Dock Question

[valleus]

Help me understand...
Why is a dock even needed? If the phone has a microUSB input and a video output, why can't I just hook a keyboard and a generic monitor into these slots? Would it be that hard for someone to write an app allowing this?

 

[ka3yan]

Possibly you could do that. The docks (both multimedia and laptop) just add a convenience factor. It is like docking a laptop. I use a dock for my Dell E6510 at work. When I travel or go to a meeting, I just undock it and use it as a laptop. When I'm at my desk, the monitor, keyboard, mouse, external hard drive, LAN, etc., all plug into the dock...so it works like a desktop. I don't have to plug/unplug a bunch of wires every time I change configurations.

 

[Cyber Warrior]

It docks into the laptop. Its an all and one unit so you can carry it around. Laptops are made for portability. You wouldn't want to walk around with a seperate keyboard, monitor and a bunch of cables.

 

[textiaac]

Possibly you could do that. The docks (both multimedia and laptop) just add a convenience factor. It is like docking a laptop. I use a dock for my Dell E6510 at work. When I travel or go to a meeting, I just undock it and use it as a laptop. When I'm at my desk, the monitor, keyboard, mouse, external hard drive, LAN, etc., all plug into the dock...so it works like a desktop. I don't have to plug/unplug a bunch of wires every time I change configurations.

+1 The dock also gives you some (full sized) usb ports witch is beneficial over the one micro-usb on the device.

 

[corneliusm]

If the docks themselves don't contain any logic to them, what's preventing a third-party from manufacturing one themselves? Especially considering the huge hole that AT&T has created in pricing these docks- anyone can come in and undercut them very easily.

 

[textiaac]

If the docks themselves don't contain any logic to them, what's preventing a third-party from manufacturing one themselves? Especially considering the huge hole that AT&T has created in pricing these docks- anyone can come in and undercut them very easily.

They do contain logic, when you put your device in a dock it does different things...

Examples:
Car Dock ----> Landscape Mode
Home Charging Dock-----> Landscape Mode
Multimedia Dock-----> Prompt comes up asking what you want to do (laptop mode, picture/video viewing mode or nothing)
Laptop Dock----->Goes into laptop mode automatically.

 

[jess.hickey]

They do contain logic, when you put your device in a dock it does different things...

Examples:
Car Dock ----> Landscape Mode
Home Charging Dock-----> Landscape Mode
Multimedia Dock-----> Prompt comes up asking what you want to do (laptop mode, picture/video viewing mode or nothing)
Laptop Dock----->Goes into laptop mode automatically.

Or does the phone just recognize it is in the dock and these prompts are coming from the phone itself?

 

[Droid800]

Or does the phone just recognize it is in the dock and these prompts are coming from the phone itself?

The dock would need to be sending some sort of signal prompting the phone to switch into the right mode though. The phone would have no way of knowing which dock it was if the dock itself wasn't telling it what to do.

 

[textiaac]

The dock would need to be sending some sort of signal prompting the phone to switch into the right mode though. The phone would have no way of knowing which dock it was if the dock itself wasn't telling it what to do.

Yea, all the docks have usb, so i would imagine that there is an interface chip of some sort.

 

[rad204]

Help me understand...
Why is a dock even needed? If the phone has a microUSB input and a video output, why can't I just hook a keyboard and a generic monitor into these slots? Would it be that hard for someone to write an app allowing this?

no webtop without dock