Hasta La Gadget!

Combined with a party-keg, Griffin’s recently-outed Party Dock for the iPad should make some great, well, parties. As long as you like quiz games, that is.

Thanks to an FCC filing, the iPad accessory was leaked last week and Griffin quickly took control of the situation. Now you can read preliminary details and sign up for future updates at the site. So just what is the Party Dock? It’s a dock for the iPad which has four wireless controllers (hence the FCC filing) letting up to four people play games at once. Because four heads squeezed around one ten-inch screen is a little crowded, the dock also hooks into a big-screen via composite and component video connections.

Games will have to be custom-designed for the dock, and developers can sign up with Griffin already. The controllers are simple, with four directional buttons, a central buttons and one more back button. In terms of layout, the controllers are identical to Apple’s IR remote. This design clearly lends itself more to trivia games than four-way shoot-em’ups.

The dock also supports regular video, so you can watch movies and YouTube on your big-screen TV, as well as photo slideshows and music. There is no launch date or price available yet, as the leak came a lot earlier than Griffin expected. That early-outing will have one advantage at least: now the developers know about it, there may even be a good game lineup at launch.

Griffin Party Dock [Griffin]

See Also:

• Screenshots From a Full-Screen iPad Game
• IPad Game Accessories Already Appearing
• Wiimote-Controlled SNES Emulator on iPad

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

Gary Fong, the company behind those plastic-cup-like attachments you see atop many a photojournalist’s flashguns, has come up with an iPhone 4 tripod mount. The plastic adapter looks like it was given roughly a minute’s thought before a back-of-the-napkin sketch was put into production.

Thanks to the squared-off shape of the iPhone 4, almost no custom-shaping is needed to make a snug-fitting holder. Thus, Fong’s adapter is little more than a C-shaped plastic strip with a metal tripod-bush in the base. That is it, and it’s just the kind of thing that you’d make were you scratching around the junk-drawer for a home-made solution.

But despite its basic design and almost complete lack of fancifying, it could be the most practical iPhone tripod mount we’ve seen. There is no need for suction cups, permanently-attached stick-on adapters or even damage-inviting dock-connectors. You simply slip the iPhone in when you need to take a steady picture. Easy. The adapter should be live on the Fong site on Friday September 3rd for $20.

One final thing: The product pictures raise one really big question. Just where on Earth did Gary Fong get ahold of a white iPhone 4?

Fong website [Gary Fong. Thanks, Zach!]

See Also:

• At Last, An iPhone Tripod Adapter
• Gorillacam, A Tripod Application for iPhone
• XShot: A Rather Painful-Looking iPhone Tripod Case
• Shaky-Cam: DIY Bike Tripod
• Joby Announces 'New' Gorillamobile Cellphone Tripod
• Camera 'Security' Locks from Gary Fong

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

Link, from Imation, is a dead-simple way to get movies off your computer and onto your TV. It consists of two parts: a USB-dongle for the computer and a receiver that hooks into your TV. The pair talk to each other wirelessly and stream whatever is on the computer’s screen over to the television.

The connection is via Wireless USB, or WUSB, and will stream video up to 720p resolution and still images up to 1080p. It also sends stereo sound, and the whole lot is piped into the TV via an included HDMI cable.

Unfortunately, the one thing Imation doesn’t want to share is the price. If this thing is under $100, it might be in with a chance. With the rumors hotly tipping a new, $99 Apple TV at next week’s Apple Event on September 1st, anything that costs more than that may as well just go home now.

Link product page [Imation. Thanks, Michelle!]

See Also:

• WUSB
• Imation Ships First Wireless USB Hard Drive
• Cheap, Home Made Wi-Fi Tether
• Iogear Announces Wireless Kit for Monitors and Projectors

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

A new, soon to be released case for the iPad comes with a built-in Bluetooth keyboard that will effectively turn the tablet into a netbook. The leather folio-style case has an ingenious design that lets flips between three configurations. Closed; open with the iPad in normal, touch-screen use and open, propping up the iPad with the keyboard flat in front of it.

The keyboard itself is made of silicone and will therefore be squishy and very likely unresponsive. It has a home button along with all the media controls you’d expect, and will go into sleep mode to save batteries after ten minutes of non-use. The battery, must be charged separately from the iPad (although you can use your iPad’s charging cable to do it) and will give up to 45 hours of use on a charge.

It looks kind of neat, if you really want such a bulky thing. I prefer Apple’s Bluetooth keyboard as it is small enough to sling in your bag, but separate so I don’t have to carry it with the iPad all the time. In fact, I bought the Apple keyboard but almost never use it. Like Wired.com NY bureau chief John C Abell, I find I actually prefer typing on the iPad’s screen. The auto-correct along with the big keys means I actually type faster and more accurately on that than I do on a “real” keyboard.

Doubtless there are plenty who rightly disagree, and for them, this case exists. It’ll cost you sixty British Pounds Sterling ($93), or likely less when it makes its way to a US outlet.

KeyCase iPad Folio with Integrated Bluetooth Keyboard [Gearzap via Apple Insider]

See Also:

• iPad Keyboard: Pricey and Awkward, But a Must-Have for …
• USB Typewriter Turns iPad Into Paper
• ClamCase Turns iPad into Laptop
• Protective Keyboard Case Joined By Trackpad Cover

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

Who doesn’t love them some simulated pinball action? Me, that’s who, but I still like this tiny little box that turns your iPhone into a miniature pinball table: It’s so cute.

The dock can be bought at BestBuy for $40, and works with a free pinball game available in the App Store. The box hooks into the 30-pin connector and provides buttons for the flippers, a proper, spring-loaded ball-plunger and even another screen at the back to show your scores. There’s also a tilt-function in there should you get too feisty with the game.

Sadly the table only works with the provided pinball game and no others, making the fun somewhat limited, especially for $40. The app’s page on the iTunes Store currently looks a little odd, too: The single screenshot on display shows the three wheels from a one-armed-bandit, presumably from the developer’s other hardware/software game combo, Jackpot Slots. Now, make me one of these for the iPad and even I might be tempted to play.

Pinball Magic Game [iTunes]

Pinball Magic dock [BestBuy via Touch Arcade]

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.