CableJive DockBoss Plus
Android fans - now you can use iDevice docks too
Geek Treat of the Week Reg Hardware is always inundated with speaker systems for the iPhone and iPod in the run-up to Christmas, but there are still relatively few sets of speakers designed to dock Android phones.
Yes, most iPod and iPhone speaker-docks do have an 3.5mm aux port that will allow you to connect almost any audio source – but a mere audio cable is far too low-tech a solution for El Reg.
One interesting alternative is the DockBoss Plus, available from MobileFun here in the UK. The DockBoss Plus is a 75cm cable that has a special adaptor on one end that fits onto the 30-pin dock connector on any iPhone or iPod speaker system.
The other end of the cable splits in two, giving you both a conventional 3.5mm audio connector and a micro USB jack so that you can play music and charge you Android gadget at the same time.
The engineers at DockBoss Plus maker CableJive say their doohickey "speaks the language of all systems" (ahem) and includes a charge converter that can automatically adjust the power supply from the speakers to suit whatever device you connect to it.
The only limitation, of course, being that said device needs to have a micro USB port.
It certainly worked fine with my old Motorola Flipout, although it might have been useful for CableJive to include some additional tips and connectors for other types of phone too. There are also one or two speakers and in-car systems that it won’t work with, but you can check the compatibility info on the CableJive website.
The DockBoss Plus is, at £25, a little pricey, but it’s handy to be able to charge your phone or PMP while listening to your music, and will be worth it if you’ve fancy a snazzy iPod-oriented speaker rig. ®
Thanks to MobileFun for the review sample
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COMMENTS
Excuse me while I yawn...
Apple doc connector already does other things which are key for a good dock.
There is the so called "Direct iPhone/iPad control" option which allows the iPhone control the media device. Now if the connector did that (+/- app on the phone) that would have been really interesting because it would have allowed some of the really cool iPhone oriented dock gadgets to work with a Droid.
Examples:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pioneer-SPH-DA01-Mechless-Advanced-AppRadio/dp/B0057EZAX6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321874119&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.co.uk/JVC-KW-XR611-Double-Ready-Radio/dp/B003E6VEKW/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1321874140&sr=1-1
And so on.
80%???
What is the point of this device? It doesn't make any special use of the connector so what does it do that I can't already do with my charger and a 3.5mm cable? From the CableJive website: "dockBoss+ doesn't provide integration features like device control or playlists. It simply provides power and audio signals. "
Am I missing something (other than more coffee)?
iThing to bluetooth?
The smart way to have done this would have been to adapt the fruit connector to bluetooth and just have a uUsb power plug to power the phone/slab/....
That way you could use BT to get your sound and control the media player on the Droid - rather like the Parrot mki9200 that I have in my car does!
Android device makers...
...really should bang their heads together and develop common protocols for making iDevice-style docks and connectors. MicroUSB should be up to the job. It is a selling point for Apple that owners of their devices can get docks that allow control of their music through a hi-fi and have playback controls on an infrared doofah- amongst other applications.
My £50 Lidl car stereo does me proud, with USB, SD Card and 3.5mm Aux in... dead handy for charging my phone or MP3 player .
Besides, my cigarette lighter socket doesn't work ever since it caught fire - I'd been using a Mercedes Benz lighter in a Peugeot socket and it jammed on. Serves me right for assuming things were 'standard'.
Why I bought a Vauxhall...
It came with a full-size USB & a 3.5mm socket instead of a fruit dock.
