Product review – Kensington Auxiliary dock for iPod Nano

by Scott Carmichael on

In this brief product review I’m going to introduce one of the newest products in the Kensington 2009 lineup.

The Kensington Auxiliary dock for the iPod Nano is a portable iPod dock designed to plug directly into the AUX jack found on many car stereos.

The device comes with 4 different iPod Nano inserts, and fits every model from the first Nano to the current 4th generation.

The dock itself is as simple as can be – the dock plugs into the headphone jack on your iPod, and the folding audio jack on the back of the dock plugs into your stereo.

I’ll pretend I know what you are thinking, and yes; a regular stereo cable will do the exact same thing, but the auxiliary dock does it so much nicer.

It also brings your iPod up by your stereo, and allows you to change tracks or pause the music without having to reach for your player. Of course, it also prevents the iPod from sliding around in the center console or passenger seat of your rental car.
When you are not using it, you simply unplug the device from your car stereo, and fold the connector inside the dock. It’s a simple yet efficient and well designed little product.

There is of course one drawback to the unit – your iPod does not charge when it is plugged into the dock, nor do you have access to a charger port, but with iPod battery life at an all time high, that may not be a huge problem.

The Kensington Auxiliary dock for the iPod Nano will be available from Kensington.com and other Kensington retailers soon, and retails for $24.95.

I have included some other images of the product in the gallery below.

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Ferry Pier Sinks in Istanbul

by Josh Lew on

It was a rather bizarre series of events. A floating ferry dock on the European side of Istanbul became unhinged, began to list, and then sank during a particularly violent storm over the past weekend. Usually it is the boats themselves that are at the center of ferry disasters (like the tragic accident in the Philippines earlier this year), not ferry terminals, which are, theoretically, firmly attached to land.

The pier at the port of Karakoy began to sway dangerously during the storm. Everyone on the dock was evacuated before it broke free and sank into the Bosporus (the strait that divides the two sides of Istanbul). Though Karakoy is a major ferry crossing, it is not the only way to get from the European side of the city to the Asian side. There are other ferry crossings (though these will be a bit more crowded until Karakoy is rebuilt and reopened). There are also private ferries and, of course, the two massive bridges that span the Bosporus. The sinking shouldn’t hinder anyone’s Istanbul vacation plans…though it might make them think twice before stepping onto a ferry dock.

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