Both docks come only in glossy white plastic, and boast the same general features. iPhone charges in a recessed docking well that has been custom-adapted for its unique bottom speaker, microphone, and Home button, with a special vent that permits you to dock the phone and still use it in speakerphone or iPod audio playback modes without significant muffling or additional distortion. You can not use iPhone with either dock if it’s inside of a case, but the full-body protective films we’ve tested work just fine. The back of each dock has a line-out port with fixed-level volume rather than the variable line-out found on Apple’s iPod Universal Dock (iLounge rating: B+), and the bottom has an anti-slip, anti-scratch rubber surface to keep the unit stable on your table or desk.

The designer added a fashionable cocktail-style parasol attachment that acts as a solar power battery charger. Once flipped open and connected to the dock, the parasol pulls electricity from direct sunlight. Providing cool shade and power for your iPhone at the same time. I would buy the iHammock tomorrow if it truly existed. Toss in a few iShots of tequila and my iPhone would have the perfect weekend laying around recharging for another busy week.

The past, Apple’s iPod docks have not been generously equipped. Most of the time, docks have sold for $29 to $39 and shipped bare—just a piece of white plastic with a male Dock Connector front and center, audio and sometimes video ports in the back, and a spot to connect your iPod’s packed-in data cable to your computer. With the iPhone, that is changed: both the iPhone Dock and Dual Dock come with a USB Power Adapter and a USB cable, which Apple now sells for $29 in a separate package. In other words, you are now paying only $20 more for either Dock, which is a great deal by Apple standards, but not by absolute ones.