Google Nexus One Deskstand and Car Dock

Desktop Dock

This dock is elegantly designed and really suits my desk very well.  But the dock is more than just good looking, the features that make it really compelling is its functionality which make me think that someone over at Google actually gave some thought to usability when designing the phone.  Firstly it charges the phone using the pins on the bottom of the phone, this eliminates the issue of finding the right cable to charge the phone and then forcing it into the micro usb port.  When it comes to using the phone, it can be picked up without the dock still been attached to it really easily.

The coolest feature of the product is that the phone knows when its docked  and automatically switches to clock mode.  “Clock mode” is an app that comes built in with the Google Nexus One  with which gives you quick access to your alarm and has a photo frame mode and can pump out you favourite tunes while charging,

Like the Desktop dock, Nexus one Car Dock has a superb build quality.  It feels really solid and is by far the best car dock I have ever bought.  Like its Desktop companion, the  device is charged using the pins on the bottom, this removes the need to firstly plug the micro usb.  A clever touch is that it removes the need for that untidy wire dangling from your windscreen by allowing you to run the cabling neatly around the edges of the dashboard.

When docked, the phone automatically switches to navigator mode as soon as it is seated in the dock and uses the loud speaker on the back to shout out the turn by turn instructions. It took me quite a a while to realise there is a volume control on top.

The dock comes equipped with its own cable that you should.  The dock requires a 2 amp connection so the average cigarette  usb charger won’t have enough juice to use the dock to it full potential.

The dock really comes into its own when using the Google Maps Sat navigation.  The turn by turn navigation works a treat, but you will need asbestos gloves to handle the phone when you remove it from the dock.  It gets very hot! I think the 3G radio, GPS and CPU really heat up the device over long use.   I paralleled the test using my Acer liquid and it also got really hot so it might require further investigation to it’s cause.