How I became a Defender owner (skip if you want):
When I first got my Bionic I looked for a good case/holster, with the requirement that it fit in the Motorola docks (I got the Costco bundle, but I would have bought the docks anyway). Unfortunately the Defender (which I had used several years ago on my Blackberry) didn't meet this criteria, so I settled on the Verizon shell/holster, but not for long, as I couldn't get it to fit in the car dock to my satisfaction. Since I was pretty sure that Technocel made the original Droid holster for Verizon, I looked at their site and found what I thought would be a great case/holster. The case looked good, fit well, and seemed like it "might" offer descent protection from drops. The protection it offered turned out to be marginal; in two drops onto concrete/pavement, one time the case held up well (with a couple minor dings), and the other the case split wide open, the battery cover came off and two corners of the phone got scratched. At best, a hard case prevents scratches - it does not absorb impact to any significant degree. Because of the taper on the back of the phone, the spring clip on the holster protrudes quite a bit - getting caught on things, accidentally releasing the phone from the holster - resulting in more drops. Several drops later (onto carpeted floors) I had had enough - it was time for an Otterbox Defender, and I would do what it takes to make my Defender-protected Bionic work as a bedside alarm clock and car mounted navigation device.
The hardware:
I started hunting for car solutions and came across this thread in the Motorola Atrix forum where ECdOc modified a Garmin Nuvi 200 mount for use with the Defender on the Atrix. The Nuvi has notches on the top and bottom, similar to what the Defender has on the sides. After reviewing the dimensions of the Nuvi and the Defender, I believed the Nuvi dock could be easily modified to work with the Bionic too. So I ordered two Nuvi mounts with the plan of using a Dremel to modify them to fit the Defender for the Bionic. I got these from gpslot (an eBay seller) for $6.50 each, plus $2.00 shipping, including an adhesive mount with ball and socket joint, allowing for 360 degree rotation of the mounted phone. (I was previously using this same adhesive ball and socket mount with the Motorola docks for both the Bionic and OG Droid. Also, the bracket portion - available separately - will also work with the suction cup mount included with the Motorola dock.) Here's a link to the item on eBay. In case the item is expired when you read this, the part numbers are IG-PSTARA (sticky mount ball and socket) and BKT200 (the bracket that clips around the device).
Much to my surprise, the fit is even better than what I've seen in pictures in the original thread for the Atrix. The phone snaps right into the mount as if it were custom made for it - because it was! But unlike with the Atrix, there's no gap between the back of the Defender and the mount; it's a rock-solid fit. I drove about 100 miles with mount and phone installed in my work van (not the smooth ride of your average passenger car), and the phone stayed solidly in the mount the entire time, without dipping at all - the ball and socket easily supported the combined weight of the Bionic and Defender. Below are some photos of an unmodified mount, a modified mount, and the Defender/phone snapped into the modified mount.
Unmodified mount - overall
Unmodified bottom tab
Modified bottom tab
Unmodified top tab
Modified top tab
Bottom tab with phone in mount
Top tab with phone in mount
Back view of phone in mount
Side/back view showing snug fit against the Defender
Front view of phone in mount
Closeup of USB plugged in with phone in mount
For the intended orientation of the mount for the Nuvi (narrow end up), the phone appears to be upside down. This is because the narrow end of the mount leaves enough room to open the flap covering the USB port, whereas the other end does not.
For a desk solution I decided on the ezeStand XL for my desk solution. I was ordering one for my son's Droid X, and decided to get another one for myself. As I wait for them to arrive, I made a temporary desk dock out of corrugated cardboard. I could make it better, and would if it wasn't a temporary solution. Here's a picture of my creation:
The software:
Now came getting the phone to do something when placed in these docks. To start with, I decided to use Tasker to simulate both docking modes. I've given other people suggestions on how to do this with Tasker, but have always had OEM docks myself, and never really needed to test my suggestons first hand. Since I prefer portrait mode when navigating, this was easy; if the phone is powered and upright, car mode is triggered; if it's powered and on it's left side, desk mode is triggered. It turned out to not be that simple, since the jostling in the car tended to confuse the orientation sensors, causing car mode to exit and resume frequently. What I ended up doing was triggering the different modes as indicated above, but making it so that the phone would stay in each mode as long as it's powered, regardless of orientation. Now once in car mode, the phone can get endlessly jostled, or even turned to a landscape orientation purposely, and it will stay in car mode. This makes the solution also work for people who prefer landscape orientation in the car - simply hold the powered phone upright until car mode is triggered, then rotate to your desired orientation.
