docks

Laptop docking stations have always been a bit on the awkward side, requiring you to slide your laptop into the dock, properly lining up the connectors. Usually, we end up banging the pieces together for a few seconds until they fit.

Toshiba showed us a new docking station for the company's Portege R400 Windows Vista convertible tablet that takes care of a lot of the limitations of traditional laptop docks. The wireless Ultra Wide Band Toshiba Wireless Port Replicator connects to the R400 automatically whenever it's within a few feet. It's not the first wireless dock we'… Read more

Silex Technology America's new wiDock is a pretty hip iPod dock that lets you sync your iPod wirelessly (if you just can't wait for that feature to show up in the iPod itself) via a built-in 802.11b/g module. Its 3.5mm stereo audio and S-Video outputs let you use the wiDock with your home stereo and television set, as well. The dock also has an IR sensor on it that lets you control playback with a standard Apple Remote. Not a bad product at around $120, though maybe not as cool as one with wireless USB, … Read more

Not to be left out of the ever-growing iPod accessory market, Sharp announced a new line of iPod speaker systems, the iElegance Music Systems. The product line consists of two models, each available in two colors: The DK-A1 and the step-up DK-A10 are white, and both are matched by otherwise identical black models, the DK-A1BK and the DK-A10BK.

Like all the other iPod systems we see, you'll be able to plug your iPod into the dock and play your digital music while also charging up. The boombox-like design makes it look like they'll be easy to cart around, … Read more

In 2006, we saw a few portable DVD players that integrated an iPod dock so you could playback your iPod videos on the DVD player's larger screen. But Philips has taken iPod integration to a slicker level with two upcoming portable DVD players, the DCP750 and DCP850. Both are wide-screen models that feature 7- and 8.5-inch swiveling screens, respectively. Philips says they'll also have a built-in SD and MMC card reader, and both players will debut in the "first quarter" of 2007 with suggested retail price tags of $149 and $199.

They won't offer … Read more

If you live in real-estate hell--as in New York or San Francisco--then every square inch of living space can be the difference between solvency and homelessness. That's just one practical reason for the "KB-Dock" keyboard, which Chip Chick says "tries to pack in everything but the kitchen sink."

In addition to its most obvious feature, a detachable iPod dock, the keyboard includes 14 media hotkeys and a 10-in-1 memory card reader. If it just included a Murphy bed, it could qualify as a Manhattan studio.

Few times have so many accessories come out so quickly for something so small. That's just one distinction that belongs to the iPod Shuffle, as evidenced by this Marware travel dock that plugs directly into a USB port, according to iLounge. But if you're really trying to save space--after all, isn't that what the Shuffle is all about?--you might want to consider the IncipioBud, which forgoes the need for a dock altogether.

Sometimes, it seems that iPod speaker makers are just trying to outdo each other with the tallest models they can get away with. (Not that we have anything against tall models.)

The "Philips Docking Entertainment System DCM270" appears to be entering the contest, though its dimensions have not yet been revealed. In fact, not much of anything about it has been revealed, other than that it will work with Philips' GoGear MP3 player as well as the iPod (big surprise). One thing we do know: Like the Intempo Digital's Stereo Tower, the Philips system is at least … Read more

When we hear "Maxell," we think of cassette tapes, Kool & the Gang and Camaro Z28s. (Did we say that out loud?) So given that depressing baggage, we were particularly impressed to see this totally tubular iPod dock and speakers on Newlaunches. Its lightweight cylindrical design is just the opposite of the ginormous boomboxes that played "Boogie Fever" on the Maxell tapes of yore. In fact, you can even mount them on the wall or above the door, like the pair of longhorns you know you always wanted.

If you're too cheap to buy actual speakers for your MP3 player (or other portable music device), why not just combine it with a common household furnishing?

That's what the folks at Adesso were thinking too. The result? A desk lamp. That plays music.

If you guessed its moniker would be "iLamp," you are (unfortunately) correct. Each iLamp is essentially a speaker system with six lamp variations sprouting out of the base, which it better be when asking people to shell out $89 for one. The models have cutesy names like Tempo, Boogie, and Rock On!, … Read more