We've seen our fair share of portable device docks here at Gizmag, from the acoustic to the power-hungry and everything in between. Most of those capable of charging the docked device as well as amplify its audio tend to have been designed for use with an iDevice, which is not much use to the 14 million U.S. Kindle Fire users. Rallying to the cause, Grace Digital has launched the FireDock - one of the first speaker docks crafted specifically for Amazon's Kindle Fire 7-inch tablet and featuring full-range stereo speakers, a Class D digital amp and an additional auxiliary input for an optional secondary audio source.
Although Amazon's Kindle Fire includes built-in stereo speakers, there will be occasions when the output could do with a significant boost to fully enjoy content provided by the likes of Netflix, Pandora Internet Radio or even Amazon's own audio books. Grace Digital's new FireDock speaker dock features a 16-watt Class D digital amplifier and 3-inch full-range, base-ported stereo speakers rated at 3W/8 ohms, with a frequency response of between 60Hz and 18KHz and signal-to-noise ratio of 89dB.
The cradle includes a USB port that allows the Kindle Fire to be charged while docked, whether Amazon's tablet is being used or not, and rotates for portrait or landscape viewing. Next door to this sits a strategically-positioned audio jack.
In addition to operating from AC power, Grace Digital is also making an optional 7.4 V /2200 mAh Lithium-ion battery pack available (at an extra cost) to play the device on the road. The FireDock battery pack won't charge the Kindle Fire's own battery but will give mobile playback for up to six hours.
The 13 x 4.3 x 3.75-inch (330.2 x 109.22 x 95.25 mm) Grace Audio FireDock comes supplied with a wireless remote and has been given a shipping date of July 2, 2012 at a suggested retail price of US$129.99.
Source: Grace Digital
