Edit: After learning a bit of sed magic, this is now a single script.

This Works For Me™, and I hope it works with other phones and on other distributions as well, but no guarantees.

Here's how:

  1. Download synchronize-bluetooth.sh.
  2. chmod u+x synchronize-bluetooth.sh
  3. sudo apt-get install gnokii
  4. Setup Gnokii (replace the phone name): echo -e "[global]\nmodel = 6510\nport = $(hcitool scan | grep 'phone name' | cut --fields=2)\nconnection = bluetooth" > ~/.gnokiirc
  5. Turn Bluetooth on on the computer and the phone.
  6. Pair the computer and phone. On Ubuntu, simply click the Bluetooth icon and follow the "Set up new device..." wizard.
  • If you want to copy your existing contacts to disk, you can run ./synchronize-bluetooth.sh -r > phone.vcf
  • To copy vCards to the phone, overwriting the existing contacts, run cat *.vcf | ./synchronize-bluetooth.sh -f

Note that synchronize-bluetooth.sh works only with the internal phone memory. Address book entries stored in the SIM card, phone log or elsewhere will not be read or written.

Some features of the script:

  • Works with plain /bin/sh, so it should work on any Linux / BSD distribution.
  • Has separate parameters to read, write and flush contacts.

synchronize-bluetooth.sh

#!/bin/sh
#
# NAME
#    synchronize-bluetooth.sh - Synchronize contacts with Bluetooth device.
#
# SYNOPSIS
#    synchronize-bluetooth.sh [options]
#
# OPTIONS
#    -f,--flush       Flush entries on the phone before synchronization
#    -r,--read        Read phonebook entries (no synchronization)
#
# EXAMPLES
#    ./synchronize-bluetooth.sh -r
#        Read phone address book entries.
#
#    cat *.vcf | ./synchronize-bluetooth.sh -fv
#        Remove all phone address book entries and write new ones.
#
# DESCRIPTION
#    Warning: Overwrites the existing entries on the phone if you give it any
#    input.
#
#    Some limitations:
#    - Gnokii (or the phone) doesn't understand N, NICKNAME, ORG and URL
#      parameters.
#    - Conflicts have to be resolved manually.
#    - Getting a "Data format is not valid" error for unknown reasons.
#    - Needs conv.pl so long as Gnokii / phone doesn't understand the full vCard
#      spec.
#
#    Tested on Nokia 6300 under Ubuntu (7.10-9.10). Instructions:
#    <https://paperless.blog/howto-copying-vcard-address-books-to-nokia-6300-via-bluetooth-on-ubuntu-linux>
#
# BUGS
#    1: Not yet tested on other phones or operating systems.
#    2: No automated comparison of computer and phone entries.
#    3: Should use safe temporary directory creation - See web pages.
#    4: Flushing doesn't always get rid of all address book entries.
#
#    Email bugs to victor dot engmark at gmail dot com. Please include the
#    output of running this script.
#
# COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
#    Copyright (C) 2008-2010 Victor Engmark
#
#    This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
#    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
#    the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
#    (at your option) any later version.
#
#    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
#    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
#    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
#    GNU General Public License for more details.
#
#    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
#    along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
#
################################################################################

# Init
PATH='/usr/bin:/bin'
ifs_original="$IFS" # Reset when done
cmdname=$(basename $0)
directory=$(dirname $0)

# Exit codes from /usr/include/sysexits.h, as recommended by
# http://www.faqs.org/docs/abs/HTML/exitcodes.html
EX_USAGE=64

# Output error message with optional error code
error()
{
    test -t 1 && {
        tput setf 4
        echo "$1" >&2
        tput setf 7
    } || echo "$1" >&2
    if [ -z "$2" ]
    then
        exit $EX_UNKNOWN
    else
        exit $2
    fi
}

usage()
{
    # Print documentation until the first empty line
    while read line
    do
        if [ ! "$line" ]
        then
            exit $EX_USAGE
        fi
        echo "$line"
    done < $0
}

# Process parameters
params=$(getopt -o fr -l flush,read --name $cmdname -- "$@")
if [ $? -ne 0 ]
then
    usage
fi

eval set -- "$params"

while true
do
    case $1 in
        -f|--flush)
            flush=1
            shift
            ;;
        -r|--read)
            read=1
            shift
            ;;
        --) shift
            break
            ;;
        *)
            usage
            ;;
    esac
done

if [ $read ]
then
    gnokii --getphonebook ME 1 end --vcard \
        || error 'Failed to get phonebook.'
    exit
fi

if [ $flush ]
then
    gnokii --deletephonebook ME 1 end \
        || error 'Could not flush phone entries.'
fi

sleep 1

# Is there anything on stdin?
if [ -t 0 ]
then
    exit
fi

sed -n '1h;1!H;${;g;s/\r\n //g;p}' <&0 | \
sed -E s/^ADR\;.*?\(home\|work\).*?:/ADR\;TYPE=\\1:/i\;s/^EMAIL\;.*?\(INTERNET\).*?:/EMAIL\;TYPE=\\1:/i\;s/^TEL\;.*?\(CELL\|FAX\|HOME\|WORK\).*?:/TEL\;TYPE=\\1:/i | \
gnokii --writephonebook --overwrite --memory-type ME --vcard

err_code=$?
if [ $err_code -eq 20 ]
then
    echo 'Data format error, eh? Dunno what to do about that for now.'
elif [ $err_code -ne 0 ]
then
    error 'Could not write to phone.' $err_code
fi

If you have problems sending the vCards to your phone, you may want to validate them first.