GADGET REVIEWS Just another GADGET NEWS

If ever there was a solution to a first-world problem, this is it. Behold, the Omega Headphone Stand, a perfect answer to a question that was never asked.

The stands are exactly what they claim to be, nothing more: a place to keep your over-the-head headphones. If you have been suffering the awful chaos of a pair of expensive cans sitting messily on a table, or even worse, sprawled across a shelf, offending the eyes of every sensitive soul who visits your luxury, minimalist home, then you can stop your painful worrying. Now you can perch those high-end headphones onto a curved plywood stand.

The swooping veneer sculptures come in a variety of forest-killing hardwoods cherry, maple, zebrano or walnut and mimic the shape of a human head, which makes a lot of sense as the ‘phones are designed to cosset the noggins of audiophiles the (first) world over.

The price? A mere $180, meaning you’ll have to spend at least that on a pair of headphones or risk your superficial friends chuckling at you. Oh,and you’ll have to do something about the cords, too. In the photo, they’ve just been cleverly hidden from the camera’s view. In your home, they’ll make a mess that will drive you crazy. Crazy enough to spend another $180 on an ivory cable-tidy, no doubt.

Omega Headphone Stands [Elusive disc via Uncrate]

jQuery(‘#inf_widget’).load(‘http://www.wired.com/ajax/widgets/related/content/blogPost/gadgetlab_55832′);

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

<< Previous
|
Next >>

<< Previous
|
Next >>

Roland Heersink had a problem. He wanted to use his iPad in the kitchen, but his wife vetoed any and every space-hogging countertop stand. So Roland, smart Gadget Lab reader that he is, decided to make his own. And not only did he come up with the The Original Kitchen iPad Rack. he turned it into a business.

Roland’s rack takes up precisely zero space on the countertop, instead suspending the tablet from the overhanging kitchen cupboards. The rack comes in two pieces of clear acrylic. One attaches permanently, out of view, beneath the cupboard. The other hooks onto this mount and forms a sloping or vertical stand for the iPad, keeping it handy, but out of the way of spills. When you don’t need it, just toss it into the cupboard above.

The rack will cost you $30, and should you have a big kitchen, you can choose kits with two or three mounting brackets, at $5 extra per bracket. I think Roland’s idea is pretty ingenious and, if coupled with my own low-tech waterproof iPad case, would make for an almost indestructible kitchen iPad setup.

The Original Kitchen iPad Rack [Kitchen iPad Rack. Thanks, Roland!]

jQuery(‘#inf_widget’).load(‘http://www.wired.com/ajax/widgets/related/content/blogPost/gadgetlab_55505′);

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

Yes, the iBend is yet another iPad stand, but this one is truly remarkable. Weighing in at around the same a sheet of card, and just about as thin, the iBend gains rigidity when it is bent into a curve.

The plastic iBendXL (the smaller iBend is for the iPhone) sips flat. You pull it out and bend it, producing two hooks at the front which grab the bottom edge of the iPad and a gentle curve at the back which creates a flat rest for the iPad to lean on. It reminds me of the fascinating models and diagrams in my old math classroom which showed variously truncated cones, cut by flat planes at different angles.

The iBendXL costs $10, and the smaller iBend is $5. Both are slim enough to be slipped betwixt the iDevice and whatever case contains it, and should be tough enough to last a good long time. What this stand really suggest, though, is a DIY project. I doubt the iBend folks are going to put up a printable PDF template anytime soon, but a rainy afternoon spent with some scissors, card and a French curve should get you pretty close. Available now, in plain colors or in fancy arted-up designs.

iBend product page [iBend. Thanks, Rishi!]

jQuery(‘#inf_widget’).load(‘http://www.wired.com/ajax/widgets/related/content/blogPost/gadgetlab_53964′);

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

<< Previous
|
Next >>

<< Previous
|
Next >>

The 3Feet is an almost-indestructible, over-engineered plastic stand for pretty much any tablet or smartphone that needs a one. I tried one out, and found that maybe the best thing about it isn’t the capable range of tablet-cosseting features, but the fact that you can tinker and play with it for minutes on end.

