It's l-o-n-g overdue, but the official car dock/kit (SKU: KPH6786Q) for the HTC EVO 4G is now in stock at many Sprint stores across the country.
Selling for a rather pricey $59.99, the Car Upgrade Kit for EVO 4G (as it's officially called) includes windshield and dash mount options and will put the phone into navigation mode as soon as it's docked. The default car mode is portrait only, but there are some apps floating around out there that will enable landscape use.
Other things to note before paying $60 for this are that the plastic holder blocks the phone's rear camera, the kit doesn't include a charger, and the dock prevents access to the EVO's SD card.
The latter point means that music playback through a stereo system's USB input is not possible. According to dabigcheezze, who posted the first pics and video of the dock, "the phone won't mount the USB because of the way the USB is pinned. It's not set up to sync [or] do data." It can only charge the phone.
Thanks, Charles!
Blocks access to SD card so no mp3s?!?! That is a showstopper right there!
no charger included??? what what?
How does it prevent access to the SD card? Is that some weird aspect of the car mode with the EVO?
Well couldn’t you just plug your usb cable into the charge port and have it access the sd card through that?
Based on what users are saying, the dock’s USB isn’t set up to mount the phone as a disk drive; it only enables charging. Some people think music playback may be possible with AUX, but I don’t think anyone has tried/confirmed it yet.
I thought you said the default car mode is portrait only. But in your video, it is clearly showing the dock doing landscape. Was the user bypassing it somehow, or were you wrong about landscape?
As stated in the post:
“The default car mode is portrait only, but there are some apps floating around out there that will enable landscape use.”
Sorry,
Can you suggest a few apps that do this?
I have ordered car dock. My Evo connects to my car stereo thru bluetooth so no problems for me plus i have car charger to connect to dock.
“Blocks access to the SD card”
Clarification required. Are you saying that:
A) Because the car dock charges thru the USB post that you are unable to use the phone as a mass storage device with your car stereo (one that permits you to plug mass storage devices into it to play music from)
or
B) It renders the phone unable to access the SD card and therefore unable to playback any music stored on the SD card using an app like Doubletwist and listening to the music through either bluetooth or using the 3.5mm jack plugged into the stero’s AUX input.
If it’s A, I can live with that. If it’s B then it’s a FAIL.
That doesn’t make any sense. You must be able to connect a 3.5mm jack to the AUX jack and play either Pandora, Slacker, or from music stored on the phone. Someone must not be testing this properly.
If your car has a usb port for lets say a ipod you could take a usb cable and hook it up to your phone like you would to your pc to play whatever mp3′s you have on the sd card, and some head units have a usb port in the front for a flash drive so you can stream music off it. The phone can also be hooked up to this port to play media off the sd card in your phone, charge the phone and you can still take and make calls.
Man this news sucks, I was hoping to at least be able to use the rear camera and the dock to record trips as I’m driving. Honestly who cares if you can listen to music from a PHONE as you are driving, lol seriously that’s nothing to complain about, that’s why most people like myself own separate mp3 players.
Evo 4G and ZuneHD ftw.
Btw this unit is a gimmick, I will pass and patiently wait to see what other legitimate sources come out with, if not the Chinese knockoffs will be out shortly anyway.
I have been using the Evo to play music from the headphones jack to aux from day one.
$60 lmfao. wow we’ve been waiting this long for them to release some worthless piece of crap like that? I’d rather keep my $7 universal mount that dish out for that pathetic piece of plastic.
WHAT A PIECE OF CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP! I paid $1.99 for a vent mount from eBay. It might not do the little bit this ones does but holy shit for more then $55.00 less I don’t care.
$5 – Free shipping. Save your money:
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Car-Mount-Holder-Stand-Cradle-HTC-EVO-4G-Sprint-/230503725800?pt=PDA_Accessories
do you own a HTC EVO? if so then you would know that the SD card is under the battery inside the phone and phone has to be turned off to access it!!!
with the last update, if you look in your settings you will see an app that HTC included that is called Dock that has all the settings for the car kit and lanscape is one of the settings….we prob shouldn’t buy from someone who doesn’t know what they are selling……
Very nice! Thank you so much, I’ve been looking high and low for a HTC Evo car mount priced appropriately.
