docks

While the Surface Pro 2-in-1 tablets were a surprise hit, they weren’t exactly a revolutionary device at a time when 2-in-1 tablets were becoming more common. Few, however, expected Microsoft to come up with the Surface Studio. It was a creative’s dream come true, if not for the obscenely high price tag and, to some extent, the huge size as well. What if you already have a recent Surface Pro and was fine with that size but wanted the flexibility and stability of a Surface Studio. Thankfully, accessory maker Kensington now has an answer for that: the SD7000 Dual 4K Surface Pro Docking Station.

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Even before Google has a chance to finally respond to Amazon’s Echo Show with its own Smart Display lineup, Amazon is already changing the game yet again. This new Show Mode may be the reason why it hasn’t been rumored to be working on an Echo Show v2. With the Show Mode Charging Dock, a Fire HD 8 or Fire HD 10 tablet automatically becomes an ad hoc Echo Show, which could make Google regret it gave up on Android tablets so easily.

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OEMs probably love news like this, whether or not the sudden influx of RMAs and repair requests flood their channels. It is, after all, an opportunity to warn consumers about the dangers of buying alternative and often more affordable third-party accessories. The latest Nintendo Switch firmware 5.0 update brought a lot of goodies to all Switch owners, but a subset of such users are instead finding themselves in living hell. These users have mostly lost their saved games and have to bring in their Switch for repairs or replacement after third-party docks not only stopped working but also bricked their handheld consoles.

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Laptops are getting thinner and thinner, not to mention sometimes converting into tablets. But the price of portability is performance, at the very least graphics performance. There are, of course, a new breed of computing accessories that deliver added graphics processing power via Thunderbolt 3 but those are heavy in both price and form. Enter the Lenovo Thunderbolt 3 Graphics Dock somewhat quietly revealed at CES 2013. No larger than a laptop, this graphics card enclosure claims it’s powerful enough to even run Windows Mixed Reality at 90 Hz rates. But, of course, there’s always a catch.

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Elgato just revealed their newest in a line of docks made for Thunderbolt-loving computer enthusiasts. This dock is called Elgato Thunderbolt 3 Mini Dock, and it's very tiny, and very full of ports. Much like past Elgato products, this one's clearly made to look good right next to your Apple computer - color matching!

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For over a decade, Apple has been using its own proprietary charging connector for its MacBooks. While it offered safety features no other connector did or does to date, it was also non-standard and incompatible with the not so small number of competing standards already in the market. When Apple finally gave in, it didn’t come without a price. The 2015 MacBook only had one USB-C port for both data and charging and last year’s MacBook Pros threw all ports out, replacing them with two or four Thunderbolt 3 ports. That, however, consequently gave birth to a new market of docks and dongles that aimed to bring back what was lost. One of them is the new Belkin USB-C Express Dock 3.1 HD, which we have taken for a spin to see how it fares against the competition.

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The Nintendo Switch is the ultimate portable gaming console. And no, we don’t mean just a handheld but an honest to goodness console that you can plug up to a larger screen and play from your favorite couch. When you do the latter, though, you temporarily give up that portability. That is why the folks at Hong Kong-based YesOJO Studio though of creating the OJO so that you could take your TV with you anywhere and not even worry about power. All you need is a flat, white wall to project on.

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This week the folks at OWC have a new super-duper-dongle that they call the USB-C Travel Dock for Mac and PC. This device rolls with five ports, extending the abilities of the meager USB-C port well beyond its original, single-ported existence. Of course this device would be nothing if USB-C wasn't able to provide the connections - it's a teamwork sort of situation.

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Google may be working on a smaller Google Home Mini for October 4, but Ninety7 has the fix if you want to cut the cord completely. After the VAUX, a clever battery-powered speaker dock for the Amazon Echo Dot comes LOFT, a way to turn Google Home into a portable assistant. It also has the added benefit of making Google's smart speaker look even more like a little Dalek.

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What is the most diverse accessory for smartphones in the market? If you quickly answered “cases”, you’d be only half right. Though myriad in design, color, and appearance, smartphone cases, by nature, need to fit adhere to form and usability of phones. Docks, on the other hand, have a bit more room, almost literally, to innovate and differentiate, though that usually ends up making the docks more inconvenient at times. Elevation Lab’s new ElevationDock 4, in contrast, took that freedom to create a dock that, while completely functional, is so compact and easy to use that you can undock your iPhone or iPad with just one hand.

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Amazon won't be content until Alexa is within earshot of us all, and iHome wants to give her a place on the nightstand. The iHome iAVS1 Bedside Stereo Speaker System for the Echo Dot is effectively a dumb clock-speaker with a bay for Amazon's smart speaker. Pair the two together, and in theory you've got the ideal addition to bedtime. At $69.99, though - and that's before you've bought the Echo Dot itself - does iHome do enough?

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There is no shortage of smartphone and tablet accessories of all kinds. We power banks and chargers of different wattage and technologies. We have stands and holders of all shapes and sizes. There are, however, only a few that combine these two traits: docks. And those that do are, more often than not, specifically designed for a specific model or OEM to the exclusion of others. Chuwi wants to do away with multiple wall chargers and multiple stands for those with multiple devices and it does so in a rather unique way. Chuwi calls it the Hi-Dock and it’s almost exactly what the doctor ordered. Almost.

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