Bionic Car Dock: Trades USB data for Integrated Audio?
In using the Bionic "Vehicle Navigation Dock" sourced from Verizon Wireless (MOTBIOMNT), I'm frustrated to find that Motorola engineers apparently sacrificed USB data transfer functionality for an incomplete analog audio "integration". They then failed to provide the custom Y-cable needed to eliminate the separate 3.5mm audio jumper as the design intended! Come on Motorola! Come on Verizon! What were you thinking? (What's up Dock?)
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On the back of the dock is a micro-USB-B female connector to which users must connect
their own USB cable. The Y-cable referenced in the instruction manual is NOT included in the Verizon MOTBIOMNT kit contents. Only a stereo audio jumper (3.5mm) is provided with Verizon's kit. The custom cable is apparently available as an "Online Bonus" when purchased directly from Motorola here:
http://www.store.motorola.com/Vehicle-Navigation-DROID-Bionic-trade/dp/B005C31G1W?ie=UTF8&id=Vehicle Navigation DROID Bionic trade
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To add insult, Motorola has
interrupted USB data passthru on the dock.
Power will pass, but data will not. This means if you were planning to perform laptop-related functions in your car, such as USB tethering or SD card mounting, you won't be doing that with
this Motorola Vehicle Dock! Note that USB connections are easily done using all prior D1 or DX dock systems. Why Motorola chose to change strategy isn't clear to me.
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Of course, the OEM dock physically holds the Bionic with tight precision we've come to expect from products bearing Motorola's logo (and extortionate price.) Dock solutions from 3rd-parties seldom fit as smoothly. But unlike past Droids, like the D1 and DX that could be easily triggered into dock mode with a simple magnet, the Bionic instead looks for custom connector pinning (or circuitry?) from the dock itself. This means that you won't get your Bionic to gracefully adopt landscape/dock display in a 3rd-party cradle without some makeshift circuit or additional software/widget. These never work quite as well as OEM solutions in my experience. I'm hoping that someone can recommend an alternate Bionic vehicle dock that DOES support USB data connectivity.
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You can see the MOTBIOMNT custom Y-cable referenced on page 3 here:
http://www.motorola.com/staticfiles/Support/US-EN/Mobile Phones/Droid_Bionic/Documents/StaticFiles/Droid-Bionic_vehicle-Navigation-Dock_EN_ES_GSG_68016045001B.pdf
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And you can see the Bionic Vehicle Dock internal layout and circuitry here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46634958@N07/6144253980/in/set-72157627546904495/
