Well I waited and waited and waited for the landscape pogo pin docks for my Galaxy Nexus LTE to become available. When I bought my Gnex around launch date I assumed there would be some perfect docks available shortly for both car docking and desktop docking that utilized the 3 metalic pins (pogo) side of the phone. Man was I mistaken! This assumption was made based on flashy video reviews and written reviews around the Internet showing these car and desktop pogo pin docks in action. You know what they say about assuming....
First experience with a 'docking' station for my Gnex was the Verizon Car mount: Galaxy Nexus Yes I know it says car mount but in all my excitement and assuming I told the Verizon folks I also wanted the Verizon Car Dock. Verizon rep joyfully said sure no problem we have those in stock. I was soon to find out there were no pogo pins this car dock... ummm... car mount thus it really wasn't a car dock at all but simply a mount as listed
Not a huge deal since I always had to plug in my D1 anyway via the USB to charge in the car. But the D1 Motorola dock was a dock since it put the phone into docking mode via magnetic sensing. CarHome in the market comes to the rescue, well sort of. CarHome Ultra is an excellent car home app and will put the phone in Car dock mode and automatically turn things on such as speaker phone for calls. But CarHome Ultra needs to be turned on somehow since your not really docking the phone but mounting it and then plugging in the power via USB car charger. There are ways to do this using NFC tags and applications in the market to automatically start CarHome Ultra. I have yet to implement this solution but probably will once I get around to tinkering with NFC tags. In the mean time I turn on CarHome Ultra with a click once the phone is in the Verizon/Samsung car mount and plugged into power via USB. Acceptable solution for now. Perhaps a Car dock (not mount or charging only) that is so widely sought after that uses the pogo pins will eventually make it's way to market for the Galaxy Nexus LTE SCH-i515.
In the mean time if you have the inclination and are bent on having a pogo pin car charging mount then check out making your own pogo pin car dock using your existing Verizon Car mount at least for charging purposes. Still doesn't put the phone in dock mode using just the pogo pins (at least it's current iteration AFAIK) but that's what NFC tags can be used to accomplish.
[MOD] Pogo Pin Charging for Verizon Car Dock - xda-developers
The months went by and my Gnex had at least a home in the car to reside spitting out Navigation instruction while I travel about. Sadly though my Gnex was still homeless at home. No dock no mount no stand to reside while being charged. It just lay there with a cord protruding from it's underbelly while my D1 still sits happily in it's dock beaming but quite lonely itself since it gets no use whatsoever (sorry my little D1 friend and at least you had docking homes no matter where you went). I finally decided it was time to give my Gnex some sort of home at home. After all my Gnex had a home away from home
Now for my experience thus far looking for a desktop dock solution for my Gnex. I noticed posts and news reports around the Internet that finally the long awaited pogo pin desktop dock was available (a true docking station putting the phone into dock mode when using Android 4.0.4 and up). However it was selling for $90 bucks! I needed two of these. So I decided to wait. I noticed reports this dock was selling out but then back available again on Samsung's website still for $90. I was ready to resign to the $90 price tag and get a couple of these since at least it was a true desktop docking station. Clicked on the link and was greeted by a 'page not found'. I'm thinking what the heck where did it go? Figured ok I would call up Verizon and order in that Multimedia desktop dock they told me would be available maybe a couple weeks from when I got my Gnex. It's been a couple months now so surely some sort of desktop dock would be available by now from Big Red right? Wrong! Not available, out of stock, page not found (really I kid you not). Ok so Samsung must have this Multimedia dock, a portrait dock that uses the USB connection but is a docking station putting the phone in home dock mode and has additional functionality such as HDMI out AFAIK. Nope, not listed there either.
