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Hi
Those who recognise my name will know I recently got a fantastic Brodit holder and charger for my XDA2, but now I'm looking for GPS stuff too.
Does anyone have any suggestions on which is the best (and more importantly value for money) GPS receiver, and also what is the best software? Not that I would encourage such things, but are the "evaluation" versions you can "acquire" off the net any good, do they show you how it works before you then go and buy the real software?
I'm interested in the smaller gps units as I do not like the look of bulky ones.
Cheers
Anthony
Hi
I use the Fortuna Clipon Bluetooth. it is portable and has an 8 hour battery life. The software i use is TomTom 3.
There are plenty of reviews at www.pocketgps.co.uk .
Regards
The Pilgrim
I would definitely recommend any Bluetooth GPS receiver.
Plusses:
- Own power supply (rechargeable battery)
- Less wires inside car (no "Y-cable", but if you want it permanently powered you still need it wired to +12V)
- Can be used outside of car (bevause of battery)
- When constantly powered keeps its fix (this is the best plus for me)
Minus:
- Price
On eBay you might get lucky in buying a cheap one. I bought my DCONNEX DC230, rebadged Holux GR-230, for about 100euro incl shipping there.
I used Belkin BT GPS...
edsub said:
I would definitely recommend any Bluetooth GPS receiver.
Plusses:
- Own power supply (rechargeable battery)
- Less wires inside car (no "Y-cable", but if you want it permanently powered you still need it wired to +12V)
- Can be used outside of car (bevause of battery)
- When constantly powered keeps its fix (this is the best plus for me)
Minus:
- Price
On eBay you might get lucky in buying a cheap one. I bought my DCONNEX DC230, rebadged Holux GR-230, for about 100euro incl shipping there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with "edsub", bluetooth GPS gives you more freedom to move it around. Here in the United States I bought Belkin BT GPS (its a Fortuna Clip-on rebadge) the navigation software is included ((iNav/iGuidance) Version 1.0 US and Canada) very cheap too $170 including shipping. Usually cost $399.99 but when you using coupon 82242, you will get only $140+S/H=$170.00 here in the US. Buy directly from Belkin website (brand new).
For US resident this is a good opportunity to buy BT GPS. I am not sure if Belkin deliver overseas.
If the gps is for car use only I would suggest a cheap wired version such as Haicom hi-203e. Even if you have charged your bluetooth gps in the house you have to remember to take it to the car, if you get it to the car you have to be confident that the battery will last for the duration of the journey, your xda will need to be on charge all the time in the car so I dont see the problem with having a y cable that works off one cigarette socket. The only drawback I can see is when the car has a windscreen that will not allow gps signal through, the length of lead on wired gps wont allow you to place gps in rear window. I have used and tested dozens of different gps/pda combos and that is my 2 pennies worth of advice.
TomTom 3 and a BT Receiver. Couple that with our Safety Camera database and Digitools superb UKPostCode Plug-In and you have a system way better than any other.
And as you have an XDAII you can subscribe to the Traffic Service and have live updates overlayed on your map via GPRS
I hafta agree with Griffog. i have everything he says and i would (excuse the pun) be lost without all that :wink:
I have the Leadtek 9537 BT Receiver and regularly travel round with between 7 - 9 sats.
Bluetooth
I use a TOMTOM BT GPS purchased from ebay £70 and it is fantastic. Absolutely no probs whotsoever. No spaghetti junction on the dashboard and alot can be said for that.
cruisin-thru said:
If the gps is for car use only I would suggest a cheap wired version such as Haicom hi-203e.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a wired GPS antenna and have never tried a BT one, for I have and XDA1 only, but agree with the principle that since you will probably want your XDA powered, a wired solution is fully acceptable.
The model Haicom 203 has been replaced with Haicom 204.
BIG plus for the BT option is to always have a fix, independent whether the MDAII is connected or not. I heard of cases where it can take up to one minute before a GPS mouse has found a new fix.
I solved the battery issue by hooking the BT GPS to a permanent power lead that is put behind the roof-fabric of the car (GPS is located in a bllack box next to the mirror because that is the nly place where there is no heat-resistant layer on the windscreen).
edsub said:
BIG plus for the BT option is to always have a fix, independent whether the MDAII is connected or not. I heard of cases where it can take up to one minute before a GPS mouse has found a new fix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is correct.
It will matter in the case of a car which will cut power to the cigar plug when the key is off.
It's not the case any more in most of recent cars. It was the case for my previous car where locallisation would take from 20 seconds (normally) to 3-4 minutes in the worth cases (unsure what the reason why but it did some days)!
I have wired the power cable that came with the TOMTOM gps to a USB connector. I then plug this in to my cigarette lighter which has a female connector on it. I also use this to plug my XDA charging cable into should I need it
I got the information I needed to solder all the connections etc from the web! a great little experiment that I helped to teach my son the art of soldering, a couple of sore little blisters later all works perfect.
Bluetooth's certainly good. But if you're a complete cheapskate, I guess the cheapest option is the RadioShack Digitraveler. It's out of production now, but on eBay you can get it for $40 thereabouts if you watch. Comes with its own software, but Mapopolis is so much better that I would advocate getting it. Cheapest software I think is MS ActiveStreets or MapPoint or something. But it too doesn't match up to Mapopolis. My GPS setup is a total of $50.
gps
hi guys
i have been looking for a gps system for ages and i have currently got a global sat sd501. i am running this in partnership with mapopolis and i find its great not too sure on the navigation side yet. but it is really accutate and i think its great with the xda2 you can find a review at the site below
regards kevin beecher
http://www.pocketgps.co.uk/globalsat-sdio-gps-sd501.php
Whilst the GlobaSat SD GPS is superb and very sensitive the big issue with all SD GPS is where do you store the maps?
If you only have the SD slot then you have no other option and if you have a PDa with both CF and SD, why pay the premium for an SD GPS when you can use a CF?
I'm very satisfied with the BT Rikaline 6030 (it is technically the same as the Leadtek 9537, I believe) together with Alturion Pro 5.3 navigation software. The main reason for choosing Bluetooth is that I want to be able to walk around with it, using GPS-supported map-software. With a (replacable) battery with a battery life that lasts for 10-12 hours, the Rikaline suits me fine.
One thing, though. If you regularly are confronted with traffic jams or other traffic nuisances, it might be worth considering to use a GPS device in combination with TMC/RDS and of course the appropriate navigation software (Alturion Pro supports this, I don't know about TomTom). Right now I use the TMC information (via GPRS) that is supplied by Alturion's TMC-server. But that is only limited to the Netherlands & Belgium.
With the combination GPS and TMC/RDS it is possible to avoid traffic jams in all areas where radio stations broadcast traffic info. Up to a few months ago there were only wired and no BT receivers that offered the combination GPS+TMC/RDS, but recently I saw an offer for navigation software (don't recall the name but is was not TomTom or Alturion) including a Bluetooth GPS as well as TMC/RDS receiver.
TomTom also offer a TMC service via GPRS. The BT GPS with TMC you saw was part of the Navigon bundle which we are testing currently.
Dont know if its the same Bt GPS, but Engin (www.engin.nl, Navigation solution by ANWB, the dutch AA) also offers a BT GPS/TMC receiver now. They even claim its modular (so you can buy with or without the TMC module).
Yes that's the same one and the screen shots are identical to Navigon, perhaps this is a rebadged version?
What tablet do I get?
