Can anyome tell me what happened to the HTC docking station that was advertised in the Best Buy mag.?
Sent from my EVO 4G via Tapatalk Pro.
Sent from my EVO 4G via Tapatalk Pro.
HTC docking station?
- Thread starter YBCold
- Start date
I don't know which one was advertised in the Best Buy mag, but I've seen a couple of things speculating that it would be available in September. Like this one:
EVO 4G's Froyo features detailed in pictures, car dock coming in September? -- Engadget
I hope so, because I'm hoping to use the new car dock feature in froyo (although I have a slight preference for landscape mode when navigating).
EVO 4G's Froyo features detailed in pictures, car dock coming in September? -- Engadget
I hope so, because I'm hoping to use the new car dock feature in froyo (although I have a slight preference for landscape mode when navigating).
The original rumor was it was due out "Late July" and my local Best Buy told me that the desk top Dock that was leaked back in June is probably Mid to Late September... Not sure what the hold up is... It does have to pass through the FCC first.. Other companies have some after market docks but they are not HDMI output (or at least I have not seen one yet) but for basic desktop charging you can get an after market.
Maybe if you can come up with the SKU you can have some one order it for you. I just ordered the official HTC EVO car dock through my local Sprint Store... Thanks to sYnOnYx for his post.
http://forum.androidcentral.com/evo-accessories/30155-heres-how-get-evo-car-dock.html
Walked in to my local Sprint store gave him the SKU he said he had never even heard the official HTC Car Dock was out... Looked it up and said there are plenty in the warehouse... Ordered me one plus some extra for the shelf....
I want that Desk Top Dock. Been waiting for it since the Best Buy mag advertised it. Hurry up HTC...
thekarens
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- May 18, 2010
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Might want to read about the car dock before you spend the cash.
HTC EVO 4G car dock lands at Sprint stores -- Engadget Mobile
HTC EVO 4G car dock lands at Sprint stores -- Engadget Mobile
Their information is incorrect on the car dock... I have it and the SD card is fully mountable.. When you plug the phone into the dock it goes into the car app but all you have to do is hit menu and exit and then while mounted in the dock you can access your music, the internet, e-mail, text messages..... ANY THING!!!! Weird that Endgadget and a few other "TECH" sites seem to have problems exiting the car panel and using the phone like normal...
No clue why they say it's not mountable????
The camera is blocked but I can't see many reasons to access the camera while in the dock unless your car is pointed right at what your looking to take a picture of....
That being said the dock is over priced (IMO) $59.99 and you don't even get a car charging cable? I like the dock as it holds the phone better than any after market universal mount I tried.... Charging cable wasn't THAT big a deal as my car has a USB port on the dash so I can plug it right into that via the stock USB cable that came with the phone....
Also weird the car panel does not go to Landscape mode.......
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I agree with the poster above. The car dock allows the device to be fully functional, I don't know why tech sites say that it isn't. The phone fits snug in it. I have never had a car dock before, but I am really starting to enjoy it. It is a little pricey, but I think that it is worth it. Car panel mode in landscape would be a nice alternative, but it isn't really important to me.
I agree it's pricey... I do like it very much... I tried and returned at least 3 universal docks and didn't like any of them. I wanted one just for the EVO. Only thing I didn't like was no charging cable... HTC calls the car charging cable for the car dock an "Option" which if any one knows any better using the GPS/Navigation with out having the phone nicely plugged up to a power source is redundant if you ask me.
Maybe not if your just looking for the nearest post office or gas station but on a drive of more than 30 minutes your seriously reducing your usable battery life not having a car charging cable.
I say it's over priced but I paid for one.... I guess with what you have in a phone it's not really that over priced... Just compared to most universal mounts that run between $10 - 20 it's pretty expensive...
They probably say that because the phone's SD card is not mountable as a mass-storage device, when using this dock.
Here's how to demonstrate this for yourself:
Use a USB cable to connect your Evo to a PC. When given the choice, mount the phone as a storage device. Once mounted, browse the contents of your SD card from your PC. Play songs found there, etc. Satisfy yourself that everything is working, then disconnect.
Now, insert your phone into the dock. Using the same USB cable as above, connect the dock to your PC. Attempt to mount the SD card as a storage device.
Now, insert your phone into the dock. Using the same USB cable as above, connect the dock to your PC. Attempt to mount the SD card as a storage device.
Presumably, you will fail. But maybe you are correct, and the rest of the internet is wrong! I hope so. Let me know how it goes.
I think the "Wording" of the reviews and information of the car dock are incorrect. They make it sound as if you can't access your SD card when the phone is hooked to the dock... If your car has blue tooth (Which mine does) then you can stream your music from the phone to your car stereo....
I think the reason it's worded wrong is, How many people are going to have their phone in the car dock and then hooked to a computer at the same time accessing their files on the SD card from the computer? Now some cars (like mine) actually have a USB port on the dash and you could while in the dock plug the phone directly into your stereo (Which allows me to charge the phone) but you can't access the SD card this way...... But you can use the phone normally while in the dock...... I think that is some thing that should be more clearly stated on most tech sites....
If your car does not have blue tooth installed then I am guessing the odds of you having a USB port in your dash are remote? I could be wrong but looking around most cars with a USB port also have Blue Tooth.... Also for basic music listening the speaker on the EVO is okay.... As long as your plugged to a power source that is... and if you have an EVO and it's plugged up to your official car dock AND it's plugged up to a laptop.............. Your probably breaking a few driving laws in most states...
