iLuv MobiDock for Kindle Fire and MobiAir for Smartphones Preview

We, generally, find docks to be a sort of necessary evil. "Necessary" in that it seems everyone sells them, "evil" in that they generally sound horrible. To us, a dock comes into its own when it is found in public or rental areas. Going to a hotel and finding a small speaker system with a 3.5mm jack and a iPod dock is a godsend. We love our headphones, but, after wearing them most of the day on a long flight, we're ready for a little open air music.

iLuv is a company that builds a great many devices designed to expand and enhance your gadgets. They sell everything from cases to headphones. They have tons of power and charging solutions as well as more speaker solutions that you can count. We were not surprised when they announced at CES 2012 that they had two new docks to show. We were a bit surprised that they were so similar. 

The MobiAir (pictured at the top of the article) and MobiDock (pictured above) share more than just prefixes. We have a feeling you'd have a hard time differentiating between them if you saw them in person. Both of them have the speaker behind / dock in front form factor that has become the defacto standard for docks. The main difference in the images (aside from the particular device docked and the angle), is the cable that is attached to the top of the Kindle Fire on the MobiDock.

The MobiDock is designed to work with the Kindle Touch and Kindle Fire. The MobiDock is one of the first docks designed with the Kindle in mind. iLuv doesn't give much information about the speaker system other than to say it has "dynamic acoustic speaker chambers and powerful amplifiers". The two round protrusions near the bottom of the Kindle is the new myBot OmniFit Technology docking system. It grips the device and will allow for multiple sizes of device - a system that we quite like. It certainly means you'll be able to upgrade your Kindle without having to upgrade your dock.

The MobiDock charges the Kindle via a micro-USB port. The music, however, is streamed from the Kindle via the 3.5mm jack. This means that you can use the MobiDock with any device that has a 3.5mm jack. So, actually, it is pretty much a universal dock that may or may not charge your device. For the $70 MSRP, we think this is a pretty good deal depending on how it sounds and whether it has any additional connections (we doubt it).

The MobiAir has everything the MobiDock has excepting the 3.5mm cable. Like the MobiDock, the MobiAir employs the innovative myBot dock so that it can be used with a multitude of devices. It also has a micro-USB port for charging. For streaming music, however, it uses Bluetooth. With just about every Smartphone on the planet coming with Bluetooth equipped, you shouldn't have a problem accessing your music. The MobiAir will run you about $90. There is no word if you can make a direct connection to it or if Bluetooth is your only option (we'd guess the former).

The thing that confuses us about the MobiDock and MobiAir is that they are basically the same thing. Add a 3.5mm connection to the MobiAir and it could do anything and everything the MobiDock does. Our thought is that they were trying to keep the MSRP down with the MobiDock and get interest by mentioning the Kindle which, really, is just one of the many devices it will work with. We think the MobiDock should be more than enough for most people. The MobiAir, while cool, adds a level of complexity by using only a Bluetooth connection. We certainly hope they also allow a 3.5mm connection as well.

Conclusion

iLuv is certainly going to sell more than a few of these docks. The Kindle name alone should be enough to steer a lot of traffic toward their MobiDock. Amazon is certainly going to love the thought of a major manufacturer building a device that caters to its in-house family of products. The wireless connection of the MobiAir should interest the more technophile crowd. As more details are released, we'll see how excited we get about these. As it stands, it seems like they are designed to work with one device at a time - a limitation that makes their price seem a bit high considering many homes have multiple smartphones, tablets, and iDevices. The iLuv myBot OmniFit docking system, on the other hand, means you don't have to worry about the size of your device not working with either of the docks, a feature sure to lure many consumers. We'll definitely be on the lookout for these when they are released in May.

For more information, please visit www.i-luv.com.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.