I was wondering if anyone had any good suggestions for a tablet to install into my dash. The Archos 5 IMT looks like it has almost everything I want, but I would really like a 7".
It needs:
Built-in GPS (or enough ports for a dongle, and support for a dongle. I don't want bluetooth, because I don't want to have to worry about it losing power)
FM receiver (I know there are internet radio apps, but I want to be able to use this offline.. if it's possible)
Capacitive screen (Cause I want it) with a wide viewing angle.
I don't care much about which version of Android it has, it will pretty much just be used for GPS and Music/video.
As a side note, I'm still doing research, but if anyone knows how to, or knows where there's a tutorial, I need to figure out how to hook the tablet to the speakers. I don't really want to have to use a head unit, though that would be the easy way. There must be some kind of small device I can use that has a volume knob and maybe fade/balance controls that I can install anywhere in the truck.
Thanks for reading!
I have installed the archos 5IT in my dash and love it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kUsui3-5Y0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nN-8Hrf0sM
Its not capacitive but it does not suffer from the glare that the glass screens have. As far as touch sensitivity its pretty acurate for a resistive device.
I dont have the gps signal issues most have as i have the flash version and not the hard drive based ones as most say the hdd must be blocking the gps. I paid for the one time map fee from Ndrive but also tether to my phone and use google maps as well.
I have over 100 youtube music video's in mp4 format ripped to the device and use those as my music and have it set to random play and it goes from one file to the next without having to select a new video once one is over.
Thanks!
Some good input there. I'll have to keep that in mind. I just really think a 7" would look a lot better. Especially in my F150 XLT. Seems like the 5" would look dinky, and I have room for a 7".
If archos put the 5's guts into the 7 form factor, I'd buy 2 right now. Rly.
Also, for anyone who stumbled on this, I think it won't be too hard to set this up without using a head unit. (I could be wrong on some of the technical info, but I think I have the right idea here.) Your amplifier has a 'plug' with like 20 wires attached coming out. Normally, your radio has a plug that fits this plug. You plug it in, and now the radio's attached to the amp, which is attached to the speakers. Good to go. So you buy a new plug (called a wire harness), one that fits your amplifier (assuming stock amplifier, I will just look up 2000 F150 wire harness on amazon, and that's it), and wire up your tablet to it instead of your radio.
The wire harness puts out a 12v (ignition on) wire. You can adapt this to a USB and use that to charge the device. Set it to display/wifi/gps/all other battery draining crap off while not charging. When you turn the car on, it's now "Charging" and everything will turn off. I think it should be able to 'sleep' for a few days, so it should be 'always on' as far as you can tell.
The harness also has a wire for each of the 4 speakers, maybe subwoofers too, I forget now. I'm sure someone makes a product that controls these easily, I'm going to have to go to a local car audio shop, and ask some questions. Hopefully I can put the audio out from the tablet into the audio in of this unknown device. Then I should be able to wire the unknown device to the wiring harness. If I can't find something, I think I'll just make my own circuit, 3 Pots for volume, fade and balance, some resistors or something.. we'll see if I can't just buy something. The rest of the EQ can be done on the tablet.
(If I do make my own, I want to use a slide-style pot for volume instead of a rotating one. I think that'd be the nuts.)
Wiring harness: Ignition on wire adapted to USB. Speaker wires wired to volume/fade/bal device.
Tablet: plug in USB, and connect audio out to volume/fade/bal device.
Easy cheesy.
I'll be updating.
This thing is starting to look like it'll be really easy to do.
I can't get started 'til I find my tablet though. I would love to hear some more ideas! THANKS!
they updated the 7" home with newer hardware but it does not have gps. I would look into the upcoming wifi only samsung galaxy tab and see if it will have gps.
your on the right track with the audio wiring however you would better off getting a cheap 4ch amp to do it as you need power to pump the speakers the way you are talking about wiring it up would basically have the android device trying to power door speakers from the headphone output amp. If you got a cheap 4 ch amp and wired it through the stock vehicle harness you would have all the hookups u need just get the headphone to rca cable and a set of splitters to power all 4 channels of the amp volume could be controlled from the android device. If the amp had external volume remote or if you wired one inline with the headphone output you could have better volume control however the turning on and off of the amp might send a pop to the speakers as the amp would always be turned up.
Hmm
I was under the impression that my vehicle came with a stock amp. Everything's stock (as far as I know, got it used and haven't tinkered with it yet.)
Just trying to understand better, as I have never dealt with car stereos before.
So my stereo was supplying power to the speakers before? There's not an amp in my truck right now between the stereo and the speakers?
EDIT:
I'm almost thinking of getting something really cheap, as I plan on permanently mounting it in the dash. Something Chinese maybe?
I'm sure the Galaxy Tab would work really well, but it's a bit expensive for a GPS/radio/computer.. now that I'm typing this out, that's a ****ing deal! Maybe I will get something nice to pop in there.
I found a tutorial online for making the 12v ignition into 2 USBs, so I am now considering a usb-powered bluetooth gps. Too bad it adds $50 to the cost.
Alright
Nope, no amp in the F-150 standard. It's in the head unit. So I will need to get an amp.
I figure I can move this whole system to my next car (Plan on getting a new truck in 3-4 years.. or sooner if this one decides to go on me), so the amp is an investment.
Truck has 4 speakers stock (no subwoofers)
I will hook those 4 speakers to the amp I buy. (I'll have to look up how to install an amp now.. geesh.)
I will put the audio out from my tablet into the amp.
Now I have to figure out how the 12v ignition on is gonna work, since I'm now going through a new amp. I found a tutorial on instructables titled "12v to USB adapter \ 12v to 5v transformer (great for cars)" I'm not allowed to post links yet, but I'm sure you can find it if you want it.
Yeah the amp any small 4ch or 2ch if you dont care about front rear fade will work..
As far as hooking up an amp they are pretty easy just need to run your own main power wire for the 12v constant for the amp. 8-10 gage should be fine for 400-600w 2 or 4 ch amp to power door speakers....
then use your red ignition wire from the harness u get to power the remote to the amp so its only on with the ignition. Extent the speaker wires to reach your amp you can mount under the passenger side dash or behind the center consol as trucks have plenty of room under there.
the wires from the harness you get to plug into your factory radio harness are easy to figure out as the colors have been standard for a while. Black is ground but you will need your own closest to the amp as possible any bare metal spot you can find that has a bolt to the frame or under dash should suffice. The black from the harness will power the usb fine. Yellow is constant + (always on) if you want the usb to always have power if not use the red as its only on with the ignition it will have enogh amps to power the remote for the amp and charge/power the tablet. green and purple are rear speakers, white/gray are front speakers. the remaining wire colors depend on the vehicle if they have them like blue is for power antenna or factory amp turn on. orange is to dim an after market head unit display when the head lights are on.
I was in best buy a few weeks ago and saw the archos 7 home tablet for $129 almost got one just because of the deal but dont need it as the 5it i have is fine and has the built in gps. but if using an external bluetooth gps is the route you go the 7 should be great. You will just need to find your own gps app or use google maps and have to terher to something like a smart phone for data.
http://www.archos.com/products/ta/archos_7/specs.html?country=us&lang=en
they show the gps icon on the home screen however it does not have built in gps. there are a ton of gps solutions you can side load or get from android market.
Damn...
Was just about to order the 7 home. Such a good deal.
No bluetooth...
