Posted by masseur
Safe and simple call handling at the wheel
28 February 2006
28 February 2006, London - Bluetooth™ Car Speakerphone HCB-100 – Simplicity meets high performance.
Sony Ericsson today announced the new versatile Bluetooth™ Car Speakerphone HCB-100. Empowering the driver to safely remain in full control of the car while handling calls in a simple way, the HCB-100 is an extremely high performing speakerphone with up to 20 hours talk time and 600 hours standby time. It needs no installation, discreetly attaching to the visor of the car with a sturdy clip. Clearly distinguishable buttons allow the driver to handle calls without losing focus on the road ahead.
Wireless handsfree convenience
Boasting Digital Signal Processing (DSP) with digital noise cancellation and echo reduction for clear voice conversations while at the wheel, the HCB-100 will automatically connect to your mobile phone wirelessly. It is compatible with Bluetooth™ phones from Sony Ericsson and other brands and using the Color ID feature means it can facilitate five different handset connections, allowing multiple connections inside and outside the car.
A real all-rounder
The HCB-100 is designed for the demanding audio environment of the car but it’s a real all-rounder. With competition-beating standby time, talk time and size, it is compact and light enough to unclip, pocket and bring into the office or home to serve as a very effective speakerphone. Its stylish wedge form has been cleverly designed so that the HCB-100 is as at home on your desk as in your car. Simplicity with the highest performance, wherever you need it.
Available from Q2 2006.
Facts and Figures for Bluetooth™ Car Speakerphone HCB-100:
Kit contents:
Bluetooth™ Car Speakerphone HCB-100
Cigarette Lighter Adapter CLA-61
Standard Charger CST-60
User Guide
Facts:
Weight: 89 g / 3.14 oz
Color: Black and silver
Talk time: Up to 20 hours
Standby time: Up to 600 hours
The Bluetooth™ Car Speakerphone HCB-100 is the newest addition to the complete portfolio of Sony Ericsson Car Handsfree solutions. The range includes the Bluetooth™ Car Handsfree HCB-700, Bluetooth™ Car Handsfree HCB-300, Advanced Car Handsfree HCA-60, Advanced Car Handsfree HCA-200 and the Sony Ericsson portfolio of Bluetooth™ Headsets.
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Unless I'm very much mistaken...
reviews: i-mate V800 K700
[ This Message was edited by: masseur on 2006-02-28 10:23 ]
Posted by haynesycop
That is nice really like it, any idea on the cost at all?
Posted by kingy58
I use a Parrot CK 3100 with my P910. It is compatable with all Bluetooth phones, is completely voice activated, make calls, end calls etc and it mutes your stereo if its on and plays through the cars speakers. Its a great piece of kit. The next model up has GPRS built in too; wish I had got that one, but I only recently got my P910.
Posted by JiggyJaggy
About time to be honest! I was just looking on Ebay to buy hbh-700 car kit, thinking what to do now? Will the sound quality be as good as a hard wired car kit?
Posted by borg_
The Car Speakerphone HCB-100 it's really nice, but i think that will cost a lot of €€€
Posted by dgilmartin
Any update on the release date? I've been waiting for ages...
Posted by abubakar
has the RRP been released yet?
Posted by dgilmartin
I'm not sure, Its just that I've just bought a new car and I like the Idea of being able to move this kit around from my car to the company car..
Posted by jcwhite_uk
There are several other companies that make very similar products already. Can't remember names at the moment though.
Posted by dgilmartin
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Yeah, but I wanna get a nice
one to go with all of my other stuff 
Posted by aka Dus
Wonder if it would be safe in an accident? If its clipped to the visor, might it not fly off and clock you in the face if you had a prang?
Anyone know about these things who isn't a professional crash test dummy?
Posted by PeterKay
Surely that won't happen
must've tested the product thoroughly before releasing it.
It must be very secure and safe to use.
Posted by MEEL
Is the HCB-100 released yet?
The text "comming soon" is taken away from the homepage.
Posted by Craig to the B
Has anyone purchased this?
