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>> Some car cradles actively boost the functionality of the iPhone in the car. Others merely hold it in place. Somewhere in between is this Kensington cradle. I'm Antuan Goodwin taking a first look at the Kensington sound amplified car kit for iPhone. Kensington's cradle holds the iPhone in place with a pair of springy plastic retaining arms. But, more importantly, it features a pair of fixed arms at the bottom, which is where the cradle's key functionality start. These arms are hollow, funneling sound into and out of the iPhone's small microphone and speaker. Rubber pads ensure a tight feel. The right arm has a straight passage to the mic with a bit of phone to reduce wind noise. The left redirects speaker sound through an internal passive amplification channel that effectively boosts the volume by aiming the sound straight at the driver's head, sort of like an old school analogue phonograph or cheerleader's megaphone. Audio quality is greatly improved over the naked downward firing pinhole speaker, making turn-by-turn directions and speaker phone calls much more audible over road and wind noise. The sound amplified cradle shifts with a section cup mount with a long flexible arm for attaching to your windshield and a small air vent mount for users who want to keep their iPhone closer at hand and clear of local windshield obstruction laws. Because the amplification is passive, there's no need for a power cable to reap those benefits. But the Kensington cradle leaves space for users to add their own sync cable for charging. For more details about this very cool new application of some pretty old tech, check out our full review. Until then, I'm Antuan Goodwin with CNET.com, giving you a first look at the Kensington sound amplified car cradle for iPhone.
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