So China here I come! eBay to the rescue for a Chinese knockoff of the Verizon/Samsung desktop dock. Well not so fast. While there are charging stations that may work ok that are available on eBay for my Gnex and cheap they can take upwards of a month to receive and no telling how well these work. Posted in some threads asking if anyone else had tried these Chinese desktop charging stations. I really just wanted to give my Gnex a charging station home at this point. One poster wrote back on GalaxyNexusForum.com his experience with one of these. Ummm... not so good
Worked ok but sounded like I might as well pursue making my own if going this route. I already knew of a thread on XDA where I guy did just that! [MOD][PROJECT] Pogo Charging Dock - xda-developers Pretty darn creative but not something I feel like doing. The search continued. Posters had written in their experience with the Seidio Innodock Jr. a generic desktop charger Part # CRJHNX1-BKC. Mixed reviews. Watched a video review. Hmmm... looked like it may actually do what I needed and give my Gnex it's place to live and charge while at home Ordered in two of these. One for me and one for the girlfriend. These Angels from Heaven arrived today.
Ok I am exagerating the Seidio Innodock Jr. is not a Angel from Heaven but I am so happy to have at least a charging station without breaking out my power saws and sanders to make one it's my saving grace for Gnex desktop charging. The Seidio seems to work well so far. The Gnex actually mounts on the USB pin sticking up that swivels back and forth. Keep in mind this is a generic charging station so you have to make a concerted effort to mount it but really not that difficult, it just doesn't slide into place you have to position the Gnex over the pin and mount it... somehow that doesn't sound right or maybe it does... lol... anyway... once mounted the Gnex gracefully rests against the back of the Seidio. I wouldn't say it's firmly mounted since the USB pin is the only thing holding the Gnex in place. But it does work and is realativly sturdy unless you poke at it hard which would knock it over Still no automatically going into home mode since this really isn't a dock. Unless you use an app such as Alarm Clock Plus in the market which has a setting option to fire up a familur home mode found on my D1 when docked. The setting in Alarm Clock Plus senses when the phone is plugged into power and brings up the home screen with a clock and weather, dims after a period of time and works pretty much like docking the D1 does. Here is a video review I came across that describes pretty well how this Seidio dock... errr... I mean charging station... works :biggrin: Good luck in your ventures looking for a dock or at least charging station for your Gnex. Write back your thoughts and experience with various solutions for a Car Dock/Charging and Desktop Dock/Charging stations. So far I am pleased with the Seidio while not a perfect solution it does have some added benefit such as being able to have a case on the phone and still putting it in the charging station.
[video=youtube;dVpS03vaHu0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVpS03vaHu0[/video]
First experience with a 'docking' station for my Gnex was the Verizon Car mount: Galaxy Nexus Yes I know it says car mount but in all my excitement and assuming I told the Verizon folks I also wanted the Verizon Car Dock. Verizon rep joyfully said sure no problem we have those in stock. I was soon to find out there were no pogo pins this car dock... ummm... car mount thus it really wasn't a car dock at all but simply a mount as listed
Not a huge deal since I always had to plug in my D1 anyway via the USB to charge in the car. But the D1 Motorola dock was a dock since it put the phone into docking mode via magnetic sensing. CarHome in the market comes to the rescue, well sort of. CarHome Ultra is an excellent car home app and will put the phone in Car dock mode and automatically turn things on such as speaker phone for calls. But CarHome Ultra needs to be turned on somehow since your not really docking the phone but mounting it and then plugging in the power via USB car charger. There are ways to do this using NFC tags and applications in the market to automatically start CarHome Ultra. I have yet to implement this solution but probably will once I get around to tinkering with NFC tags. In the mean time I turn on CarHome Ultra with a click once the phone is in the Verizon/Samsung car mount and plugged into power via USB. Acceptable solution for now. Perhaps a Car dock (not mount or charging only) that is so widely sought after that uses the pogo pins will eventually make it's way to market for the Galaxy Nexus LTE SCH-i515.In the mean time if you have the inclination and are bent on having a pogo pin car charging mount then check out making your own pogo pin car dock using your existing Verizon Car mount at least for charging purposes. Still doesn't put the phone in dock mode using just the pogo pins (at least it's current iteration AFAIK) but that's what NFC tags can be used to accomplish.
