Skip to Content

Oona smartphone stand, as seen on Kickstarter

by Chris Ward May 10th 2011 at 9:00AM

Oona

Take an iChair, remove the case, add a suction cup and, voilà, the Oona smartphone stand. The Oona stand is a Kickstarter project, looking to raise US $10,000 to produce the first run of the neat, unobtrusive stands that look perfect for holding your iPhone steady on your desk or attaching it to your car windscreen.

We liked the iChair a lot and there'll be a hands-on review tomorrow, May 11, on TUAW TV live. The Oona fills a slightly different need, particularly in places where you want to have your iPhone stuck to something rather than just resting it on a flat surface. Its developers have gone to some lengths to use just the right kind of material for the suction cup. "We spent a lot of time designing the right suction cup for The Oona," says Sam Gordon, one of the project founders. "The ones we prototyped early on were made of a thermoplastic elastomer so they could be easily injection molded. After testing we found that low shore durometer silicone produced the best results."

The Oona is designed to be stuck and un-stuck many times a day, rather than rest in place for long periods of time. Its size lends itself to this usage as it is certainly small enough to be carried around easily.

Check out the Kickstarter page and let us know what you think.

a



View Tags

Related Stories

Categories

Accessories iPhone

Take an iChair, remove the case, add a suction cup and, voilà, the Oona smartphone stand. The Oona stand is a Kickstarter...
 

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum Comment Moderation Enabled. Your comment will appear after it is cleared by an editor.

16 Comments

Filter by:
Geoff W

MiMMs Mounts has a similar idea but with a totally different design. It’s magnetic and modular. Check it out at http://www.mimmsmounts.com. One big plus over the oona: you can mount and dismount your gadget with one hand. Just twist and it releases. It’s a bootstrap project – initial product is mass-prototyped using a Makerbot 3D Printer. It’s Desktop Manufacturing at it’s best. @MimmsMounts

May 13 2011 at 9:40 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Scott

Seems like the iPhone would overheat quickly and become unusable mounted to the windshield like that. I know mine doesn't take long to overheat anytime its in direct sunlight.

May 11 2011 at 5:01 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Brad Leong

Rob C: The Oona does work with those thermoplastic elastomer "soft-touch" backs. The hold isn't as great but it will still work in the majority of situations. Obviously the flatter, slickers the surface the better the suction. Danny (co-designer) is a Droid guy and he uses the Oona all the time.

May 10 2011 at 3:17 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
kenji

Your PSA for the day:

Be careful, this kind of mount is illegal in California, and several other states in the US unless placed in a very specific spot on your windshield.

In California the fine is $500 if you get pulled over with something mounted on the window NOT in the designated spot.

Californian DMV Law Section 26708:
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc26708.htm
"A portable Global Positioning System (GPS), which may be mounted in a (1) seven-inch square in the lower corner of the windshield farthest removed from the driver or in a (2) five-inch square in the lower corner of the windshield nearest to the driver and outside of an airbag deployment zone, if the system is used only for door-to-door navigation while the motor vehicle is being operated"

Drive safely! ;)

May 10 2011 at 3:08 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to kenji's comment
Ben

They're not illegal in CA anymore. You just can't put them in the middle of the window, only in the left corner. I'm not sure about the other states.

May 10 2011 at 11:15 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Rob C

Nice concept... I am concerned that the suction cup won't work securely with the "soft-touch" back on my Droid Incredible, though? Any thoughts from the developers?

May 10 2011 at 2:40 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Slxpress

I use the "glif" - another prior Kickstarter project - as a tripod mount, and it works great.

Personally, I like the Kickstarter projects I've seen listed, and don't consider it spam.

May 10 2011 at 11:43 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Slxpress's comment
MJZimmer88

I agree... for useful things like these, keep them coming.

I've just pledged for one of these. =)

May 10 2011 at 1:46 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Brad Leong

mph66: The Oona is a tripod mount for your smartphone. Check out the video at - http://theoona.com/

May 10 2011 at 10:58 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Brad Leong's comment
mph66

Sweet! Thanks, Brad.

May 10 2011 at 4:09 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
uzerzero

Now just add inexpensive wireless charging capabilities to the iPhone so I don't have an annoying cable dangling down, and I'm sold. A telescoping/extendable arm would be nice too, since my desk isn't far from me, but my car's windshield is.

May 10 2011 at 9:53 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to uzerzero's comment
mph66

I like this idea somewhat, but what I really need is an "iPod (Touch) Tripod for video. The image stabilization on the iPod Touch/iPhone doesn't exist, and the video is awfully shaky if you're doing things like panning, or just breathing. It's HD video, but without a tripod, it's like watching "quakecam." Try looking for a tripod for one of these devices. They're entirely non-existent.

May 10 2011 at 10:20 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Sam

Hello,

Agreed. That was an error on our part. We have reduced our international shipping price, but can't make a change to the reward section. We are now accepting $15 for international shipping, instead of the $25.

Thanks,
Sam

May 10 2011 at 9:46 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
paul bradley

Please stop with all the "kickstarter" spam.

May 10 2011 at 9:45 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to paul bradley's comment
unteins

I actually like the Kickstarter mentions and wish they would do more. Some Kickstarter stuff is terrible, but there are some really good ideas that are priced right and don't have ridiculous funding goals. One of the ones I hope gets funded is the SoundJaw (http://kck.st/mi70ql) which improves the sound output on the iPad, iPad2 and the iPhone by redirecting the sound forward instead of sideways (sure it has been done before, but I haven't seen one for these devices).

May 13 2011 at 1:40 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Buy an ad here

Tweets

© 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.