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Kickstarter: LandingZone is the Docking Station you Need for the MacBook Air

Everybody loves their MacBook Airs until they have to connect their Apple Thunderbolt Displays or external monitors, no thanks to the required connections on opposite sides of the chassis. I find it funny Apple would launch a MacBook that requires one to stretch the ATD cable around both sides of a laptop. Surely someone would come along and fix it.

InfiniWing’s LandingZone is a docking station for the MacBook Air thas aims to practically solve the hassle of connecting multiple cords and cables as you sit down at your desk. LandingZone adds two additional USB ports to the Air, includes an ethernet port and Mini DisplayPort for connecting to office equipment, has a port compatible with Kensington Locks, and includes a housing to secure your MagSafe adapter for charging the MacBook Air while it’s seated (power is still supplied via Apple’s MagSafe Power Adapter). As cables are routed out the back, you’ll have a cleaner desk to work on and more ports to connect USB drives, wired keyboards, and other peripherals to.

LandingZone is brilliantly simple, featuring a latch mechanism that clamps the hub to the required ports on either side of the MacBook. As the video on Kickstarter (which is one of the best Kickstarter videos I’ve seen to date) will show off, you simply lock and unlock the MacBook Air with an elegant lever at the backside. LandingZone is everything you’d likely want in a docking station without the bulk of traditional laptop docks. It’s small, smartly designed, and looks good.

If you’d like to see LandingZone go into production and make its way onto your desk, consider a donation on Kickstarter. You can donate a buck, but $159 for the 11” or 13” model will nab you your very own laptop dock (and would make for a nice surprise belated Christmas present for the geek in your family). Be sure to watch the video above — the production is excellent.

[via SAI]

Update 2:47pm: InfiniWings got in touch to clarify that the MacBook Air would still be powered via Apple’s MagSafe adapter, and not through the charging station itself.

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Former MacStories contributor.

cody@macstories.net