The Cocoon looks like a nice handset that will appeal to a subset demographic. I’ve been following the o2 outreach programme — an absolutely fascinating experiment that, I hope, el Chumpo will take on board and actually adopt on-going.
I’ve glanced now and again at the feed and this one caught my attention last night as it’s about the Cocoon and Mac connectivity.
This chap posted a blog on the o2 Cocoon site, thus:
Link: O2 Cocoon Blog » Mac Connectivity
Wanted to drop you a line to ask about the Mac-connectivity of the O2 Cocoon. I bought one today at the Bristol O2 store, with the assurance that the device was fully compatible with a Mac computer. I have tried to send mp3 files from my Mac to my Cocoon with no success. The devices appear to recognize each other but that is as far as it goes…
Obviously the chap is not impressed. He’s either been given incorrect information by the o2 staff OR he’s got a duff Mac and he hasn’t set up drivers correctly.
Warning signs start flying when I read further:
I cannot send a single file to my Cocoon from my Mac, and honestly, I’m beginning to feel a bit ripped off. Especially as I have also attempted to install support software for the phone as well, and I still can’t send any files.
Deary me.
Warning signs are officially flying at top mast, one would think, right?
The chap finishes with:
Do you have any suggestions? I would not treat any practical advice you have to offer as an endorsement from yourselves for anything, but much as I try, I’m only drawing blanks. Please help!!
First problem: The chap is that suspect that he’s actually integrated a disclaimer into his text — he’s expecting that any responses he gets are going to hampered by the tech support arsing around unable to give endorsements. He’s effectively pleading for help on the site that is COVERED in o2 branding and is, one assumes, run by — or run on behalf of o2.
Ergo they know people. Right? If you’re the editor of the o2cocoon.co.uk site, you know people. You get a comment from this guy about Mac compatibility and the FIRST THING YOU DO is you pick up the phone to the Director of Handsets at o2.
The conversation should go like this: “Hi Brian (or whatever his name is), it’s Mr/Mrs Editor of o2cocoon, yeah, hi.. right. Now this Cocoon… is it Mac compatible? Right, have a look at this post we’ve just got. Can you get your chaps to respond to it within the hour please so that when I publish it, we’ve got an authoritative response on the site? Thanks!”
Brian should sort out an immediate categorical response.
The complaint post goes up. Immediately underneath it, someone who IDENTIFIES THEMSELVES as o2 support (or similar) posts a solution.
Job done.
Everyone’s impressed.
Everyone thinks ‘wow, o2 is really reaching out… and they mean it!’
Did that happen?
Heh. No. Dave posted his complaint on August 30th. He got a response right away, same day, from a chap called ‘harvey’ who doesn’t quite get CaPiTal lEtters and how they’re used:
first of all, i don’t think the software is mac supported, as there is no .dmg installation file that i could see for mac. secondly connect the phone to the mac via usb, make sure lcd says connected, then open the phone and select transfer files, now the phone should appear as mass storage device on the desktop, from there open the icon, select a folder and drag & drop as normal like usb stick.
Is that the official o2 response? Who the hell knows. If it is, it needs some caps and some authority.
Matter closed?
No. Next day, ‘George’ has posted this:
I confirm this handset is totally incompatible with macs except maybe to store files (like usb keys) via the usb cable. No contact synchronization, no music, no images, no bluetooth…yet.
Shit.
Right, so let’s say I’m interested in purchasing a Cocoon and I’d like Mac support……….. this is hardly a useful advertisement. It’s bordering on almost helpful.
It’s all very well reaching-out to the blogger community……. that is to be applauded. But it is highly, HIGHLY ineffective to publish this sort of content when no one’s taking ownership. Where is the chap-from-o2 giving the authority line?
I find it all very perplexing that they’ve done it half-heartedly.
They’ve let a chap post a problem and a plea for help. One person responds with some sort of solution, only to have it cancelled out by the next chap stating the device isn’t compatible. Confusion reigns and the o2 cocoon blog is shown for what it is — clearly run by well meaning, committed and enthused people but entirely ignored by o2-the-organisation. Surely someone in the handsets/support division should have read this thread and been embarrassed by the confusion and sorted it out?
