suction

LAS VEGAS--Earlier today we heard about Fling, Ten One Design's latest attempt at giving the iPad a legitimate input device for gaming. Its tiny suction cups stick on to the surface of the iPad, giving you the closest thing to an actual button we've seen yet on an iPad.

A few hours later we're hearing about a much more traditional take on the situation, ThinkGeek's JoyStick-IT. The Joystick-IT accessory appears to work the same way as Fling, allowing users to center an actual chrome joystick wherever they see fit.

These two items are the first of … Read more

Dexim--manufacturer of accessories for iPhones, BlackBerrys, and other smartphones--has sent us a pair of devices from its car solutions line of products.

The first is the DFU012 Touch Screen FM Transmitter, a universal adapter for smartphones and MP3 players that takes an audio signal and broadcasts it over a low-power FM channel to be picked up by a nearby car stereo.

The device runs on a single AAA battery and should work with any device that features a 3.5mm headphone jack or audio output. At an MSRP of about $30, an FM transmitter such as this is one of … Read more

Bracketron's MobileDock is a universal dashboard- and windshield-mounting cradle for most mobile devices and smartphones. It sticks to nearly any hard surface and holds nearly any phone, but the way it does so is a bit unconventional.

The unit features a suction cup mounting mechanism that locks into place with a lever, just like nearly every other suction cup mount that we've tested. However, the MobileDock stands apart because its cup uses what Bracketron calls Temporbond technology.

Essentially, the suction cup is made of a tacky material not unlike those sticky hand toys you get out of a gumball machine. The sticky material, combined with the cup's suction, allows the MobileDock to attach securely to nearly any hard surface. That means your can stick it to your windshield or dashboard without the need for an adhesive mounting disk. We even got the MobileDock to stick quite securely to drywall, so there shouldn't be many dashboard materials that can rock this cradle.… Read more

Any automotive GPS worth its salt will come packaged with some sort of suction cup mount that will let users stick it to a vehicle's windshield. For most users, this is where road ends where GPS device mounting is concerned. But is this the best way to keep your navigation device in place while you drive? And what about that weird plastic disk that was also in the box? Let's take a look at the pros and cons of the different GPS mounting options.

Pay attention, because what you learn here can also be applied to mounting your GPS-enabled smartphone.… Read more

Having released its turn-by-turn navigation software into the iTunes marketplace, Navigon is preparing to release a car kit to supplement the app's in-car usage. A photo of the car kit was unveiled on Navigon's official Facebook page--of all places--but details are sparse at the moment.

The kit will cradle the iPhone with a suction cup mount and will ship with a charging cable to keep your phone juiced while you drive.

Pricing hasn't been released and neither has a hard ship date. However, considering that there's no supplementary technology (such as an integrated GPS chip or … Read more

As fellow Craver Erica Ogg noted while wearing another of her many hats recently, domestic appliances are getting hipper than ever. And one of the more popular household items to get a makeover is the lowly vacuum cleaner. (No, we're not talking about the Wiimote-controlled Roomba.)

Industrial designer Karim Rashid has applied his considerable talents to transform the "Dirt Devil," of all things, into a cone-shaped functional sculpture, according to Popgadget. The tarted-up cordless appliance, which comes in six colors, has a vertical design to save space as well. If nothing else, it proves that a vacuum … Read more