Enter Targus and its upcoming Lap Lounge, an iPad 2 stand that is meant to do exactly what its name suggests: sit comfortably in your lap when you’re lounging around in the house, on the plane, and so forth.

Apple has done a good job in bringing down the weight of the iPad 2 to make it a whole lot easier to hold for extended periods of time. That said, after awhile it still becomes a pain, sometimes literally. That’s why I really like this accessory.

Just snap the iPad 2 into the stand, and then adjust the angle to your liking. A cut out in the plastic casing allows the sound from the speaker to be amplified and directed towards you. It’s the same concept as cupping your hand around the speaker, which I’m sure many of us have been done at one point or another (hey, it works!).

The bottom of the stand is a canvas bag filled with the same stuff that’s in bean bags, and adds practically no weight. Having this sitting in your lap for extended periods of time isn’t going to be bothersome at all. I’ve actually also used it to place the iPad on my nightstand and adjust the viewing angle to watch content like it was a television, and it worked well.

Certainly if you’re a heavy digital media consumer on your iPad, a stand like this would be of some value. The downside is the price — $50 — which some might consider a bit steep. Then again, iPad 2 cases average about $35 to $40.

Targus says the Lap Lounge should be available shortly from Targus.com as well as its network of retailers, although no exact ship date has been set.

It’s a $50 cable that lets you connect two Macs–or a Mac and a Windows PC, or two Windows PCs–and shuttle files between them. One end of the cable has a lump (see above), and the lump contains Mac and Windows software that shows the folders on both computers and allows you to drag and drop folders and files:

Since the software’s in the cable, there’s no need to install anything (you just launch it directly from the cable). And unlike Target Disk Mode, you don’t need to reboot one computer and put it in a mode that doesn’t let you do anything else. If you’ve been using computers as long as I have, the whole experience will remind you of using Laplink.

I haven’t done any speed comparisons between this cable and Target Disk Mode–lemme know if you’re curious, and if there’s enough demand, I’ll try to do some.

Not everybody needs this cable–if your computers are both on a network, you can move files between them without any additional cost–but it does what it does nicely, and might be worth the investment–especially if you’ve got multiple Macs and Windows PCs.

I do think that Apple will eventually make Target Disk Mode work with USB connections; I make no predictions about when that may happen, though…

The “Targus for Mac” line includes mice, a USB hub, a presentation remote, a file-sharing cable, a cooling pad, and privacy screens. For the most part, their Mac-isness doesn’t relate to functionality, and Mac users already have access to products in all those categories which are fully Mac-compatible. But Targus has done a nice job of styling the products with a look that’s pleasingly complimentary to MacBooks and MacBook Pros without simply being an unimaginative knockoff of Apple’s own aesthetic.

The mice, USB, remote, and cooling pad all combine light gray and dark gray plastics that feel different to the touch, and which are pretty classy by any standards–here are images of the first three products:

One reason why companies are coming back to the Mac is the reputation of Mac owners as being willing to pay more for cool stuff than their Windows-using brethren–both Targus and Seagate mentioned that to me as a factor in their thinking. So none of these products are cheapies, but they’ve got upscale features, too: The mice, for instance, have a four-way scrollpad that sits under your fingertip, and the USB hub has a cord that wraps snugly around the hub when not in use. (Actually, the hub design is so clever and practical I might buy it for use with a Windows laptop.)

Prices are as follows:

–Bluetooth mouse: $70 (same as Apple’s Bluetooth Mighty Mouse, which only has up-and-down scrolling)
–RF wireless mouse: $50 (same as Apple’s wired Mighty Mouse; I was surprised to see Targus do an RF mouse, since all Mac laptops have Bluetooth, but it is cheaper, and the company told me that some users are intimidated by Bluetooth. The RF dongle is tiny, too–a nub you can leave plugged into the USB port)
–USB hub: $29
–Presenter: $80 (it works with both PowerPoint and Keynote, natch)
–File transfer cable: $50 (it includes built-in software for both Windows-to-Mac transfers and Mac-to-Mac ones)
–Cooling pad: $50 (Targus calls it a Chill Mat)
–Privacy filters: $50

The problem with designing accessories to look good with Mac portables is that Apple could change its portable designs on you–and there are plausible rumors that Apple may overhaul its laptop line real soon now. I asked Targus’s Al Giazzon about that, and he said he felt reasonably comfortable that Apple wouldn’t go in a design direction that rendered the new Targus products a bad match. I suspect he’s right, since it seems intuitively likely that Apple will do more aluminum cases that’ll match Targus’s gray products nicely.

Oh, and one final note: The Targus for Mac line won’t be in Apple Stores for the time being; it will, however, be stocked at Best Buy.

]]> http://technologizer.com/2008/10/01/new-targus-accessories-cater-to-mac-users/feed/ 2 Harry McCracken targus-logo targus-mouse targus-usb targus-presenter