[MOD] Pogo Pin Charging for Verizon Car Dock - xda-developersThe months went by and my Gnex had at least a home in the car to reside spitting out Navigation instruction while I travel about. Sadly though my Gnex was still homeless at home. No dock no mount no stand to reside while being charged. It just lay there with a cord protruding from it's underbelly while my D1 still sits happily in it's dock beaming but quite lonely itself since it gets no use whatsoever (sorry my little D1 friend and at least you had docking homes no matter where you went). I finally decided it was time to give my Gnex some sort of home at home. After all my Gnex had a home away from home
Now for my experience thus far looking for a desktop dock solution for my Gnex. I noticed posts and news reports around the Internet that finally the long awaited pogo pin desktop dock was available (a true docking station putting the phone into dock mode when using Android 4.0.4 and up). However it was selling for $90 bucks! I needed two of these. So I decided to wait. I noticed reports this dock was selling out but then back available again on Samsung's website still for $90. I was ready to resign to the $90 price tag and get a couple of these since at least it was a true desktop docking station. Clicked on the link and was greeted by a 'page not found'. I'm thinking what the heck where did it go? Figured ok I would call up Verizon and order in that Multimedia desktop dock they told me would be available maybe a couple weeks from when I got my Gnex. It's been a couple months now so surely some sort of desktop dock would be available by now from Big Red right? Wrong! Not available, out of stock, page not found (really I kid you not)
. Ok so Samsung must have this Multimedia dock, a portrait dock that uses the USB connection but is a docking station putting the phone in home dock mode and has additional functionality such as HDMI out AFAIK. Nope, not listed there either.So China here I come! eBay to the rescue for a Chinese knockoff of the Verizon/Samsung desktop dock. Well not so fast. While there are charging stations that may work ok that are available on eBay for my Gnex and cheap they can take upwards of a month to receive and no telling how well these work. Posted in some threads asking if anyone else had tried these Chinese desktop charging stations. I really just wanted to give my Gnex a charging station home at this point. One poster wrote back on GalaxyNexusForum.com his experience with one of these. Ummm... not so good
Worked ok but sounded like I might as well pursue making my own if going this route. I already knew of a thread on XDA where I guy did just that! [MOD][PROJECT] Pogo Charging Dock - xda-developers Pretty darn creative but not something I feel like doing. The search continued. Posters had written in their experience with the Seidio Innodock Jr. a generic desktop charger Part # CRJHNX1-BKC. Mixed reviews. Watched a video review. Hmmm... looked like it may actually do what I needed and give my Gnex it's place to live and charge while at home Ordered in two of these. One for me and one for the girlfriend. These Angels from Heaven arrived today. Ok I am exagerating the Seidio Innodock Jr. is not a Angel from Heaven but I am so happy to have at least a charging station without breaking out my power saws and sanders to make one it's my saving grace for Gnex desktop charging. The Seidio seems to work well so far. The Gnex actually mounts on the USB pin sticking up that swivels back and forth. Keep in mind this is a generic charging station so you have to make a concerted effort to mount it but really not that difficult, it just doesn't slide into place you have to position the Gnex over the pin and mount it... somehow that doesn't sound right or maybe it does... lol... anyway... once mounted the Gnex gracefully rests against the back of the Seidio. I wouldn't say it's firmly mounted since the USB pin is the only thing holding the Gnex in place. But it does work and is realativly sturdy unless you poke at it hard which would knock it over
Still no automatically going into home mode since this really isn't a dock. Unless you use an app such as Alarm Clock Plus in the market which has a setting option to fire up a familur home mode found on my D1 when docked. The setting in Alarm Clock Plus senses when the phone is plugged into power and brings up the home screen with a clock and weather, dims after a period of time and works pretty much like docking the D1 does. Here is a video review I came across that describes pretty well how this Seidio dock... errr... I mean charging station... works :biggrin: Good luck in your ventures looking for a dock or at least charging station for your Gnex. Write back your thoughts and experience with various solutions for a Car Dock/Charging and Desktop Dock/Charging stations. So far I am pleased with the Seidio while not a perfect solution it does have some added benefit such as being able to have a case on the phone and still putting it in the charging station.[video=youtube;dVpS03vaHu0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVpS03vaHu0[/video]
