How should the perfect Vehicle Dock for Note II look like? From iBOLT...

Pics of the new Samsung Note II Dock from iBOLT...

The new Smartphone car-dock has now made it into production. See basic YouTube video here, a more professional version coming later. Below are a list of the features and also pictures with details. We thought this thread would be a few comments but it seems to have grown quite a bit, which is great. We live in a free world so if a $20 universal car holder does the job, buy it! The one we designed does look very nice, it has a bunch of components, metal latch and it includes electronics for pass through charging and a 9ft cable with USB and aux-out. All I can say is that this will look great inside any modern vehicle...If you buy this Dock we'll send a nice discount coupon for the wireless version (although wireless charging is slow when using a case) when it's coming in a few months.

As we mentioned before we decided to go with a microUSB steel enforced arm on the side instead of doing a vertical microUSB "slide on" solution. The reason is that we have tons of customer that have asked us to make this new Dock compatible with Otterbox Defender, Ballistic, Trident type cases, which is very challenging otherwise.

The flexible design makes it compatible with Galaxy S II, S III and Note I and II, even when using extended batteries etc.

1. Spring loaded latch. Users told us they don't want to insert the phone and have to "fold down" the latch. This design makes it a smooth 1-step motion to insert the phone. The opening supports phones up to 92 mm, which is based on a Note II with the Defender case.

2. Expandable feet to fit phones up to 18 mm thick. Adding an Otterbox Defender to a Note II makes it twice as thick!

3. 17 mm ball joint mount on the back of the Dock. Turn in any direction with one hand or even use a vertical dock. The Dock also works with any mounting solution compatible with Garmin, type dashboard. vent, bike mount etc. For anyone preferring a ProClip vent mount or KUDA leather mount for mounting, just add an AMPS mounting adapter and they will play nicely together.

4. Automatically triggering car-mode/smart dock mode. On Google Play there's several good apps, including CarHome Ultra, that can be used as a replacement for Samsung's "default" docking screen (no real app included anymore from them).

5. Pass through charging with a 9ft (2.7meter) USB charging cord is also included. This makes it possible to place the Dock on the left side of the steering wheel, where it is out of the way and within easy reach. This position is also "legal" in California. The other end of the cable plugs in to the USB port and aux-in on the car stereo on the car. If you don't have a USB port in your car, plug into a 12 Volt car charger featuring a USB port (which most people probably already have?).

6. Minimal design with completely open back so the Dock can function as a "dash cam" without any blockage. We're amazed how many people seems to use this feature! Power button and volume button on the Note II are also completely accessible with this design.

7. Compact size, yet sturdy and pretty stylish size. Much smaller footprint then even a medium size Samsung phone. Users like you guys have told us that when the phone is not in the Dock you don't want a big "blob" of plastic obstruction the view.

8. The microUSB connector itself is 7.5 mm x 11 mm wide, which is small enough to fit virtually all case openings. Please provide feedback and image if anyone have a case from a known manufacturer where this connector does NOT fit... We've tried to make it as small as possible.

Well, that's it folks! Price is a most reasonable $44.95 considering the many components included but a $5 off pre-order rebate until end of December brings it down to $39.95. Order here on Amazon for North American customers and in Europe, click here. Better photos and videos coming in the next week. Feel free to comment and we'll do our best to answer... Thanks for all input and very engaged discussions on the subject of the "ultimate car-dock"... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmbRqm5grU4&feature=youtu.be

finalhit said:

So eta January?

swyped all these spelling errors from my galaxy note 2

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2-3 weeks... Production running...

rph10319 said:

I'm glad you finally post some pictures, but I saw some problems. One: cradle not provide direct lateral support for the phone, the phone remaining to be sustained only by pressure exerted by that two lower leg support and clamp, which means you can accidentally drop the phone on the sides when handling. Two: in which way you can depress the clamp?...i mean which is the working principle? (to press the clamp it's easy to understand, but to depress? releasing assume to press again or simple pull up the clamp?). Three: that steel enforced arm: 1. without the phone, will stay still and right or will swing when the car will move without the phone in the cradle - that will be annoying? 2. USB plug has edges thin enough to allow insertion along the case edges?...because if is to thick you must remove case before put the USB plug in the phone to charge, that mean you can't use your phone with the case on it because of that. Four: I can't make order or pre-order because I am from Romania (Europe) and Amazon don't send your car dock here. I think a good suggestion from me will be that you must use e-bay to (they send items in Romania, Europe).

