Windows 7 Music Integration for Windows Phone [Updated]
Most people know that you can stream music from your phone/computer to an external Bluetooth device, like a pair of headphones or speakers. But did you know that Microsoft and the Windows Phone team have added something special for Windows Phone devices that connect to a Windows 7 PC? Yup! They sure did.
So I was messing around with my Venue Pro the other day, and I thought I’d see what happens when I connect it to my PC via Bluetooth. I wasn’t expecting anything special, since I was fairly sure I wouldn’t be able to transfer files over Bluetooth(I couldn’t). But lo and behold, after Windows 7 finished automatically installing drivers, I was greeted with a set of media controls above the notification area of my screen. Turns out that these controls are connected to the Zune player on my Venue Pro. If I hit “play”, music from my device will be played on my PC’s speakers(as if it was the slave music device). I still have full control from my phone as well. So if I want, I can use my phone to remotely play, skip, and replay songs.
Now, you might be asking, “Why do I care? It seems like a stupid feature”. Well, Microsoft as essentially allowed you to turn any Windows 7 PC into a set of portable Bluetooth speakers! In addition, if you have ZunePass, you can now “share” your music with others who are not registered on your account. You can easily play all your music on any PC without the hassles of wires or set your phone down somewhere. If you want you can then hook up the laptop to a set of real speakers for some quality music playback.
So what are you waiting for? Go fire up the Bluetooth and give it a go, then come back and tell us what you think in the comments!
UPDATE: This only works if your PC’s Bluetooth adapter supports the AVRCP profile.
To get everything connected follow these steps:
- Turn on the Bluetooth for the PC and your Windows Phone device(under “settings” then “Bluetooth”
- Make go to your Bluetooth manager and select “add a device”. (The Bluetooth Manager can be accessed either through the Bluetooth icon in the notification window or in “Control Panel/Hardware and Sound/Devices and Printers/Bluetooth Devices”)
- Your Windows Phone should automatically be set to discoverable mode and will appear in the new window for you to select. If no device is found, you can connect to windows by selecting your PC from your device’s Bluetooth Manager. (You will have to make sure you enable your PC’s discoverable mode though")
- A verification code should now appear on your Windows Phone device. Select “OK” and on the PC select “Next”
- Your drivers should automatically be installed. (Bluetooth AV Remote Control Target, Bluetooth AV Source, and Bluetooth Headset AG)
- Now go into the Bluetooth Device Control for your Phone and under the “Music and Audio” header, select “Connect”
- Once connected, a Media bar should appear.
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My device (Focus) won’t pair, you said all the drivers were automatically installed?
@Patrick Kortendick: Yeah, the drivers all installed on their own, but this happened after I paired it to the computer. Are you using Windows 7? I haven’t tested this on my OS other than Windows 7. Also, make sure you use set up a PIN for connecting, if memory serves, you need to have a PIN for them to connect.
Same at @Patrick above-Samsung Focus, tried to pair but phone simply displayed “Not supported” after attempting to pair. Computer also can’t see the phone when searching for new devices. Must be a Dell thing I guess.
@Danny Lam: Yeah, I’m using Win 7. I paired and nothing happened, it lost the connection about a half-second after matching the codes. Strange. Will have my friend try with his Quantum and see if he has any success.
There’s nothing special built into WP7, it’s called A2DP + AVRCP support. 🙂 Any PC with AVRCP support will work this way even with the iPhone.
@vangrieg: Thanks for the info about AVRCP, nice to know the profile that they are using to get this to work. It’s a great feature to have. I know my old SE and Nokia phones had this profile, but my PC never recognized it to let me use it(at least not automatically)
@Patrick Kortendick: @Jon: If what vangrieg is right, then maybe the BT adapter on your PCs don’t support AVRCP? I don’t see Samsung not putting it into their phone as I know mid-level phones from 4years ago already had this profile for allowing BT headphones to skip tracks.
A lot depends on the BT stack on your PC. Not all PCs support this functionality.
@Patrick Kortendick:
I have a windows phone and zune pass but not sure how to do all this haha.. let me know if there is an easier to understand page to try it
I have no idea where to start :-/
@Kelly: The post has been updated with instructions on how to get the whole thing working(assuming your PC supports it). Hope this helps!
hey that works with the samsung omnia 7!
great tipp thanks a lot!
Kinda neat, but I would prefer to be able to stream music from my PC to my phone instead.