by Sangeeta Deogawanka

Created on: December 27, 2009   Last Updated: December 29, 2009

To maximise your Motorola Droid experience, you can consider purchasing the Multimedia Station, a Droid accessory that is described as a dock that turns the Droid phone into a multimedia powerhouse.  Doubling up as a charger, the Droid Multimedia Station  allows you to display photographs, play movies and music, show the weather, and be your all-time clock with alarm functions.

Priced at about $30, it costs about the same as a conventional wall charger with many more add-ons.  The dock is attractive with a cradle. The Droid phone slides into the dock, connecting via the micro-USB port.  When docked the Droid launches the dock application.

The Mutlimedia Station displays the current time, date, location and weather, with temperatures, including maximum and minimum.

Here are some simple tips on how to optimise your Droid phone functionality using the Multimedia Station:

1.  Use it as your desktop charger while your Droid phone is docked.

2.  To ensure that the battery does not drain out, set the screen timeout session to your preference, but not ‘never’.

3.  While using it as a charger, you can fit in your Droid phone only if it has a vinyl skin type protective cover. Then again you can use a Seido case.

4.  Another way you can use a phone cover with your Droid is by having a two-piece cover. You can keep the face plate on and remove the backing.

5.  Use it as your bedside clock for time. The wide clear display with its four touch- sensitive buttons makes for great visibility during the night.

6. You can use it as your alarm clock. For this, you tap the alarm icon for three different alarms.

7.  If you find the display too bright, tap the power button while in dock. The touch buttons and screen go dark. Of course, tapping the lightbulb will also enable a dimmed display.

8.  To wake up the screen, all you have to do is tap the camera shutter button on the side.

9.  For a dimmed screen keep the Multimedia Station connected via USB.

10. The screen stays on while docked, but if you want to turn it off, go to Settings/Applications/Development and check off the ‘never sleep while charging’. The alarms however continue to work.

11. To keep the screen on while charging, go to Settings/Applications/Development/Stay Awake.

12. Another option to keep your screen lit all night is to  plug the dock into the wall charger.

13. Plugging it into the USB of your PC puts the screen to sleep unless deactivated under Applications > Development, and even then it dims a little.

14. To lock out and prevent any other person from accessing your photographs, use the built-in pattern lock in your security settings.

15. To plug it into your computer, remove the A/C power USB cord .

16. To shut off 1the alarm, use the camera button on the side.  To set the camera button as a snooze button, go to Alarm Clock > Settings > Side Button Behaviour.

17. To access your music and photo, use the given icons at the bottom of the screen.

18. As it does not have speakers or a line out like in the iPhone,  you will have to plug in the headphone jack to power speakers.

19. Use it as a weather station to know the weather details at any given time.  You can tap the weather icon for a forecast for the day. It can be set to give hourly displays, using the weather setup section.

20. Using the application called Dockrunner, helps you to launch the dock application with ease, even without the phone physically docked.

Learn more about this author, Sangeeta Deogawanka.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.