Ive read a review on mobile-review.com and they say that it does not suppor full duplex, so it is like talking on a walkie talkie?
Can anyone confirm?
Posted by MEEL
I dont think it's released yet
The text comming soon is back on the homepage
Posted by wobbly_rider
Bought an HCB100 from SE on-line shop on Monday. Sent it back for replacement today. Lovely piece of kit BUT
1. most importantly - and why it's gone back - BT connection to my K750i (with latest firmware) drops every 18minutes.
2. less important but annoying - the very secure clip for sun visor is so high that you can't fit the thing in a normal car without the sunvisor being forced to hang down by about 1cm or so. the clip would fit a visor up to 2.5cm+ thick. Certainly doesn't fit like the one on the glossy ad. video on SE site.
3. for info, the instructions are rubbish! (but it's fairly easy to work out)
Anyone have a clue why the BT may be disconnecting? (reconnects as soon as I ask it to) - I tried pairing from various places in the phone - i.e. call menu and connections menu. Thank you in anticipation !
[ This Message was edited by: wobbly_rider on 2006-09-13 18:57 ]
Posted by carkitter
TBH I'm not a fan of these plug and play type devices. Personally I prefer the fully installed carkits.
Posted by wobbly_rider
"Carkitter" I couldn't agree more - but I cant afford a fully installed unit !
(and I know that it's prejudiced but my previous experience with a "professional" ICE fitter was soo poor that I would need to be desperate to allow my car to be meddled with by anyone) - my apologies if you are "in the trade" and are good!
Again you are right though, my experience with BT in general and the SE implementation does seem to be that it is difficult to maintain connections. I don't have the same problem with my IPAQ and a BT1.0 GPS unit. That's why I've been waiting for SE to come up with a speakerphone rather than buying one of the others that have been on the market for a while, and have good reviews.
Posted by volvoman
Just ordered one today, mainly as I carry passengers on a daily basis, and so a fully fitted kit is not any good to me, but this will be ideal for when I am not carrying anyone. All other times I use BT headsets, currently use a HBH-300 with my K800i orange branded phone, and a HBH-PV700 with my W810i orange branded phone, and a Jabra BT150 with my sim free K800i. The best thing about the HCB-100 is that you can connect more than one phone to it. Will let you know what I think of it when it comes. I too have had fitted kits before, but have always fitted them myself, as I too do not trust install centres, not that they all are bad, just I have had some bad dealings with them.
Posted by wobbly_rider
update: just received replacement HCB-100 from SE shop.
Checked my phone is uptodate, SEUS, and did a master reset to be sure.
Unfortunately, my K750i will not stay connected to this unit - disconnects at anywhere from 5 to 20 mins. A friends K750i (original firmware) does the same: but someone else's Samsung d900 works perfectly with it.
SE support - say that I should use SEUS to get the latest firmware (new release on 14/9 - won't yet install on my phone which is on O2) but beyond that they can't help.
I vaguely remember that it's important HOW you add a BT device to the phone, can anyone enlighten me? (it can obviously be added from within the profile, or from within call settings or bluetooth in settings section). Thanks !
Posted by mathios
i have faced this before with older bt firmware revisions, i own 10 se bluetooth headsets. and the problem that you describe is mainly in the revision OF THE HCB-100 there is nothing wrong with your phone. the same thing happens with my hbh-30 it connects and then after about 30 min it disconnects but during an incoming call and outgoing it reconnects automatcally. i think it has smething to do with the battery saving.
Posted by wobbly_rider
thanks, Mathios - but the HCB-100 doesn't reconnect when a call is received...incoming call rings the phone (not HCB100).
It quickly reconnects ONLY WHEN you tell it to by pressing the connect/ transfer sound button (then it searches for the last phone it was paired to).
Has been the same with two K750i's - but the Samsung connected happily and seemed to stay connected (for at least an hour, before it's owner wanted it back!)
My K750i will lose connection anywhere from a few minutes up to 45 minutes (longest connection so far). It does at least tell you that it's lost connection, because the HCB100 plays an annoying tune every time.... AAarrrggh !
