Hasta La Gadget!

The Gripzila is a handy stand for almost anything

Gripzila might be the last phone/iPod/GPS/media-player stand you’ll need. It’s a tiny, spring-loaded vise grip that sits on your keychain until you need to stand your device up, and then it swings into action.

In its resting state, the Gripzila looks like a tiny pistol handle, a little contoured piece of plastic with a small ribbed protrusion. To use it, slide this protrusion up and the jaw opens, revealing a rubber-lined slot into which your gadget of choice can slide. Let go and it clamps shut, forming a solidly-joined appendage that works as a kickstand.

The designer, Kelvin Hulet, sent me a 3D-printed prototype to check out, and I like it. I can use it with my horrible Samsung phone, or iPod touch, and it can be clipped onto and gadget that is thinner than 0.8 inches thick. You won’t want to use it for tablets, though, as their weight and size mean they can topple over. Kelvin specifically says that it isn’t designed for such big gadgets, but I have a pair clamped onto my Kindle right now and they seem perfectly fine. The iPad (1 or 2) is way too heavy though.

It has other uses, too: Clamping wires to stop them sliding off the desk, working as a headphone-cord wrapper or even clamping stuff together when you glue it.

The Gripzila is a Kickstarter project, and needs $5,000 to make it into production. To get one, you’ll need to pitch $12, which seems like pretty good price.

Gripzila – A Super Simple Universal Smartphone Stand & More [Kickstarter. Thanks, Kelvin!]

See Also:

• Hanfree: The World's Biggest iPad Stand?
• Piolo iPhone Stand the Most Minimal Yet
• The Pocket Stand, an iPad Stand and Amplifier
• Beautiful Polyply: The Most Personal Gadget Stand Ever