iphone dock

10 'iphone dock' stories June 2013 - April 2016

Mini-review: These simple iMac-style iPhone stands are both cute, but one wins out for me

Ben Lovejoy Apr 18 2016 - 1:44 pm PT

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If you’re going to leave an iPhone in a dock all night to charge, or on your desk all day at work, you’ll want a powered one. Options there include Apple’s own dock, Belkin’s Charge Dock and Enblue’s Premium One.

But if you are constantly picking up and putting down your iPhone in the course of the day, sometimes a simple unpowered stand can be more convenient. I tried a couple of iMac-style stands supplied by MobileFun: the Elago M2, left, and Spigen S310, right.

Both are very similar in overall form-factor. An aluminum body with iMac-style foot, two prongs at the front to hold the phone in place, padding to cushion the phone against the stand and cutouts at the rear in case you do want to run a Lightning cable through to it. The obvious visual difference between the two is that the Spigen has a black rubber coating at the front …

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Review: The Premium One W2 dual dock is a perfect Apple Watch + iPhone companion [Video]

Dom Esposito Aug 28 2015 - 6:59 am PT

7 Comments

Today we’re taking a look at what might be the best Apple Watch dock in the business. If you’re tired of just plopping your iPhone or Apple Watch on a table at night, this is a much better alternative. Meet Enblue Technology’s Premium One W2 dual dock and charging stand. Quite possibly one of the longest accessory names I’ve heard, but I’ll easily forgive that for the functionality it brings along…

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Review: Enblue’s Premium One W3 is an outstanding all-in-one dock for Apple Watch, iPhone + iPad

Jeremy Horwitz Aug 5 2015 - 11:36 am PT

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I’m not a fan of hyperbole, nor am I the type of reviewer who long ago ran out of new synonyms for the word “great.” In fact, I could count the number of truly stellar products I’ve tested in the past year on one or two hands. So when I say that Enblue Technology’s new Premium One W3 ($135, also sold in $65 W1 and $115 W2 forms) is the best stand I’ve yet seen for the Apple Watch, and quite possibly the best multi-Apple device stand I’ve ever tested, that isn’t idle gushing. Yes, the Premium One stands are expensive. No, they are not perfect. But having seen a lot of companies try and fail to do what this German developer has accomplished, I’m certainly very impressed.

Each Premium One stand uses nicely machined aluminum dotted with small plastic pads to hold and charge your Apple Watch. The entry-level W1 model is Watch-only, while the mid-range W2 holds a Watch and iPhone, and the top-of-line W3 is a Watch, iPhone, and iPad charging station — the most elegant multi-device charger I’ve seen since Apple introduced Lightning connectors. It’s ideal for minimalists, and amazingly, completely case-compatible. If the price doesn’t bother you, and you want to charge your Apple Watch along with other devices, this should be at or near the top of your shopping list…

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Review: Incipio’s offGRID Shine expands iPhone 6 battery cases with an optional Dock for charging

Jeremy Horwitz Apr 2 2015 - 12:19 pm PT

3 Comments

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Apple’s lack of interest in releasing official iPhone 6 docks has created an opportunity for third-party product developers, notably including HiRise maker Twelve South and battery case maker Mophie, which is rolling out iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus versions of its Juice Pack Dock. Incipio has decided to join the pack with its own options: the offGRID Dock ($40) and several new offGRID battery cases, starting with offGRID Shine ($90, available online for $81). The pitch: pay a little more than the excellent offGRID Express (review) and you get a fancier case with support for dockable recharging. Later, you can purchase the dock separately if you want it.

Is the premium worth it? That depends on your personal needs, but if you want an iPhone 6 dock, you’ll find that the offGRID system is more aggressively priced than Mophie’s alternatives. Read on for the details.

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These are the most popular non-Apple apps people keep on their homescreens

Ben Lovejoy Nov 26 2014 - 5:02 am PT

28 Comments

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You don’t need to go any further than iTunes to see the most popular iPhone apps, but a couple of days after Betaworks launched #Homescreen, an app which allows people to share their homescreens on Twitter, we thought it would be interesting to check the results so far. The above image was the result at the time of writing.

#Homescreen is an app with a single function: it allows you to share your current iPhone homescreen on Twitter. Betaworks uses image-recognition to identify the apps, and pulls together a constantly-updated image showing the most popular dock and homescreen apps.

Betaworks excludes Apple’s own apps, but does note that “between 45 percent and 65 percent of the home screens examined had replaced Apple’s default apps with third-party options,” reports TechCrunch.

One trend the company noted in a Medium blog post is the growing popularity of third-party messaging apps.

Facebook is Messenger is on 14% of people’s homescreen, Whatsapp is on 12 percent, Snapchat is on 11%, Path on 5 percent (while snapchat and path arent straight messaging app’s, worth noting them here for comparison), Groupme 4.7%, HipChat on 2.6 percent, Line on 1.5 percent, Viber 1%, Kik is on 0.5 percent.

