TOOLBOX
Compass
iPad Stand
$40 twelvesouth.com
I use the heck out of my iPad and
usually love its handheld form
factor. There are times, however,
when I need it propped up in front
of me, hands-free.
This is usually when I’m using
it as a reference guide in my workshop, cookbook in the kitchen,
surrogate movie screen on an airplane, or mobile workstation in a
hotel room paired with a Bluetooth
keyboard. I’ve tried a few stands
and even built my own, but my new
favorite is the Compass stand from
Twelve South.
This easel-style stand is very
compact when folded up — a boon
when traveling — yet it’s a solid,
no-compromise stand. It’s made
from powder-coated steel and has
nonskid silicone on its feet and at all
points where it touches your iPad.
When opened, it can be positioned in either of two modes:
fully upright for reading and movie
watching or nearly flat for an
onscreen keyboard typing position.
My only complaint is that the
sturdy little thing seems to draw
attention when X-rayed by airport
security guards. I’ve learned to
take it out of my bag and put it in
a tray. That’s a small inconvenience,
however, for an otherwise excellent
accessory. —John Edgar Park
Eureka! By Roy Doty
Cookie Alarm
158 Make: makezine.com/26
Rover Puck
$150 rover.com/home.htm
The Rover Puck mobile 4G hotspot is small
enough to fit in a hip pocket. There’s no
contract required; once you’ve bought
the device, you simply pay as you go for
coverage (from $5 a day to $50 a month).
Rover claims download speeds of 3Mbps–
6Mbps and up to four hours of battery life;
up to eight devices can connect at once.
Coverage is limited to certain U.S. cities, so
be sure to check Rover’s online coverage
map before you buy. —JB
r o g
One Ring
to Rule Them All
MoMA Key Ring Organizer
$12 momastore.org
I’m often lukewarm on “modern” design. While I like to
see clever products that put function first, the design still
fails, in my opinion, if it has to be priced as a luxury item.
So I love to browse the Museum of Modern Art catalog
but rarely buy anything. The Key Ring Organizer, a staple
of the MoMA gift shop for at least a decade, stands out as
a shining exception: I bought four of them in 2001.
I kept one for myself and distributed the others to
my family. We all still use them, and they all still function
perfectly, after ten years of continuous pocket- or purse-wear per unit. Whenever we have to swap keys, it’s literally
two clicks to make the transfer from one ring to another.
And at 12 bucks, the Key Ring Organizer is one of the
cheapest items in the catalog. —SMR