Here are the Tasker profiles I came up with:
Profile: Car Dock Activate
Context: Power Any
Context: Orientation Standing Up
Enter Task: Stop
Profile: Car Dock Maintain
Context: Power Any
Context: Variable Value %PACTIVE *,car dock *
Enter Task:
Profile Status Off [Desk Dock Activate]
Car Mode On
GPS On
Wifi Off
Mobile Data On
Get Location GPS 100
Media Volume 15
In-call Volume 7
Silent Mode Off
Ringer Volume 15
Notification Volume 15
Vibrate On Ringer Off
Vibrate On Notify Off
Speakerphone On
Stay On With AC or USB Power
Exit Task:
Profile Status On [Desk Dock Activate]
Car Mode Off
Wifi Off
Mobile Data On
GPS Off
Profile: Desk Dock Activate
Context: Power Any
Context: Orientation Left Side
Enter Task: Stop
Profile: Desk Dock Maintain
Context: Power Any
Context: Variable Value %PACTIVE *,desk dock *
Enter Task:
Profile Status Off [Car Dock Activate]
Load App Smart Dock
Exit Task:
Profile Status On [Car Dock Activate]
Auto Brightness On
Obviously you can add your own actions to the enter and exit tasks, but what's shown above is what I have, minus any actions necessary to integrate with other profiles.
In both cases (car and dock), the "activate" profile is activated by the contexts used originally - Power and Orientation. When either of these profiles activates, Tasker updates the %PACTIVE variable to include the name of the profile that activated. This in turn satisfies one of the contexts of the corresponding "maintain" profile. Since Power is a required context for either of the "activate" profiles, this means that the Power context for the "maintain" profiles is satisfied too. So once an "activate" profile is activated, the corresponding "maintain" profile is also activated.
Once a "maintain" profile is activated, Tasker updates the %PACTIVE variable to include the name of the profile that activated. Now, here comes the key to the whole thing - the fact that a "maintain" profile is active, satisfies the second context for keeping that very same profile active. This means that the only remaining context required to keep the profile active is Power. So, once activated, the profile will remain active as long as the phone is powered.
Also, each "maintain" profile disables the "other" "activate" profile, preventing the phone from switching between car and desk mode while the powered.
---
Ultimately, the desk dock is sufficient, but nothing great. However, I like the car dock solution better than the Motorola car dock because: I'm not forced into landscape mode when docked, I don't get the annoying read-aloud SMS thing that can't be disabled when using the Motorola dock, and I can remove the phone from the dock (while keeping it powered), and remain in dock mode, allowing me to more easily enter destination information for navigation.
Thanks to ECdOc for a great idea!
When I first got my Bionic I looked for a good case/holster, with the requirement that it fit in the Motorola docks (I got the Costco bundle, but I would have bought the docks anyway). Unfortunately the Defender (which I had used several years ago on my Blackberry) didn't meet this criteria, so I settled on the Verizon shell/holster, but not for long, as I couldn't get it to fit in the car dock to my satisfaction. Since I was pretty sure that Technocel made the original Droid holster for Verizon, I looked at their site and found what I thought would be a great case/holster. The case looked good, fit well, and seemed like it "might" offer descent protection from drops. The protection it offered turned out to be marginal; in two drops onto concrete/pavement, one time the case held up well (with a couple minor dings), and the other the case split wide open, the battery cover came off and two corners of the phone got scratched. At best, a hard case prevents scratches - it does not absorb impact to any significant degree. Because of the taper on the back of the phone, the spring clip on the holster protrudes quite a bit - getting caught on things, accidentally releasing the phone from the holster - resulting in more drops. Several drops later (onto carpeted floors) I had had enough - it was time for an Otterbox Defender, and I would do what it takes to make my Defender-protected Bionic work as a bedside alarm clock and car mounted navigation device.
The hardware:
I started hunting for car solutions and came across this thread in the Motorola Atrix forum where ECdOc modified a Garmin Nuvi 200 mount for use with the Defender on the Atrix. The Nuvi has notches on the top and bottom, similar to what the Defender has on the sides. After reviewing the dimensions of the Nuvi and the Defender, I believed the Nuvi dock could be easily modified to work with the Bionic too. So I ordered two Nuvi mounts with the plan of using a Dremel to modify them to fit the Defender for the Bionic. I got these from gpslot (an eBay seller) for $6.50 each, plus $2.00 shipping, including an adhesive mount with ball and socket joint, allowing for 360 degree rotation of the mounted phone. (I was previously using this same adhesive ball and socket mount with the Motorola docks for both the Bionic and OG Droid. Also, the bracket portion - available separately - will also work with the suction cup mount included with the Motorola dock.) Here's a link to the item on eBay. In case the item is expired when you read this, the part numbers are IG-PSTARA (sticky mount ball and socket) and BKT200 (the bracket that clips around the device).
