Earlier this year at CES, I got the chance to stop by Bluelounge’s booth and discovered a product announced late last year that I hadn’t seen before, the Kosta Apple Watch Charging Coaster. What caught my attention is that it’s designed similarly to Apple’s Magnetic Charging Dock, but comes in three non-white colors including dark grey and costs $15 instead of $80. There are a few key differences to consider with Kosta compared to other Apple Watch docks …
Cableyoyo, a classic Apple device cable manager that was also Bluelounge’s first product, has received a complete redesign after 10 years on the market — an eternity by the standards of tech products. Originally debuted as a thin box to hide computer cables, winding a wire inside a silver, white, or black plastic enclosure with a detachable, adhesive back, the new Cableyoyo has been reimagined as a metal-cored, rubber-bodied circle for use with headphones.
Chances are, you’ll be doing some traveling this holiday season. Or perhaps you have someone on your gift list that is a regular puddle jumper. Below you’ll find my top-picks for either scenario that will keep all your devices organized and operating at peak performance.
When the iPod was surging, full-sized headphones were flailing. For decades, big “cans” were the only proper way to quietly listen to the massive audio players stored in home A/V cabinets. But by 2006, portable audio devices were king, and their pocketable little white earbuds were everywhere. Then Beats by Dre came along and convinced people that big headphones were worth buying again, even for portable media players. Beats’ signature Studio headphones aren’t as easy to carry around as little earbuds, but as their growing popularity demonstrates, people haven’t seemed to mind.
blueLounge’s new Posto ($20) is the latest in a series of “big headphone” stands made by Apple accessory companies. I’ve previously tested heavy, all-metal options such as Just Mobile’s HeadStand, which hover around the $50 price point and — to their credit — try to do one or two nice little things to justify that sort of price point. There are also cheap headphone stands that tend to look… cheap. Posto is clearly the result of a different theory of design. The black version is made from several different materials that somehow look nearly indistinguishable from one another, reducing the cost, weight, and assembly challenges found in other headphone stands. (A white and silver version uses different-looking parts.) Consequently, Posto works much the same as HeadStand, but costs less than half the price. If you’ve just dropped $250 or more on a pair of big headphones, Posto lets you manage them without breaking the bank…
blueLounge isn’t a typical Apple accessory maker. If you look through its 15-year backcatalog of releases, you’ll notice that its products are markedly different from somewhat overlapping alternatives produced by rivals — intensely practical and cleanly-designed, yet sometimes so conceptually minor that they’re hard to review. Take CableDrop and CableDrop Mini, for instance, circular adhesive pads that each do nothing more than hold one cord in a fixed position wherever you want it. I use CableDrop Mini every day with my MacBook Pro’s power cable, but can’t justify a full review of something so utterly basic.
The simultaneous release of two new blueLounge accessories — Portiko ($25) and Pixi ($10) — gives me the rare opportunity to cover one of the company’s minor but practical items alongside one that’s more gadget-like. Portiko (shown above) is a wall- or table-mountable power source attractive enough to put on display between the four devices it can charge at once. It has enough USB and AC power outlets to handle a MacBook, iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch at the same time, or other combinations of devices. Pixi is blueLounge’s latest cable management solution, a set of elegantly-built elastic and plastic bands that wrap around bunches of cables, tidying up your desk. Read on for more details and pictures…
Most of my favorite gift picks this year fall into the category of using the iPhone and iPad on the road so I already shared my favorite gift items for road warriors including CarPlay in-dash receivers and more. The Mac, though, is less transit-friendly when it comes to gifts unless you’re looking for a power adapter for charging in the car, so below I’ve collected some more Mac-friendly gift picks as well as a few analog options and more. Catch up with the rest of 9to5Mac’s holiday gift guides for more ideas and follow 9to5Toys.comfor the latest deals. Expand Expanding Close