Posted by volvoman
I am using this kit with 2 different K800i's and a W810i, and all work perfect with it. None of them disconect from it, and I can simply switch calls by getting the unit to look for the phone that the call is coming in on. Usually I just leave it connected to one of the K800i's and have my headsets connected to the others. But the unit is working perfectly fine with me, infact I am very imptressed with it.
Posted by wobbly_rider
Volvo_Man - I agree, it is a good looking bit of kit (with the exception of the overengineered visor clip - causes droopy visor in Mazda6!).
Sound quality seems fine to me: noise cancelling works well. Perhaps the problem is with the K750i's then... (I've tried two, neither can stay connected).
Or maybe SE customer support are correct, and when the new firmware release (that I can't currently get through SEUS) is installed in my K750i it'll all work wonderfully !
Posted by mathios
can anyone post a picture of the visor clip?
Posted by aka Dus
How is the full duplesx (or not) on it guys?
Posted by wobbly_rider
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I hope that the pictures work. I can't answer the duplex question, as I normally just listen to the 'missus rather than talking back !
My car is a Mazda6 - not a small car. Presumably "average" depth visors: you can see that the height of the clip stops the visor folding up as far as it should. Not the end of the world, but unnecessary. Volvo_Man, are your visors thicker than mine?
[ This Message was edited by: wobbly_rider on 2006-09-28 18:53 ]
[ This Message was edited by: wobbly_rider on 2006-09-28 18:55 ]
Posted by volvoman
My vehicle is a Nissan Primastar ( Renault traffic/ Vauxhall Vivaro ) 8 seater Taxi, and there is no drooping of my visor. They do seem a bit thicker than the other cars I have, but for the least vibration on the move my Silver Shadow 11 is the best of the lot, mainly due to the visors needing allot of effort to pull down. The worst is my XJ40 XJ6 which does suffer a bit of drooping on the visor. My wifes 06 Micra has very thin visors but they do not droop, and the clip holds the kit very still on these thin visors. Will take pics later or tomorrow as it is getting dark now, will take pics in all the different vehicles for you.
Posted by wobbly_rider
@Volvoman
Hi, you mentioned that you are very happily using 2 different K800i's and a W810i. I know it's daft, but would you mind outlining how you paired the phone that's most like the K750 with the HCB100?
I wonder if my K750i problem is to do with the order that I did things in. I've tried adding as a new device from "my devices" and as a new handset from inside the profile. Neither seems stable. From where did you search for the HCB100?
Also I suppose it might be profile related. I've tried "normal", "car" and "portable hands free." Did you associate the HCB100 with one of the profiles (or not) and which one?
Thanks !
Posted by volvoman
OK the nearest to the K750 is the W810, for this I turned on the HCB-100 changed the bluetooth to a colur that is not in use, and from the phone selected Handsfree - New handsfree - it then searches for a new handsree, finds the HCB-100 and asks for the pairing code, type in the 0000 and they pair together. It will stay conected for well over 4hours at a time, which is the longest I have had any of them conected at any one time. I will try to get the K750i I have connected to it later, once I have charged the HCB-100 up, as it has not been charged since the first charge i gave it when it arrived, and it has been used every day since then, and now it is in need of a charge. I have two K750i's one is an Orange locked one, the other is a sim free one. Now the sim free one had a problem when connected to my HBH-300 headset, in that it would do exactly as your one is doing with the HCB-100, only when it disconnected, it still showed the profile of handsfree on the screen, but you could not hear any sound in either the headset or the phone when a call came in. This was resolved once I put the later version of firmware on it, once i find the K750i I will let you know what version it is running, and the version on my Orange branded one, which worked fine with the HBH-300. Not tried my K600i yet either, so will try that as well if I get time.