Much to my surprise, the fit is even better than what I've seen in pictures in the original thread for the Atrix. The phone snaps right into the mount as if it were custom made for it - because it was! But unlike with the Atrix, there's no gap between the back of the Defender and the mount; it's a rock-solid fit. I drove about 100 miles with mount and phone installed in my work van (not the smooth ride of your average passenger car), and the phone stayed solidly in the mount the entire time, without dipping at all - the ball and socket easily supported the combined weight of the Bionic and Defender. Below are some photos of an unmodified mount, a modified mount, and the Defender/phone snapped into the modified mount.
Unmodified mount - overall
Unmodified bottom tab
Modified bottom tab
Unmodified top tab
Modified top tab
Bottom tab with phone in mount
Top tab with phone in mount
Back view of phone in mount
Side/back view showing snug fit against the Defender
Front view of phone in mount
Closeup of USB plugged in with phone in mount
For the intended orientation of the mount for the Nuvi (narrow end up), the phone appears to be upside down. This is because the narrow end of the mount leaves enough room to open the flap covering the USB port, whereas the other end does not.
For a desk solution I decided on the ezeStand XL for my desk solution. I was ordering one for my son's Droid X, and decided to get another one for myself. As I wait for them to arrive, I made a temporary desk dock out of corrugated cardboard. I could make it better, and would if it wasn't a temporary solution. Here's a picture of my creation:
The software:
Now came getting the phone to do something when placed in these docks. To start with, I decided to use Tasker to simulate both docking modes. I've given other people suggestions on how to do this with Tasker, but have always had OEM docks myself, and never really needed to test my suggestons first hand. Since I prefer portrait mode when navigating, this was easy; if the phone is powered and upright, car mode is triggered; if it's powered and on it's left side, desk mode is triggered. It turned out to not be that simple, since the jostling in the car tended to confuse the orientation sensors, causing car mode to exit and resume frequently. What I ended up doing was triggering the different modes as indicated above, but making it so that the phone would stay in each mode as long as it's powered, regardless of orientation. Now once in car mode, the phone can get endlessly jostled, or even turned to a landscape orientation purposely, and it will stay in car mode. This makes the solution also work for people who prefer landscape orientation in the car - simply hold the powered phone upright until car mode is triggered, then rotate to your desired orientation.
Here are the Tasker profiles I came up with:
Profile: Car Dock Activate
Context: Power Any
Context: Orientation Standing Up
Enter Task: Stop
Profile: Car Dock Maintain
Context: Power Any
Context: Variable Value %PACTIVE *,car dock *
Enter Task:
Profile Status Off [Desk Dock Activate]
Car Mode On
GPS On
Wifi Off
Mobile Data On
Get Location GPS 100
Media Volume 15
In-call Volume 7
Silent Mode Off
Ringer Volume 15
Notification Volume 15
Vibrate On Ringer Off
Vibrate On Notify Off
Speakerphone On
Stay On With AC or USB Power
Exit Task:
Profile Status On [Desk Dock Activate]
Car Mode Off
Wifi Off
Mobile Data On
GPS Off
Profile: Desk Dock Activate
Context: Power Any
Context: Orientation Left Side
Enter Task: Stop
Profile: Desk Dock Maintain
Context: Power Any
Context: Variable Value %PACTIVE *,desk dock *
Enter Task:
Profile Status Off [Car Dock Activate]
Load App Smart Dock
Exit Task:
Profile Status On [Car Dock Activate]
Auto Brightness On
Obviously you can add your own actions to the enter and exit tasks, but what's shown above is what I have, minus any actions necessary to integrate with other profiles.
In both cases (car and dock), the "activate" profile is activated by the contexts used originally - Power and Orientation. When either of these profiles activates, Tasker updates the %PACTIVE variable to include the name of the profile that activated. This in turn satisfies one of the contexts of the corresponding "maintain" profile. Since Power is a required context for either of the "activate" profiles, this means that the Power context for the "maintain" profiles is satisfied too. So once an "activate" profile is activated, the corresponding "maintain" profile is also activated.
Once a "maintain" profile is activated, Tasker updates the %PACTIVE variable to include the name of the profile that activated. Now, here comes the key to the whole thing - the fact that a "maintain" profile is active, satisfies the second context for keeping that very same profile active. This means that the only remaining context required to keep the profile active is Power. So, once activated, the profile will remain active as long as the phone is powered.
Also, each "maintain" profile disables the "other" "activate" profile, preventing the phone from switching between car and desk mode while the powered.
---
Ultimately, the desk dock is sufficient, but nothing great. However, I like the car dock solution better than the Motorola car dock because: I'm not forced into landscape mode when docked, I don't get the annoying read-aloud SMS thing that can't be disabled when using the Motorola dock, and I can remove the phone from the dock (while keeping it powered), and remain in dock mode, allowing me to more easily enter destination information for navigation.
Thanks to ECdOc for a great idea!
