iLounge

Company: Thought Out

Product Name:  Thought Out Naja Flexible Rotating Dock Stand for iPod nano

Website:  Thought Out

List Price: $30

Thought Out Naja Flexible Rotating Dock Stand for iPod nano

By Jeremy Horwitz

Editor-in-Chief, iLounge
Published: Friday, August 1, 2008
Category: Stands

Though iPod stands have become much less common over the last few years, Thought Out has remained committed to this particular category of accessories, creating stands specific to the iPod touch, iPhone, and other Apple devices. The company’s latest stand, Naja ($30), is specific to the third-generation iPod nano, and unlike some of the previous versions we’ve reviewed has both good looks and versatility on its side. Another company, Papadakis Technologies, has released Soaripod ($30), a similar stand that works with the iPod touch and original iPhone. We look at both products in our combined review below.

Named for a venomous, thin species of snakes, Naja can be summarized as a black 36” length of flexible pipe that’s bundled with a metal and rubber iPod nano holder. Though the pipe isn’t especially useful when it’s straightened and flattened, it can be shaped into a coiling, circular base with a pivoting neck, just like a snake.

The advantage of this design is that the Naja stand can bend and turn at any point, providing you with a view of the nano’s screen from any conceivable angle, even including ones that are down-facing. Thought Out’s nano holder has rubber feet that can maintain their grip on the nano even when gravity’s working against them, and since they don’t interfere with the device’s bottom ports or controls in any way, you have complete access to audio, charging, and the like.

Soaripod is based upon a similar premise, except it replaces Naja’s key parts with ones that may or may not appeal to different types of users. Instead of the 36” flexible metal and rubber pipe, you get a 12” plastic pipe made from 21 interlocking ball joints that can be twisted and repositioned together. You also get a black harness that can hold either the iPod touch or original iPhone, adding a ratcheting belt clip to its back. This holder permits full access to each device’s headphone port and/or Dock Connector port, as well as the iPhone’s speakers, though iPhone users notably get unfettered access to only one port or the other at a given time; the other will be slightly obstructed by a lip in the plastic. You can attach the holder to the plastic pipe, or separate it to serve as an iPod or iPhone belt clip mount. We prefer cases, but this isn’t a bad feature, as Naja’s iPod nano holder has no use when detached from its pipe. Additional details on Soaripod can be found in its review.

We wouldn’t give the edge to either of these mounting solutions overall, as they’re for different devices and have different advantages that some users might prefer for their own needs. However, we found Naja to be especially interesting in that it’s the cleanest-looking design yet from Thought Out; this may only be due to the simplicity of the parts used to build it, but it does look good. Soaripod, by contrast, isn’t as sleek of a design but does a nice job of accommodating two different products, as well as adding a table clamp feature we haven’t seen elsewhere. Both of these products are pretty good values for their $30 asking prices, and are worthy of our general-level recommendation.