Here's a nice turn of events that must have plenty of Kickstarter backers feeling the holiday cheer.

I'm probably opening the floodgates to thousands of emails by talking about another Kickstarter project, but this one caught my eye today. The LIL KIKR dock for iPhone is a project by Seattle designer Mike Kemery that not only looks good, but provides a stable and non-slip speakerphone dock for your favorite Apple phone. The project currently has less than half the backing it needs with just 17 days to go, but I've seen plenty of projects jump into fully-funded mode after a tickle from TUAW

Kickstarter is filled with some brilliant, some not-so-brilliant

Kickstarter has launched a number of innovative products, and one caught my attention a few weeks ago -- the CordCruncher headphones .

P ad & Quill makes amazingly cool book-like cases for iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, and other devices like the Kindle and Nook. Today they announced their latest product -- the Littlest Black Book for iPod nano . The case uses Pad & Quill's wonderful bookbinding and woodworking skills to their fullest extent, creating a leather-bound case that cradles the tiny iPod nano in the cutest case EVAH! Lest you think this is some sort of silly April Fools joke, you can actually back the project on Kickstarter to get this little guy into production.

Apple is well-known for its precision crafting and impeccable industrial design, but there are many smaller companies that also wrestle with materials, form and function.

Apple is well-known for its precision crafting and impeccable industrial design, but there are many smaller companies that also wrestle with materials, form and function. One such example is the upstart company, Kinetic Custom Machine , which was recently profiled by Core77 .

Bluetooth 4.0 became official recently, and now the first app to use this technology has made its way into the app store.