Dock 'n' lock: Innovation and iPods go hand in hand, but the creativity rarely extends to iPod docks. Buffalo bucks that trend in the form of its unusual HDD Dualie. In essence, this is a standard docking station paired with a 500-gigabyte hard disk. Unlike run-of- the-mill iPod docks, the Dualie does not come with speakers to provide a better listening experience for your iPod. Instead, when the Dualie is connected to a computer via USB 2.0, FireWire 400 or 800 cables it allows the user to recharge their iPod and to sync it with the computer. The secondary purpose for this is to serve as a backup hard drive for the computer. Interestingly, the hard disk is formatted to work with Apple Mac computers out of the box and requires some work to pair with a PC. The hard disk is primed to work with Apple's Time Machine backup program.

The dock has all the necessary adapters enabling it to be used with the iPhones, iPod touch, iPod Classic and the fifth-generation Nano. A smart-looking device, it comes in a brushed aluminum and black soft touch, two-tone finish. The dock measures 6.9 × 10 × 9.7 cm and weighs 410 grams with the hard drive's dimensions being 13.2 × 8.4 × 2 cm with a weight of 230 grams. Despite Buffalo's credentials as a Japanese company, the Dualie will go on sale in the United States first (late this month, at a price of around $250) and will be sold solely through the Apple store. It hits the European market next month. Buffalo expects to announce a release date and pricing for Japan soon.

Shoppers looking primarily to augment the audio abilities of their iPod aren't going to give the Dualie a first perusal, there are plenty of options for them. But somebody looking for a convenient means of backing up their iPod, and boosting the storage of their computer, should keep an eye out for the Dualie's move into Japan, which Buffalo lauds as the only combination iPod docking/storage device. Hopefully it will arrive here at a price south of ¥30,000. www.buffalotech.com/products/external-storage/dualie/dualie/