Do you own one of these?
This mount sounds like more trouble than it’s worth. With a USB link cable and AUX input compatible car stereo you’ve got all you’ll ever need for your Evo.
Ideally though, I’d love to see Android devices take advantage of a more universal USB input similar to those available on iDevices.
Personally, after researching on XDA forums I went out and bought a Soundgate M2 car dock and couldn’t be happier. It’s sleek, fits just about anywhere and is very easy to install.
Direct Link – https://www.wiredforless.com/Product…ctCode=SOUNDM2
Enter the coupon code “WOOT” to reduce the price to $4.99.
ITEM: 4.99 sale price
SHIPPING 5.00 flat rate
Total cost: $9.99
REVIEWS (XDA Forums):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=706597
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=642042
http://ip208-100-42-21.static.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=716736
I ordered one – should get it this week. A friend of mine ordered after me and got it already. Said it was a nice fit and couldn’t be beat for $5.
Looked in Car Panel, which says Dock when it is opened so I think that is what you are talking about… in settings, I see no way to switch to landscape.
He means it blocks data access, not physical access.
Maybe the case will be strong enough that you can drill out a small hole for the camera, 4 or 5mm should do it.
$60 and no car charger? Really?
This is a joke right? What a P.O.S. and an insult for $60.
I got tired of waiting for this to come out when I saw this article. http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=16992427&postcount=2 It was easy to duplicate for use with the EVO. I was able to find all the parts on Amazon for a total of $21.05
lol please tell me you aren’t serious!
Congratulations. We are so proud of you.
Jenn K. was talking about while its mounted in the official mount. Of course you knew that right?
use a Aux cable, I use it all the time just like i plug in my ipod to my car stereo
Wow, a little credit to ME would be nice, after all you are using my pictures and my video, I’m the 1 that discovered that the dock was available in the first place in spokane washington, DABIGCHEEZZE, that’s me, the OP on several threads in several forums, don’t know who Charles is but I was the VERY FIRST person ANYWHERE to have the dock,let alone post photos, do some research, (dabigcheezze@ yahoo.com
My Flickr page has tons of pics) And let’s give some credit where its due, I spent a lot of time getting that thing here and posting about it, just to get hornswaggled,like this? GIVE THE OP PROPS ON THIS POST!
YOU ARE USING MY VIDEOS AND PICTURES ON YOUR SITE, WITHOUT SO MUCH AS A THANK YOU!
CRAZY!!!!! I have seen on the forums this site is always talking about copy rights and makes them take anything down from the forums when someone posts anything from this site!
Ever heard of plagiarism? Those are not your pictures or videos , those are not Charles pictures or videos,
Please do some research and thank the person who took all the time to take the pictures and videos, get hammered by the doubters in the forums, be the first one to have it, and then post the same pictures and videos you are not giving credit for.
thanks
I am not taking credit for the pics or video. Charles sent me the link to the forum, which is where the pic is posted. The forum is linked in the post. If you need your name included in this post, Ill add it. No big deal. It is not like I am pretending these are my pictures, which is why the source (xda) is linked and the tipster (Charles) is credited.
You obviously don’t know how blogging works. Engadget doesn’t thank the exact person who took a video or shot a pic. They thank the source, which is sometimes a forum, Flickr, or even Twitter, and then they have a VIA link that is the site who first found the forum/pic/tweet/etc.
SlashGear, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, CrunchGear, IntoMobile, BGR, all sites work like this.
No one links to a forum and then actually thanks the individual member who posted the info.
And hello? YouTube is public. People post videos there and people link to them all the time.
What’s your problem? Fame whore much?
Using Tasker, Car Dock (an alternate car dock apk available on the android market) and one of the $6.00 ebay car docks available from Tuttoit and a car charger (total cost $25.00 or less) you can create a car dock that can take photos, runs either Google Nav. or Sprint Nav. and does what we all thought the OEM car dock was supposed to do. Check out xda-developers (evo accessories, OEM car dock is available, page 12)for pictures of my car dock and the car dock screen. This DIY dock works great and with tasker automatically turns on GPS, bluetooth, and runs the alternate car dock. You can even have your phone read incoming email and sms text to you (using tasker, or Vlingo).