The search continues.
i was searching ebay for something 7" that had gps or bluetooth and nothing cheap cought my eye so i took the 7" tag out and added 2.2 for froyo and gps...
I came up with this. http://goo.gl/hyNtC
All you would need to look like the soundman from youtube with his f150 ipad 2 install.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jr3_zLHTbY
May have found a contender.
a 10 inch would be nice, but I don't know how to do fiberglass, and for my first car mod, I'd prefer to keep it simple. a 7-inch should just fit in my double din.
Found this little gem.
http://www.dinodirect.com/tablet-pc...camera-android.html?ddse= gps&utm_source= gps
Gonna look at it more when I get home, will probably buy it. Only thing that's funky about it is that it charges with AC. We'll see...
A software to be written to tell it to go to sleep immediately when "ac" power is removed would be nice, also, that app to tell music/radio to resume on "wake" would be nice.
That way it plays the true car infotainment roll.
A device with USB host would almost be required before I dig into android platform for my infotainment system.
I have a custom built net-top based system built in my truck using a 7" touch screen, automatic power supply from mini-box.com, and a USB controller connected to my steering wheel control buttons. USB host is a must for me!
Sounds like a good setup. Honestly i'm fine with the stock radio in my truck, but I like to tinker.
Still haven't found the right device. I'm buying an Arnova 8 when they switch to the new model, and I'll give that a test fit.. see how it goes.
My plan is to set the device to have the display always on when plugged in. It's in settings or something. If it's wired to the ignition, should work right? We'll see.
I think if I get juice defender and set it to aggressive (no gps, no wifi, no bluetooth, no anything), it should stay on for a while in standby.
Well...
Seems like Android Tablets haven't matured enough for my project. I don't see a cheap 7" capacitive tablet with GPS coming out anytime soon. I'm going to go ahead and get a stereo with rear usb and aux ports, and make a mount for my phone. Should be fun. I'll make a new post with pictures and instructions, and link it here.
Oh well...
My 2 cents...
I've been looking to do the same thing. I've been digging around for a good table and this is the best I've got. Specs wise, it fits the bill. But I can't find any good reviews.
http://hotmid.com/wits-a81h-tablet-cortex-a8-7-capacitive-touchscreen-android-2-3-gps-wifi.html
Just in case that link doesn't work...
http://mp4nation.net/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=68&products_id=483
The big thing I'm looking for is a parts list. Amp, harnesses, etc. And a how-to would be the coolest as far as basic wiring for power and sound.
The xoom
T-Mobile G2 1.42 GHZ
I recommend the Asus eee pad transformer. 98percent the same as motorola xoom and lighter
Sent from my U20i using XDA Premium App
concept after-market product
What appears to be lacking in the market currently is a ready-to-use 2DIN or double-din head unit that is basically a permanent in-dash universal docking system such that you can simply pop in a 5 or 7 inch tablet (or adaptable for say a minimum 4 inch or greater smartphone?) with the head unit's rear interface designed for plugging into the car's power, sound system, and steering wheel controls just like an aftermarket care stereo. Sorta like the currently available units that utilize removable electronic faceplates-- except here the tablet or smartphone itself is the "removable faceplate".
Spepper, I have seen one on Ebay. Looks a bit dodgy but might be good:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/ES666MO-...153004?pt=Car_Audio_Video&hash=item336b841f6c
ES666MO Car DVD/GPS/ANDROIT TABLET
http://ca-fi.com/en/ it's not a removable tablet, but it's an all-in-one Android-powered double-din radio, looks awesome, but it comes at a price because it has all the hardware built-in
stevey500 said:
A software to be written to tell it to go to sleep immediately when "ac" power is removed would be nice, also, that app to tell music/radio to resume on "wake" would be nice.
That way it plays the true car infotainment roll.
A device with USB host would almost be required before I dig into android platform for my infotainment system.
I have a custom built net-top based system built in my truck using a 7" touch screen, automatic power supply from mini-box.com, and a USB controller connected to my steering wheel control buttons. USB host is a must for me!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The wake-up is covered using plug in launcher from the market.
I am checking if it can be used for the sleep portion.
Is there any benefits of the car mount specially designed for the infuse???
Also do get better gps accuracy with it?
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
Yes, the OEM car mount has a special GPS chip in it that allows for more accurate and faster locks......... oh wait.
In all seriousness, the benefits:
-GREAT build quality. You won't understand until it's in your hands.
-Samsung car dock app. Once you figure out how to navigate it, it's worth the download.
-Pair the dock with the scosche car charger and you'll actually be able to use Nav and other features on the phone and still keep your battery topped off. (Thanks Entropy)
-Mount it anywhere with the included plastic disk. (Adheres to any surface)
Thanks this really help
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
Is it adjustable in any way? Will it work with any types of cases? How about a simple skin like Zagg or Bodyguardz?
Because the phone is a large phone, the dock is also fairly large in comparison to other docks I've used.
It is fairly adjustable, but it is only plastic so it does have it's limitations.
I don't believe you'll be able to use any cases with it unmodified, as it's a pretty tight fit. I have a case for my phone that I just remove when I put it into the dock.
antuus said:
Yes, the OEM car mount has a special GPS chip in it that allows for more accurate and faster locks......... oh wait.
In all seriousness, the benefits:
-GREAT build quality. You won't understand until it's in your hands.
-Samsung car dock app. Once you figure out how to navigate it, it's worth the download.
-Pair the dock with the scosche car charger and you'll actually be able to use Nav and other features on the phone and still keep your battery topped off. (Thanks Entropy)
-Mount it anywhere with the included plastic disk. (Adheres to any surface)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a possibility that even with a high-current charger, any of the kernels in use might still allow battery drop when combined with nav.
I really need to do some nav testing with one of my non-charginghacks kernels.
However - I love my car dock! It doesn't affect GPS reception, it's fully passive in that regard, but it's still great. My only complaints are that only the stock media app gets routed to the external audio, and outgoing calls only ring on speaker, not on a BT headset. I'm pretty sure these are fixable.
I'm debating picking this up with my FAN discount over my lunch-break. I'd deeply appreciate a response to my question/concern about BT usage. In regard to the following snippet from Entropy -
Entropy512 said:
My only complaints are that only the stock media app gets routed to the external audio, and outgoing calls only ring on speaker, not on a BT headset. I'm pretty sure these are fixable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- my Questions are: Will it impact my usage (I use BT streaming for audio and BT for all incoming/outgoing calls. Works seamlessly as is, but I need a holder of some sort, AND I need to get around the nav-sucks-battery-dry-with-USB-cable-charger-connected issue!
Also:
Would I be better served with a generic phone holder, and a Samsung USB data/charge cable (on order) and a D1-D2 shorted USB adapter (my $1 Woot Belkin isn't, apparently - I understand the Amazon Scosche is and the Griffin dual-USB can be modded easily)
Is there a cheap AC-USB charger that works? My car has a very accessibly AC outlet, and only one cigarette lighter outlet!
TIA!
(ps: no mods/roots/other kernels for me for NOW! Sticking with stock.)
tishoo said:
I'm debating picking this up with my FAN discount over my lunch-break. I'd deeply appreciate a response to my question/concern about BT usage. In regard to the following snippet from Entropy -
- my Questions are: Will it impact my usage (I use BT streaming for audio and BT for all incoming/outgoing calls. Works seamlessly as is, but I need a holder of some sort, AND I need to get around the nav-sucks-battery-dry-with-USB-cable-charger-connected issue!
