Earlier this year at CES, I got the chance to stop by Bluelounge’s booth and discovered a product announced late last year that I hadn’t seen before, the Kosta Apple Watch Charging Coaster. What caught my attention is that it’s designed similarly to Apple’s Magnetic Charging Dock, but comes in three non-white colors including dark grey and costs $15 instead of $80. There are a few key differences to consider with Kosta compared to other Apple Watch docks …
Spigen already created one of the most minimal and affordable Apple Watch charging stands with the Apple Watch Stand S330 — a design that fits right in next to an iMac, and works with both open and closed bands. But then Apple announced watchOS 2 and Nightstand Mode, which will will turn the Apple Watch into a proper alarm clock during charging, but only when it’s positioned on its side with the Digital Crown and side button facing up. Spigen’s new Apple Watch Night Stand S350 ($20)offers an even more minimal design with Nightstand Mode support, and an especially budget-friendly price. Check out my impressions below…
Compare iOS/iPhone OS 1.0 with iOS 9.0, and you’ll see that the similarities are incredible — Apple had the right formula on day one, and just kept tweaking it over time. But try the same exercise with the Apple TV and you’ll see plenty of major changes, since a series of annual UI refreshes took years to settle on the interface we know today. Ditto with the iPod nano, which went through several major UI iterations as it shifted from Click Wheel to touchscreen interfaces. The lesson: Apple normally gets a lot more right than not, but isn’t afraid to make major UI changes if they improve the user experience.
Although some of the Apple Watch UI elements appear to be locked in place — such as the Home Screen with a grid of unlabeled circular icons — other parts of watchOS are clearly being changed for the better. For instance, watchOS 2 introduces Nightstand mode, which lets the Apple Watch continue to serve as a timepiece when it’s charging next to your bed. Nightstand mode is a nice feature, and might replace your bedside alarm clock, assuming that you’re willing to turn your Apple Watch into landscape mode to use it. But there are several ways that it could be better, and I’d like to know whether some of the possibilities appeal to you as much as they do to me…
