Native Union made a USB hub that blends into your home
You'll be mesmerized by how it rises with a single touch.
If you're reading this, chances are you're a gadget freak and may need to recharge multiple devices on a daily basis. That's when you're greeted by a pile of messy cables plugged into a dull-looking and maybe under-powered USB hub. Cable boxes may hide the ugliness, but they're bulky and don't actually solve the issue. Not one to admit defeat, Native Union -- the mad folks behind the marble iPhone case -- came up with the ultimate solution: a stylish, cylindrical USB hub dubbed Eclipse. On the outside, it looks like a piece of home decor thanks to its wooden top, but it's really the inside that got our attention: as you touch the top gently, the main body slowly rises up to let you uncoil the cables tucked inside, while the base emits a subtle halo for night-time usage. It's rather mesmerizing to watch.
The Eclipse offers three standard USB ports -- one of which can be flipped to USB-C -- which total up to 7.8A of current, and each standard port can go up to 2.4A while the USB-C port maxes out at 3A. There's no Quick Charge 2.0 or 3.0 magic here (so the voltage stays at 5V), but the high current output is already plentiful for office hour or night time charging. And don't worry, all the essential electrical protection mechanisms are in place. The device itself supports 110-240V variable voltage input so you can use it anywhere around the world, and it's attached to a 4-foot long power cable with an electrical plug of your choice in the Kickstarter campaign.
While Native Union makes its own USB cables, the Eclipse is designed to house any cable that are up to 8-foot long. All you have to do is plug one end into the ports on the inside, then wrap each cable around one of the three slots on the cable management part, pop the part back into the cylinder and you're good to go. To grab a cable, simply tap the top, let the body rise (powered by a motor), unwind your desired cable, and then tap the top again to let it slowly sink back down. This works even if you choose to hang the Eclipse on the wall -- because it's that good-looking -- using the bundled wall mount. There's a 4mm gap between the outer case and the wooden top, which should let most types of USB cables go through.
The Eclipse is already proving to be quite popular on Kickstarter, as it reached its $50,000 goal within the first couple of hours after launch. For those who don't mind waiting until April 2017 for delivery, early birds can grab an Eclipse for $49 while everyone else will have to pay $50 -- which is still a bargain considering that it'll retail for $80 next year.