Also:
Would I be better served with a generic phone holder, and a Samsung USB data/charge cable (on order) and a D1-D2 shorted USB adapter (my $1 Woot Belkin isn't, apparently - I understand the Amazon Scosche is and the Griffin dual-USB can be modded easily)
Is there a cheap AC-USB charger that works? My car has a very accessibly AC outlet, and only one cigarette lighter outlet!
TIA!
(ps: no mods/roots/other kernels for me for NOW! Sticking with stock.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really haven't played with Bluetooth much at all, and I haven't ever tried A2DP streaming.
As to charging, there is no difference between the dock and a D1/D2 short adapter, other than the fact that it'll take the phone about 10-20 seconds (i.e. when the battery polling interval is up) to detect charge input after mounting on the dock. There's stuff in the kernel that delays Vin checking for a period of time after any dock is detected. If you insert into the dock and then turn on the car, voltage is detected instantly. The reason for this is that the phone sees the resistor on the ID pin and uses this to detect a dock/charger, instead of D1/D2 shorting. In fact D1/D2 become L/R audio out when docked and the D1/D2 pins of the charger cable are completely ignored (they're not connected to anything, since D1/D2 of the phone go to the 3.5mm audio jack.)
Unfortunately, after further investigation, even with a high-current charger you are at risk of battery drain with navigation. This isn't a flaw with the dock itself, it's a flaw with the phone's charge circuitry design. CPU/screen usage seems to be counted against the charge current limit. It's just that the most likely usage scenario for exceeding 600 mA of usage is when the phone is docked - navigation with screen at max brightness. I'm not sure if there is any way around this problem without at least root.
Options are:
1) Bump up the charge current limit. I still haven't released this due to wanting to do more research. Don't want to fry people's batteries.
2) Limit CPU speed to 800 MHz when navigating... Nav works fine with the CPU throttled, heck my last device was a 528 MHz MSM7200 and it was fast enough for Nav. Some people have indicated this alone was enough to get them under the 600 mA limit. I think root is required for this. I'm not sure if there's a way to do it w/o root.
3) Combine 2) with an undervolt kernel.
I'm probably going to email some people at Samsung with my charging observations this weekend.
Entropy512 said:
2) Limit CPU speed to 800 MHz when navigating... Nav works fine with the CPU throttled, heck my last device was a 528 MHz MSM7200 and it was fast enough for Nav. Some people have indicated this alone was enough to get them under the 600 mA limit. I think root is required for this. I'm not sure if there's a way to do it w/o root.
3) Combine 2) with an undervolt kernel.
I'm probably going to email some people at Samsung with my charging observations this weekend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THIS!
Thanks, first of all!
And as a nokia user, I continue to be amazed what old Nokia's could (and still) do with lower MHz until the ultra-inefficient VM-within-VM Java (ick) Android OS came out and begged for more power (GHz and WH!)
Oh well, off that soapbox now - but I already miss my nice Nokia 6650 (200MHz, 20MB ram and seamless Ovi Maps with voice navigation and satellite imagery and traffic). Sigh.
But the screen on the Samsung Infuse beckons, and so does it's charger. I think I'll hold off on a dock purchase for now!
I just got back from vacation and used nav, 80% brightness, music player and kept 100% battery with the adapter you recommended.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA Premium App
antuus said:
I just got back from vacation and used nav, 80% brightness, music player and kept 100% battery with the adapter you recommended.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you keep an eye on the temperature of your phone? I just went on a one hope drive to chumash casino and had navigation with music playing and my phone was at 128 degrees
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997
Eddie Bombay said:
Did you keep an eye on the temperature of your phone? I just went on a one hope drive to chumash casino and had navigation with music playing and my phone was at 128 degrees
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That isn't THAT hot for electronics. Especially if the sun was shining on the phone/dock. It'll probably come close to that even when fully powered off since it's black.
Entropy512 said:
That isn't THAT hot for electronics. Especially if the sun was shining on the phone/dock. It'll probably come close to that even when fully powered off since it's black.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah ok thanks for the info I was like wtf... Was about to stop at the market to get some eggs so I could fry a few on my phone.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997
Eddie Bombay said:
Ah ok thanks for the info I was like wtf... Was about to stop at the market to get some eggs so I could fry a few on my phone.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I just realized... 128F or 128C?
128F isn't that hot. 128C should've tripped a bunch of battery health alarms and probably would've crashed your phone.
Entropy512 said:
If you use the car dock, any high-current charger (like iPad chargers) will work with the Infuse.
<SNIP>
Also, if the CPU is running and the screen is on, CPU and screen usage count against the phone's charge current limit, so will significantly reduce charge rate. (Samsung noobed that one...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Entropy512 said:
Unfortunately, after further investigation, even with a high-current charger you are at risk of battery drain with navigation. This isn't a flaw with the dock itself, it's a flaw with the phone's charge circuitry design. CPU/screen usage seems to be counted against the charge current limit. It's just that the most likely usage scenario for exceeding 600 mA of usage is when the phone is docked - navigation with screen at max brightness.
<SNIP>
I'm probably going to email some people at Samsung with my charging observations this weekend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can reconfirm the inadequacy of the charging logic - (just for another datapoint - Entropy's comments are gold here!) ...
With Waze or Google Maps/Navigation running, background music streaming (Pandora etc) OR a phone call underway (50/50) and a relatively high brightness setting the whole time (65% this morning - it was SUNNY!) my setup *LOST* charge on my 50+ mile drive (from 78% to 73% or so). All sound over Bluetooth the whole way. WiFi off, GPS (duh) on.
My Setup: Cheap Woot!ed Belkin 9V-USB 1A adapter with an Amazon-sourced Samsung original data/charge cable and the Samsung car dock.
Workable - at this rate it would lose ALL charge AFTER my rather substantial gas (diesel!) tank is empty.
BUT the new kernel or a charging fix would be great because then I don't have to remember to enter the car with a fully charged phone, or conversely, worry that I may leave, and thn run out, since charge was depleted en route!
Entropy512 said:
I really haven't played with Bluetooth much at all, and I haven't ever tried A2DP streaming.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed, I answered my own question/concern here, so making a small contribution ...
I was impatient and picked up the dock and tested it on a long drive this morning.
I did NOT install Samsung's car dock software.
BT works great for A2DP streaming while the phone is in the dock. I don't care for or use the headphone out on the dock itself. Haven't tested it.
As soon as a call is made or received, sound starts to come out of the Infuse' speaker (presumably because I don't have anything plugged into the dock's headphone jack!). My car display shows the call in progress, but says it is set to 'Private' and gives me the option to go Handsfree. One flick of a steering wheel button, and all is well - sound resumes from the car speakers, and the car mike is reactivated.
TODO: Start music streaming via Bluetooth A2DP, make or receive a call and finish conversation over speakerphone (without switching to car BT), and then wait to see whether BT streaming resumes, or whether it continues to stream and playback over the phone's speaker.
I'm liking the dock a lot, so far. Not super strong, but nice-looking, seems like it'll serve my needs (as long as I don't break it!)
I wish I had picked it up with the 25% off email for accessories, but it isn't TOO pricey. And I did get the Infuse for 49, so ...
If you use SetCPU to limit CPU to 800 MHz when on AC you might be able to maintain charge. Someone else had success with that.
It's also apparently possible in theory to use a program called "Tasker" to implement application-dependent CPU profiles, such as drop to 800 when running Nav.
