Just to clarify, my BT headset on my Magic with NO update _will_ initiate a search from the headset button with both Voice Dialer and TVC.
Thanks for the update, Maxxy.
Can someone using Top Voice Control who has a BT headset please test to see if you can start TVC by pressing the button on the BT headset? Currently on my Magic with NO update I _can_ do this. I want to know if the 911BugFix kills the BT functionality.
Is this the last update we will ever see for these Android phones?
I still have not updated, and given what I see happening now, I might just cancel my data plan and root my phone!
So, I escalated the problem about the missing Voice Dialer to HTC. Here is the response:
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Thank you for contacting HTC Technical Support. My name is Liz and I will be happy to answer your questions regarding the voice dialer not being available after the 911 update for your Rogers Magic. I understand how important it is, especially with the hands-free laws in place, for you to be able to dial using the voice dialer. You may want to try a factory data reset on the device to clear up any possible software issues that may have occurred. You can do this by going into Settings > Security > Factory Data Reset and follow the on-screen prompts. PLEASE NOTE: This will delete all personal data from the device and restore it back to factory default settings. If after the hard reset the voice dialer is still not available, then it might have been removed from this update.
blah-blah-blah
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As you can see the first line support is pretty useless as usual. Do you guys think it's worth it to try a factory reset? Because honestly I don't think it'll make any difference and I don't want to go through pain of restoring and configuring everything again.
Maxxy
I have bad news for everyone!
There is a reason why we cannot initiate voice dialing through Bluetooth using a program like TopVoiceControl.
It seems that with all versions of Android (up to 2.x), the Android team left this control out of their code. Meaning, this is going to be impossible until the idiots at Google see fit to fix this major fail.
See: Issue 1412 - android - [VoiceDial] Bluetooth "voice dial" event doesn't launch Voice Dialer - Project Hosting on Google Code
and Issue 1181 - android - [VoiceDial] Voice confirmation for Voice Dialer - Project Hosting on Google Code
I call them idiots because (like MANY other important issues), they seem to be ignoring all these important issues. The problem was reported back in 2008! Some of you folks certainly have a lot of patience with the droid.... and I will never understand why...
Bad news indeed. But keep in mind that there was some kind of voice dialing within the original 1.5. Does it mean that somewhere between 1.5 and 1.5-Sense this function was deleted by Google?
I have bad news for everyone!
There is a reason why we cannot initiate voice dialing through Bluetooth using a program like TopVoiceControl.
It seems that with all versions of Android (up to 2.x), the Android team left this control out of their code. Meaning, this is going to be impossible until the idiots at Google see fit to fix this major fail.
See: Issue 1412 - android - [VoiceDial] Bluetooth "voice dial" event doesn't launch Voice Dialer - Project Hosting on Google Code
and Issue 1181 - android - [VoiceDial] Voice confirmation for Voice Dialer - Project Hosting on Google Code
I call them idiots because (like MANY other important issues), they seem to be ignoring all these important issues. The problem was reported back in 2008! Some of you folks certainly have a lot of patience with the droid.... and I will never understand why...
@sconnolley: To clarify, NON-Rogers Android Roms (ie G1 and MyTouch) did not get the bluetooth functionality. It is apparently fairly unique to the _Rogers_ 1.5 Rom. In fact in other threads many people were jealous of the Rogers BT ability we got with out phones. I can only assume HTC added this when they did the Rogers customization.
It appears that it was removed when Sense UI was added to 1.5 for the Magic.
To be clear, I have a Rogers HTC Magic with 1.5, and I have NOT applied the update yet, and I have been using Voice Dialer and Top Voice Control with my BT headset for months.
HTC put it in for Rogers, then they took it out (on purpose or by accident we don't know) when they added Sense UI to this update.
Posted by HeavenLee on 28 Jan 2010 10:36 AM
The Voice Dial will be added back to the device in the upcoming MR but it will be the same one that was on the device previous, it will still require on screen confirmation of your command. Check Market to see if there is one there that better suits you.
This was posted today on the HTC Support Forum:
Can be found here: Voice dialing - HTC Magic (Rogers) - Android Forums - HTC Community
Checking the market to see if there was a better one would be nice if we had access to paid apps. But that's another can of worms.
I also checked the Mobentoo Marketplace (SlideME)... despite this, I highly recommend that all Android owners get the SlideME app here: SlideME | Android Community and Application Marketplace
Great finding AdamG! Voice search now works like a charm. Thank you!I installed the Voice Dialer .apk from the old ROM, as well as the rooted Cursordroid ROM that is basically the Rogers update for the Magic, only rooted and repacked. Both installed on the phone ok and would initialize. however, it was not able to "hear" my speech, even with a simple "call Voicemail" command. Just perpetual listening. So, looks like the apk can be installed but there is some framework missing to make it any kind of use at all.
On the other hand, if you want the Google Search by Voice.apk (not voice dial but the actual Google websearch by Voice that was always missing from the Rogers' stock ROMs), head over to this link.
Eclosion For Android
Scroll down and look under the FAQ heading, right above the Releases heading.
This is the installable .apk from Euro Android Market that installs all the proper files necessary to work. Launch the app once, via the icon in your app drawer, then reboot the phone and you should have Google Search by Voice on the Search button of your phone, instead of Rogers'/HTC's crappy search by nothing.
On the other hand, if you want the Google Search by Voice.apk (not voice dial but the actual Google websearch by Voice that was always missing from the Rogers' stock ROMs), head over to this link.
Eclosion For Android
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