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kensington posts

Kensington slaps DisplayLink into USB universal docking stations

by Darren Murph posted Sep 23rd 2009 at 10:07AM

We've gone over one whole month without speaking of DisplayLink, and honestly, it's killing us on the inside. Thus, we're thrilled to see yet another product looking to the always-popular USB port for guidance, with Kensington's two newest universal docking stations channeling your graphics, peripherals and even internet journeys (only on the $149.99 K33926US, not on the $129.99 K33930US) over one single cable. Put simply, these docks allow users to connect up a set of speakers, USB peripherals and even a DVI / VGA display, and when you stroll in with your laptop, you simply link the two via a single USB connection and enjoy a "docked" experience. What's most interesting here, however, is the maximum resolution support; while most universal docks top out well below the 1080p mark, these two support resolutions as high as 2,048 x 1,152. Oh, and if you're just looking to connect a few (up to six) monitors to your existing rig via USB, the $79.99 Universal Multi-Display Adapter should be able to help.

[Via HotHardware]

Kensington's iPhone / iPod charging dock throws a mini battery into the mix

by Darren Murph posted Aug 4th 2009 at 7:17AM

At this point, you've probably assumed that there's simply no way any company can produce yet another iPhone or iPod dock that's significantly different from the legions of alternatives already out. And you're wrong. So wrong. In an effort to milk that Made for iPod / iPhone partnership for all it's worth, Kensington has just introduced its Charging Dock with Mini Battery Pack, which not only charges your dock connecting iPod or iPhone, but also energizes an external battery pack through the same USB cable. When you leave, you'll depart with a charged device as well as a charged battery pack in case you need to use 3G services for more than eight minutes. Brilliant, no? It's up for pre-order now for $69.99.

[Via iPodNN]

Kensington outs new handful of netbook accessories

by Darren Murph posted Apr 8th 2009 at 7:33AM

It was just a matter of time, really. We've seen desktop accessories, laptop accessories and now netbook accessories. Kensington has today launched five new products aimed specifically at the blossoming market, and while the tiny wired ($14.99) and wireless ($24.99) mice aren't anything spectacular, the Power Adapter for Netbooks ($49.99) clearly shows a pinch of ingenuity. The unit is compatible with a whole slew of netbooks (not surprising given just how similar they all are), and includes a built-in USB port to give you that extra charging socket that you've been secretly longing for. There's also a new security lock ($24.99) and reversible sleeve ($14.99), which ought to join those other pieces we mentioned on store shelves later this month.

Gallery: Kensington outs new handful of netbook accessories

Engadget's recession antidote: win a Kensington SlimBlade Trackball!

by Laura June posted Mar 10th 2009 at 12:00PM

This whole global economic crisis, and its resulting massive loss of jobs got us thinking. We here at Engadget didn't want to stand helplessly by, announcing every new round of misery without giving anything back -- so we decided to take the opportunity to spread a little positivity. We'll be handing out a new gadget every day (except for weekends) to lucky readers until we run out of stuff / companies stop sending things. Today we've got a Kensington SlimBlade Trackball on offer. Read the rules below (no skimming -- we're omniscient and can tell when you've skimmed) and get commenting! Check after the break for some photos of the prize!

Special thanks to Kensington for providing the gear!

The rules:

Leave a comment below. Any comment will do, but if you want to share your proposal for "fixing" the world economy, that'd be sweet too.
You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you'll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.)
If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you'll be fine.
Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don't make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
Winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive one Kensington SlimBlade Trackball. Approximate value is $129.
If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
Entries can be submitted until Tuesday, March 10th, 11:59PM ET. Good luck!
Full rules can be found here.

Kensington SlimBlade Trackball hands-on

by Nilay Patel posted Feb 23rd 2009 at 2:03PM

Kensington promised us that the SlimBlade Trackball would turn us into "smooth operators," and we certainly felt retro behind the ball -- we hadn't used a trackball since the original Kensington Turbo Mouse. Muscle memory issues and a loss of efficiency drove us back to our trusty MX Laser after just an hour or so, but overall the Slim Blade is a nice little peripheral with some slick drivers -- mode changes pop up in an HUD, and spinning the ball latitudinally works like a scroll wheel -- so if you're a trackball fan, the gallery below is probably worth a long look.

Gallery: Slimblade Trackball hands-on

Kensington SlimBlade trackball for the smooth operator

by Nilay Patel posted Jan 15th 2009 at 4:49PM

Yep, Kensington is still making desktop trackballs for all of you out there still rocking your original Macworld '92 T-shirts, and its latest model is actually quite attractive -- the SlimBlade trackball features a minimalist low-profile base with four buttons and a ruby red ball. The drivers are equally slick, displaying mode changes on screen in an HUD, letting you know when you've flipped from cursor to media control to view control profiles. Not a bad way to spend $129 if you're into trackballs, we suppose -- and we wholeheartedly support any product whose press release claims it'll turn us into "smooth operators." Video after the break.

[Via Engadget Chinese]

Continue reading Kensington SlimBlade trackball for the smooth operator

Kensington kills a few more cables with Wireless USB Docking Station

by Darren Murph posted Aug 18th 2008 at 9:20PM

Look out, cable pundits, your next must-have gadget has arrived. Kensington's Wireless USB Docking Station is pretty straightforward -- you simply plug in up to five USB devices along with your external monitor in order to access all of those gizmos sans cabling from your Wireless USB-enabled machine. Sure, the range is capped at 15-feet, but never having to plug in that printer / scanner / external HDD / USB-powered fan again when setting up your work lappie at home will be a huge relief. Look for this one to ship soon for $229.99.

[Via Electronista]

Kensington introduces the ShareCentral peripheral hub, SlimBlade Bluetooth mouse

by Joshua Topolsky posted Jun 16th 2008 at 2:02PM

Kensington has just unloaded a slew of new "back to school" items on the world -- luckily for you, only about three of them are interesting. The first item worth your precious time is the ShareCentral ($39.99 - $79.99), a series of USB / peripheral hubs that allow you to share printers, scanners, or other USB devices amongst several computers without the typical mountain of cables. The other items of interest are the new $59.99 SlimBlade Bluetooth mouse, which is -- you guessed it -- a Bluetooth mouse / presentation remote, and the $39.99 Ci95m Wireless Mouse, a 2.4GHz input device with a "nano receiver" and rubberized exterior. Both mice are available now, the ShareCentral will be available at the end of the month.

Read - Kensington ShareCentral Brings Greater Convenience and Ease to Home Computing Shared Tasks
Read - Kensington Announces Ultimate in Mouse Mobility and Flexibility for School, Work or Play

Kensington starts shipping DisplayLink Dual Monitor Adapter

by Donald Melanson posted Jun 3rd 2008 at 1:39PM

Kensington has been touting its DisplayLink Dual Monitor Adapter since before it even had a product to show off, but the company's now apparently finally gotten its act together and pushed the device out the door. Like similar devices, this one will let you add a second monitor with nothing more than a USB connection, or up to six monitors if you want to string a bunch of the adapters together. You still won't get more than a 1440 x 900 or 1280x 1024 resolution, however, but thanks to those recently released drivers, you will now be able to use it with Macs in addition to XP or Vista-based PCs. Unfortunately, as is often the case, the price has taken a bit of a jump since the company's initial estimates, with it now running $120 instead of the even $100 we were first promised.

Kensington unveils Battery Pack and Charger for iPhone / iPod

by Darren Murph posted May 5th 2008 at 5:03PM

Sure, there are already a handful of options out there for extending the life of your iPhone / iPod battery, but since when have we been ones to gripe about a little competition? Kensington has just introduced a standard and miniature version of its Battery Pack and Charger for iPhone / iPod, which unsurprisingly provides juice to your device's internal battery and can be recharged simultaneously. As you could likely guess, the only differences between the two contraptions are the size, price and battery life; the 0.22-pound standard model extends play time to up to 100 hours (music) / 6 hours (talk), while the even tinier mini version livens things up for another 30 hours (music) / 3 hours (talk). Each is available now for $69.99 / $49.99.