Posted by wobbly_rider
@Volvoman;
thanks for that. i used same method as you; i get the same problem you described with your older bt headset.
with me too the profile stays selected, although hcb100 is disconnected (twiddly disconnect beep, and phone rings not hcb100).
unfortunately though i've already got latest firmware on O2 (the really newest one isn't released yet to O2, hopefully that'll fix it though the firmware thread doesn't suggest a BT fix, just new problems).
since i'm payg and out of warranty i'm rather stuck and will live with it ... but if you do find time to try your k750i we may at least put other peoples' minds at rest - or warn them - about compatibility between hcb100 & k750i.
thanks for your time
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K750i, 6310i, HCB-100, IPAQ HX2750, Fortuna GPS/ TT5
[ This Message was edited by: wobbly_rider on 2006-09-29 22:41 ]
Posted by wobbly_rider
@Aka Dus
as far as I can tell, the unit does support duplex (when I spoke I could still hear my wife talking at me...)
And as for that over engineered clip, I've decided that it's made that way so that the unit doesn't fall off when you pull the flap down (to block out the sun!). So much as I don't like it, I accept why it's so deep...
Posted by Cardigan
Hi all,
I am looking forward to buy this device. INteresting to see that the clip is so huge. How thick is your sunvisor ? Esp. yours wobbly_rider, thanks for the picutures.
Looking forward to your feedback.
Thanks, Oliver
Posted by wobbly_rider
@cardigan
the visor shown in my photos has a chamfered edge: about 10mm at front rising to 15mm thick. Its a mazda 6 (to put into context).
the clip works fine; the unit is held firmly whether the visor is "up" or flapped down to block out the sun.
The only problem is that I have (apart from BT disconnecting!?) is that because of the depth of the clip, the visor doesn't fully flap back up into its recess. But I'm getting used to it now, and it's still better than having one of those daft ear things !
Regards
Posted by mathios
hi, i was lloking at this thread and i just wanted to share with you all the way i installed my hcb-100. the clip did not satisfy me as i own a small opel tigra and the space incide the car is limited so i had to come up with some other idea other than the provided clip, so i improvised and the results are quite good see the attached pictures. all that you will need is some tape the kind that you will find on jackets that sticks and scrathces open (i don't know the exact name for it ) but i think you will understand once you see the pictures.
Posted by mathios
Posted by mathios
you can charge is too in the same position because the sticker holds the hcb in position very strong
Posted by mathios
and for some reason you have to disattach the hcb you can do it very easily without doing any damage to your car interior or the hcb itself.
Posted by mathios
by the way the ''diconnect problem'' happens occasionally with my p990i too i don't know the reason but it re connects after an incoming call, on the other hand with my m600 there is no problem at all it remains connected at all times. and the sound quality on the hcb-100 at this installation remains good the caller can hear me very well without any problems.
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[ This Message was edited by: mathios on 2006-11-17 15:03 ]
Posted by wobbly_rider
@mathios
nice job. And the disconnect is more of a distraction/ annoyance than a real problem... it reconnects as soon as any of the buttons are pressed on the HCB100.
Downside is with the K750i, if it disconnects then the incoming phone call rings in the phone and not in the HCB100 which might mean a missed call !
Posted by 701
How about buying a 80 euros Hbh 6xx?And u can take it with u everywhere and it's no hassle...
Posted by mathios
I already have 10 more bluetooth headsets.....
hbh-602.200,300,608,610,660,662,35,30,15.
Laughing
Posted by alex_mayorga
- Do it ever worked reliably with a K750?
- Can I pair it with my wife's K700 and my K750?
- Would it tell somehow which phone is ringing?
Thanks in advance,
Alex
Posted by mathios
it works with all sonyericsson phones the problem is that it disconnects sometimes but reconnects very easily.
Posted by stampid
hi,
any new feedbacks on this device.
I have K800i with FW : R1GB001 and i wanted to know if it will have any problems with the reconnection.
thanks a lot
Posted by volvoman
Works fine with my K800i.
Posted by mathios
don't know about other phones but for the m600 and p990 after the latest fimware upgrade R9 there are no disconnections the device is very stable and reliable.
Posted by volvoman
Thats good to know, just bought a P990 off scom, so will try it out once I get the phone.
Posted by stampid
amazing, I ll buy one from ebay now, and i ll post my results !
Posted by smilerthe cheshirecat
I use this with my P990i... had it since early December... no problems at all... I love it...