The wording isn't very clear, but it is not "incorrect". Let's go with "misleading".
The reviews just say that the phone (or the phone's SD card) "isn't mountable", while docked. "Mount" is short for "mount the phone on some host, as a storage device". It has nothing at all to do with using phone to access its own SD card. Obviously, a dock is going to have no effect on that sort of thing.I do agree that the whole can't-be-mounted thing doesn't prevent music from being played. It just prevents it from being played in a particular way. Here's Engadget's fractured syntax:
Of course, nothing's perfect and judging from some posts we've seen, the dock does have its failings: the camera is covered by the plastic, the SD card isn't mountable while in the dock so listening to your stored tunes won't happen -- if you want to plug it into your head unit, for example -- and maybe the biggest foible, no charging cable is included.
Shudder. Who thought that sentence was a good idea?No one. The review doesn't say a thing about computers. I mentioned using a computer, because that's the easiest way to test whether the dock prevents the phone from being recognized as a storage device. I didn't know you had a USB head-unit. Sorry if I muddied the issue even further.
And, there you go! That's what they are talking about. The act of plugging your phone directly into a stereo, so the stereo can browse and play files directly from the phone, is called... "Mounting". And apparently, it doesn't work if you use this dock. Thank you for confirming that fact.
Now me, I don't have one of those fancy stereos. Most people don't. But, I guess this omission is a big deal to those that do.
(The reason that bluetooth is in no way a direct replacement for "mounting" is related to sound quality. Having the phone play a sound file, re-digitize the audio, and then send that data out over a low bandwidth bluetooth link, so the stereo can re-convert it to audio and amplify it, is very unlikely to sound as good as just having the stereo play the original sound file its own dang self. The same goes, to a lesser degree, for running a wire from the headphone jack to an AUX input: Leave the sound generation to the device that is purpose-built to do it. The phone might suck at one or more parts of it.)
(Again, I think I'd be fine with bluetooth audio. I figure it'll sound better than the weak FM stations I get now.)
The wording isn't very clear, but it is not "incorrect". Let's go with "misleading".
I do agree that the whole can't-be-mounted thing doesn't prevent music from being played. It just prevents it from being played in a particular way. Here's Engadget's fractured syntax:
Of course, nothing's perfect and judging from some posts we've seen, the dock does have its failings: the camera is covered by the plastic, the SD card isn't mountable while in the dock so listening to your stored tunes won't happen -- if you want to plug it into your head unit, for example -- and maybe the biggest foible, no charging cable is included.Shudder. Who thought that sentence was a good idea?
No one. The review doesn't say a thing about computers. I mentioned using a computer, because that's the easiest way to test whether the dock prevents the phone from being recognized as a storage device. I didn't know you had a USB head-unit. Sorry if I muddied the issue even further.
And, there you go! That's what they are talking about. The act of plugging your phone directly into a stereo, so the stereo can browse and play files directly from the phone, is called... "Mounting". And apparently, it doesn't work if you use this dock. Thank you for confirming that fact.
Now me, I don't have one of those fancy stereos. Most people don't. But, I guess this omission is a big deal to those that do.
(The reason that bluetooth is in no way a direct replacement for "mounting" is related to sound quality. Having the phone play a sound file, re-digitize the audio, and then send that data out over a low bandwidth bluetooth link, so the stereo can re-convert it to audio and amplify it, is very unlikely to sound as good as just having the stereo play the original sound file its own dang self. The same goes, to a lesser degree, for running a wire from the headphone jack to an AUX input: Leave the sound generation to the device that is purpose-built to do it. The phone might suck at one or more parts of it.)
(Again, I think I'd be fine with bluetooth audio. I figure it'll sound better than the weak FM stations I get now.)
Agree with every thing Dave.... I am not a big MUSIC buff... I am sure people like my dad (who has a small recording studio and played in a band for 20 years) will be a little biotchy about audio quality... I am actually more of a stand up comedy guy... I have Sirius radio and I spend most of my audio time on Raw Dog or Blue Collar comedy....
When I first read the reviews I was disappointed because for ME, unable to mount the SD card and not being able to access your music/audio files on your SD card while in the dock said "In the dock you can't do jack with your phone, except navigation and speaker phone."
MY INTENT with the dock was to use navigation and charge my phone while in the car..... Just for the hell of it I streamed music through my Blue Tooth connection and it sounds fine to me.....
Oh well.....
I studied as a recording engineer, and worked as a soundman for years. That's probably why I'd prefer never to have to wrangle another cable ever again, if I can possibly avoid it! 
I'm lazy. If a bluetooth gateway can get music from the phone, to my stereo, without me having to do a dang thing besides docking the phone, I'll take it. I don't really care if it ain't perfect. My car is noisy and my stereo isn't that good either. Perfect was really never in the cards!
And yeah, that review went out of it's way to obscure what "no mounting" actually means.
I'm curious, if you run a USB cable from the Evo to your head unit, (no dock) can the head unit browse your SD card?
I'm lazy. If a bluetooth gateway can get music from the phone, to my stereo, without me having to do a dang thing besides docking the phone, I'll take it. I don't really care if it ain't perfect. My car is noisy and my stereo isn't that good either. Perfect was really never in the cards!And yeah, that review went out of it's way to obscure what "no mounting" actually means.
I'm curious, if you run a USB cable from the Evo to your head unit, (no dock) can the head unit browse your SD card?
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