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samDock Connects Samsung Galaxy Phones to Apple 30-pin Sound Docks

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CableJive recently released samDock, which connects a Samsung Galaxy S3, Samsung Galaxy Note or other Galaxy phones to sound docks designed to work with the Apple 30-pin dock. This means that switching from an Apple iPhone to a Samsung Galaxy S3 (or the popular Samsung Galaxy Note 2) means that 30-pin sound docks don’t have to become fancy door stops.

But how well does the cable work? In a word, great!

CableJive sent us the samDock and we immediately hooked it up to a Samsung Galaxy S3. On one end of the 2-foot cable users find a micro-USB cable that’s capable of charging the phone and sending an audio signal to a dock. On the other end of the cable we find a female 30-pin dock connector that plugs into any sound dock, like our iHome dock or our ION Block Rocker portable sound system.

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samDock charged the phone without issue, taking the normal amount of time to go from totally drained to fully charged.

cablejive samdock plays music using 30-pin sound docks

CableJive’s samDock plays music using the built-in micro-USB connector via 30-pin sound docks

The samDock offered good sound quality. The cable felt solid, like all of CableJive’s adapters and cables. Two feet seems like a good length for ordinary usage.

The first time we plugged the samDock into the phone and iHome dock, sound kept playing through the phone instead of the iHome speakers. After finding a troubleshooting page at the company’s website we found a simple fix.

cablejive samdock

samDock charges and plays music

Users have to enter the phone’s settings app by tapping the menu button and selecting Settings. Scroll down to the last section of settings marked System and tap on the Accessory setting. Putting a check mark in the Dock sound and Audio output mode check box sends audio through the micro-USB port to a Samsung’s dock. It also works with the samDock.

When we did this music rang out through the iHome speakers.

audio output over dock setting

Go into Settings and then Accessory to find this page on a Samsung Galaxy device

Right now the samDock works with all Samsung Galaxy phones including the S2 and S3. It also works with the Note and Note 2. We hope it will also work with the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S4. It will likely work with Galaxy tablets too.

We recommend the CableJive samDock without reservations. We only wish they would include documentation explaining the necessary setting change in the Accessory section of the phone’s Settings app.

 

4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. Shawn Murphy

    03/11/2013 at 11:03 am

    Killer Deals Dude!!! ROCK ON :)

  2. Jamie Stevens

    05/12/2013 at 9:11 am

    does this cable also transmit the Surround audio option?

  3. Cheryl Massey

    09/19/2013 at 3:44 am

    why do you need this gadget when all you have to do is just buy a $5.00, 3.5 cable and hook it up; I am fairly certain being able to dock it up front in the tray area doesn’t make a bit of difference as the remote with the bose sound dock still won’t work with the android phone, thus, you need a longer cable as you have to keep picking up the phone to make any adjustments, and a short cable means you have to lean in constantly. I know, I bought the short 3.5 cable at first and then returned it for the longer one so i could stay in my seat when I had to pick up the phone.

  4. Tom

    12/06/2013 at 3:34 am

    Hi
    I’m thinking about creating something along the lines of Grace Digital GDI GSD8200 – in my option would be – (Bose sounddock => cablejive /samDock/ => iGRIP Universal Micro USB Charging Dock ) – mounted on the top of my Bose and use it for my Samsung Galaxy phone
    My question is – if micro usb plug from samDock will work with the iGRIP charging dock ? (charging and sound signal) or any micro usb charging dock?

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