Griffin adds more sight, sound to iPhone 3G
Griffin Technology's AirCurve.
At Apple Expo in Paris on Wednesday, Griffin Technology unveiled its latest iPhone accessories, including the AirCurve acoustic amplifier dock and the Clarifi protective case.
The AirCurve dock collects and amplifies the sound from the built-in iPhone 3G speaker. It does so by using a coil waveguide within its base, and therefore doesn't need batteries or another power source to work.
While the acoustically amplified sound is not as loud as that made by electronic amplifiers, it's loud enough for you to enjoy music in a quiet room or to use as an alarm clock. The compact dock is made of translucent polycarbonate plastic, revealing the graceful curves within that magnify the sound. AirCurve also includes a pass-through slot that lets you charge and sync your iPhone using a Griffin Dock Connector Cable, which is sold separately.
The Clarifi protective case is also supposedly the first case for iPhone 3G that sports a built-in lens to give the phone's camera an optical boost. You can slide the lens into place for close-up shots or slide it aside for normal shooting. The added optical lens lets you zoom up to 6 inches closer.
Other than that, the Clarifi's case design, like other cases, allows for access to the power switch, headphone jack, volume controls, and touch screen. It also features Griffin's trademark EasyDock design, which allows you to slip off the case bottom to charge and sync, rather than having to completely remove the phone from its case.
Both the AirCurve dock and the Clarifi case will be available for purchase in October for $19.99 and $34.99, respectively.
Dong Ngo is a CNET editor who covers networking and network storage, and writes about anything else he finds interesting. You can also listen to his podcast at insidecnetlabs.cnet.com. E-mail Dong. 