Or, maybe the Cocoon isn’t actually fully Mac compatible?
Who knows.
You’d expect someone on the o2cocoon site to know — and care. It’s been 18 days and the matter’s been left. . . . . .
Hi Ewan
,
I am part of the team that launched the Cocoon at O2. The Cocoon blog programme you refer to is an exciting new venture from O2 and we welcome all the feedback we have received on the site.
Previous posts on the blog have not been official responses from O2 – the blog is free to post and comment on, and so represents the views of those writing them. We are now posting answers to questions which have arisen and increasingly recognise the need to respond rapidly. It’s great to have this kind of resource to learn about what is working well and what needs improvement.
We will learn from this project and apply those learnings to improve our products, service and communications in future. This is a key aspect of the blog programme.
With respect to the specific questions:
MAC:
Mass Storage support for Mac is supported. The phone appears in the same way as a USB stick would. Users cannot use Windows Media Player to synchronise (as the Mac doesn’t have it). However they can use any other music management solution which treats a mass storage device as a music player – although the synchronise experience won’t be quite as good as Windows Media Player as the phone was built to utilise this service. In order to get music on the device the Mac user needs to do the following:
1) Connect the Cocoon to the Mac through the supplied USB cable
2) Cocoon will pop us as external device
3) On the Cocoon screen select ‘transfer file’
4) On the Mac in the music library ‘drag and drop’ the music files you want into the Cocoon
5) Once done, disconnect the Cocoon from the Mac
6) Enter the music player within the Cocoon and the tracks will be displayed once the music library has updated
iTunes can be used to synchronise Cocoon provided the music files are in MP3 or unprotected AAC format and users install a helper application called “SyncTunes” (check out http://www.nesfield.co.uk/synctunes/). Songs downloaded through iTunes are DRM protected and therefore will not work with Cocoon.
WINDOWS VISTA:
We have come across a couple of issues with PC Suite and Windows Vista which may affect some users. These are in the area of slight UI corruption (due to the different font that Vista uses) and some random errors.
Users can get PC Suite working with Vista but synchronising the calendar may cause problems, playback of video on the PC within the application may be jumpy (but not through Windows Media Player, which is fine) and modifying contacts on the PC to put back onto the phone may not update correctly.
We are working on updating the PC Suite to resolve these issues.
Excellent reply, Stuart.
It’s authoratative, informative and helpful.
Now perhaps you could copy it to the Cocoon blog where the query was first raised?
*shakes head*
hi i just bought a cocoon connected it to my vista pc and i have had problems transfering music files from my external HD. They start all fine and after a few tracks my have copied i get a message saying that the files i am copying are not there. My external HD. stops working ive never had this problem with any other phones i have copied music to fpr eg. my last phone was a moto SLVR L7 no probs there and a samsung D900i no probs eather. I think the O2 Cocoon is made up of old parts and sold at £100 a shot wen it only worth about £5/£10
hi i have just bought a cocoon. i can install the pc suite no probs but when i connect the phone to the pc it installs the drivers but then a message pops up saying that the drivers arent compatible with the platform i think this is because i am running vista 64 bit. is there anywhere i can get specific 64 bit drivers from
[…] for launching the blog. Here’s hoping it’s going to be a little more involved than the last one I caught for the […]
02 cocoon hasnt even been recognised by my computer!!!
i know im in the dark ages running winxp ut this is takin the mickey, i dont spend over 100 quid for an expensive brick.
there must be something i can do but i cant find a solution. an online driver maybe or downloadable pc suite?
who knows but i would love some advice as i dont want to end up smashing this pile of junk up a wall.
regards
hey tagz your not in the dark ages with your winxp the software doesnt even work on vista it seems to me o2 havent tested their software on any platform but no one has reported problems on earler editions of windows maybe it works on win me. or win 98 like i said i think its all old software and hardware stuck together for pennies by o2 n sold at £100 a shot.
P.S. if u have a o2 cocoon and a old pc with win 98 or somthing old could you test it and see if im right about the cocoon. I look forward to any replys.
Hi,
I have just bought the o2 cocoon and i cannot install the PC suite… it starts to install but it comes up part way through saying there is a problem with the Help. it then closes and wont install and i dont know what to do!! any help would be greatly appreciated