SpiderPodium

Arachnids refer to eight legged creatures such as spiders, mites, ticks, and scorpions--bugs without antennae. To this list we can now add another species, the SpiderPodium. The SpiderPodium is an eight-legged device that supports small gadgets and can act as a travel dock.

I remember the good old days when every portable digital assistant came with a charging dock as a matter of course, but no more. Hence, you are stuck trying to prop up your device somehow so you can view it while tethered, charging and syncing.

According to Greek mythology, it all started with a woman named Arachne who boasted she could out-weave the goddess Athena. While an excellent weaver, Arachne eventually lost the contest, and Athena turned her into a spider who would spend eternity weaving webs. For this reason, the company that produces this item may wish to change its name from Breffo to Arachne.

What is a Spider Podium exactly? The name actually says it all. This gadget has eight bendable, wire legs coated in heavy plastic radiating from a central rectangular body with a slot in it. The idea is that you can bend the legs to hold any portable device in a viewable, stationary position. You can hold your camera, and it will serve as a tripod so you can include yourself in group pictures. It will hold your MP3 player and allow you to watch videos. It will hold your phone while it charges and syncs to the mother ship.

With a little imagination, you can make the pliable legs grab, support, and suspend any small device securely.

Not coincidentally, the slot in the center body of the Spider is designed to accommodate that pesky, bulky, Apple iPhone/iPod connector. (Why can’t Apple use a standard micro USB connector so you don’t have to take so many cables with you on a trip?) Anyway, when you have the iPhone connector inserted properly, it will hold the device sufficiently so that you don’t have to worry about having the legs hold it. I suppose you would want to secure it with legs on a bike or where there would be some bumping involved.

The really cool part of it that you can use some of the legs for a stand or you can use them for attachments. For instance, suppose you wish to use your phone for GPS navigation in the car, and you don’t want to spend $50 for a window mount. Simply configure the spider to grab on to something in the car such as a visor or a vent. I suppose you could get it to stand up in a drink cup holder as well.

Buy another one (they’re cheap), suspend it from a headrest and let the kids watch videos in the back seat. Use it to mount your phone/GPS to the handle bars of your bike or motorcycle. I even use it in bed to hold my phone so I can read ebooks. When I used it to watch TV or movies, I call it bellyvision. Use it on your bedside table and turn your iPod into a travel clock radio stand. They’re great for video conferencing too.

The functionality of this highly adaptable device is only limited by your imagination. You can use it everywhere. Use it while camping, on an airplane, in bed, on your desk, in the car, on a bus, on a boat, on your bike. It’s highly portable with its 3.5 inch legs.

This ingenious device is a must-have whether on your desk or on the road. Don’t leave home without it. I found them on Amazon.com for as little as $18.95. It’s available in white, black, and gray. There is a larger version called SpiderTablet.

I’m thinking about getting one for my home office, one for the kitchen so I can watch the news while fixing dinner, one for the bedroom to use as an alarm clock/radio stand, one for the family room to I can see my phone screen, one for the car for navigation, and one for my bike. That way I won’t have to remember how to bend the legs for the various functions. I can’t imagine life without at least one of these handy arachnids. Get one, and I promise it won’t bug you. In fact, if this bug bites you, you may become addicted to it.

I consider the Spiderpodium one of my best discoveries at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. In fact, this gadget earned its developer a Design and Engineering Innovation award.

Dock it. Hang it. Grip it.

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