stands

Like the iPhone before it, the iPad is generating a cottage industry for accessories. Add to the list the rather unique iProp, which features a long, bendable neck and ball-and-socket connector that allows you to tilt and swivel your iPad in all directions.

As for specs, the full stand is 36 inches long (12 inches rigid/24 inches flexible) and it has a "heavy duty" base that weighs in at close to 4 pounds.

The iProp ships in February for $79.99. We look forward to testing it to see how stable the stand really is.

theiProp from … Read more

Building on its Spiderpodium line of flexible stands/cradles for smartphones, Breffo has unveiled a flexible stand for tablets, including the iPad, called the Spiderpodium Tablet.

The company says the Spiderpodium Tablet's uniquely designed, eight flexible notched legs allow it to hang from--or secure itself to--"virtually any surface that is not flat and make it adaptable to being used with multiple devices, in multiple ways." It adds that it can securely grip any small- and medium-size portable device available on the market.

Breffo says the Spiderpodium Tablet will be available January 12, though it hasn't … Read more

Everyone has a different definition of the perfect case. Personally, I usually look for the cheapest option, which for my iPhone 4 meant this $3.69 plastic job from Meritline.

Then I found the Zero Chroma Teatro, and although the $44.95 price tag made me throw up a little, I knew it was the case for me. And now that I've got one, I couldn't be happier with it. Same goes for the Vario, an iPad version priced at--oh, dear God--$69.95.

What makes these cases so special? I like to prop up my devices for things like FaceTime, movies, reading the paper, etc.--but that means I always need to have a stand nearby. The Zero Chroma cases have one built in, and not some flimsy one-position kickstand, mind you, but a folding, rotating, rubber-tipped, multiposition piece of engineering.… Read more

Professional skateboarder and entrepreneur Tony Hawk is back on CNET's The 404 Podcast to show off his newest video game Tony Hawk: Shred, a biography written with his sister, the Tony Hawk Foundation Stand Up for Skateparks events, and much more!

It's been almost a year since Tony Hawk first came on The 404 . Obviously a lot has happened since then, and Tony updates us with a legendary story about the aftermath of the pelvic injury he suffered earlier this summer while headlining the Action Sports Weekend at Disneyland.

Getting up after falling off the skateboard has always been an important lesson to Tony, and he talks about that central theme a lot in his new book, "How Did I Get Here: The Ascent of an Unlikely CEO." Written with his sister, Pat Hawk, the book details his rise to success in the skate industry, and Tony is certainly a pioneer in terms of bringing skateboarding to new media.

The original success of the Tony Hawk: Pro Skater brand obviously paved the way for skate gaming, and Tony's back again with a new game called Tony Hawk: Shred. Shred takes a new angle on the franchise and aims for the younger market.

It features similar motion-sensing board control as Ride but transformes the experience with impossible skate and snowboarding tricks, building jumps, and cameos from pros like Louie Vito, Geoff Rowley, Corey Duffel, and more. And like all the Tony Hawk video games, the soundtrack features a variety of genres and artists, including Rival Schools, Jimmy Eat World, OK Go, and more. Tony Hawk: Shred comes out next Tuesday, October 26, for Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3.

After the break, Tony describes the importance of giving back to the skating community and his two charity events called Stand Up for Skateparks. The huge parties galvanize BMX riders, skaters, celebrities, and fans alike in an effort to raise money for high-quality public skateparks in low-income areas throughout the country.

Tony stresses the importance of not only making sure kids are safe in the parks, but also that the parks maintain a level of Tony Hawk quality. The next party is happening in Las Vegas on November 6 and will feature a performance by DJ Z-Trip--tickets are still available here!

There's plenty more to talk about with Tony, including some of his favorite skate videos, tips for future skate entrepreneurs, and the truth behind his involvement in the original "Back to the Future" movie!

I'm a sucker for a good iPhone stand, especially when it's cheap, practical, and available in lots of purty colors.

That's the iFoldAway in a nutshell. It's cheap (about $8.90 shipped from the U.K.), practical (it weighs almost nothing and folds up flat as a credit card), and available in your choice of eight colors: pink, red, white, yellow, black, etc.

The stand is made of Priplak Polypropylene, one of those space-age polymer plastics you hear about. According to the developer, burning it produces nothing more than water vapor. (I'll have to take … Read more

Facebook is about to get a whole lot creepier. A small group of users are beta-testing a new "subscribe" button located under users' profile pictures that could make Facebook stalking as simple as a single click.

The button is a lot like "following" someone on Twitter and here's how it works: If you click the "subscribe" button, all of that user's activities, from new pictures to status updates to videos and links, will show up in your notifications. Few details have been released so far, but we're interested in knowing if the service will show you who's stalking your profile or if you can subscribe to non-friends, which would take the creep factor up to a solid 10.

Moving on to another creepy story, a school zone in West Vancouver is testing a rather extreme measure to force drivers to slow down in their vehicles.

The experiment places a 3D hologram of a young girl chasing a ball in the middle of the street that drivers will see about 100 feet away, giving them plenty of time to slow down...or have a heart attack and veer off the road. We can see the utility in a 3D cop on the side of the road or a flashing light to alert drivers entering school zones, but this is a little nuts.

To Jeff's delight and Wilson's girlfriend's dislike, Angry Birds is now available on the Android operating system. Granted, it's a "Lite" version in beta and many users (including Jeff) are experiencing random restarts and freezes, but it should tie over your addiction until the official version finally drops. For all the iPhone players out there, don't forget that the Angry Birds Expansion Pack is also available.

Finally, we have a handful of voicemail messages that we haven't gotten to play all week, and today's batch inquires about the infamous "Cheese Stands Alone" episode, voicemail phone numbers, and a rare appearance from everyone's favorite Verbose Asian Guy! Set it on repeat, guys--it ain't happening again! :)

Ever since I got my iPad a few months back, I've been looking for the perfect case--which to my thinking was one that not only protected the device but also held it upright for watching movies and whatnot.

The Brenthaven 5-in-1 iPad Case does that and more. Although a few design flaws keep it from achieving perfection, it provides a lot more versatility than most cases.

Let's start with protection. The 5-in-1 consists of a two-sided plastic shell, one of which stays on your iPad at all times. (That "side" is actually two pieces that slide … Read more

Belkin on Tuesday is introducing a handful of gadgets designed to cut off the flow off of wasted electricity from electronic devices and to give consumers more data on home energy use.

The peripherals maker filled out its existing Conserve product line with a handheld power meter, timer, charging station, and power strip--all of which are meant to give consumers ways to lower power use at home.

The Conserve Valet is a charging spot for up to four mobile devices that cuts power to zero when electronics are fully charged. It's meant to address the reality that even when … Read more

One thing I've learned as an iPad owner is that I need more than one stand for the device. I mean, sometimes I want it propped up on my desk, sometimes it pulls kitchen-counter duty, and on occasion it needs a show-off spot in the living room (usually to impress guests with its Picture Frame mode).

As you may recall, there are plenty of cheap or free iPad stands out there--but I'm hard-pressed to imagine anything cheaper or freer than this, the coat-hanger stand:

Needless to say, I immediately raided my closet--and found a limitless supply of sturdy, … Read more