02
Oct
carhome in dock

With yesterday's release of the popular Car Home app directly into the Market, Google continued carrying on its mission to decouple Android applications previously integrated into the core of the Android OS. If you remember, the company did the same to Gmail last week, and Maps, Navigation, and Street View before that.

Have you been waiting to have one touch access to Pandora while driving or perhaps change that boring stock black background? The new Car Home allows users to add any application shortcuts to its dashboard as well as change the wallpaper. Excellent.

Another new feature is the ability to fire up Car Home when your handset connects to specific Bluetooth devices, such as your car's hands-free or your earpiece.

25
Aug
evo_cardock

Over 2 months after the HTC EVO 4G became available to Sprint customers nationwide, HTC has finally made available its official EVO 4G "car upgrade kit." What does it include? When you open the box, you'll find the actual phone "dock" which uses the EVO's micro-USB port to provide power to the phone, as well as the windshield-mountable platform/base. You'll probably also find a lengthy warranty and instruction document of some sort (sorry if we spoiled the surprise).

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Take note, no car charger or USB cable is included with this "kit" - they must be purchased separately. There are some additional issues to weigh before you purchase the car dock as well:

  • The phone's rear camera is blocked by the dock (dock blocked, if you will)
  • The USB connector is not capable of data transfer (will not work with your car's UBS stereo)
  • The SD card is inaccessible while the phone is docked (no SD apps, pictures, or music)
  • The "Car Home" app currently only displays in portrait mode

Given these issues, this may be the most disappointing "Car Upgrade Kit" ever released.