The stand consists of five separate parts, all of which slot together with various deviously-conceived hingeing mechanisms. Thankfully, it comes pre-assembled, otherwise you’d likely mistake it for an impossible-to-solve puzzle and spend hours trying to put it together. In use, though, the 3Feet is very simple. You pull a tab on the back (marked “pull”) and it opens up into an A-frame, much like a tiny easel. Slots and rods molded into the plastic fit together to allow two angles, and a little lugged shelf folds down from the front to grab the bottom edge of the tablet.

This fold-open lip is oversized for the iPad, which means you can easily use it even whilst in a case (there is also a hole through which the charging cable can pass). It also means you’re not limited to the iPad: you can drop in pretty much anything, from a cellphone to a Kindle. The stand is sturdy enough to keep even the relatively heavy iPad safe in both portrait and landscape orientations.

The stability is helped by rubber bands made from silicone, which stop it sliding across the desk and also keep the happy tablet scratch-free (although the plastic stand probably wouldn’t damage much anyway).

The final trick is in a little kick-stand which flips out from the back when the main “leg” is folded flat. It is small, but somehow manages to both hold the stand at the right angle for on-screen typing, and also be sturdy enough to keep the iPad steady.

There’s not much to criticize about the 3Feet stand. It is light enough and compact enough that you can toss it in a bag and forget about it, and it’s even dishwasher-safe. And the complex folding design means you probably won’t be able to stop playing and fiddling with the thing. Hell, it’s even cheap, at just $15, and comes in a wide range of (interchangeable) colors.

The only thing that might put you off is the looks. This is a product for which the term “utilitarian” was invented. That’s not to say it is ugly, or even that the appearance hasn’t been considered. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but somehow it reminds me of medical devices, or perhaps even the toys of my childhood, which tended to be chunky and long-lasting rather than stylish and short-lived.

Or maybe I’m just seduced by the fact that this makes the ultimate executive stress-toy, something to keep your hands and brain busy when you should be working. Available now, from Amazon.

3Feet product page [3Feet. Thanks, Steve!]

jQuery(‘#inf_widget’).load(‘http://www.wired.com/ajax/widgets/related/content/blogPost/gadgetlab_53876′);

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

Amongst the initial complaints about the iPad were that it is too heavy (it isn’t), that it is too big (nuh-uh) and that it easily slips out of your hand (it does). The Hand-e-holder takes care of the only genuine problem on that list, and it does it in the dorkiest way possible.

The Hand-e-holder comes in two parts. First is a clear plastic donut-shaped sticker which affixes to the back of the iPad (or any other tablet). The second part is an adjustable hand-strap with a matching circle that sits over your palm. Both sides are covered in 3M’s Dual-Lock fastening material, kind of like an ultra-strong Velcro that actually clicks into place (the hooks are mushroom-shaped).

Once locked onto the iPad’s back, the handle spins freely to let you choose landscape and portrait orientations, and to use the tough multitouch glass front to play ping-pong (note: due to the smooth glass surface, putting spin on the balls is all but impossible).

Why would you use this dork-tastic accessory? I guess that if you’re using the iPad in a work situation, like taking inventory or standing outside an exclusive nightclub excluding people for petty and arbitrary reasons, then this may be for you. There are also some wall-mounting plates and stands to which the same sticky-donut will fix, allowing the same 360 spins.

For the rest of us, a frictionful case will do the trick. May I recommend Apple’s own, which also protects the screen with a semi-rigid flap and doubles as a stand whilst adding almost no bulk to the slim device.

The Hand-e-holder is available now, for a not-quite-too-expensive $40.

Hand-e-holder [Hand-e-holder via Macworld]

jQuery(‘#inf_widget’).load(‘http://www.wired.com/ajax/widgets/related/content/blogPost/gadgetlab_52116′);

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

When the concertinaing Aviiq notbook-stand was announced way back in November of last year, my headline read “Origami-Like Folding Laptop Stand Is Perfect for In-Bed Movies.” Finally, almost a year later, the review unit arrived, and it proved that I was almost Nostradamus-like in this prophetic declaration. The multi-paneled stand is indeed perfect for keeping a hot notebook off the soft, insulating sheets of your bed while you fall asleep to the latest episode of Mad Men. What the Aviiq isn’t good for is typing. But first, how does it work?