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Here's the answers to your questions:
1. Once we have posted the video you will see that there is enough pressure from the latch to prevent the phone from ever falling out. Part of the "secret sauce" is also the fact that the rubber material inside the latch is soft enough to "grab" the phone. Hold off on additional questions on this issue and we'll do our best to post a video by the end of today (Sunday 16th).
2. The steel enforced microUSB cable with the arm will not drop or "swing" when there is no phone inserted.
3. The size of the microUSB plug is thin enough to fit all cases we've tried. I will measure it and post images of the exact inches/mm size so users can check before buying the product. Our goal is to have a product where you never need to remove a case before inserting.
4. If you live in Romania you can order it later today as we are just putting it on for pre-order on the European eBay and Amazon platforms.

Size of microUSB

See below image of microUSB. Does anyone have a case where this does NOT fit? Otterobox, Ballistic, and many other brands we've tested works.

csmits said:

Wanted to pre-order, but none of the promotional codes (neither 5FIVEOFF, nor 5OFF2012 works)

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We lowered the price from $44.95 to $39.95 as there was a problem with the codes... This made it easier.

standarduser said:

I know I'm a late comer to this thread but I'd like to offer my feedback to iBolt, if it's not too late.

See our iBOLT comments below...

The perfect mount would:

- Have a secure grip on the phone. I have a Jeep Wrangler, and I don't want the phone to bounce our of the case. I like the Samsung approach of gripping the phone on all 4 corners, and then having the USB plug slide into position. It's secure, yet doesn't put stress on the USB plug while the phone is bring put into the mount. The xProDock will hold it, it will work with a case. Please let us know how it works in the Wrangler.
- Preserve the rear camera's field of view so we can use apps that utilize the camera while driving. Done
- Have a NFC tag embedded into the mount so we could decide and program what settings we want to activate when the phone is mounted. Easy to do by yourself and in the future you are right, they will be embedded.
- Personally, I'm not a fan of mounts that support any style of case since that usually yeilds a mount that doesn't grip the phone very well. I'd rather have one that is custom taylors to the exact size of the phone itself. The xProDock will hold it.

- Another item on my wish list would be to have buttons on the front of the mount that emulate the functions of the buttons on the sides of the phone, such as power and volume. It would make it easier to adjust those items while driving. Might also be nice to add a mute button. We totally agree, this is a great idea. We've looked into it and it something we are considering for future products.

- having an headphone output jack is a nice-to-have, but only if that audio can be had through the USB port. If I had to run an extra wire to the headphone jack on the top of the phone, I wouldn't use it. This function depends on the handset OEM. Only Samsung, neither HTC, Motorola, LG or Sony have designed their platforms to route the sound through the microUSB. On Samsung about 1-2% of users are reporting a buzz though on the line out when it's done like this, probably because of interference with the LTE radio. The real solution is to have a car-stereo head unit with A2DP streaming for music AND also the hands-free profile for calls.

- Full Charging capabilities is a MUST. I bought an iBolt mount for my HTC Rezound. Even with it connected to power using the same cigarette light cord, it actually ran the phone's battery down while using it. Between that and the loose fit of the clip that sits atop of the phone, my iBolt mount is now sitting in my basement collecting dust.

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Sorry about that. We did have a problem with a batch of the Rezounds and we replaced anyone that contacted us and to the best of my knowledge all of those users had FULL charging afterwards. If you still want to use it, contact us at info@ibolt.co and we'll send you a new one tomorrow.