Once we get GB up and running and stable I'll work on stepcharging, it'll be a LOT easier in the GB kernels and safer than my current setup (straight charge current boost to 800 mA)
tasker is a nice app, but it is a pay app so it's not for everyone. i use it to set my phone to speakerphone when turned down on it's face and other things. i never tried the underclock with it, it i know you can run scripts with it so sure if you have an oc/uv kernel it is certainly posible, i have to check if there is actually a underclock feature in tasker for stock kernel users.
underclocking did help me yesterday, the phone is plenty fast at 800mhz and i was able to navigate with google and stream pandora the whole way home starting with a dead phone (i had to plug it into the dock just to turn it on)
i dont use samsungs car app, the normal home screen is just fine and tasker can setup your bluetooth for you when triggered by the dock if i remember right. you can use xcaliburinhands "galaxy dock sound redirector" if you dont use bt and want to use audio out from the dock.
in theory you can use an alternate home screen app for the dock setup with destop visualizer for larger shortcut buttons and use tasker to launch that for a completely custom car mode.
I am on MIUI rom, and just now I got the car mount. As mentioned, i cannot listen to music through the audio out port. Is this fixed? if so what I have to do? I dont have a BT in my car, so i cannot use bluetooth. Thanks in advacne
the dock is great if you like the car/home app. I have one, i use it on trips. The only con is that you have to take your phone out of the case to snap it in the dock.
The price has dropped to $17.99 on the AT&T website. Looks like they are clearing out inventory.
http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-ph...308&q_manufacturer=&q_model=#fbid=-st5kJltpIp
I'm gonna head to my retail AT&T store and see if it's same price. I'll confirm later today.
Got it and very happy. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-AS111-Fidelio-Docking-Smartphone/dp/B005LB9GQM
Wow! What's it like?
Please post a mini review! And some pics!
Cool! Got it online? Amazon? How much?
Sent from my HTC Desire S
The Dock connector works with Desire S? And its possible to charge battery connecting there?
I'll take some pics and post, but a quick review
£69 from Amazon.
The doc works and it does charge the phone. The Fidelio app connects bluetooth without a problem. Docking doesn't trigger Dock Mode, but I can do that with AutomateIt and the same would be true with Tasker, etc. I have set it so that when it is on the dock and bluetooth starts, it starts an app called Desk Clock Plus which I have put a button for Tune In Radio on. AutomateIt or Tasker could start anything of course. TuneIn has a sleep timer and an alarm, so I use that.
Sound quality is fine for me. It isn't Hi Fi, but it isn't cheapo either.
There is one problem - one of the two adjustable supports that props the phone either side of the USB connector does touch the volume control, so I had to shave the edge off it slightly. Works fine now. I think the placing isn't as secure as an iPhone, but it is solid enough. Because of the placement of the USB socket on the DS, the connector it has to be over to one side, but that means the phone is centralised on the dock.
Overall, I am happy with it. AMA else you want.
So by now, many of you have seen my posts on the forums about regarding docks and my, umm, almost passion for finding the right one I will use for a long time after hearing the news that the Samsung Infuse 4G dock has met it's fate (full post | direct link to the issue regarding why it won't work). I even went so far as to modify the Infuse dock so the S4 would fit in it, but it was just too much to ask for from the Infuse dock - working on both my Skyrocket and the SIII flawlessly, but not the S4 after hardware changes preventing it from charging and going into car mode.... so where to next? Follow along with me and hopefully you won't suffer too much through my wordy review!
Enter iBolt with their xProDock, currently $39.95 + shipping on Amazon with the Y-cable, magically designed to work on older Samsung phones like the SII, SIII, Notes, and more, but more impressively, the S4 as well. I also ordered the $7.99 AMPS Adapter Plate, and you'll see why I bought that soon.
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I already know what you're thinking, "the Infuse dock and other Samsung branded docks for Galaxy S series phones worked on the older phones, but not the S4, what makes this dock magically work?" Hell if I know, I'm not an electrical engineer, but it DOES:
MikaelPe said:
Hello everyone, with this post we can confirm that the Galaxy S4's vehicle "DockMode" works perfect with the xProDock. See image where it was checked today against AT&T's and Sprint's version. Friends from Europe have also confirmed it works fine with the International version.
Driving using the "DockMode" combined with a Bluetooth for hands-free is great as it turns your S4 into a virtual driving assistant and entertainment center, all while you stay away from texting while driving. Keeping the phone above the dashboard obviously also increases both cell phone and GPS reception. Stepping out of the car with a charged phone is another nice benefit with using a charging dock.!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also, a quote from their website discussing this feature:
The xProDock for Samsung will work with both the S4 and the Note II, as well as the S2 and S3. It will also start "Smartdocking" mode and you will receive our new "iBOLT Dock & Drive" app for free. Based on the dimensions published by Samsung it will also be compatible with all cases, including Otterbox Defender and Ballistic style cases.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First thing I did when I received the iBolt a day earlier than USPS estimated delivery was test it out on a 2.1A home charger to see if it would do exactly what the picture above showed, and it did - charged the S4 and sent it into Car Mode! I am not interested in their dock app though I suspect many of you will be, so I can't comment too much about how well the iBolt app works - I just need it to turn on car mode so that a custom Tasker setup will allow my phone to fire up Google Music. I use Tasker to start Google Music so that I can get in the car, turn on my music, and go - no fussing around with opening apps or connecting to Bluetooth, even though I have a dedicated Bluetooth audio stream capable in one of my cars, it just isn't as easy as using a cable if you've got one.... which brings me nicely to my next point, the integrated aux cable!
I have THREE main requirements for a dock - it holds my phone nicely without looking like junk or some hacked up mess, it charges my phone easily without having to worry about utilizing a stand-along cigarette lighter, and it has the ability to output audio somehow, Bluetooth only if absolutely necessary, but auxiliary output preferred. If you don't have to tie up Bluetooth media streaming for this every time you get in the car to drive 2 mins down the road for something, why deal with it? Just my opinion, but it's a very relevant opinion.... I use a Bluetooth headset throughout the day, especially while driving which many of you can relate to in places where it is already a requirement to have some form of hands-free talking while driving, so why use up both phone and media audio capabilities for Bluetooth? Not to mention, when a audible notification comes in, the device emits the sound from the speaker on the phone and then again through Bluetooth, attenuating the music being output from the phone slightly, whereas when you use an aux cable, it only fully mutes the music to notify you once and continues playing back music - or at least this is my experience, YMMV (especially since we're talking about cars here!).
I just want to make it clear even though I've said it before on other threads - I hate universal docks (citation). I hate them almost as much as I hate cases. I really do, other than the home docks I have for my phone and Nexus 7, phone uses the Seidio Innodock Jr that, once again, I have been able to utilize throughout multiple phone upgrades since going back to Samsung with the Skyrocket. Car docks should not be universal to the point of being so hideous that they make your car and your phone look like crap. If you drive a beater and own a flip phone, then by all means, press on with your $5.99 clamp on dock to keep your phone visible so you can read the time on it, after all, your car's stereo has never worked or received power, so that's the only way you're getting the time inside your car!
