[Fuse]chicken—the team behind the innovative Une Bobine iPhone dock—is in the middle of an IndieGoGo campaign to fund its next docking solution: the togoDock. The Une Bobine used an flexible metal cable tipped with a plastic holder to make it easy to set your iPhone up next to your computer or charger at an adjustable level. This way, you can add another active screen to your setup wherever you need it.
The togoDock is just as deceptively simple. This time, though, it uses a magnet in the base of its small, puck-like stand to stick the iPhone wherever you want it. While it may not be as adjustable as the Une Bobine, it’s lighter and more portable, and it’s more useful in a larger number of places, since you can stick it to any surface that can hold a magnet.
Since you can’t always find a proper bit of metal for the magnet, the togoDock comes with a small steel disk with a strong adhesive on the back of it. You can slap this anywhere you like—from your car’s dashboard to the wall above your nightstand—and voila! Instant spot for your togoDock. With enough of these scattered around, you can stick your togoDock wherever you want it.
The prototype they sent me seems solid, and the fit with the cable is good enough that it doesn’t seem like anything less than an earthquake could shake it loose. The magnets it comes with are strong, especially when paired with one of their steel disks. There’s little chance that this is going to go wandering without your say-so, but at the same time, it’s easy to remove and put back into place whenever you like.
The current togoDock stand should work with any iPhone cases that have an open bottom. It doesn’t quite fit my Ballistic Hard Core case because of the rubber flap that covers the Lightning slot, but [Fuse]chicken claims to also be working on a variation of the current model that will allow for many more cases to be used along with it. It should also work with most auxiliary cables, assuming your case works with them too.
As an add-on for the campaign, [Fuse]chicken is also offering their new PLUGdock for an additional $5 each. This is a handy little piece of plastic that uses your existing standard charger and cable and turns them into a dock that fits into any standard US plug.
The togoDock is $30 through this campaign, or you can get it with a Une Bobine for $25 more. The Une Bobine alone usually retails for $40, although it’s on sale on the [Fuse]chicken site at the moment for $35. Either way, you save at least $10 on the Une via the drive. You can even get a three-pack of the togoDock, Une Bobine, and PLUGdock for $60. All pledges include free shipping in the US, while foreign orders add $10 more.
The IndieGoGo campaign ends on March 29, just 19 days from now. As I write this, the fixed funding (all or nothing) drive is over 83% funded, which means that—barring some disaster—it should easily make the initial goal in plenty of time. Watch the video above to see the togoDock in action and then, if it looks like something that might work for you, go check out the IndieGoGo drive to pledge your support.
Disclaimer: [Fuse]chicken sent me a prototype of the togoDock, a prototype of the PLUGdock, and a Une Bobine as samples for this article.
