[myTouch 3G, Magic Accessories] Flybane:
It turns out the 11 pin thing on the docking station is just as problematic. There are some complaints on the T-Mo forums, and here's what I posted there about my experience:

http://forums.t-mobile.com/tmbl/board/message?board.id=AndroidHardware&thread.id=3919

I bought the docking station today, and unfortunately, it's true: the connection is only recognized as audio, not USB, and apparently those two are mutually exclusive. It looks pretty, but other than that, it frankly kinda sucks for claiming sync capability when there is clearly none. The packaging lies! Also, it needs a lot more weight and isn't friendly towards phone cases. So I would probably return it if I hadn't already taken it apart ...

Is there some way of kludging this thing to do what we want, maybe with existing parts or with some creative soldering?

I did a bit of searching around on the forums, and it seems that there are existing (and much, much cheaper) adaptors or cradles that bypass this problem by offering, instead of one 11pin EMU jack on the back, one USB and one (presumably audio only) EMU.

For example, there's this HTC multifunction audio adapter:

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll146/fulin123456/mobile Accessories/originalHTC4in1.jpg

And the less complicated charging audio adapter:

http://www.truesupplier.com/images/D/HTCadapterok-07.jpg?1253845004593

And those who want it all in a docking station have options that combine 3.5 jack, 6 pin audio, and 5 pin USB:

http://cgi.ebay.com/US-SYNC-CRADLE-...ries?hash=item4148d5a416&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Apparently, with these connectors you can plug in the proprietary headset AND the USB, and it will charge and give you music at the same time. I'm guessing that when a headset is connected, the USB data function is disabled and only the charge gets through? If it is possible to split one cable coming out of the phone into USB/charging and EMU audio, then why can't they split it into USB/charging and 3.5mm?

It seems like they assumed that since the one port on the back was 11 pin, we would be able to get both sync and audio. But in fact, the 11 pins apparently only serve to add voltage to an audio connection rather than function as an audio/data/charging combo.

I looked carefully at all the connectors, and it occurred to me that the supplied USB data cable (with the phone) doesn't have the audio pins at all, and that the headset adapter, which is detected as audio, doesn't seem to have the data pins(or not very clearly). Meanwhile, the docking station has the pins and is detected as audio, even when no speakers or headset are connected. So I thought that maybe if I covered up the audio pins, then the phone would detect the cable as data. So I tried covering the audio pins on the docking station (where it connects to the phone) with plastic and then docking. Didn't work - no audio detected, but no USB detected either, although charging worked. nice try. So there must be something beyond the mere absence or presence of those audio pins that tells the phone when something is audio or data. By the way, I did try connecting an ordinary powered USB to the back of the station and then docking the phone: no data, still audio. Same thing covering up audio pins: no data, no audio, only charging.

Based on my reading of this post,

http://androidforums.com/t-mobile-g1/4480-how-create-emu-3-5mm-headphone-jack-adaptor.html

it seems that these things are made so that that certain connections between the pins signal the detection as audio. Perhaps any cables with 11 pins are assumed by the phone to be audio, although they may still take advantage of the USB charging capability?

So, what would be the easiest way to turn the docking station in to something at least as capable as an audio/data adapter? (I have an idea:remove the guts of the docking station, buy the 4-in-1 adapter, and then somehow stick the phone connector through the now empty 3.5mm port and up through the top of the docking station, in which case I've paid $25 for a pretty plastic shell? xD)

Or maybe it would be totally not worth the trouble, just to be able to stand my phone up on a matching white pod when I can get more functions out of an ugly black box?