Uh oh, we have some rather small but bad news this afternoon. Samsung has apparently changed the MHL-HDMI port on the Galaxy S III in a way that existing adapters for HD video-output will not work. This means that those who previously owned a MHL adapter from a previous phone like the Galaxy S II, Galaxy Nexus, or multiple HTC phones it will not work with Samsung’s latest and greatest.
Now if you’re asking yourself wait, isn’t that the micro-USB port pictured above? Yes, yes it is. Many recent phones have adapted the MHL standard, where micro-USB ports double as an HDMI-out using MHL and can output video even while charging your phone. Basically mirroring your phone to a HDTV or monitor. Now you’ll have to buy the new Samsung MHL adapter and won’t be able to use previous ones.
This was first reported by the folks over at The Clove, and has since been stirring up a little bit of discussion. MHL is billed as a new industry standard yet Samsung has made this their own. Our friends and sister site SlashGear has confirmed old MHL adapters no longer work, and that Samsung is selling a new one priced at $39 for the Galaxy S III.
This isn’t a very good move on Samsung’s part if you ask me, and I bet I’m not alone with that thought. Many Galaxy S II owners will have to buy a new adapter should they pick up this flagship phone from Samsung later this month.
[device id=2435]
Apple changed from FireWire charging to USB charging and accessory manufacturers should have changed it long before since that chance in spec predated the iPhone. The accessories still work, but don’t charge. Not the same thing.
Yes it was charging that didn’t work
I sure hope there is a technical reason for this, and not simply Samsung being asshat.
It’s official, I don’t like Samsung.
So how long until Monoprice gets in on the action and has cheaper adapters?
Now Samsung is becoming evil like Apple
I left this comment on a Samsung Facebook post… It was promptly deleted:
I owned a Samsung Ghost (T-519) and then a Samsung Memoir (T-929) before jumping ship to HTC’s Droid Incredible 1.
The Ghost was awesome, but it was too thin for it’s own good and snapped in half in my pocket.
The Memoir was a superb phone, first 8MP camera-phone on the U.S. market. People were SO jealous of my Memoir because they were all still carrying around a phone AND a camera at that time. Heck, the memoir even had a TRI-POD fitting! That was also my first phone with web browsing capability, and the browsing was great for its time.
I eventually got old of having to use Samsung’s proprietary cables and adapters though. These phones used Samsung’s VERY peculiar headset/charger adapter, and did not have a conventional 2.5mm jack like today’s phones do. So I jumped ship and bought an HTC Droid Incredible 1 when it was a brand new model.
The HTC Droid Incredible 1 lived upto its namesake. What an amazingly fantastic phone. I have had this phone nearly two years and it has stood up to some major abuse, including living much of its life as a wireless access point (tethering).
Well, after two years, it’s time to upgrade… Not because the Incredible is losing its mojo or anything, but because I learned like the rest of the country, that Verizon (along with other carriers) are going to be pulling the rug out from beneath us in short order… If I don’t upgrade by today, I would lose my $30 per month unlimited data plan when I DO decide to upgrade… Which by the way really smells of price fixing to me when you consider that all the carriers are making similar announcements at the same time ::coughcough lawsuit coughcough::
So I am upgrading to the best phone on the marketplace today.
I am upgrading to a Samsung Galaxy S III.
I have done endless research on this phone, and am pleased with most of its offerings. A field-replaceable battery, 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon CPU (U.S.-Spec) and a whopping 2GB’s of RAM (U.S.-Spec). The only thing that has disappointed me from what I’ve read on the internet reviews, is that Samsung foolishly altered the MHL-HDMI port on the Samsung Galaxy S III. This news seems relatively inconsequential on the surface, but points to a much larger problem with Samsung mobile on the whole; that they need to stop mother f**king using proprietary adapters on their f**king phones.
Or the next phone will not be Samsung. This is NOT how you enhance user experience, nor will it increase customer loyalty. You are playing with fire. Proprietary connecters are the main reason I never bought an iPhone all these years, although it could now be easily argued that iPhone adapters are now “the norm”, so perhaps that mindset is now moot.
You (Samsung) however will never penetrate the marketshare like Apple did. Your modified connector will never become standard, and all you will end-up doing is pissing off throngs of end-users who think they have a compatible device or cable only to find out that Samsung is trying to jerk them out of a $40 proprietary product.
I have already ordered my Samsung Galaxy S III. I assume it will be a great phone. But don’t forget, I have 30 days to return the phone, and if you play even more mind games with your customers, I will ditch you again for another brand like I have done in the past.
This is written by a man with (3) Samsung LED TV’s mounted on his walls.
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although it could now be easily argued that iPhone adapters are now “the norm”, “… When there are 4 times more Androids out there? Stop buying the apple coolaid from fanboys.