Going back to smartphones, beyond that, it's good for nothing, as those cheap-o docks ask you to obtain power through your own means, if you even opt for it at all. And if you stream Google Music or God forbid you decide to use Google Navigation in the car, you're going to be out of battery before you reach your destination, so that doesn't make any sense either. And then once you've got that awesome, shiny new phone of yours in there, you'll need to manually (read: using two hands) attach power from your worthless 1A cigarette lighter adapter you paid $0.99 with free shipping on eBay 4 years ago AND THEN you'll have to manually (again: two hands) connect your aux cable to the top of the phone to get music, and you mind as well have something as hideous as this in your car - this is a pic of a customer of mine who just loves to turn a good thing into something just awful:
Note that this is NOT a picture from any of my cars! Anyways.... back to the topic. Am I being selfish, lazy, a little arrogant regarding the amount of time spent docking your phone and connecting it to your car? ABSOLUTELY. Probably has something to do with the fact that I'm American, I don't know, #firstworldproblems hashtag this all you want, but that's how it goes, I would rather spend a little more time getting the dock setup perfectly ONCE than having to fuss with wires and a cheap-o universal dock EVERY time I get in the car, but that's understandable, isn't it? Which is why I hate universal docks.... they don't allow you to speed up the process because they aren't designed for your actual device. You have to manually connect everything, and that always requires two hands.... until now!
iBolt figured it out with the xProDock. Not only will this thing work with everything from a naked Galaxy SIII Mini up to a Note II with an Otterbox on it, your device can be installed one-handed, positioned horizontally in landscape mode or vertically in portrait mode. I used to have all my older, smaller screen phones mounted in the car in landscape but now since there's enough real estate on the screen for me to read clearly while sitting all the way back in the seat, I run them all in portrait. So imagine my surprise seeing a universal dock that can mount the phone quickly with one hand in portrait mode! It holds your phone in so tightly with that quick flip inside the arms of the dock that you can even connect the MicroUSB cable just below it with one hand as well! And the best part is that you ONLY have to connect that one cable - it utilizes dock audio via an Y-cable aux output, charges the device, AND sends it into car mode for me, all in the speed of Snapdragon 600.
So here's what I've got going on. Daily driver that I spend most of my time in is a 2009 Nissan Altima 2.5SL with upgraded everything, basically a 3.5 without the V6 motor and not as good as I would have liked gas mileage - not important, I won't be keeping this thing for long anyways, despite all the stereo and custom paint work I have done to it. I personally think ProClip / Brodit makes the best vehicle mounts, and I typically buy a new one for each vehicle I purchase, JUST the vehicle mount and not the device mount, otherwise this would be a review for them and not iBolt! What's my problem with ProClip / Brodit? Nothing really, aside from the price - the mounts are pretty stellar and I've had them with past devices, but I'll be damned if I'm going to spend $79 for the RIGHT one, the hard wired cable mount and not the cheapy cigarette lighter that probably only outputs 1A anyways. Come to think of it, maybe the hardwire one is only capable of 1A too.... but I digress, someone will have to inform me about that later, not relevant to this discussion. The point is, if I only spent $14 for the Infuse dock nearly 2 years ago when I had my Skyrocket and used it through ownership of my SIII, why in the hell would I spend $79 on a device mount specific for only one phone that I won't keep for years at a time? Besides, they took too long coming out with theirs - everyone else made cases and such so far, what's the hold up on this year's most popular Android device?
The ProClip mount I chose for my Altima goes just below and to the right of the radio so it is perfectly angled to my view. With the Infuse dock as you'll see below, instead of tearing apart the ProClip mount constantly when changing devices, I just stuck on some industrial strength 3M Velcro tape (Amazon link, they sell it in smaller lengths if you just want a little bit to try it out, but I use this all the time for applications, I buy it in as much bulk as I can!). It holds the dock in place and has NEVER come undone even in the hot Florida sun until I pulled the crap out of it like you see below when I removed it for good.
You can see how flush mounted the infuse dock got because I didn't employ any part of the suction cup arm mount, just the back of the Infuse device mount and the ProClip, that's it! I wanted to do the same thing with the xProDock, but unfortunately, it has a crazy ball-mount system on it for the average customer to use and use WELL I might add, but for me, I might have to cut and sand that whole thing down, so here's what I did, for now at least....
That's the AMPS adapter plate that is NOT included with the xProDock, but was purchased to test and see if it would work for what I wanted it to do without having to tear off the threads where the collar attaches to the ball mounted arm on the suction cup OR this extra AMPS plate. More info on what I thought about it coming soon.
The problem I anticipated with the iBolt was the clearance issues when the phone is fully seated up against the back of the mount - constant in and out of the device may start to mark up the back of it. Also, you can see just how stiff the cable is considering it can't even be clipped in right now in order to bend correctly to connect with the device!
I'm not going to complain about that part much since I believe it may become a little easier to work with over time and use, but something needed to be done about the hard plastic face of the mount. I grabbed some black alcantara "suede" I had from another project, cut it to fit, and fastened it with 3M Super 77 spray. If you've never used this before, this isn't the project to learn on, so try it out a few times with other fabric before attempting this! Once it sticks, it's not going to want to come off without removing the adhesive, and once it's cured, it will mark up the plastic, requiring another solution like Goo Gone at best or paint thinner at worst to remove the adhesive. Here's the end result of the alcantara backing:
Sorry iBolt for covering up your company name!!! You may notice from this view that the single mounting arm on the right side of the device is fixed and is always extended. The dual mounting arms on the left side are actually adjustable and are collapsed into the base at this time. The single mounting arm is a little long for my taste, and while I know its job is to grip the phone if it were wearing a case without having to extend it like you would the dual arms, it might make sense to have this a little shorter. I've already noticed it has got in the way while trying to tap on screen items that are on the right side of the screen, especially while searching for contacts using the slider to scroll up and down for the first letter of the name!
And now for the finished product, installed and with Google Music open:
Wide shot of the interior from the driver's point of view, you can see the cable and the glow from the soft mounted Escort Passport 9500ix radar detector on the dash (this is a slow car, I don't need to waste a hard mount kit on this! I just remove it and use it in the other, fast car!):
So, how do I like it so far? I think the mount is a little unsteady for my taste right now, which is to be expected from being so far away from flat base since I'm using the AMPS ball mounting plate with Velcro on it and not a flush-mounted surface. I still may end up grinding off the threads as I already said already, sanding it down smooth on the back side of the mount, and putting on the Velcro straight to that. Haven't decided if I want to "ruin" this thing right this minute or use it for some time and see if I need to go that extra step right now, but I'll let you know what I end up doing!
Another quirk I'm trying to resolve is that while dock mode does indeed launch, it doesn't launch into CAR mode specifically - the dock mode that launches on this phone is classified as a HOME dock and not the CAR dock with the steering wheel icon. So now I need to reconfigure my dock settings to get everything working properly, namely needing to figure out how to keep screen on while docked and running Google Music, since that option isn't available in Android 4.2 according to Tasker.... Navigation will keep the screen on natively, that's how the app was designed, but need to tweak a little more to get the screen to stay on with Google Music running as well.
My advice that I've been giving since I received this phone is to make sure that when you connect the USB cable to a USB port, you need to make sure it is at least 2A to get this phone charging while using GPS or streaming music. Upgrade to a 2A port and keep in mind that if you find one with two USB ports, it will most likely split power between the two.
I look forward to trying out this dock with one of the awesome ITSKINS cases they are asking forum members to test out! As awesome as those cases look because they use REAL carbon fiber, something I'm quite the connoisseur of, I'm actually really interested in testing one out, thus converting me from being an avid hater of cases to wanting one in the same way that iBolt convinced me to start liking universal docks!