When you pull it from it’s rather sleek box (which has Apple-like packaging production values), the Aviiq is nothing more than an aluminum strip just over a foot long and less than three-inches wide. This strip then unfolds into four sections. The unit is in fact a polypropylene sheet sandwiched between aluminum panels which bend along the exposed plastic strips. The top part of these four sections is also “hinged” and the edge flips underneath and secures itself by poking little rubber-covered pads through slots in the main section. It is ingenious, and much like making a cardboard-box from a flat-packed kit. It is also incredibly light (5.5-ounces) and very rigid.

The stand is meant to be used on a desk, and suffers from the usual problem of these kids of stand: you don’t need one. The 12-degree slant given to the notebook actually increases wrist strain instead of decreasing it. You can use it backwards, slanting the keyboard away from you, but this just raises the front edge.

Where the Aviiq shines, though, is on the lap and in the bed. It works great for keeping things cool between (or at least on top of) the sheets, but it also carries off enough heat to let you use your laptop on your lap-top. You can’t use it directly on your legs, though. The thin edges dig into your thighs in a way that is uncomfortable within seconds. Add a cushion, though, and this problem disappears, and the cushion also raises the computer to a more usable height. If this seems clunky, especially given the portability of the stand, there’s a workaround: Use it upside-down.

With any notebook of 13-inches or more, you can flip the Aviiq over and place the flat top on your legs. The computer then sits astride the two ends, the triangular wedge formed by the fold keeping the hot base off your legs. It works great and more important, it is comfortable.

The Aviiq is small enough to carry with you always, if you need it. There’s one thing that you’ll need to consider though: Price. The stand costs $80, and although it actually feels like $80 of engineering, that’s a lot to spend. This line, from Aviiq’s PR email, probably says it best: “Although it is more expensive than most stands, Im sure once you get your hands on it you will be impressed.” It is, and I am.

Aviiq product page [Aviiq]

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

The Glif is a small piece of plastic with a tripod mount embedded within. It is also the most useful accessory you could buy for your iPhone 4. Made from injection-molded plastic, the simple shape of the Glif hides a surprising range of functions.

Designed by Dan Provost and Thomas Gerhardt, the primary function of the widget is to mount your iPhone 4 onto a tripod. To do this, it slips into a groove that wraps L-shaped around a corner and the long edge of the iPhone. It also works as a kickstand, much like the MoviePeg for previous iPhones. It’s easiest to see the configurations in the gallery below, but there is one more rather cheeky thing that the Glif will do that’s not shown: it works like a bumper. Leave the Glif on the phone, wrapped around the bottom left edge and it will stop you touching the antenna-strip and dropping calls.

The Glif is currently in development using Kickstarter, a service that lets people pitch-in money to get products into production. Provost and Gerhardt set a goal of $10,000, and almost $30,000 has so far been pledged, so the production-lines should start rolling soon. The price should be around $20.

<< Previous
|
Next >>

<< Previous
|
Next >>

Glif product page [Glif]

Glif – iPhone 4 Tripod Mount & Stand [Kickstarter]

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

Kensington’s PowerGuard Battery Case for the iPhone 4 would be just another ho-hum Mophie-alike design if it weren’t for one very clever little tweak. Around back there is a slot in the plastic, into which you slide a credit card to make an instant kickstand. It is placed smartly, too, so it will support the iPhone in either landscape or portrait orientations.

The case actually comes with a card, so you don’t have to risk your own, and the whole thing is actually rather slim and clean-looking, adopting the iPhone 4’s own squared-off lines instead of the swooping curves normal for external battery packs. It will add four hours of talk-time (or five hours of video or 22 hours audio) to the iPhone’s life, charges via microUSB and has a volume control button, just like Apple’s own bumper case. And given that simple cases can sell for $40 or more, the battery-totin’, kickstand-convertin’ Kensington’s $60 seems reasonable. Available for pre-order now.

