First of all, I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this thread, so please move it to somewhere more appropriate.
Anyway, I should point out that I hate iPods. A lot. And iPod fashion victims. That's why I would never ever get an iPhone. There is one thing, however, that makes me very very jealous, and that's the iPod connector that allows it to dock in to all kinds of cool bits of kit. Or maybe its all the cool bits of kit I'm jealous of. However, that is the only legitimate reason for the huge success that I can see.
I have often thought how good it would be if someone worked out an open source alternative to the iPod Dock that was adapted by several manufacturers, and would be able to give the iPod a run for its money. Whenever I have thought this, however, it has normally ended with 'its never going to happen'... until now!
One of the first gadgets I bought for my G1 was an extUSB adapter to allow it to charge, have 3.5mm line out, and connection for HTC hands free kit. It was only a cheap thing from China via eBay. It looks very similar to the HTC version, but without the build quality. Initially I was pleased with it, until the first time I used it, and then became very disappointed. You see, when using the G1 as an MP3 player, it would occasionally randomly change tracks, or swap from the playlist to 'party mode', or even start up random tracks long after it has finished playing and has fallen silent.
It seems like the adapter has some kind of fault or loose connection as the G1 never behaves like this normally. But it has revised my thinking of how a USB master and USB slave relationship works. The G1 should be a slave, and only communicate with a USB master such as a PC. But this little 3-in-1 adapter was able to get it to do different things, albeit not at my command, but it could do it nevertheless.
So, this makes me think that there must be a way for a properly designed extUSB connection to harness the MP3 player controls (or other applications too) to use in an iPod rival docking station. Or, better still, to work with an iPod docking station!
And, if it works for the G1, will it work for all the other HTC phones out there too?
I'm curious to hear your thoughts, comments, experiments or otherwise, as I would love to believe that this is feasible.
STM
Anyway, I should point out that I hate iPods. A lot. And iPod fashion victims. That's why I would never ever get an iPhone. There is one thing, however, that makes me very very jealous, and that's the iPod connector that allows it to dock in to all kinds of cool bits of kit. Or maybe its all the cool bits of kit I'm jealous of. However, that is the only legitimate reason for the huge success that I can see.
I have often thought how good it would be if someone worked out an open source alternative to the iPod Dock that was adapted by several manufacturers, and would be able to give the iPod a run for its money. Whenever I have thought this, however, it has normally ended with 'its never going to happen'... until now!
One of the first gadgets I bought for my G1 was an extUSB adapter to allow it to charge, have 3.5mm line out, and connection for HTC hands free kit. It was only a cheap thing from China via eBay. It looks very similar to the HTC version, but without the build quality. Initially I was pleased with it, until the first time I used it, and then became very disappointed. You see, when using the G1 as an MP3 player, it would occasionally randomly change tracks, or swap from the playlist to 'party mode', or even start up random tracks long after it has finished playing and has fallen silent.
It seems like the adapter has some kind of fault or loose connection as the G1 never behaves like this normally. But it has revised my thinking of how a USB master and USB slave relationship works. The G1 should be a slave, and only communicate with a USB master such as a PC. But this little 3-in-1 adapter was able to get it to do different things, albeit not at my command, but it could do it nevertheless.
So, this makes me think that there must be a way for a properly designed extUSB connection to harness the MP3 player controls (or other applications too) to use in an iPod rival docking station. Or, better still, to work with an iPod docking station!
And, if it works for the G1, will it work for all the other HTC phones out there too?
I'm curious to hear your thoughts, comments, experiments or otherwise, as I would love to believe that this is feasible.
STM