Facebook, unsurprisingly, took the title of most popular third-party app provider, with 68.6% of homescreens having at least one of Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Pages or Instagram.

If you want to share your homescreen but can’t be bothered to download an app to do it, you can tweet a screengrab with the hashtag #homescreen2014.

Review: Brodit/ProClip, the ultimate car dock system for your iPhone or iPad

Ben Lovejoy Nov 17 2014 - 7:55 am PT

22 Comments

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There are about a quadrillion different car docks for iPhones, ranging in price from a few dollars right up into triple digits. Brodit docks sit right at the high end, with a complete powered installation coming in at around $140-150.

Crazy money? Expensive for sure, but having owned one since the iPhone 4, I didn’t even consider anything else when I bought my iPhone 6 …
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Crowdfunding Roundup: multipath router, WiFi for your dock, smart brewing appliance, more

Scott Buscemi Oct 13 2013 - 7:47 pm PT

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Rather than make you sift through all of these projects, we’re rounding up the best or most notable projects from around the crowdfunding web and delivering them to you in a simple roundup. If there’s a project that you’ve backed – or even a project that you founded – be sure to leave a link below so it can be considered for the next roundup. Check out our complete list of roundups here.

Multipath Router (Indiegogo project)
[youtube=http://youtu.be/Mdls9aW-5m0]Now that Siri on iOS 7 takes advantage of multipath, a smarter internet technology that can take advantage of all web connections at the same time, the technology has gotten a boost in exposure and consumer interest. Multipath Networks has come out with a new router that can take advantage of your regular DSL/cable connection and boost it using your cell phone or neighbor’s internet, if they permit. The router itself starts at $199.

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Belkin announces Express Dock for iOS devices w/ adjustable dial to accommodate cases

Jordan Kahn Oct 1 2013 - 10:03 am PT

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Belkin today announced its latest product for iPad with the introduction of the new Express Dock for iPad. The dock comes with a built-in 4-foot Lightning connector, and thanks to an adjustable dial you can position the Lightning connector to accommodate cases and dock just about any iOS device:

Belkin’s new Express Dock has an adjustable dial integrated to the back of the dock. When turned, the dial raises or lowers the Lightning connector that connects to your iPad so it will work with a variety of case sizes and styles. It makes every day docking faster and more convenient—even with the case on.

While Belkin is branding the product the Express Dock for iPad, the company says it will work with iPad 4, iPad mini, iPhone 5, and iPod touch 5th generation. That means you’ll likely have no issues with your iPhone 5s either, but there’s no mention of 5c compatibility.

The Express Dock is available through Belkin.com and select retail partners starting today for $59.99.

Apple gets back in the iPhone dock game with 5c and 5s docks

Mike Beasley Sep 10 2013 - 11:22 am PT

5 Comments

Apple didn’t announce these at the keynote today, but you can finally buy first-party docks for your iPhone again. The iPhone 5s and 5c docks are now available on the Apple Store. The ship date is currently unknown but they will be available in stores on the 20th for $29 each. The 5s dock will also work with the iPhone 5.

The micro-suction dock that appears to defy gravity [Review]

Scott Buscemi Jun 24 2013 - 5:43 pm PT

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This morning, I received what appears to be magic in a box. Bracketron’s NanoTek Stand uses micro-suction technology to stick to flat surfaces and hold iPhones and iPad minis without a ledge or any magnets. This device was originally a Kickstarter project called the “SETA Smartphone Stand” and now Bracketron has partnered with SETA to offer the product to the masses.

From the Kickstarter project:

How It Works. SETA incorporates NanoSuction™ technology that synthetically emulates the adhesive qualities of gecko feet. Your phone magically clings to the NanoSuction™ SETA pad while another pad on the base secures the stand to most flat, non-porous surfaces.

When I put my iPhone or iPad mini on the dock, it feels like a tiny vacuum holds it in place. Swiping left to right or scrolling through webpages does not move the phone or the dock at all, but when you want to take your device off, it just takes a simple pull or tug to the left or right. The micro-suction leaves no residue or stickiness on the device.

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At first, the small size made it seem like the dock would only work with small phones like the iPhone. However, it has no problem holding up my iPad mini in the landscape or portrait position.

The angle is great for Facetime calls, sending snapchats, texting, or watching videos. Unlike some other docks that closely resemble the design, the NanoTek Stand does not use gravity as a factor (the angle is there just to make it easier to see) and the footprint is extremely small. In addition, there is a slot for a 30-pin or lightning connector.

Bracketron’s NanoTek Stand can be found on BestBuy.com for just $27.99 with free shipping. The durable construction and amazing technology makes it a steal at that price. In addition, the small size means you could fit both your iPad mini and iPhone on your desk, each with their own stand.