stands

The Flygrip would find itself well at home in your standard infomercial. You know the kind I'm talking about, where black and white photography and lots of melodrama tell you about a problem that you didn't know you had.

All right, maybe I'm being a bit too snarky, but for a smartphone accessory, the Flygrip is not at the top of my wish list. It's unique, sure, and even a little useful, but that's not enough to make me stick a plastic doohickey to the back of my phone. … Read more

Here's a weird stop along the circle of life. Thanks to a Kickstarter project, the footsteps of a 14-year-old me and millions of others have found a new destiny: amplifying the volume of some stranger's iPad or iPhone.

The Sounder is an iPad/iPhone stand and amplifier with some real Americana credibility built in. In fact, it's 100 percent Americana. Each of the wooden stands is handmade (with an assist from some power tools) from old-growth lumber reclaimed from 19th century structures, including the Coney Island boardwalk. … Read more

I just came across Crimson's Pocket-eAzl, and while it isn't brand-new to the market (it's been out a few months), I thought I should give it a quick shout-out because it seems pretty nifty.

There isn't much to describe here because it's just an adjustable stand for your tablet or e-reader that folds up into a compact form factor that's pocket-friendly.

It comes in silver, black, or pink and retails for $39.95. Check out the video below.

Much as I like the idea behind Apple's Smart Cover for iPad, I never much cared for the execution.

That's because it's no good at holding the iPad in portrait orientation for reading books and magazines, and it offers only two positions for landscape viewing -- one that's too high, and one that's too low for anything but typing.

The problem lies in the cover's design: it has too many folds. App developer Dotan Saguy figured out a way around that problem and created the Smarter Stand.… Read more

Salamander Designs offers a vast range of quality audio-video entertainment furniture, and has recently expanded its Chameleon Collection of corner-style and extrawide cabinets.

Salamander's four-door Quad cabinets are designed to accommodate today's large flat-panel TVs, both visually and structurally. New product offerings include contemporary and traditional styles.

The corner cabinets are available in nine different styles, including 20-inch- and 30-inch-high versions and a 30-inch-high version with grillework designed to conceal a center-channel speaker. Salamander AV cabinets are available in a vast array of woods and configurations. The cabinets are built with premium-grade materials and construction techniques. Salamander's … Read more

Researchers at MIT have developed a robotic system for duplicating shapes, a potential alternative approach to three-dimensional printing.

The Distributed Robotics Lab at MIT today detailed research aimed at replicating objects by essentially carving them from an unformed pile of "smart sand" or "robot pebbles." The vision is to have these miniature robots automatically create replicas of different sizes with only an original shape to work with.

A key difference from other approaches to replicating objects is that, unlike three-dimensional printing techniques, the smart sand builds by subtracting building blocks from a larger heap, according to … Read more

As we approach the year anniversary of the 3DS, only a handful of titles jump to mind as must-haves. When Nintendo announced that the Kid Icarus franchise was being resurrected for the 3DS, we immediately thought of what the updated side-scroller would evolve into, but Kid Icarus Uprising takes the game we remember from long ago, and throws it in a completely new direction.

Jeff:You might as well forget everything you remember about the original Kid Icarus game that first debuted on the NES. In addition to making me feel old, the new Kid Icarus is an absolute deviation from its quarter-century-old predecessor, maintaining nothing more than the same main character, Pit, and few recognizable enemies and weapons. … Read more

Remember that "X-Files" episode when the guy had his own brother growing out of him as a detachable parasitic twin? You can get the same effect with your iPhone and a Mac thanks to the under-used SD card slot and a new Kickstarter project.

The iPhone is a fairly dainty device, but it still needs a helping hand to fit into an SD card slot. That is where the Sideburn comes in.… Read more

Companies send over samples for various accessories, and I try to highlight some of the better ones for various devices. Case in point: iLuv's Portfolio Stand for Kindle Fire.

It's a nice, trim case that fits snuggly and turns into a stand by unhitching the Fire from the bottom of the case. It's a design we've seen before with iPad cases, and it works better than you'd think.

Drawbacks: this one isn't made of leather (it is very good faux leather, however) and it's fairly expensive at $49.99 (though it can be … Read more