Recently, I updated my aging phone on our Cingular contract with the Samsung SGH-a707, also known as the Cingular Sync.

I have been pleased with it so far, especially the bright and very sharp screen, the 2 megapixel camera, and the shape and feel of it. One great feature that I have yet to have on a phone is the Bluetooth connection. The SGH-a707 performs great with it on general file transfers and such, but I wanted to use Samsung’s own PC Studio software so that I could more easily transfer files and manage my contacts.

Unfortunately, this is where the problems occur. Luckily, I found the solutions for them.

First, after downloading version 3.01 of the software, as listed on the Samsung support site as appropriate for this phone, I am not able to initialize a serial Bluetooth connection through the software. The install of the software goes without a hitch, but after detecting the phone properly on the Bluetooth connection, it fails to connect on the serial port designated for it. I tried manually creating serial ports and connecting to it, with the same problem. The Bluetooth adapter and the phone report there is communication going on in their icons, but the Samsung PC Studio fails to connect to this stream.

It turns out the SGH-a707 comes default from the factory with a connectivity setting that interacts directly with Windows Media Player. After switching to the included PC Studio profile, the PC Studio software then connects perfectly (well, almost. Read more below). The way to do this on the phone is to go to Menu >> Settings >> Connectivity >> Select USB Mode >> PC Studio.

Well, that worked perfectly, but only because I had already installed the newer version of the Samsung PC Studio software, version 3.1. The SGH-a707 support webpage only lists version 3.01 for download, even though the newer version has been out since 11/22. If you try to connect to your phone contacts in PC Studio 3.01, the software will hang and you’ll have to end the task manually. In 3.1, this issue has been fixed. I have no idea why Samsung doesn’t list the newer version on the support page.

You can grab it here: Samsung PC Studio 3.1

Hopefully this will save some stress for those of you who get this new phone. The only other issue I have with it is the fact that the back battery cover very easily slides off. That problem is not isolated to my phone, as I tested a few others. While it had never fallen off, I was concerned about losing it. So, I just put a small strip of clear tape over the seam, and that keeps it in place.

update (2/16/08): The above links may or may not work, the current Samsung PC Studio is version 3.13 and the link to downloads is now here.