easy and supports this same setup using Skype calls too. I am using Windows XP Pro with the WIDCOMM Bluetooth Software 5.1.0.3400 Bluetooth stack that came with my new Dell Vostro. Hope this helps.

I ran across your post while searching for something similar. As a Nokia n800 user (with the same software as the n810), I can definitely recommend the tablets. Mine is great, and I love being able to carry around a proper Linux system in my pocket. Having said that, Maemo (the Linux distribution on the tablets) is running bluez 3.22, which is the same protocol stack used on a lot of desktop Linux distributions. As far as I know, you'll run into the same problems with HSP/HFP client support... I want to do the same thing myself though, so there's at least some demand. I've looked at the code for bluez, and I think most of the work would actually be in setting up the audio pipeline, outside of the bluetooth system.