GPS Extension Kit Version 2.0 - Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime

This is really a concept, and perhaps a request, nothing more and it is directed at Asus, who seem to not be shy about using its relationship with the user community to better it's products. This is directly inverse to Samsung who (at least with mobile phones, I cannot speak to the way they manage tablets) It appears that Samsung would rather pretend they aren't aware of the ICS "Leaks" that are coincidentally issued at regular intervals, only to hit the enthusiast user base in the form of an Odin leak, and then multiple re-worked ROMS with bugs identified and often resolved. Sure, this is speculation, but if it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck... Particularly "coincidental" is the way every succeeding "leak" has the fixes that were either identified or requested during the public alpha testing phase.
I admire Asus (partly) for their more direct approach, even if it feels like the moves of a smaller company, which of course they are. For the most part Asus has tried to directly engage the user community with unprecedented moves like entry into these forums. Unfortunately they haven't been super successful at getting perfect results from the approach, even if they have found some solutions. A perfect example is the GPS Extension Kit - an antenna when you boil it down. Yes, it solves an issue. It does so effectively, it IS an elegant solution in spite of claims to the opposite. Where it falls down is an R&D, something that Asus seems to be inconsistent with. The "kit" does not allow for charging while in use, something that most agree would have been possible, via a pass though port. In fact, were such a port present (an this may or may NOT be physically possible) Asus might have been able to either a) Attached the keyboard, not directly, but with a small cable via said pass-through port. Or, consider THIS: If a small cable attachment were part of the kit, might it not be possible to attach the antenna via a cable TO the attached docks charging port?
Okay, okay, I am straying really far afield here. None of the ideas I mentioned are elegant in any way, nor are they simple and clean as the actual design was. BUT they do illustrate that with further R&D, a more fully fleshed out concept might have been designed.
Now, two things in Asus' defense:
1. They were under tremendous pressure to design a fix quickly as the backlash from the original GPS flub (R&D falls down again)
2. It needed to suit both Tablet-only customer and Tablet-Dock combinations.
With that in mind, the singular, basic design makes sense. More to Asus' credit, it works. Quite well. But the absence of a pass-through for charging, on a device that says "Please remove GPS extension when not in use "to save power" is just poor design. My daughter (9 years old) suggested Asus build an "a" and "b" version for attachment to the tablet and dock respectively. Not bad. I suggest Asus get BACK to the drawing board and great a GPS Kit v2.0 that has some or all of the above mentioned capabilities.
ESPECIALLY the power pass through. If a re-design is not practical (likely as the cost would not make sense from a ROI perspective) then what about a Y-splitter? It WOULD be a complex little adapter, one that effectively allows a pass-through, and assuming firmware could be designed, might also fill the requirement for a keyboard/dock connection while the antenna could still be connected. Visualize: a pair of female connectors, one to the port on hinge side of the keyboard, one to the exiting GPS Extension antenna. Now a short section of durable cable, and put a male connector on that end to attach to the base of the Tablet's screen, which, although not nearly as "elegant" as the kit by itself has the singular distinction of allowing Prime owners to charge while navigating, and/or attach the keyboard dock while navigating. It may not LOOK elegant, but on a technical level, is as elegant as you could wish for.

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Well, my views on the GPS Kit they sent out are:
Aesthetics:
- I am not too impressed with the fact there are three screws on the front, wouldn't it of looked better the other way round? [Minor]
- The color looks a tiny bit different because the Dongle has a sparkly type paint where as the prime has a solid color with the pattern. [Minor]
- It's bigger than I expected, I would of liked a smaller more compressed one. [Minor]
Functionality:
- I put it on and tested my GPS and It found 5 satellites but couldn't get a lock on any of them and I left my prime trying to get a lock for over an hour, I rebooted and tried it again, It just found 13 satellites and locked onto 8 of them with a accuracy of 16ft (Inside a solid brick house) which quite impressed me.
- It has no slot to enable charging which is a major flaw.
- You can't dock your tablet to the keyboard so you can't take screenshots or obviously use the keyboard.
- The lock & unlock toggle is not spring loaded, which is poor design.
- It does however make the tablet on it's own easier to hold, less slip chance.
- Because it's not a permanent solution it prevents some of my security working as it is supposed to and it also prevents me from having the keyboard attached and having a lock on for Google Latitude.

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You can't dock your tablet to the keyboard so you can't take screenshots or obviously use the keyboard.
You can take screen shots without the keyboard. Hold down recent apps button.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

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Smurphjw said:
You can't dock your tablet to the keyboard so you can't take screenshots or obviously use the keyboard.
You can take screen shots without the keyboard. Hold down recent apps button.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
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Correct. Also as was mentioned the lack of a pass through charging port is unforgivable, no matter how "rushed" they were to provide this (and they were rushed). GPS is a major power drain, so much that Asus has a sticker on the dongle telling you to take it off when not in use. A pass through port would have been easy and not add a tremendous amount to the cost. Of course the firmware would need to support it, but we all know how good Asus is with tablet firmware. :silly:

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Or.........
they could have added a wifi antenna or module where the GPS on the module could be switched off through software (or hard wire; easy block to do)
Or........ they could have impressed ALL of us by adding a separate BT, wifi, and GPS chip. Albeit, more expensive but how many of us wouldn't have paid for the more expensive option if given the chance?
now the AIO combo (wifi, bt, GPS) is equally impressive but it still doesn't solve the charging problem. extended antennas however would have allowed to provide better signal though. they did solve the wifi issue, if not more than 6 months later, by holding steady, staying mum and not publicly addressing the issue, and RMAing when appropriate (even if it didn't solve the problem).

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There is a thread i posted a while back in reguards to adding a power input (+15v) to the gps dongle to power the prime. Find the thread about it here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1633747
Because of the extremely fine pitch leading to the dock connector and the lack of space and general lack of time on my part (school started up, derp) i have not had time to move the project forward however i will def help if someone wants to give it a shot.