Kensington PowerGuard Battery Case with Card Stand [Kensington via OhGizmo]

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

It’s a stand for the iPad, and so of course it is called the iStand, but it’s also an elegant piece of furniture. The Danish-designed stand is aimed at POS use (no, not that POS) and holds the iPad at a handy browsing height allowing customers to flip through catalogs, menus or any kind of information. I can imagine these in use both as educational aids in museums and also by clipboard-nazis as they deny you entry to their lame but “exclusive” nightclub.

The iStand has space for a dock-cable and bolts shut around the iPad. It also covers the home button to prevent tinkering, so you’d better be sure you have launched the correct app before you lock it up. It tilts and swivels, too, depending on how you want to use it.

The company behind the iStand, InSilico, also makes companion apps, although these are not listed in the app store. They are pretty self explanatory: They’re called iCatalogue and iMagazine. I’m thinking it would be pretty cool to put a couple of these in Wired’s reception hall showing the iPad version of the mag (or better, tuned to the Gadget Lab page). The only problem there would be in the New York office, where Bureau Chief John C Abell does a lot of his “work” in the comfy reception-area armchairs, and his snoring might scare people off.

Depending on the price of this simple metal pole and mount, the iStand plus iPad combo could be a very cheap way for businesses to get a custom interactive POS system. Knowing what I do about the costs of velvet ropes and stands, though, the iStand is likely to cost more than the iPad itself.

iStand is here [InSilico. Thanks, Kim!]

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

Laboratory 424’s Mini Riser laptop stand is so simple you could make one yourself in minutes. At $8 for two, it is also so cheap that you don’t have to.

Laptops run hot, and you are almost obliged to get a little space between base and desk if you want to stop those fans kicking in as soon as you go near YouTube. Laboratory 424’s boffins realized that most stands aren’t as portable as the notebooks they are supposed to accompany, so they made one so minimal that it can slip unnoticed into a laptop bag yet be strong enough to support up to 16-kilos (35-pounds) of hot metal and glass.

The Mini Riser is little more than a sturdy, bendable wire with a rubberized vinyl coating. The amorphous “m” shape is reminiscent of a million badly-designed corporate logos, and comes in almost as many colors (ten). Once out on the desk, it just slides under the back of you notebook, propping it up and giving both a better viewing angle and keeping the air flowing.

But what I love the most about the Mini Riser is the gallery on the website. Why use boring old modern laptops in your photo-shoot when you can use old toilet-seat iBooks and even more ancient hardware instead? There’s even an OS X joke in the captions.

Mini Riser [Laboratory 424. Thanks, Jeff!]

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

The FridgePad is billed as the “ultimate fridge magnet”. I’d say it’s probably the ultimate anything. Think about it. Even with my obviously awesome “Waterproof, Kitchen-Proof iPad Case” (a ziploc bag), your iPad still gets in harms way in the kitchen. The FridgePad fixes this by mounting the iPad up where nature intended: on the front of the refrigerator.

Made of aluminum with a big old magnet on the back to keep it firmly stuck to the fridge, the FridgePad holds the iPad with four plastic corner clips. Once secured to the door of the smallest and coldest room in the house, you can use the iPad to play music, podcasts or audiobooks, show you recipes or, well, anything the iPad can do. The more I think about it, the more it is clear how perfect the iPad is as a kitchen computer. And if you’re really messy when you cook, you could even slip the whole rig, magnet and all, into the ziploc bag and just slap that onto the refrigerator.

The stand will cost 50 ($78) when it ships, and will be available through Amazon. There’s no word yet on a launch date, but you can sign up for email alerts on the product site. In the meantime, I have a feeling that a trip to the hardware store is in order.

FridgePad [Woodford Design via CrunchGear]

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter..

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

The iPad already has a crazy-long battery life, measuring around ten hours whatever you do with it. A good thing, too, as something this portable would suffer from being stuffed into one of those juice-pack type cases. But what of those occasions when you really can’t find a power outlet for days at a time? HyperMac has you covered with a surprisingly neat (and simple) solution.

