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Smartphone mounts for your car

Many drivers rely on smartphones for navigation, music, and calls in the car, but holding the phone while performing any of these tasks impairs driving ability and is illegal in some states. In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that manually operating a phone greatly increases distraction while driving, where engaging in a hands-free call showed no increased crash risk.

To more safely use your phone in the car, get a mount that will keep its voice command button in easy reach and its screen viewable at a glance.

Mounts can stick to windshields and dashboards, clip to … Read more

5 safe places to put your smartphone while driving

After moving to a new city and buying a new car to get around in, a close friend of mine found herself needing some sort of GPS navigation to guide her around her new hometown. So, she bought a used portable navigation device and hit the road.

"This GPS sucks! The maps are out of date and it didn't come with a cable to connect to my computer for updating!" she declared after just a few trips.

"Wait, didn't you just buy a new iPhone?" I realized aloud. "You have to be the … Read more

Motorized iPad dock needs professional installation

I've seen a lot of iPad docks in my time, but I've never needed a professional to help me use them. I usually just plug the dock in, connect my iPad, and move on with my life.

The iRoom iDock iPad dock has a name that makes me want to pry the "i" key out of my keyboard. It also comes with a subtle "professional installation recommended" instruction.

There are some good reasons for not attempting to install this yourself. The iRoom iDock is flush-mounted with your wall and requires a hook-up to your electrical system. That means installation requires power tools and playing with electricity, a tricky combination.

On one hand, it would be awesome to have your iPad flush inside your wall with charging capabilities, a proximity sensor, and motorized docking and release. On the other hand, Mr. Electric is going to have to come over to help you with it first.… Read more

Bracketron Nav-Mat II is a good kind of tacky

Yesterday, we took a look at Bracketron's MobileDock universal smartphone dock; today we get our hands on its Nav-Mat II, a dashboard-mounting solution for GPS devices that uses the same Temporbond technology to add a semipermanent attachment point for your existing GPS or smartphone suction cup mount to any vehicle's dashboard.

As you've probably guessed, we're big fans of dashboard mounting our GPS devices. Though nearly every device ships with a suction cup windshield mount, we'd rather attach to the dash. Dashboard mounting has the benefits of keeping your device closer for easier access and clear of the windshield for better visibility. Most GPS devices also ship with a dashboard-mounting disk, but this is often an adhesive-backed permanent mounting solution that isn't transportable from vehicle-to-vehicle and can potentially mar sensitive dashboard materials, such as leather, when the time comes to remove this puck.

That's where the Nav-Mat II comes in.… Read more

Bracketron MobileDock sticks the landing

Bracketron's MobileDock is a universal dashboard- and windshield-mounting cradle for most mobile devices and smartphones. It sticks to nearly any hard surface and holds nearly any phone, but the way it does so is a bit unconventional.

The unit features a suction cup mounting mechanism that locks into place with a lever, just like nearly every other suction cup mount that we've tested. However, the MobileDock stands apart because its cup uses what Bracketron calls Temporbond technology.

Essentially, the suction cup is made of a tacky material not unlike those sticky hand toys you get out of a gumball machine. The sticky material, combined with the cup's suction, allows the MobileDock to attach securely to nearly any hard surface. That means your can stick it to your windshield or dashboard without the need for an adhesive mounting disk. We even got the MobileDock to stick quite securely to drywall, so there shouldn't be many dashboard materials that can rock this cradle.… Read more