Apple mulling new iPhone/iPod touch dock?

updated 02:45 pm EDT, Tue August 5, 2008

Apple New Dock Patent


Apple has considered making a new dock for the iPhone and iPod touch that would let the device work for video without compromising its ability to be charged, according to a just-published US patent application. Though cosmetically similar to the translucent stand included with the iPod touch, the purely visual patent also shows a Dock Connector cable plugged into the stand, suggesting that it could be used to power and sync a given device while watching movies, rather than just holding the player on its side.

The patent was filed approximately at the same time as the iPod touch made its original debut and appears to show that particular device in the stand. It's uncertain whether the filing was made solely to patent the existing stand design or whether it points to a future iteration that would serve as a dock of its own. Apple isn't required to produce devices that match its patent descriptions.


By Electronista Staff

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Previous Comments

  1. Roehlstation

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Aug 2001

    +2

    Ummm

    I'm pretty sure that IS just the stand that already comes with it.


  1. unity@mac.com

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Sep 2005

    +1

    And...

    How would it actually "dock"? Induction? Looks like a stand that can hold the cable in place so it does not fall behind the desk, etc.


  1. Guest

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 1999

    +1

    Not a dock...

    This doesn't look like a dock so much as just a simple stand. The part that "plugs in" to the cable looks no different than those little plastic caps that ship with brand new Apple-branded sync and/or USB cables that we all end up losing or throwing away.


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