Usually, it's the big products that get the headlines - your iPhones and Surfaces and Galaxies. But in basement shops and garages, worthy invention is taking place on a much tinier scale - and sometimes, that work is worth a look.
To be specific, this week, I offer reviews of three intriguing accessories that recently landed on my desk: accompaniments to the headline-grabber gadgets.
ChargeCard
It's one of the great unsung trends of the latest gadgets: they can recharge from USB jacks, which are found not only on every computer, but also in many cars, planes, wall jacks and TV sets. Unfortunately, you still have to pack and carry the cords for your USB-chargeable gizmos.
The cleverly named ChargeCard ($25) was a Kickstarter.com success story. It's a replacement charging “cable†shaped like a black rubber credit card; you're supposed to carry it in your wallet. At one end is the connector for your gadget; in the middle is a flexible rubber tongue with USB contacts on the end.
The idea is that you'll never again suffer Battery Death Anxiety, where you're out for the evening, watching your phone's charge approach zero because you have no way to charge it. Now, you'll always have the “cable†right there in your wallet. Find the nearest TV or computer and charge away.
The ChargeCard comes in three versions. One has a 30-pin connector for charging and syncing iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads with the original 30-pin connector (2012 and earlier). One has the new Lightning connector, for the iPhone 5, latest iPod Touch and newest iPad. And one has a Micro USB connector for all those Android phones and tablets, Sony cameras, Blackberries, Nokias, Kindles, Jamboxes and so on.
The ChargeCard is twice the thickness of a credit card, so it does add some bulk to a wallet. And the need to twist around that central USB tongue makes you worry about its longevity (although it has a lifetime guarantee).
But yes, it works, and yes, it's a relief to know you'll never be without a way to charge.
iFlyPad
The iFlyPad ($30, available in late July) is a small contraption, about three inches across, in white or black, with powerful suction cups on both sides. The back has one big suction cup (with a sliding lever that increases the suction for an amazingly strong bond), which you're supposed to attach to the airplane video screen on the seat back in front of you. The front has many small suction cups; they grip the back of your tablet, phone or e-reader.
This thing suspends your gadget so that you can enjoy your own video entertainment instead of whatever overpriced videos the airline offers. You're hands-free, you can use your tray table for food, and the viewing angle is better.
The iFlyPad can also, of course, stick your phone, tablet or Kindle to any smooth hard surface in daily life: a kitchen cabinet, bathroom mirror, treadmill console or car touch screen (so you can use the Google Maps app for navigation instead of whatever awful GPS software came with your car). Click here for all the details: duration of suspension, curved-glass questions, and so on.
Not everyone is crying out for a suction cup to suspend a gadget; that in-flight scenario might not have universal appeal. But if the idea appeals to you, you're in luck: the iFlyPad is well-designed, compact and extremely secure.
MagStay MS-01
When Apple invented its magnetic MagSafe connector for its laptop power cords, I cheered. As I wrote last year, “Apple found precisely the right balance between attachment and detachment. Strong enough to hold the connecto r in place, weak enough to detach if it gets yanked,†so that your laptop doesn't go crashing to the floor.
But last year, when Apple replaced the MagSafe connector with a thinner, weaker one, I booed. Now the power cord drops out constantly, at the slightest touch or wrong angle.
If you've had no problem with yours, it's probably because you always use your laptop on a desk. If you try using it on your lap (yes, some people use laptops on laps), abandon all hope. If it brushes your leg, or if you lean over to grab something, the power cord falls out. I despise this thing.
I have found a ridiculous-looking but very effective solution: the MagStay 2 ($20). It's a perfectly designed plastic white clip, of sorts, that keeps the connector in place.
“Clip†isn't the right word, because there's no hinge or spring. It's more of a slotted wedge that firmly grips the left edge of your MacBook Pro or Air. A tunnel through the middle connects the metal end of your MagSafe power cord to the laptop. A hole in the MagStay's top surface lets you see the connector's indicator light, so you can still see if it's getting power.
A substantial yank still detaches the cord, but the connector never, ever comes out from simple thigh pressure, or reaching-to-the-side pressure, or lifting-up-the-laptop-to-look-for-your-glasses pressure. In short, it fixes what's wrong with the MagSafe 2. (It's designed for the Retina MacBook Pro. It works great on my MacBook Air, too, but the company says it will soon offer a model that fits the Air even better.)
You can't close the laptop with the MagStay in place, which is a huge drag. In fact, what you're supposed to do is detach the MagStay, remove the cord, reverse the MagStay, rethread the cord through it, close the laptop, and reattach; the larger opening of the MagStay now grips the closed laptop just as firmly as it previously grip ped only the lower half.
That's way too much hassle; when I want to close the laptop, I just slide the MagStay down the white power cord to get it completely out of the way. (Few people complain that the MagSafe connector drops out by itself when the laptop is sitting, closed, charging on your bedside table.)
It's really, really a shame that a $20 glorified clothespin is required to make these premium laptops' power cords stay attached. But the MagStay is certainly better than some of my readers' previous suggestions, which included duct tape and Super Glue. It's the most useful piece of plastic I've added to my arsenal in a long time.