IN CONCLUSION: If I haven't put you to sleep yet reading all this, or if you just skipped down to this, the iBolt came through in the end. It is an extremely sturdy universal dock, but don't call it universal with the speed and versatility that the xProDock has for the newest smartphones! It does everything the Samsung branded Infuse 4G dock did with the SIII but couldn't do with the S4 - charge the device, send it to a docking mode, and output dock audio, and does it for ALL the devices in the Galaxy phone lineup, not just the older ones SII and SIII like the Infuse did! You can use your own charging solution, and you should, considering that old 1A cigarette lighter USB port you've got won't work well with the S4, you'll need a 2A one for this job. It clamps the device well and allows for one-handed phone insertion and USB port connection, all familiar motions if you've ever used an Infuse dock in the past! I like how they give you the option to hard mount it with the AMPS Adapter Plate too, considering I'm not getting my device specific mount but rather this universal dock, I'd like to be able to hard mount it instead of make it look tacky (IMO) on the windshield. The iBolt xProDock is a good value considering I hope to be able to use this with future devices.
PLEASE NOTE - I'm not being compensated for this review, I'm just a fan of helping others with my results considering I have a lot of experience with both technology AND customizing vehicles. I am in NO way advertising for any company I have mentioned in this review, I actually bought this dock on my own, as you can see here:
Reserved for updates, longer term reviews, etc.
Thanks Mike! I'm probably going to pick one of these up but I'm not going to be doing that much customization. The main 3 things I do with my docked phone in the car are play music, use navigation when needed, and/or video tape idiots on the road.
There's nothing like a good dash cam video of someone driving like a moron.
Nice mention of #firstworldproblems. I always like to check that out for a laugh or to remind myself how good life really is.
Haha, glad you liked it.... I'd love to be able to use my phone as a dash cam, but I hate having it so far away and / or above my head - when mounted low on the windshield, it's too far away from me like my radar detector is, and when it's above my head, I hate having to take my hand that far off the wheel to check something! No texting and driving, just changing tracks or what not....
But yeah, I'll get a vehicle one day that has a perfect location for me to mount devices that is close to the wheel or radio and has a perfect view of the windshield to tape some of the craziness I see down here in FL on a daily basis! My track car has a fixed camera mount between the two seats and that catches all the action, unfortunately it's just what you'd see inside a race track and nothing "fun" like idiot drivers on the roads....
Ha! I feel the same you do about docks. Great to see someone else with a similar passion. I'm getting the S4 later this week and I'll be ordering this dock shortly after. I was looking for a reasonable option to use with a case too. I never used a case because it always interfered with my Infuse Dock on my E4GT and then my SGS3. Guess I might be able to get a case now to get a kickstand back like my OG Evo.
I'm probably going to have to tweak my desk dock with a little Dremmel action like you did for your infuse dock. Those squared corners are causing a real problem. I have the Mugen dock that sits the phone in portrait mode on my desk. Doesn't launch dock though (never has, it's cheap). These air gestures seem like what my set up has been waiting for.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
mmark27 said:
Ha! I feel the same you do about docks. Great to see someone else with a similar passion. I'm getting the S4 later this week and I'll be ordering this dock shortly after. I was looking for a reasonable option to use with a case too. I never used a case because it always interfered with my Infuse Dock on my E4GT and then my SGS3. Guess I might be able to get a case now to get a kickstand back like my OG Evo.
I'm probably going to have to tweak my desk dock with a little Dremmel action like you did for your infuse dock. Those squared corners are causing a real problem. I have the Mugen dock that sits the phone in portrait mode on my desk. Doesn't launch dock though (never has, it's cheap). These air gestures seem like what my set up has been waiting for.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dock + Air Gestures = Heaven on a device! Love using it in the car, it's a very fresh take on technology, for sure....
Still testing it out with the Velcro on the AMPS mount instead of tearing off the ball bearing, loving everything about this dock so far though! Just a little wiggle room due to the Velcro adjusting itself when mounting the device to the dock, and then again when plugging the cable in one handed - ONE HANDED! On a "universal" dock! That in itself is reason enough to order one of these.... haha
Were you able to get the aux audio to work? Mine doesn't seem to output to my car speakers with the dock accessory settings checked.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app
corygibbons said:
Were you able to get the aux audio to work? Mine doesn't seem to output to my car speakers with the dock accessory settings checked.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strange.... mine works just fine, have you contacted iBolt about it? Maybe something is wrong with the connection inside the sliding door on the backside of the mount, slide it to unlock the cover and check to make sure they're both connected well, and then make sure your aux connection to your car's plug is firmly connected, that's about the only things I can think to check.
On another topic - one thing I wanted to mention again was the screen on while docked function.... I'm currently using Tasker to set the screen on for 24 hours when connected to the dock and turn it back to 1 minute when undocked, but for some reason, Tasker isn't the best at following ALL the rules when closing out a task! Does anyone have any suggestions for keeping the screen on while docked? I know how to keep the screen on while charging just fine, that's easy to do through the phone's settings menu, but I don't want to have the screen on while it's sitting on my desktop charger in my bedroom or once I get wireless charging for my desk, that's absurd, I just need to keep the screen on while docked ONLY. It worked perfectly in car mode on the SIII, but since this isn't car mode, again, I'm trying to get that working without having 20 apps pointing to each other saying "turn on this mode only to turn on this setting and go to the next thing." Seems a little redundant and maddening all at the same time!
Posting that in other forums to see if anyone knows the answer, will edit this if I can find some help elsewhere too :good:
The Car Home I use on my Evo 3D supports it.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...GwsMSwyLDEsIm5ldC5jd2ZrLmlnODguY2FyaG9tZTMiXQ..
There's a bunch of features like that. Plug in = power on wifi, gps, keep screen on, etc.
You may have already done this based on what you said, but it took me a minute or two to figure out, so I figured I'd mention it. You have to make sure that you have "Audio output mode - Use external speakers when device is docked" is checked under Accessory settings. If that isn't working also try the dock with some other speaker setup just to check.
M3wThr33 said:
The Car Home I use on my Evo 3D supports it.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...GwsMSwyLDEsIm5ldC5jd2ZrLmlnODguY2FyaG9tZTMiXQ..
There's a bunch of features like that. Plug in = power on wifi, gps, keep screen on, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right, but I don't want a fully featured Car Home app since I just use Google Music or Navigation while driving - I really just don't need all the bells and whistles, I just want the physical interaction of plugging in the device to automatically set the phone into a docked mode that keeps the screen on, or in other words, car mode that does that inherently. It worked just fine in the past, but since 4.1.2, this whole docking situation has been screwed with unnecessarily by Google! Hmmm... I just thought of something.... brb to test just having Tasker start that Car Mode Control app and nothing else! May have figured it out here!
EDIT - IT WORKS! Okay, shouldn't be this excited, but it's nearly 2:30AM, and once again, I've spent too much time working on something related to my phone.... so here's what I've got going on, and even though I kind of hate having to jump through this many hoops to get it working the way it was before, there's an added "benefit" of doing it this way, and here's why it's in quotes:
WHAT THIS DOES - Sets the iBolt xProDock "docking mode" into "car mode," which is two different things. Docking mode does not keep the screen on while docked, which is a problem if you use your phone to access apps like Google Music and Navigation while driving (note how I wasn't talking about texting and driving for a reason!), but it does give you a cool menu bar on your pull down notification menu of recently used apps while docked, can be kind of useful if you regularly only use a few select apps while docked. Car mode keeps the screen on, but since the iBolt dock and everything else after 4.1.2 won't recognize a dock mount instantly turning on car mode, this is how you can trick it into doing so and also retain the dock mode notification menu apps list!