Was I talking to you? This is the third site to use my stuff, no big deal, a tiny thank you is no big deal too. This site,(as pointed out by others) won’t let you use there photos on your site,or forum without consent, fair? Oh and GetALife….want me to start makin whore jokes. Butt out.
Quite a community you have been developing…. Sounds like the typical me me me society we are growing more accustomed to. I’ve read all the jerk comments and the crap Dabigcheezze has received from the very same community he is so generously here to support. If you want to steal his thunder for being the one to bring it to your nearsided selfish attention…and then defends himself, to gain the respect he rightly deseves. Go ahead keep loosing viewership and your credibility. I especially like how you then patronize him by saying if you want credit here here fine it’s no big deal…. Wait till you spend your time effort and resources to help out the community then so blatantly have your credit passed off to a random stumbler of the info. And btw thank you Dabigcheezze! All your hard work and info is greatly appreciated by those of us not too cheap to complain about a measly $60 for a high quality brand named original manufaturer product… If I gave anyone on here $60…could you go whip me one up in your tech lair? Sounds like a pretty fair price for a previously non existent product EVERYONE ELSE could not seem to find or outright denied it’s actual existence. Thanks JEFF!
I hope you are making this big of a deal on the other sites that are “using your stuff.”
If you don’t want it shared with others, don’t post it on a forum or YouTube. WTF do you need the credit so badly? Anyone who really gives a shit will see your name on the forum. Other people have got their docks and posted pics and videos too. Big f’in deal. You want a cookie for being the first one to post something about a piece of metal & plastic on a forum?! You need some perspective.
STFU!
You don’t know WTF you’re talking about. No one is “stealing his thunder” because there is no thunder to be stolen. It’s a f’in car dock, not the cure for cancer.
And this site HAS spent time/effort to help the community. There is no other site out there that is dedicated solely to the EVO and its users. Then it gets entire articles stolen and jackasses like you in the comments. If you don’t like this site, why are you here? There ARE other sites on the web. Once you get off of Jeff’s nuts, you can stop running your mouth here and go to some other site.
Uh, with an egotistical username like dabigcheezze, spelled like only a moron would spell it, it’s obvious why he would throw a tantrum about something so stupid. Talk about a me me me society! Don’t waste your time on idiots, Member. They’re not worth your time.
Plagiarism? WTF.
You found out about an overpriced car mount first? BFD. You’re acting like you figured out how to root 2.2.
I think the issue with SD access is that the phone cannot internally access the SD card while docked. This is similar to when your phone is connected to your computer, you can’t browse your SD card from the phone. If this is the case with the car dock, it along with the blocking of the rear camera are unfortunate.
You obviously don’t know what you’re talking about. Other than the battery tips post that was being posted in full on various forums, there has never been any other time that this site has asked for something like a correction or proper use of content. Get your facts straight or post proof. Other than the ONE battery post, you won’t find it.
And like someone else said in another comment, if you don’t like this site, then why are you here? Do your trolling somewhere else!
Ok, got my hands on the OEM dock today and it works just fine. Plays Pandora or Doubletwist thru Bluetooth just fine. I now believe that the “no USB access” issue was the fact that the dock plugs into the USB port which precludes you from plugging in a cable and hooking it up to your head unit as a mass storage device. It’s all good for me. I didn’t buy it because I’m now intrigued by some of the other options listed in this thread, but I got to test it out in my car for about 10 minutes.
OK, I got mine today. All in all, pretty darn solid and quite a steal. They evey have a cutout in the back for the cam – so you can video with it mounted if you want
Combining that with the Custom Car Home app from the marketplace and I couldn’t be more happy.
Thanks Levelbest, ordered one as I figured that I have nothing to lose but $6.
Hey Levelbest…thanks for that ebay link! I just ordered one myself! Can’t wait to get it!
No access to my SD card files + No charger for $60 == FAIL
No prob – for $6 – why not!
ill do it matt
“If it’s A, I can live with that. If it’s B then it’s a FAIL.”
I agree. From what other people have said, It seems the answer is unclear as to whether it’s A or B. I hope someone reports back with the answer.
Does anyone know if it will work with a protective case on the phone or does it have to be naked?
