What the heck did Elon mean about a blind holster for the phone. Adaptable to all phone, no wires....I don't get it. Is this some kind of pad charger or something?
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MarcG
Active Member
It was fairly obvious to me. It's simply a guide that is matched to your phone and allows you to place it onto the charge connector that sticks up from the center console. Apparently they have different adapter guides for different phones.
I have to say, as an owner of the center console for the Model S, I would appreciate such a guide as it takes me a few tries to get my phone onto the charge connector unless I'm looking at it closely (which means I can only do this properly while stationary).
Here's a picture from the launch video:
I have to say, as an owner of the center console for the Model S, I would appreciate such a guide as it takes me a few tries to get my phone onto the charge connector unless I'm looking at it closely (which means I can only do this properly while stationary).
Here's a picture from the launch video:
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ssq
Member
No its not wireless, what he meant by blind holster was you can just feel your way into the phone holster/slot without looking at it and by virtue of sliding the phone in the holster-channel you can "dock/charge/connect" your phone to the standard iphone/micro-USB/USB-C jack. I can bet what they have in there is a rubber mat (vertical + horizontal part) underneath which is the wire+connector for your phone type connecting to a USB port. On the vertical part of this holster is an adjustable slider clamp which one can size based on their phone. thats all there is to it.. IMHO it did not warrant whatever time he spent on it.
Edit: immediately realized after posting that his message was about safety and this car is supposed to be family friendly. So not having to look around for the phone connector and placing it in the glove or central box or whatever people do with their phones is one less distraction to worry about..
I actually tried this out in Elon's car last night. I sat in the drivers seat and put my phone in it. It's just two plastic tracks that you slide your phone down along onto the charge connector. I couldn't actually do it "blind" the first time, but with practice, one could. It was actually working because my phone started to charge. Nice feature, but a fairly minor one. I think it's more of an aesthetic benefit - no cord hanging around the car.
On a side note, Elon has an IPhone 6 or 6s because that's what his car is set up for. Getting a tiny charge in my phone from his car is probably about as close as I'll ever get to the man himself! :redface:
On a side note, Elon has an IPhone 6 or 6s because that's what his car is set up for. Getting a tiny charge in my phone from his car is probably about as close as I'll ever get to the man himself! :redface:
I predict this will be a totally useless feature, for a few reasons, at least with micro-USB:
1) Even with a cable and my phone it takes me a few seconds to get it inserted properly. It's a delicate fragile attachment and you can damage your phone and the cable if it's not precisely perfect.
2) There are now 3 trillion different phones on the market. And each has 125 different cases people use with them. Just how many of those custom guides are they planning on releasing? I'm sure the newer iPhones, and maybe the Samsung S5 or S6. That leaves out millions of people's phones. And I bet it won't work with any cases either.
That's what I think. Fun idea in theory, it won't work in practice.
1) Even with a cable and my phone it takes me a few seconds to get it inserted properly. It's a delicate fragile attachment and you can damage your phone and the cable if it's not precisely perfect.
2) There are now 3 trillion different phones on the market. And each has 125 different cases people use with them. Just how many of those custom guides are they planning on releasing? I'm sure the newer iPhones, and maybe the Samsung S5 or S6. That leaves out millions of people's phones. And I bet it won't work with any cases either.
That's what I think. Fun idea in theory, it won't work in practice.
Not that I am in danger of buying an X, but... I kind of wish they just had a good, kind of sticky-by-nature small rubber mat or something similar horizontally in the middle console with NFC and a QI charger under it. Many Windows Phones and Android phones have QI built in, so you could really just put your phone down blindly, don't worry about it, it would start to charge immediately and connect to the car via BT thanks to NFC.
I have a charger like that in my car today, but having that integrated as opposed to cable running to the cigarette lighter would be sweet.
But it looks like whatever is not an Apple feature does not register on Tesla's radar...
I have a charger like that in my car today, but having that integrated as opposed to cable running to the cigarette lighter would be sweet.
But it looks like whatever is not an Apple feature does not register on Tesla's radar...
Did anyone try the dock out with a case? I'm wondering if they extended the connector out more and the guides were there so that if you didn't have a case your phone wouldn't be flopping around?
That's exactly what I use. No need for a "blind guide" thanks to the magnets and sticky surface. I can't believe they still make phones and tablet that you have to plug in to charge. I've been charging wirelessly for 3+ years.
mspohr
Well-Known Member
We have Nexus phones and I've just set two QI chargers in the center console. We just set our phones on the chargers. No wires to fiddle with... Fast and easy.
When you have the amount of G's in the Model S/X those magnets aren't going to be strong enough...
gjunky
Trifecta: Solar and both cars are EVs
I would said the same but just noticed that the new Nexus phones released on the same day no longer support wireless charging
gizmoboy
Member
I would said the same but just noticed that the new Nexus phones released on the same day no longer support wireless charging
Wireless charging introduces compromises that not all manufacturers are embracing. It's far from broadly adopted, which makes it a hard sell to integrate into other products.
It's definitely convenient though, if you've got it...
I would said the same but just noticed that the new Nexus phones released on the same day no longer support wireless charging
Seriously? I didn't know that until now. First foldgate and now this! lol. Luckily my current Nexus phone is still working great so maybe I'll wait until the next version.
Skotty
2014 S P85 | 2020 3 P19"
Pretty cool feature. There are countless times I've had to pull my car over to plug in my phone. Would be pretty sweet if I could just slap it right down in there while driving. Not sure it was really launch event cool, but cool nonetheless.
mspohr
Well-Known Member
It hasn't been a problem so far... but I mostly drive like a little old man
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The QI wireless chargers are becoming the de facto standard (Ikea even offers them built into desks, lamps, etc.). I don't think there are any compromises to the devices. I've even added wireless chargers to phones which came without them. It's just a very thin (<1mm) sheet that you can slip into the back case of the phone. I have a bunch of different charging pads around the house and it's really convenient to just set the phone down rather than fiddling with a connector.
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