IN
YOUR FACE
Reviewed by Wayne LeFevre
Introduction
The product announcement of the IN YOUR FACE View Base
stated it was going to be debuted at Macworld 2009. That was very unfortunate,
because I wouldn’t be attending, but it was something that I was very
interested in. In fact, the PR piece that day wasn’t real specific on what
exactly an “IN YOUR FACE” was. All
I knew was that it was something for the iPod Touch/iPhone and was made to make
it easier to view. That’s all I needed to know, as I am an iPod Touch fanatic,
so I had one winging it’s way towards me the day I heard about it.
Am I ever glad I was curious because it has quickly become
one of my all time favorite gadgets.
Getting
Started
I received the IN YOUR FACE and finally understood exactly
what it entailed. To put it bluntly, it's simply a gooseneck clamp for your
iPod. Perhaps you might have something like this you’ve already rigged up
yourself, a bit similar to TEN Technology’s FlexibleDock or MicFlex from
MacMice . The IN YOUR FACE however, is very well thought up, very well made,
and works surprisingly well!
While
in the review process for IN YOUR FACE, I was tooling around their web site
looking for graphics. I was drawn to a statement that noted, “IN YOUR FACE, LLC
was a start-up company founded in July 2008 by husband and wife team Hans and
Marion Kohte. Initially the idea of a hands free iPhone holder was born to
remedy a pair of sore arms after watching a two hour movie in the passenger
seat during a 12 hour car trip.”
To me, that was fascinating. Usually, when you ask a
developer about a certain piece of shareware, they often reply that it was born
out of necessity. They lament about wanting their computer to do something
specific. Not finding anything on the market that met their needs, they created
it themselves. I've never heard of a gadget that someone has not only made, but
actually taken to market. The curiosity got the best of me, and I got ahold of
Marion Kohte to find out the story on IN YOUR FACE.
A bit of history
behind the product.
I’ve always looked at a product from Belkin, iHome or even
Apple to have been made by some sort of committee. A bunch of corporate types
sitting around a large oval oak table coming up with the next best gadget. It
never occurred to me that it could actually have been made by someone, a la
ABC’s American Inventor show, or something like it.
The
idea was born from Hans Kohte’s car trip from Utah to San Francisco, and from
having to hold his iPod Touch up to his face to watch movies. Well, we’ve all
been there. Whether it be holding your device in an automobile, or trying prop
it on an aircrafts seat tray while trying to eat your little box meal, it can
be trying to do any of this one-handed, not to mention very trying on the arms.
True to the Apple spirit of invention, a “Garage” was used
to begin the process of inventing what would become the IN YOUR FACE Viewbase.
Speaking of American Inventor, they even
consulted a product designer that had worked with the show in Santa Monica. Now
they were getting serious.
After many different variations, they finally came up with
what would be the final product. This is where I believe many people fail.
Marion stated that quality was the deciding direction that was taken. They were
constantly being asked to make design modifications. The couple dug in their
heels, refusing to deviate from how they wanted the product to function. Having
put in their own funds to take IN YOUR FACE to market, they did not want to
compromise on any of their ideas.
Wanting to stay true to their design form and not
considering selling the design to a larger company, they decided to take IN
YOUR FACE to market themselves. With their gathered resources, they booked a
booth at Macworld and finally found a manufacturer in China that would
manufacture what they specified. They threw all in and ordered 5,000 units.
It must have been a nightmare for them. Here Macworld was
finally arriving, a mere couple of days away and still no word from the
manufacturer. Yet, in true movie fashion, literally hours before the beginning
of the show, the first shipment arrived. The rest, as they say, is history!
Now how cool is that? A true underdog tale straight out of
Hollywood. It’s something that I don’t think I’ve ever contemplated when
looking at the shelves of a local dealer. So now when you look at the IN YOUR
FACE, you can think about a real-life couple and their son just wanting a piece
of the pie.
Now on to
what I think
As you might have surmised by now, I think the IN YOUR FACE
is a great product. Yes, it’s nothing more than a clamp for your devices. I say
devices, because it can hold more than just your iPod Touch or iPhone. The
holding clamp can expand to approximately 2 3/4 inches, so even your PSP can
fit.
The spr
ing
holding your device is a bit stiff. It’s pretty tough if you try to remove your
iPhone with one hand. I measured it around 8 pounds of force needed to move the
jaws out. It is nicely padded, though, so at least your precious won’t get
scratched or damaged. The plus side of the stiffness is that whatever you
decide to hold, it’s not going to let go and let anything drop to the ground.
The device holder is attached to the main neck by clamping over a ball-end on
the neck, allowing full movement of the head.
The main clamp is, well, it’s got both good and bad points.
On the good point, the main spring looks heavy duty. It also seems about half
the stiffness of the other spring, but that may be just the physics of it. The
clamps are padded to prevent damage to the desk, table, computer, whatever you
decide to put it on. The lower clamp is hinged in the middle, allowing the
clamp to fit around most anything you want it too.
That’s
the plus and the minus of the entire setup. You can clamp around a non-flat
surface, such as an armrest or a pole, even. However, I’ve found that you need
to be able to have around an inch of surface to grab sufficiently. For example,
if your desk has a lip around it that is under an inch, and that is where you
want to clamp it, it’s not going to be sufficient to grab onto and hold your
device at any angle you want it. It does have a full 2” opening, allowing it to
clamp around most anything. Occasionally you might have problems if it is
clamped around something vertical and have the neck extended. If the surface is
slick it may start to slide, especially if it’s in a moving vehicle. Otherwise,
it works fairly well.
The neck is very sturdy, and doesn’t allow much movement of
your device when on the move. It’s made of a soft aluminum rod that is covered
in a rubber or thick powder-coating. (Can’t remember if the electrical
properties or more specific, the curing temps of aluminum will allow
powder-coating or not.) The question about the metal getting fatigued and
possibly breaking is there, but I’m not worried. I have a magnet on the end of
a long thick aluminum rod like this and I am constantly winding it up and
unwinding it. It’s never had any hint of metal fatigue in it, and it’s at least
10 years old. The neck isn’t too soft, however. It can hold almost 2 pounds
before bending.
Recommendation
All–in–all,
I think it’s a wonderful gadget. It almost makes up for not being able to
attend Macworld! OK. Not really, but it really is a great consolation prize. I
have it clamped on my desk right now, allowing constant access to my iPod. It
also goes around my headboard giving me my own alarm clock. I used it for a
trip last week and it worked as advertised.
I
wouldn’t hesitate in recommending the IN YOUR FACE to anyone using and iPhone
or iPod Touch. It constantly comes in handy wherever I am. On any kind of trips, it’s
almost a necessity. I was thinking of ordering one or two extra, so I
wasn’t carrying this one back and forth.
The incredible usefulness, plus the history that I now know
about it, makes it a given for ownership alongside
the power cable itself!
