Griffin PowerDock 2 charges iPhones and iPods two-at-a-time

In case you're not swimming in Apple gear just yet (wait 'til the kids come...), Griffin Technology has just released a more modest solution to charging "just" a pair of iPhones / iPods or one of each. The two-port PowerDock 2 features a pair of universal docks and a collection of dock inserts to ensure that almost every iPod (and the iPhone) can get a seat at the table. It's available as we speak for $49.95.

[Via PopGadget]

[David @ May 30th 2008 11:38AM]

will my Rio Karma fit?

[CraigJ @ May 30th 2008 12:06PM]

sure! use this hammer!

[David @ May 30th 2008 12:21PM]

My pleasure : )

[William @ May 30th 2008 4:41PM]

Aww, I miss my Karma...

[Ben Schiendelman @ May 30th 2008 11:39AM]

That actually seems pretty useful for couples.

[trent @ May 30th 2008 11:54AM]

Or anyone with two iPods..

[Ryan Trevisol @ May 30th 2008 11:39AM]

They had a dual charger before, but it was discontinued in favor of the quad. Which to me just seems silly. I rarely have need of charging my ipod at the same time as my iPhone. The wife and I faithfully charged our iPhones every night, or else we paid the price of a dead phone by noon the next day. When we get our new ones, this will be high on my must-have list.

[Mile @ May 30th 2008 1:04PM]

Wife?

[Ryan Trevisol @ May 30th 2008 1:17PM]

Indeed.

[Kaiser-Machead @ May 30th 2008 11:41AM]

Pretty nice, and it'll keep me from having to remove one of my USB peripherals to make way for another iPod.

[GreezyG @ May 30th 2008 11:41AM]

I wish they would make "special" docks that were large enough so I can charge my iphone/ipod without taking it out of the case!

[CraigJ @ May 30th 2008 12:08PM]

the only case that I am aware of that works like this is the Agent-18 case. I have it and is came with an insert for the universal dock:
http://www.agent18.com/scripts/prodview2.asp?idproductpages=16

It does not, however, fit into the dock that came with the iPhone...

[Jason G. @ May 30th 2008 12:32PM]

I love my Agent 18 case for my iPod 5G. The special dock insert that comes with it is worth every penny.

[GreezyG @ May 30th 2008 12:49PM]

Thanks, I haven't seen that case. Too bad I'll be getting a new iPhone soon, I hope :)

[Joseph @ May 30th 2008 3:52PM]

the iphone version requires you to remove the bottom half of the case for it to dock, so special dock connector

[Geoffrey Sperl @ May 30th 2008 11:52AM]

It's a nice idea - my wife has a nano and a shuffle and I have a fifth gen, so the desk is a mess between the three.

BUT: It looks like this thing only charges, it doesn't allow you to plug into the USB for feeding the iPod.

I'm a little less impressed now. :(

[nz @ May 30th 2008 2:49PM]

Exactly! I can not for the life of me figure out why they didn't add a powered USB hub to this thing to allow syncing as well. That would have added next to zero cost, and zero engineering time, but would have made it a must have. I don't care so much about just charging.

[Joseph @ May 30th 2008 3:47PM]

That's probably because iTunes will only let you sync one iPod / iPhone at a time with all current and future iPods / iPhones.

[Colin Campbell @ May 30th 2008 10:23PM]

Useless with out the ability to hook up and sync to your computer.

[Brian @ May 30th 2008 11:57AM]

also useless without the ability to charge up the Apple bluetooth headset.

[Ryan Trevisol @ May 30th 2008 12:01PM]

You know it wouldn't have been hard for them to integrate a USB hub into this thing.

Now I'm thinking I'm gonna have to make my own out of that curly maple in my dad's woodshop.

[Joe @ May 30th 2008 12:01PM]

Thats funny, all my cell phones came with chargers.

[Adam @ May 30th 2008 12:19PM]

I can't imagine wanting to spend $50 on a charger designed for a product that comes with a perfectly good charger.

[Ed @ May 30th 2008 12:12PM]

just need the iPhone to support bluetooth or wifi sync!!

[KingOfZamunda @ May 30th 2008 12:02PM]

Another pile of iPod toot to perch on top of the tons of iPod toot already clogging up landfill sites the world over. Sheesh.

[Steffen Jobbs @ May 30th 2008 12:27PM]

Only two iPhones or iPods? What about a six-pack charger for the elite users when Apple's stock hits $250 a share. A year from now most well-to-do families will have a few iPhones or iPods for each family member. That two-charger device is already looking pretty inadequate.

[Jason G. @ May 30th 2008 12:35PM]

They also make a 4 device charger, it's just available yet. $69.99 Coming in July, iLounge says.

http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/powerdock
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/griffin-powerdock-charging-station-for-ipod-iphone-now-available/14387

[Vidit Bhargava @ May 30th 2008 12:35PM]

crap...will they come out with one for the family...charging 4-5 at a time??

[Phoenix @ May 30th 2008 4:55PM]

there /is/ one like that. Try clicking the links in the article

[Matthew @ May 30th 2008 12:46PM]

What happens when my wife and i use it to charge our iphones and she takes mine by mistake and my mistress calls? What then? This is a bad idea.

[Kaiser-Machead @ May 30th 2008 1:48PM]

Then I guess it's time to put a pass lock on your phone. That, or simply correspond with your mistress with smoke signals.

[Ahmed Nitul @ May 30th 2008 2:08PM]

This is so great :) Now I can charge my both iPhone (8GB & 16GB) at same time (Oh sorry, one owned by my girl friend, the 16 GB one lol)

Thanks for the awesome update! very usefull!

[Reid @ May 30th 2008 2:56PM]

This seems fairly unnecessary. On the other hand, if you don't like it, don't buy it, and $49 isn't a bad price when Apple probably wants $29 or $39 for a single-device dock.

[tekdroid @ May 31st 2008 8:26PM]

$49 for a device that:
1) should have come with removable batteries like a standard phone
2) allowing you to take a charged spare with you which actually costs less than this device
3) ...and swapped in on-the-fly at any time the battery dies
4) ...with no charging downtime
5) ...and no nightly charging rituals needed.
6) ...and that doesn't have to be returned to the manufacturer/ distributor for desoldering and replacement (with yet more downtime) once its useful life of 400-500ish charge cycles is up.
http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/service/battery/

The "nonremovable-battery-at-all-costs" logic would baffle me entirely if not for the obvious economic benefits Apple get from it ($85.95 USD for a spare batt, niiiice work if you can get it).