I don't buy the argument about saving space either as the icon will appear when BT is activated so why not just leave it visible all the time? What happens if the status bar is full and BT is then enabled? Oh, the icon isn't visible even when it's active? Genius! No, I'd rather position it where I can see it all the time and have other less critical icons disappear from the status bar.

Also, I suspect someone at Nokia had a brainwave and realised that the icon can be made to appear in most cases since Bluetooth can be activated by an application or an external device. The trouble is there are a few corner cases where this isn't possible, and I suspect Nokia completely overlooked these cases when redesigning the icon usage. And after reading the bug, I get the impression Nokia don't want to admit they have made a mistake.

As I posted in that bug some time ago, just add a user selectable option (in the Bluetooth control panel) to control the icon visibility and be done with it. This way Nokia don't have to admit that their disappering icon solution is flawed, and users can have the permanently visible icon behaviour if they want it.

Man... user options. What a magnificent concept!

I just selected Control Panel from the list of applications. No black magickx was involved, although IIRC it didn't work for the very first release of Simple-Launcher.

Well, it's got to be the easiest solution when Nokia insist their way is the right way yet the customers disagree!

I agree. Usabilty is related users!

Question is, will this situation be remedied in OS08? One of my hopes for the new OS is that it will give users more options when it comes to 'designing' the interface. As it stands, while I like being able to change the wallpaper, so to speak, I'd really prefer to have some 'real' flexibilty in the elements in the UI.

For example, right now, the space occupied by the 'people' icon in the upper left corner of the UI is essentially wasted for me, as I use GPE contacts, don't use the native email app (straight up gmail) nor the native internet call function (I'd use gizmo if/when it works).

Now, if I could just 'customize' the UI and (re)use the icons there in the same way I am able to use IDEA (or Simple Launcher, both are good) I'd have the kind of 'control' over my device that results in 'high user satisfaction'.

If Nokia engineers are in the room, please note that the use of usability buzzwords in the preceding paragraph is intended to give you the ammunition you to advocate for users at your next design/management meeting!

oops... might wanna lower those expectations just a tad...

Karel: Guess I misunderstood. I already have Control Panel as one of my Simple Launcher designated applications. I had inferred from your initial comment that one could get Simple Launcher to include the Bluetooth icon and switch specifically, rather than going through the Control Panel. I guess I'm getting a number of things mixed up today. Thanks and regards, Jim

That's why I said it's only slightly less irritating. Still, it saves at least two stylus taps...

It's a pretty simple command:

/usr/sbin/hciconfig hci0 up
/usr/sbin/hciconfig hci0 down
and... wait for it..
/usr/sbin/hciconfig hci0 reset

Add to /etc/sudoers:
user ALL = NOPASSWD: /usr/sbin/hciconfig hci0 up
user ALL = NOPASSWD: /usr/sbin/hciconfig hci0 down
user ALL = NOPASSWD: /usr/sbin/hciconfig hci0 reset

and then call the above commands with sudo and you're all set! Someone want to wrap a try icon around this and close this issue like a good o-s community?

I'm probably not going make friends here, but I've just had two cups of strong coffee so I feel compelled to stick my head up in this thread.
Now bare with me for a second.

The first post stated that the reason for asking for a Bluetooth switch was to conserve battery power. So, my first question is, has anyone measured how much additional drain having Bluetooth switched on and idling puts on the battery. I.e say, 5 complete charge-discharge cycles leaving BT switched on, but not using it (that's important), versus 5 complete charge-discharge cycles with BT totally switched off..?! "Just a thought, like".

If the difference is minimal, I would wholeheartedly support Nokias' decision to remove BT control and stick it on by default. The reason for that is that those pesky users (not us surely ) sometimes forget to switch BT on before using, and that results in confusion and confusion results in support calls, angry blog postings etc, etc. And the less options you have, the less can go wrong.

Looking at myself (remember I don't own an IT, yet), I'd probably want a BT control widget by default. I'm such a control freak that it makes me feel good seeing the icon there. However, also, knowing myself, I'd probably leave it turned on all the time, probably because I'm lazy and can't be bothered.

... Now, where's my flame-******ant coat...?