Clever adapter connects USB accessories to your Android device

[mouks]

With the iPad Camera Connection Kit allowing users to connect a variety of unexpected USB devices (like a MIDI keyboard) to their iPads, the next logical question was, "Is there something similar for Android?"

Although it's not advertised or sold by any of the big Android phone manufacturers, the solution is a cheap cable called a USB On-The-Go adapter.

USB On-The-Go (Amazon link), or USB OTG, is essentially a female USB port that plugs into the Micro-USB port of a phone or tablet, allowing you to connect devices that use a standard USB 2.0 or 3.0 connection. In a nutshell, the adapter allows the Android device to be a "USB host," powering and communicating with the connected device.

Compatibility
So far, it's been difficult to figure out which Android devices are compatible with the USB OTG cable. It's clear, however, that the Samsung family of Android phones and tablets are the most USB-friendly of them all, allowing users to connect the greatest variety of USB devices.

Even though USB host mode is technically available in devices running Android 3.1 and above, the hardware manufacturers (OEMs) must enable the feature. And, even then, the OEM might limit the types of USB devices the Android phone or tablet supports.

With the help of this crowdsourced chart, and some of our own testing, we found that the following devices are compatible with USB OTG:


Samsung Galaxy S II (S3)
Samsung Galaxy S III (S3)
Galaxy Nexus*
Galaxy Nexus 7*
Droid RAZR
Samsung Galaxy Tab
Acer Iconia Tab A200
Acer Iconia Tab A500
Archos G9
Notion Ink Adam
Motorola Xoom
Toshiba Excite 10
Sony Tablet S

Full story and video here

[devdev666]

you know Samsung sells an official version of this? and i would imagine other brands do aswell.i paid R200 i think for my one from mtn

[Jola]

Been doing this on my Motorola Xoom for well over a year.

Maybe not with all the device support, but certainly the mouse and flash card reader worked.

[BeVonk!]

Been doing this for ages to connect keyboard and usb thumb drive to my Samung phones and tablets. ICS needs no rooting to get full USB thumb drive control.

[The_Librarian]

Lovely

I want one! Where can I get?

[BeVonk!]

Only thing I cannot get to directly connect yet is my Sony WX10 camera. Neither MTP nor Mass Storage setting on cam allows me to read data on camera.

[BigAl-sa]

Only thing I cannot get to directly connect yet is my Sony WX10 camera. Neither MTP nor Mass Storage setting on cam allows me to read data on camera.

Cameras often need device drivers to talk to the computer.

[rodga]

mmmm, wonder if I can connect another android device?

[Park@82]

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthre...-to-Female-USB
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthre...-Cable%29-Xoom

[Lupus]

I've got one for my Galaxy Tab on Saturday, doesn't work, going to take it back sometime this week. The light powers on, but nothing works on it.