dock

The Dexim P-Flip is two, two, two products in one. It's a long-lasting external battery for your iPhone and a desktop stand that keeps it propped up nicely.

This folding, three-position dock bears more than a passing resemblance to a flip-phone, albeit one that's even thinner and more compact.

Consequently, it slips easily into a pocket. It's small, despite packing a 2,000mAh rechargeable battery that, according to Dexim, will provide eight extra hours of talk time, 15 hours of games or movies, or a whopping 80 hours of music--I have my doubts about that last one.… Read more

The Zune HD represents a big step forward in Microsoft's war against the iPod, but when it comes to accessories, there's just no catching up to Apple. Step inside any local electronics store and you'll find yourself wading through a swamp of speaker docks, cases, cables, chargers, in-car FM transmitters, and alarm clocks, all made for the iPod. Try looking for the Zune section, though, and you'll be sorely disappointed.

Fortunately, the handful of accessories made for the Zune are all surprisingly high in quality. The iHome ZN9 alarm clock, for instance, is one of the … Read more

Like LaunchBar, Fruitmenu, and Default Folder, this popular and well-tested shareware GUI-enhancer has become an indispensable addition to OS X for many users. DragThing exists to make getting to things on your Mac--files, folders, apps, disks, URLs, and windows--quick and easy. Inveterate interface tweakers love DragThing because you can create multiple docks (like the OS X Dock) that can be almost infinitely configured to suit your specific situation. Plus, you can save snippets, define tons of hot keys, and perform quite a few neat OS tricks (like putting a Trash back on your desktop).

If you don't like bells … Read more

Do you want to turn a USB hard drive into a cheap, easy network-attached storage device? Seagate's DockStar is designed to let you do just that. Like the preceding Dock+ model, the DockStar can host a FreeAgent Go drive in its cradle, plus up to three other USB drives. However, instead of linking to your PC via USB, the DockStar uses its Ethernet port to live on your home network.

Network access is enabled via technology Seagate has licensed from Pogoplug--in other words, it's just a Seagate-skinned version of Pogoplug's interface. That's a good thing, since … Read more

We're a tough crew to impress when it comes to iPod speaker docks. Fortunately, Altec Lansing's latest offering, the inMotion Classic ($149), has more than a few things going for it.

For starters, this thing is iPhone-certified, so there's no worrying about annoying compatibility messages each time you dock your iPhone. It's also portable, with a design that folds up and uses an internal rechargeable battery for up to five hours of unplugged music. Throw in a built-in FM radio with station presets, a remote control, aux input, and a stylish design, and now you've … Read more

I have always been intrigued by tools that have provided similar functions as the Dock to other operating systems: in the classic Mac OS, there was the control strip, and I even appreciated the "quick launch" feature in Windows XP. I have enjoyed seeing new features and refinements added to the OS X Dock over the years; and in Snow Leopard, Apple has added a few new features that may be useful to some people, but which can easily be overlooked if you use the Dock in the same way as you did with Leopard.… Read more

Like satellite radio, but don't want to deal with the kludge-y "dock and play" satellite radios that clutter up your car's dashboard? The XM SkyDock could be for you. It looks little different than your average iPod car charger, but the SkyDock has a satellite tuner built in. Pop in any iPhone or iPod Touch, run the free SkyDock control app, and the Apple handheld is transformed into a touch-screen control for the satellite radio service.

The app automatically adjusts to landscape (shown) or portrait mode, and the audio stream can be sent either via line-out … Read more

We've seen a lot of docks for Windows in our day, and they're usually not very good. We regarded XWindows Dock first with skepticism, then with guarded excitement, and finally with a sense of not being as disappointed as we usually are. But yes, we were still disappointed.

One thing XWindows Dock gets right--to some extent--is the dock's appearance. It comes with icons for My Computer, Control Panel, and Trash, and all three of these are sleek and attractive. Adding other programs to the dock is a bit problematic; the icon for Firefox became pixelated and ugly. … Read more