Forget AirPlay. Redirect your music using the Wave Cradle #MacWorld

The Wave Cradle fixes an oversight Apple has yet to address in their iPhones, namely the speaker points straight down, where your ears are not likely to be. I can't count how many times I find myself holding the phone flat so I can better hear someone on the speakerphone! I suppose Apple didn't want to ruin the iPhone's design lines by having a speaker grid on the front of the iPhone. But the result is complaints about low volume or battery drain from using higher volume than should be necessary.


The Wave Cradle is a novel solution, made of aluminum and rubber that does one thing. It redirects your speaker's audio, acoustically rather than electronically, towards the user. This great for FaceTime as well as listening to music.


The cradle has a nice grip that keeps a naked iPhone in place, as well as one in a relatively flat case. The Wave Cradle comes in two models, a simple one-piece model (plus the cylinders that support the iPhone) and a more stylized two-piece elevated model. I actually prefer the lower cost ($20) one-piece model, as it is more subtle compared to the $29 model. I could see the two-piece model being valued as it minimizes vibration and raises the view of the iPhone. Black, red, and blue cradles are available with more colors were shown at MacWorld.











The makers do several things right. The unit comes fully assembled, whereas I could see some companies shipping it in pieces and making the user assemble it, to save on production and shipping. Speaking of production and shipping, the Wave Cradle is made in the USA and USPS shipping is FREE!