STEP ONE - Download Tasker or A2DP Volume (the latter is free to use in case you didn't want to pay for Tasker) and also Car Mode Control
STEP TWO - Use Tasker or A2DP Volume to manipulate the Home Dock (what iBolt is using to go into docking mode) to automatically launch Car Mode Control. How to do this depends on the app, but it's pretty simple for either one.
With Tasker, start a profile for State > Docked > Type > Desk. For the Task you'll need to perform, I first have Keyguard set to Off to turn on the screen and unlock the device, then Load App > Car Mode Control. For the Exit Task, I kill everything - Car Mode first, Music, Navigation, Maps, all with "Use Root > On" selected for some extra power to do what I want it to do. Then I have it set to turn Keyguard back On, but that doesn't hardly work for some reason. You'll want to either create another profile for State > Docked > Type > Car or use A2DP below, at the point where I have an asterisk. If you're wondering why I didn't use State > Docked > Type > Any, it's because you want the Desk dock to launch the Car dock - doing Any will just confuse Tasker for a second or two and load the Desk dock and then the Car dock, and THEN the Car dock again since you're setting it to effectively start the Car Mode Control app.
With A2DP Volume, a handy app you should have anyways regardless of whether or not you use A2DP streaming through Bluetooth, create a profile for Home Dock first, and have it ONLY Start app on connect > Car Mode Control. Then go back one, and edit the * Car Mode profile, and this is where you have it launch just one app of your choosing, mine being Google Music. You can also check Stop app on disconnect, and anything else you might find useful - like setting media volume, etc.
With either path you chose, using Tasker AND / OR A2DP Volume, you should have two icons on your notification bar, one for the Dock Mode and the other for Car Mode.... When you pull down your notification bar, you'll see the list of recent apps for Dock Mode, and an ongoing notification to click and turn off Car Mode (unfortunately, that's kind of stupid, but oh well, it's always been like that). And the best part, the point of this whole post...... the screen WILL stay on while docked!
Hope this helped someone other than just myself, man, it's quite the headache and I've got apps pointing at other apps all over the place for no damn reason, but this certainly does the job!
KryptosXLayer2 said:
physical interaction of plugging in the device to automatically set the phone into a docked mode that keeps the screen on
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I use the "Stay Awake" option under Developer Options within settings. This keeps it awake while charging at other times too, but I prefer that. If I want the screen off, then I hit the power button. The screen does dim after a while, but it doesn't go off.
ramk13 said:
I use the "Stay Awake" option under Developer Options within settings. This keeps it awake while charging at other times too, but I prefer that. If I want the screen off, then I hit the power button. The screen does dim after a while, but it doesn't go off.
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Right, I mentioned above that I didn't want that because of how my phone is propped up on a desktop charger in my bedroom - the screen comes on one time during the night for any reason and it's on the whooooooooole night!
KryptosXLayer2 said:
Strange.... mine works just fine, have you contacted iBolt about it? Maybe something is wrong with the connection inside the sliding door on the backside of the mount, slide it to unlock the cover and check to make sure they're both connected well, and then make sure your aux connection to your car's plug is firmly connected, that's about the only things I can think to check.
On another topic - one thing I wanted to mention again was the screen on while docked function.... I'm currently using Tasker to set the screen on for 24 hours when connected to the dock and turn it back to 1 minute when undocked, but for some reason, Tasker isn't the best at following ALL the rules when closing out a task! Does anyone have any suggestions for keeping the screen on while docked? I know how to keep the screen on while charging just fine, that's easy to do through the phone's settings menu, but I don't want to have the screen on while it's sitting on my desktop charger in my bedroom or once I get wireless charging for my desk, that's absurd, I just need to keep the screen on while docked ONLY. It worked perfectly in car mode on the SIII, but since this isn't car mode, again, I'm trying to get that working without having 20 apps pointing to each other saying "turn on this mode only to turn on this setting and go to the next thing." Seems a little redundant and maddening all at the same time!
Posting that in other forums to see if anyone knows the answer, will edit this if I can find some help elsewhere too :good:
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It was the connection on the back. Thanks!
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app
I just got my iBolt dock today. I took it for a spin and it looks great. The USB cable is VERY stiff and I needed 2 hands to get it in. I came back and saw that you pulled the wire out of the clip in the back. I'm going to try that next time I use it. I'm hopeful that over time it will loosen up a bit and I'll get used to one-handed use but it's still nothing like the old Samsung docks.
Other than that, the car goes into Dock mode and routes audio perfectly. I don't like the samsung desk clock app or whatever comes up for dock mode so I'm going to work on getting a proper car launcher app. The official iBolt app and Car Home Ultra are both contenders.
To help with launching directly into a car app, I'm going to tape an NFC tag onto the car dock and program it to initiate various tasks in an app I have called NFC Task Launcher. It can do just about anything and everything.
snakecharmer23 said:
I just got my iBolt dock today. I took it for a spin and it looks great. The USB cable is VERY stiff and I needed 2 hands to get it in. I came back and saw that you pulled the wire out of the clip in the back. I'm going to try that next time I use it. I'm hopeful that over time it will loosen up a bit and I'll get used to one-handed use but it's still nothing like the old Samsung docks.
Other than that, the car goes into Dock mode and routes audio perfectly. I don't like the samsung desk clock app or whatever comes up for dock mode so I'm going to work on getting a proper car launcher app. The official iBolt app and Car Home Ultra are both contenders.
To help with launching directly into a car app, I'm going to tape an NFC tag onto the car dock and program it to initiate various tasks in an app I have called NFC Task Launcher. It can do just about anything and everything.
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Glad you got it and you like it too! I have NFC Task Launcher too, unfortunately, my pack of TecTiles are useless even with that because the S4 doesn't read that format any longer.... so I'll have to wait until I can get my hands on something a little more, hmmm, stable and long lasting than Samsung's own TecTiles! haha
KryptosXLayer2 said:
Glad you got it and you like it too! I have NFC Task Launcher too, unfortunately, my pack of TecTiles are useless even with that because the S4 doesn't read that format any longer.... so I'll have to wait until I can get my hands on something a little more, hmmm, stable and long lasting than Samsung's own TecTiles! haha
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Samsung really bungled that with TecTiles and forward-compatibility. I'm happy I didn't opt for them when I first started using NFC. I got a pack of the NFC Hobbyist starter kit from tagstand.com. They work just fine with my S4 but my only complaint is that once in a while I have to try twice for it to recognize the tag.
Tough USB Plug
I'm getting a little more used to the USB connector after a few days. I unhooked it in the back so it has a better range of motion. Also, after my car sat in the sun for a few hours, the heat really loosened it up.
You seem very knowledgeable about these docks. I was wondering whether you know if the in-vehicle charging dock for the S3 will work with the S4. I like the look of that dock more.
hamzer11 said:
You seem very knowledgeable about these docks. I was wondering whether you know if the in-vehicle charging dock for the S3 will work with the S4. I like the look of that dock more.
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Which dock are we talking about for the SIII, the Infuse one we've been using in the past? So do I, but that's the whole point of this thread, the Infuse dock will not work, causing me to start my search for a new dock!