The thinner laptops get the fewer ports and connectivity options they tend to have, thankfully there are docking stations out there that bring some of the connectivity many users want and need back to the party. StarTech has a new docking station that it aimed directly at laptop users with machines that have Thunderbolt 2 ports, meaning Macs. The new dock can connect to up to 12 different devices.
USB-C and Thunderbolt would distill our every cable need into a single cord, or so we were told, but it's taken Dell to finally deliver on the promise. The company has revealed a pair of docking stations here at CES 2016, one using a USB 3.0 USB-C connector and the other a Thunderbolt 3 USB-C, targeted not only at Dell's own laptops and tablets, but anything else with the right port.
StarTech has unveiled a new line of USB docking stations that make it easy for people to add an additional screen to their computers using nothing but a USB port. The docking stations need a USB 3.0 port and work with any Windows 7 or higher PC and Mac OS 10.8 and higher. There are three different models with different display connectivity options to choose from.
Native Union has revealed its latest iPhone, iPad, and smartphone dock, and it's so handsome you'd expect it to come from Apple's design studio. The simply-named DOCK opts for clean lines and solid materials, a solid chunk of dark aluminum for the base and a slice of the metal with a lighter finish to support the phone or tablet.
These days, there's almost an external data storage solution for everyone and every need under the sun, from microSD cards for mobile, to USB flash drives, to bulkier NAS drives. That said, there's always room for more somewhere in between those spaces. If you need something more than what a flash drive can offer but don't want to be tied down to a hulking NAS, then Other World Computing's new dual drive bay Drive Dock might be more up your alley, promising the best of both worlds at a fraction of the price.
While the first images began widely appearing online less than 24 hours ago, Apple has now officially announced the Magnetic Charging Dock for the Apple Watch. As the name implied, the charger is a flat, round dock that allows users to simply lay the Watch down flat overtop it, or stand upright with the band closed and the screen facing outwards. The actual charging part is the round magnetic disc, similar to the standard charger that comes with the Watch, but it's built right into the center of the dock.
One of the great disappointments about the Apple Watch was the lack of official charging options from the company. It had the charging cable and magnetic disc and nothing else. At least nothing from Apple. More enterprising accessory makers were, of course, able to work around that limitation, but there's something to be said for an official accessory. Now it seems that Apple might be giving in at least to one particular demand. Leaked images show that a wireless charging dock for the Apple Watch might be inbound at long last.
Is it finally the time for wireless docks to come of age? Qualcomm believes so, with the first 802.11ad WiGig docks based on the company's technology potentially going on sale before the year is out. The chipmaker showed off its newest WiGig tech alongside the Snapdragon 820 in New York City today, baking a tri-wireless chipset into a compact desktop router that could turn a smartphone into a desktop replacement.
If you've stayed in a hotel in the past couple of years, you've probably seen them: alarm clock speaker docks, complete with a now-useless 30-pin docking connector. Innovation in nightstand docks for your iPhone seemed to pretty much dry up when Apple ditched its original port in favor of Lightning, but Witti is hoping to change all that.
Microsoft's event focusing on new Windows 10 hardware rolls on this morning, and along with revealing the two new Lumia 950 smartphones, the company announced an accessory that will let users pair them with a large display, keyboard, and mouse. The Microsoft Display Dock features three standard USB ports, a USB Type-C connector, a DisplayPort, and HDMI, essentially turning the Windows 10 phones into a desktop PC.
Splash out $10k+ on an Apple Watch Edition and the gold-plated wearable's box doubles as a charging dock; the rest of us have to look elsewhere. Mophie waded in with its Watch Dock back in April, a $60 stand promising to elevate your wrist jewelry with the same sort of style that Apple might reserve for its own hardware. Having squeezed its aluminum and leather foot onto the cable-madness that is my desk, though, does Mophie's dock fit the bill?
Samsung has recently teamed up with Microsoft in a deal that brought the latter's Android apps pre-installed on Samsung's flagships. But Samsung might actually have something even more intimate in mind. A patent filed back in late 2014 reveals one of Samsung's ideas for combining two platforms: a phablet that runs Android by default but switches to Windows when joined with a dock that is practically an empty laptop shell, thereby providing the familiar mobility of Android on mobile with Windows productivity in the workplace.