Apple Watch owners have a growing selection of stylish docks to choose from, but most of them are just fixed stands with a charger running through them. Unity's multi-function Pocket dock takes it a few steps further, offering portable power and protection for the Apple Watch and iPhone.
Unity Pocket goes beyond your typical Apple Watch charging dock, acting as a protective charging case, portable battery, cable manager and iPhone dock – in addition to docking the Apple Watch like all those other stands do (and Unity Pocket does support the new nightstand mode in watchOS 2).
The dock is designed to let users wrap and store their Watch charging cable inside. This provides a secure seat for the wearable, while the cable draws power from the 4,200 mAh lithium polymer battery sitting beneath it. An aluminum mesh casing slips over the interior chamber to hide the cables and add a visually appealing aesthetic.
For portable protection, the Unity Pocket has a lid that covers the Apple Watch. The external polycarbonate material is lined with a silicone barrier that's meant to hold the Watch in place while providing shock absorption. When you're sitting at your desk at work or a table in a coffee shop, flipping the lid over allows it to double as a stand that can fit the latest iPhones. And as long as you have a spare USB cable, the Unity Pocket can charge both the Apple Watch and a second device simultaneously.
The device's battery is removable, letting users pull it out for some portable power without having to take the whole Unity Pocket away from home. If the company ends up offering them, this could potentially make it possible to replace only the battery after its listed 6,000-hour lifespan.
The Unity Pocket is currently funding on Kickstarter, having (at time of publication) raised around 7 percent of its AU$112,000 goal with another 29 days left. The minimum pledge to reserve a Unity Pocket is AU$71 (around US$50), roughly half off the planned retail price.
The team has a fully-working prototype, and if the funding is successful (and everything else goes according to plan) the company expects shipments of the Unity Pocket to start in February of 2016.
You can see the company's pitch in the video below.
Sources: Unity, Kickstarter