As I’m moving to another state (700 miles away) this week it became a priority to get a new cell phone. My current service through Cricket is as spotty as the price is cheap, and there’s a 3-second delay on the line that often results in accidental interruptions. To rationalize further, Cricket’s service in my new city is really, really bad – after 45 minutes on hold with Expedia (during a major snowstorm event on the east coast), the representative said there was too much static on the line and hung up on me.
Sony Ericcson W518
My first foray into the expensive world of mainstream cell phones and service plans started out with the Sony Ericcson W518, which was great except for the terribly low earpiece volume (and the wacko proprietary accessory ports…phone-specific headsets are so out of style). After researching AT&T phone options online I went to the local AT&T store and exchanged the W518 for an LG CF360, which has a much more acceptable speaker volume (and more industry-standard ports).
LG CF360
Since I’m moving to West Virginia I’m trying to sublet my apartment and thought it’d be a great idea to take pictures of the place with my first camera phone. Discounting my bad photography skills, the photos came out okay even with the CF360′s low-quality camera. Now to just transfer them to my PC…oops. Without the extra $20 text messaging or data plan on my AT&T account I couldn’t just text the pictures to myself, and all of my Google search results assumed I already had a USB A to USB 5-pin connector cable in hand…which wasn’t in my box o’ cables. Whatever could I do?
The CF360 has Bluetooth capability and I have a USB Bluetooth adapter dongle. After extensive searching I found this post with a photo of an attractive blonde that describes how to send a file to the LG Vu via Bluetooth. I followed the instructions and ka-BAM! File sent (droid.mp3 
)! But now how to send pictures from the CF360 to my PC over Bluetooth?
Through analytical thinking (and blindly clicking until I hit the right menu) I found a way:
- On your PC, click the Bluetooth icon in your system tray
- Select the ‘Receive a file’ option
- On your LG CF360′s home screen, go to Options > Bluetooth > Search New Device. When your PC’s Bluetooth adapter shows up, pair it with your phone
- Locate the file you wish to send to your PC. Select the file and go to Options > Send > Via Bluetooth and select your PC’s Bluetooth adapter
- Your PC will prompt you to save the file
Note: I’m on Windows 7. You may have a different experience on other operating systems.
It took a long time to find this procedure and it’s annoying that the available CF360 support makes no mention of it. Indeed, every source except the one mentioned in this post indicated that the USB cable is mandatory if you want to transfer files from your CF360 to your PC or vice versa. The Bluetooth support is noted as nothing more than a mechanism for connecting a hands-free headset.
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