I have a protective case and an extended battery so I’m pretty sure this wont work out for me. I’ll have to wait for Seidio to come out with their car dock which is currently “under development”.
Mine is ordered and being shipped to my house. It’s a chunk of cash but hey if it really sux I have 30 days to return it.
So if any of you are in the San Jose, CA Bay Area, I ordered mine at the Oakridge store. They were very happy to do so, and said that hopefully they will have them in stock soon as well.
Half the price, twice as good:
http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-System-Transmitter-Charger-ANDROID/dp/B002UKTABI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1282724133&sr=8-1
dudes,
get a garmin GPS windshield suction cup mount
I use a hard case (Black hard rubberized Platinum EVO case from BBUY)on the EVO, so its just a little larger (L x W).
EVO then snaps in to the garmin mount! Its the same size as the Garmin NUVI GPS
I use QIK and drive around using the read camera and stream live from the DASHCAM EVO !
So what happens if you bought software like “Navigon” for your android? You can’t access sd card…so how da hell do you use it! All the maps are on the sd card HTC!
I have a different car dock I bought but what’s better Custom Car Home or this Car Dock V2? I don’t know which one to get! My car dock can mount on the windshield or it sits on this beanbag which I use it that way. But I need a good Car Home app and am not sure out of the two which is better.
agree. who is the knucklehead who designed this so you could not listen to you music while driving???. I HATE RADIO. and I use my EVO for MP3 and Pandora playback every time i get in the car.
Seriously. what a design flaw. This is either a mistake in the testing or a mistake by design…or lack or design… I wonder which.
Why would I want a damn IPOD when I have a $500 dollar phone that does what an IPOD does…and also connects to the web for pandora?
There is no option in the settings. Also, I have looked for an app to do this and found none! If anyone knows, please post it here.
Read my post above. The phone can access the SD card just fine. The initial post referred to the USER not being able to access the SD card as a mass storage device (that means using your EVO as a thumb drive for your head unit). That limitation is ONLY because the micro USB port on the bottom of the EVO is occupied by the dock for charging.
You guys are making a mountain out of a mole hill here. You can still play all your music from your EVO by either using Bluetooth or a cable plugged into the aux jack.
It does that because two pins are jumped to signal to the phone that the phone is in a car dock and to go into car mode.
It doesnt prevent the phone from playing the music, it just means that the USB coming out of the base doesnt have the capability to communicate as a computer.
Yeah, that’s great. What she’s talking about is for those of us with cars that have a USB input, this dock disables that. The USB input is useful because then the buttons on the steering wheel to change tracks are operative.
I am sure it is not case B, because I played a little with mine. With the Evo inserted properly in the dock, I was able to play music through the HTC Music application (unless I am mistaken, the default music tracks are stored on SD card). I was also able to browse the mounted SD card via Astro FileManager.
Is there anyone who has seen case B happen?
Take it from Cee.
Bluetooth makes everything so much easier.
Hey freyes:
Do you have the link to your referenced post? I spent time searching, but never found it (Check out xda-developers (evo accessories, OEM car dock is available, page 12)for pictures of my car dock and the car dock screen. ).
Just get a cheap kensington bluetooth adapter and you can stream all those MP3′s and Pandora to a 3.5mm adapter in your car. Kensington LiquidAux. Ebay it.
dang, the topic of this thread went downhill fast…
I got this one and it’s about all i could ask for:
http://www.evocardock.com
At $18.95 + s&h it is still less than half the cost of this piece. It doesnt have a connection to a charger etc but i have that rigged up otherwise. Like the one above, its got the hole in the back to allow for photos/video.
Had it for a few weeks now and worked well – only drawback is that the phone gets really really hot if its a sunny day, but i think youll probably get that with any mount.
Id recommend
I recently purchased the OEM mount for the EVO. I new before getting it that I wouldn’t be able to access the SD card while docked, but I got it anyway.
After doing a little research, I found that the USB pin-out is crossed, causing it to go into car mode, rather than being able to mount the SD card.
I got to thinking, why not modify a USB cord to reverse this.
Has anyone attempted this, or know where there might a wiring diagram of the two?
most of you people are dumber than shit!!!