Dell Streak PDMI Connector Opens New Hook-Up Potential

Dell's choice of an apparently proprietary connector for its Streak was one of the notable frustrations in our review of the Android MID, but it turns out not everything about the port is non-standard.  Owners over at the Pocketables forum have been digging through the specifications and even doing pin-to-pin testing of the Streak's HDMI dock, and have discovered it pretty much matches the PDMI standard.  The discovery opens up the possibility of cheaper third-party USB cables than Dell's own $19.99 accessory, together with other potential hacks.

"Pin-to-Pin testing shows that the Dock Connector pinout is in agreement with what is shown in [the PDMI] pinout diagram. I cannot confirm presence or absence of the USB 3.0 Pins as these are not brought out to any connector on the Dell Home Dock. With the exception of one tiny 6 pin component associated with the HDMI connector, a few small filter capacitors, and some 0 Ohm protection jumpers, there is no actual circuitry in the dock." Linuxslate

For instance, the PDMI standard supports USB 3.0 transmission, together with DisplayPort and others; if Dell thought ahead and included hardware support for those connections, it could make the Streak all the more flexible.  Even without, cheaper connections have to be a good thing for Streak owners, so it remains to be seen what the owner community can come up with.

[via StreakSmart]