The Smarter Stand for iPhone really is smart. It was designed to solve two problems: tangled earbud cords and a slab-like iPhone which insists on slipping off anything you try to prop it against. And it does all this whilst remaining a flat, pocketable piece of plastic.
Believe it or not, Christmas is almost here, and we’ll mark this midwinter festival by getting together with friends and family and continuing to drink and eat far too much.
Meanwhile, we also buy gifts for those same friends and family members, whether they want them or not. Luckily, we’re here to help, and if you follow our festive advice, your gifts just might make it into the “wanted” category.
Today, we’re looking at last-minute stocking stuffers. To be honest, if you still haven’t finished your Christmas shopping, you should really be out hitting the malls today. But seeing as you’re here reading this instead, here are a few ideas.
Believe it or not, Christmas is almost here, and we’ll mark this midwinter festival by getting together with friends and family and continuing to drink and eat far too much.
Meanwhile, we also buy gifts for those same friends and family members, whether they want them or not. Luckily, we’re here to help, and if you follow our festive advice, your gifts just might make it into the “wanted” category.
From now until Christmas, Cult of Mac will be putting together holiday gift guys full of ideas for the special ones in your life, no matter what their interests or your budget. Today, we’re looking at gifts that cost less than $50. Yes, you can appear to be a big spender, but without actually spending that much.
![PadPivot: The Best iPad Stand Around [Review]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/1354198708.jpg)
When the PadPivot arrived, I scoffed: It’s just another iPad stand after all, and a weird-looking one at that. But then I started using it, an interesting thing happened: It grew on me quicker than almost any other gadget I have.
A few weeks later and the PadPivot has not only ousted several other widgets from my gear-bag, but – if it was pried from my fingers right now, I’d immediately order myself up a new one.
- Fact: I carry my iPad almost naked (the iPad is naked — not me thank God).
- Fact: I often want to prop the thing up in portrait mode to use with a Bluetooth keyboard
- Fact: Penguins and polar bears would never meet in the wild.
- Fact: Most portrait-capable iPad stands are just too unwieldy to live in a bag permanently.
Considering these amazing facts, it should come as no surprise that I’m about to tell you about a stand which will in fact hold the iPad in pretty much any orientation. What’s more, it does it whilst looking like a love egg that has sprouted a long, long pair of huggy arms. Let’s be honest — it’s pretty creepy-looking.
Sometimes a problem is solved by sweating the details until a solution is reached. A solution so elegant that it appears to be the only possible answer to the problem. A solution so thoroughly worked through that it seems effortless.
Other times, the designer will think of something, grab the first parts that comes to hand and call it good. The solution might work, but it won’t be getting stocked at the Apple Store any time soon. The Clutch is one such solution.
Sometimes it’s the little luxuries in life that make a difference. Don’t have a place to store your headphones at your desk? You may need Just Mobile’s new HeadStand. Well, you probably don’t need it, but you’ll want it.
Sculpted from polished aluminum in a way that would probably make Jony Ive shed a tear of joy, the HeadStand suspends your plush headphones gracefully in the air.
Just Mobile’s new Alurack is a clever solution to the question “Where do I put my stupid MacBook while I’m using it with an external monitor?”
The Alurack’s answer is “Hang it,” either from the back of a Cinema Display or from your iMac.
Hate, nay loathe the horizontal? Does laying down leave you feeling unseemly? Does landscape orientation drive you crazy? Would you rather live in a tiny apartment at the top of a skyscraper than in a luxurious two-story country home? Then NewerTech’s new NuStand Alloy stands are for you.
The AluRack mounts your MacBook in style and out of sight.
Just Mobile is one of my favorite third-party accessory makers for Apple products. They make beautifully minimal stands, chargers, styluses, and other random accessories for iPhone, iPad and Mac. What makes Just Mobile’s stuff great is that most of their products look like they were designed by Apple itself, and that’s no exaggeration—just take a look at their catalog. It’s all great.
A couple of the newest products to be announced by Just Mobile include the AluBase and AluRack MacBook mounts.
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![Cult of Mac Holiday Gift Guide: Stocking Stuffers [Updated]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/image3.jpg "image")
![Cult of Mac Holiday Gift Guide: Gifts Under $50 [Updated]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/under50-updated.jpg "under50 updated")
