It’s that time of year again. Not the holidays — I’m mean yeah, sure it is, but that’s pretty obvious. No, it’s the time of year when we drive ourselves (and others) a little crazy running around trying to find gifts at the last minute. Especially those pesky stocking stuffers — the little gifts that fill in the gap between “it’s Christmas? Geez, I completely forgot” and “honey, I bought you a Lexus.”
This Kickstarter project combines an iPad case with a speaker, hiding the speaker in the case’s front cover. Or rather, the speaker is the front cover.
It could easily be imagined that the bookbinding industry is struggling to survive these days. As books cross over in ever-increasing numbers into the digital world, the demand for physical books have disappeared — and with it, the niche crafts that help create them. Ironic, then, that what’s breathing life into the industry now is that which began to kill it: e-books, e-readers and tablets (and in this case, the iPad 2 specifically).
Like the FieldFolio case Killian reviewed last week, Pad & Quill’s Contega Case for iPad 2 ($90) is a devilishly handsome iPad case that harnesses the mystic craft of bookbinding to create a stylish book-like home for the iPad 2. Unlike the FieldFolio though, Pad & Quill has given the Contega a large dose of practicality.
Cables are so last month. Just a few weeks ago, iOS 5 cut the sync umbilical cord, and gave us AirPlay, which liberated the iPad from cables when streaming video or music — and today Dana Innovations’ new LaunchPort freed the iPad completely.
Just like the Hanfree iPad stand we featured back when it was a Kickstarter pipe-dream (it’s real now though), Dave Culter’s Flote iPad stand blends decor, design and device. The result? An iPad stand that lets you position your iPad anywhere you damn well please — and looks good doing it.
The Tilt by madMINDS from Sulmo Kim on Vimeo.
A cooling stand is traditionally one of the ugliest accessories you can buy for your svelte MacBook Pro, one that’s guaranteed to take all that hard work Apple put into creating a beautiful notebook and just throwing it away. That is, until the TILT came along.
Of all the Apple stuff I’ve ever owned, only an iPod Mini and my beloved 3rd-Gen iPod and maybe a few stickers have ever been stolen; I consider myself lucky. If MacBook Pros come with slots to keep them locked down, why not the iPad? Griffin says “why not, indeed” with their new TechSafe Case ($80).
Los Angeles-based TRTL BOT turned to Kickstarter for the latest project: A massive, multi-use iPad 2 case/stand called The Shell, with a nod to keeping an iPad safe during brutal use. Like when it’s in the hands of kids.
Let’s face it: If you have an iPhone 4, you need a battery case. Unless all you’re doing with your iPhone is using it as a $600 mirror.
Luckily there’s no shortage of choice — so we’ve assembled a collection of promising candidates and put them through their paces, the results of which we’ll be revealing in the next few days.
First up is the XtremeMac InCharge Mobile ($80), selected from XtremeMac’s deep line of charging solutions (all of which have been given the “InCharge” moniker).
The WINGStand has to be one of the nicest accessories for an iOS device I’ve seen for some time. It takes your iPad or your iPhone and marries it to your Apple wireless keyboard with two simple plastic clamps to provide you with the most comfortable typing experience.
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![Pad & Quill Contega Case for iPad 2: The Rolls Royce of iPad Cases [Review]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/contega-cover-1.jpg "contega-cover-1")
![XtremeMac InCharge Mobile: The Genteel Bruiser [Review, Battery Case Week]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/xtrememac-incharge-mobile-cover-59.jpg "xtrememac-incharge-mobile-cover-59")
