Bimmerjo
Member
Wow Dave, (if I may call you that) nice post!
Of course. And it does. Lots of players can support playback from USB... the GPS device in my car, for example, can play directly from the DROID, or a USB stick, or SDHC card, or an iPod...Well, pretty much all media players that support USB are using it the same way (mount the device as storage media) so I think it makes sense for Droid to support that mode of operation.
Bump...
Ok so for those of us who don't have bluetooth or fancy car stereos with USB hookups, would there be a way to design a dock that would simultaneously charge the phone and allow an audio hookup through only the micro USB connector?
If this can be done, a dock could easily be designed that would convert the data into an anolog sound signal.
This dock could have the standard mini stereo connection and a charger connection.
Real USB doesn't stream analog audio... which seems to be what you're after. The RAZR did a hack, to reuse the USB jack for analog cellular headsets.. but that's of no value for high quality audio, anyway.
The iPhone dock does support an analog audio output, which made some sense back in the early 1990s when that iPod dock was first invented. But this isn't the early 1990s. The DROID does a fine job delivering audio via Bluetooth. And this is far superior.
Ok, first, the iPod... those iPod docks only work with iPods. Buy another kind of player, and you're SOL... they don't work with your dock. They also force the form-factor of the iPod.. they can't make one that's larger or much smaller without killing the dock function.
Now Bluetooth... it's an industry standard. I have a nice Altec Lansing SoundBlade sitting over on my desk, which works just dandy from the DROID. The DROID itself uses far less power hooking to that device than it would to an analog dock (because it's just 1mW Bluetooth). Bluetooth also does the remote control standard, so I can FF/REV via buttons on the Soundblade. And I don't even need to take the DROID out of my pocket. Wired docks are SO 20th Century. And if I get a different phone in a few years, it'll work with all the BT accessories I have today, not need toss it all out if I don't buy a Motorola product.
No, that's a bit fail. I don't want to be locked into a single vendor (like Apple) or even a single PC. There's usually no need to sync a DROID... if you make changes to stuff on the DROID, it just automatically syncs to your web-based things. Ok, it is still new (keep in mind, there was a decade or so of iPod before the iPhone came out). Right now, most of the stuff syncs "to the cloud". But in the long run, there's no reason you couldn't have any and all PCs you want also sync to the cloud, so your local apps would just automagically stay in touch with the DROID (or any other Android device).
As for connections... the DROID hooks up via USB, just as it should. And via an industry standard connector (and one engineered for 10's of thousands of plug/unplug cycles)... why would I want something proprietary. And when it's connected, it's a USB storage device. So it works on any platform that can talk to USB storage devices.. I could even hook it to my Sanyo camcorder and download files. Why would I want the proprietary nonsense you get with the iPod/iPhone?
Wired died a long time ago... Apple's just still reacting, poorly. Even if you want PC sync and all, why do you even need to hook it up. You have Wifi on the DROID. Now, sure, Google is all about the net, so media sync via internet may be too slow, but every other kind of sync (contacts, calendar, etc.) is fundamentally superior, because you never NEED to sync.. it just happens.
As usual, depends on what you mean by "best". If you mean "least cables", then yes. It may not be best for those with factory stereos that don't support A2DP and have no intention of adding A2DP support.It would appear that the best way to get an audio signal to an aftermarket stereo, or any other device for that matter, would be through bluetooth.
Ok... for the record, the ipod does NOT send audio through usb.
While the connection to the pc may be usb, the audio signal is sent through different 3 different conductors of that same cable. When the ipod is connected to an aftermarket radio that will actually control the ipod, it is doing so through usb mass storage.
The micro usb connector used to charge the DROID does have more conductors, but not enough to do audio without actually using the 3.5mm at the top of the phone.
Just as I wrote here back in March.It would appear that the best way to get an audio signal to an aftermarket stereo, or any other device for that matter, would be through bluetooth.
A friend of mine has one of the newer Kenwood in-dash nav/tv's and synced his DROID to it. VOILA!!!... not only did he have hands free calling AND get the audio from his DROID through his head unit, but he could actually access some (not all) of his apps from his head unit without ever having to touch his phone. The main app of interest to me was Pandora. And YES... full control over Pandora via the kenwood head unit.
My reasoning for wanting a one cable audio/charging connector is that I no longer want a head unit clogging up my dash board. I was running a pc in car for all multimedia and nav purposes. My mobo died and since then have been using my DROID coupled with an Audiocontrol Three.1. Still trying to fine tune the sound b4 I finish all the fab work. But one of my hang ups have been ease of connection. I may try to wire something through the micro usb, or just eventually give up and go with a blue tooth audio adapter.
.....The MicroB connector used on the Droid is essentially a thinner, rugged version of the Mini-B connector, which has 5 pins. These are used for power, ground, and the two USB clock/data pins.....
I do have a question specifically related to the pin configurations of typical Droid USB cable (male TypeA to male Micro-B).
Could you please tell me what number pin (as labeled in the pic below) corresponds to the function of power / ground / data / data / on-the-go for the Micro-B example?