The answer is to put a battery into a stand. Clever, right? The stand is in the slab’n’slot style, a block with two angled slits (18 and 45-degrees) to hold the iPad in either orientation. The heft of the stand is provided not by weights but by stuffing in a battery which can juice the iPad for a further 16 hours. That, if you are feeling a little slow this morning, brings the total to 26 hours of continuous use. In normal stop-start usage, that’ll probably be enough to last you for an entire weekend.

The stand comes with a USB port into which you plug your existing dock connector-cable. To charge it, you hook it up via its own mini-USB port, and it supports “charge-through” so you can just use it as a charging desk-dock and grab it when you leave the house. Ingenious, nice-looking and even fairly light (12.7oz or 360g), the only problem may be price. At $130, it seems expensive. But then, it may well be cheaper than buying a stand and battery pack separately.

HyperMac Stand [HyperMac via Brownlee]

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

Twelvesouth’s Compass stand looks more like a medical instrument than an iPad accessory, but that’s what it is. The divider-shaped unit splits in the middle and the legs splay to make a rather sleek-looking tripod. Two little “feet” flip out from the “ankles” to support the iPad’s lower edge, and a soft circular pad caresses its back whether in portrait or landscape position.

The stand is good for typing, too. See the extra little foot contained in the, erm, upper thigh of the main leg? That pops out to support the iPad at a much shallower angle.

Twelvesouth has a history of making fair-priced, well-designed Apple accessories, from the simple BookArc MacBook stand to the BassJump sub-woofer that backs up the MacBook’s own little speakers. And at $40 the Compass is eminently affordable, especially when compared to the cheap plastic tat available for similar prices.

What really stands out about the Compass (apart from its looks) is that it folds up into such a portable package. When scissored shut, it is barley an inch wide and even comes with its own little carrying case. I’ll stick with my Gorillapod solution for now, though, as it double-duty as a camera stand and, as it is pretty much all plastic-coated, there’s no chance of scratches.

Compass [Twelvesouth]

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

After publicly declaring a search for the perfect iPad stand yesterday, Gadget Lab’s benevolent dictator Dylan Tweney put this questio out over Twitter: “@mistercharlie Think you could use a Gorillapod as an iPad stand?”. I rushed to grab my trusty Joby Gorilla Mobile, pausing only to set down a bottle of cold German beer. Blinking as I moved out of the bright sun and into the cool dark interior of Gadget Lab’s Berlin outpost, I bent the jointed tripod into shape…

The result is best summed up by my reply: “Dylan, you’re a genius. Tested and it works great. 2 legs curled to hold iPad, one pushed out back as a stand. Steady.”

Further testing and photographing this morning led to some deeper insights. As you can see from the pictures, the stand is fashioned from the smallest of Joby’s grab-anything tripods, meant for compact cameras and cellphones. Two legs are splayed and bent up at the tips to hook the iPad’s bottom edge. The head in this case the tripod screw is bent back to stop scratching, although removing the screw or replacing it with the soft suction-cup attachment would also work. The third leg is bent back to balance the whole thing.

I’m amazed how well it works. The Gorillapod is sturdy enough to hold the iPad at any angle, in both portrait and landscape orientations. In normal use typing and tapping it is rock solid, but you can also push the iPad back to adjust the angle. For proper typing, you need to lean it back a little further. This is best done by flattening the front legs a little and curling the back leg up to meet the head, like a scorpion’s tail, providing extra support and a narrower angle. You’ll need to do some jiggling to get it rock-steady.

Because all you see at the front is the two feet curling up, it is minimally intrusive. And it even works in bed, letting you prop up the iPad on the mattress to watch a movie. Best of all, the Gorillapod folds up tiny, and is worth carrying along with you anyway because of its multi-tasking abilities. To see how it did in our testing (grimly hanging on to the basket of a bike while it supported a Canon G9 shooting video), follow the link below.

If you already have one, this could be the best iPad stand yet: it’s effectively free. If you don’t, it’ll cost you $30.

Product page [Joby]

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews