PowerAdapterForIpod
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Road Tested: the socially-developed Quirky PowerCurl
You've heard me rant about Quirky before on TUAW: it's a company that uses social development (i.e., group-think) to create innovative new products. Everyone who participates deeply in the creation of a product can benefit monetarily from the sales of it, and the result has been a string of fascinating products. A while back we heard about the PowerCurl, a product that was originally dreamed up by Jeff Scholen of Atlanta, GA. I was so taken by the design and utility of the product that I ended up buying one, and it's extremely useful. Scholen's original idea was a plastic bracket that surrounds the Apple MagSafe Power Adapter and allows both the long extension cord and the small power cable to be neatly wrapped up. The result is a US$14.99, bright orange device that really has two primary goals -- keeping your cables neat and making sure that there is airflow around the adapter to keep it cool. Quirky offers three different models; one each for the 45W, 60W and 85W MagSafe Power Adapters. How does it work in practice? Beautifully. In the past, I tried to organize my MacBook Air cables in my computer case, but more often than not they were tangled around each other when I extracted them. Since slipping my MacBook Air power adapter into the comfy confines of the PowerCurl, the cables are nicely tamed. As advertised, the power adapter is cooler now that it isn't lying directly on the insulative surface of the floor. The PowerCurl is simple, functional, and (if you like bright orange rubberized plastic) attractive. I'd recommend this product to anyone who has a MacBook.
Belkin unveils new Power Dock AV, iPod charging accessories
Not too long after Belkin threw its name in the iPhone accessory hat, the company has now introduced a number of replacement iPod docks and charging kits. The $49.99 F8Z126 Power Dock AV is essentially a basic silver iPod dock that sports USB connectivity and AV output in order to pipe multimedia to your television set, while the vanilla $34.99 F8Z122 Power Dock strips itself of any video exporting abilities. On the charging side, the $34.99 F8Z152 Charging Kit for iPod consists of an AC outlet to dock connector cable, USB cable, and a cigarette adapter for road trippin', while the $24.99 F8Z121 Power Adapter for iPod offers up just the AC adapter for those strange moments when you can't seem to locate a spare USB port. All four units should be available any moment here in the US, while launches in Asia, Europe, and Australia will be following soon.