Kensington teams with DisplayLink for USB Dual Monitor Adapter

by Donald Melanson posted Jan 7th 2008 at 11:44AM

While it hasn't gone so far as to take advantage of DisplayLink's wireless USB video card know-how, Kensington has turned to the company for some help with its new USB Dual Monitor Adapter, which should still get the job doe even it adds a bit more clutter to your desk. Somewhat notably, this one includes both VGA and DVI connectors, and it'll give you your choice of mirrored or extended desktops. Unfortunately (for some), you'll have to make do with a max 1440 x 1050 resolution on widescreen displays or 1280 x 1024 on standard monitors, but you will get full 32-bit color depth and promised " smooth DVD video playback," but as with most of these, Kensington makes no promises about gaming performance. If that's not too much of a compromise for you, you'll be able to grab one of these early in the second quarter of this year for an even $100.

Kensington unveils the SD200V laptop dock with video

by Nilay Patel posted Sep 17th 2007 at 10:07PM

Kensington continues to roll out new products, and while the SD200V laptop dock may not come with as much marketing hyperbole as that magnetic keyboard, the vertical form factor is a unique take on the usually-unattractive dock concept. Other than that, however, the SD200V isn't really packing a lot of heat -- five USB ports, 1280 x 1024 VGA output with support for spanning and mirroring, 2.1-channel audio, and a mic jack. That's a lot of data to pump over a single USB 2.0 cable, to be sure, but we'd rather plug in a couple more cables and save the $139.

Kensington rolls out accessories aplenty

by Donald Melanson posted Sep 17th 2007 at 12:32PM

In addition to those hyperbole-laden mice and keyboards Kensington introduced the other day, the company also busted out a whole range of other accessories, including everything from FM transmitters to power adapters to notebook cases. On that first front, the company has introduced no less than four of its LiquidFM Transmitters, including two designed specifically for iPods and two that'll work with any old MP3 player. All four boast features like QuickSeek to automatically find the clearest frequency and RDS functionality to display song information on compatible car stereos. In other forms of accessorizing, Kensington's introduced a slew of "Connect it" and "Power it" devices, the former of which includes a variety of laptop docks and stands replete with USB ports, while the later consists of adapters of various sorts to let you use and charge your USB-powered devices in your car, on a plane, or at home using a regular power outlet. As if that wasn't enough, the company also has a pair of new laptop cases, which will neither charge your devices nor transmit audio, but which should keep both your laptop and your wrists safe, thanks to Kensington's trademark Contour ergonomic support panel. According to Kensington, the whole lot should be available in time for the holiday season, with everything available for pre-order now.

Kensington's SlimBlade Media Notebook set relies on magnets not magic

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 17th 2007 at 8:05AM

In perhaps the largest dose of hyperbole you'll taste this year, Kensington is claiming to "reinvent the computer interface" with their new SlimBlade Media Notebook set. No, we're not talking mult-touch, speech, or thought control here; just magnets. Sorry, no magical Steorn energy, they're simply using magnets to attach a media remote and keypad module to the sides of a keyboard. Whoopee. The wireless laser mouse features a 360-degree scroll ball while the keyboard goes both ways with PC or Mac hotkeys. A Wireless USB micro-receiver controls all the modules and tucks away inside the mouse when not in use. The kit goes for $130, or $150 with the Vista MediaCenter / FrontRow enabled remote control. Pretty sweet all-in-all but hardly a re-invention of the computer interface.

Kensington launches Ci Lifestyle Collection of input peripherals

by Darren Murph posted Jun 12th 2007 at 1:29PM

Just months after Philips went nuts and introduced a plethora of new input peripherals, Kensington is pulling a similar move by launching its colorful Ci Lifestyle Collection of wireless mice and keyboards. Each device was designed to be as thin as comfortably possible, sport advanced power saving abilities, and easily fit into the road warrior's bag of choice. Kicking things off is the $34.99 Ci70 wireless mouse, which comes in around 35-percent slimmer than common competitors and touts an automatic sleep mode to save those batteries. The $39.99 Ci70LE simply adds a dash of colorful (and bubbly) design, while the $34.99 Ci75m gets even smaller for the mobile crowd. The $39.99 Ci85m sports a QuickStart feature that powers the mouse up as soon as the PC turns on, and opts for an ExpressCard receiver instead of the USB dongle that its less expensive siblings rely on. For those looking for a keyboard / mouse combination, the Ci70 Wireless Desktop Set throws a Ci70 and a low-profile keyboard together in a convenient $79.99 package, and those who've already warmed to the cutesy allure will be delighted to know that all of the aforementioned devices are currently available for pre-ordering.