Gura Gear’s Kiboko 22L+ ($379) can gulp down multiple DLSRs, two or three lenses, your multitude of other photo accessories, and oh yeah, a 17-inch Macbook Pro, but still fit in the overhead bin of almost any aircraft in the world.
But its tricks don’t stop there.
The Mummy from Loop Attachment — the creators of the wonderful Loop wristband for the iPod nano — is a premium silicone case or the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S that aims to provide all-around protection for your device while preserving its identity.
It leaves the Apple logo and the iPhone name on the back of your handset exposed, while providing plenty of protection to shield it from dings and drops.
The Mummy’s key features include an incredibly lightweight design, impact resistance protection for all sides of your iPhone, and easy access to all your buttons, switches, and ports. Its design even allows you to slip a credit card or two in the back of the case before you rush out.
The Mummy is available in a range of pretty colors — ten in total — and costs just $25. But is it worth your hard-earned cash?
The WanderFolio is a new iPad case from Speck that combines a form-fitting cradle with a sleek, faux leather cover. Its special feature is that its front cover opens up to reveal a series of six “hideaway” pockets, designed to house your documents, cash, and credit cards while you’re on the go.
This is the uNu Ex-Era battery case for iPhone 4 and 4S. It offers a degree of flexibility you won’t find in most other battery cases, although that flexibility comes with a drawback – namely that the case doesn’t feel as robust as some of its less flexible rivals. But you can’t have everything, all the time.
Every so often, an iOS accessory maker takes advantage of a little-known or little-used feature to create a really unique product that no one else thought of. The FLASHr from Phaze5 is a Kickstarter project that falls right into that category. It’s an iPhone case that lights up whenever you receive a call, text message, or email — but there are no LEDs built-in. Instead, it uses your iPhone’s flash and the LED alert feature in iOS 5.
The Speck FabShell Luxe is a form-fitting hard shell for the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S that aims to stand out and be unique with a genuine leather trim that coats the sides and the back of the case.
Its reinforced, one-piece construction promises to be super strong and shock absorbent, protecting your device from scratches, scuffs, and drops. It features rubber buttons for your sleep/wake button and volume rocker, and provides access to your mute switch, headphone jack, camera, and dock connector.
The FabShell Luxe comes in black, “cognac” (tan), burgundy, and “hunter green,” and offers a one-year warranty. But is it worth its $50 price tag?
The PixelSkin HD Wrap ($50) is an iPad (third-generation) case from Speck that promises to be “the perfect iPad folio case for anyone looking for lightweight protection, secure grip and pixelicious style.” It’s made from a flexible TPU that’s impressively robust, and provides full-body protection to your iPad with a number of nifty features.
Not so long ago, I reviewed a beautiful new DSLR bag from ThinkTank Photo called the Retrospective 5. I loved it, and it has been my favorite DSLR day-bag ever since.
But the Retrospective 5 is only able to carry a DSLR and a lens or two, so often times, I need to slug along my iPad in yet another pack. I hate that.
No longer! ThinTank’s new Retrospective 7 camera bag ($157) allows me to carry my photo gear along with either my iPad or an 11-inch Macbook Air, all living together in perfect harmony.
I’ve reviewed a number of iPhone wallet cases this year, and I’ve already mentioned that I’m a fan of combining my device with my credit cards and cash so that I can leave my bulky billfold at home. But the Q Card Case from CM4 is a little different to those I’ve already taken a look at.
First, it’s not a leather folio that looks a little like a book. Instead, it’s made mostly from rubber — like a lot of simple iPhone cases — and it features a leather pocket on its rear that comfortably holds up to three cards, plus a few bills.
That simple, soft-touch design means it’s not as bulky as traditional leather wallet cases — despite holding the same number of cards as most — and it’ll slip easily into and out of your pockets.
In an effort to create the thinnest, lightest MacBook Pro it has ever released, Apple did away with a number of features that MacBook Pro users have become accustomed to, including the Kensington security lock. That means, of course, that you can no longer secure your $2,800 notebook to a table in Starbucks, and that it could easily be stolen from right under your nose the second you get up to order another cappuccino.
But Maclocks has a solution: the world’s first MacBook Pro security case and lock.
Since the debut of the sixth generation iPod nano in late 2010, watchband cases have become all the rage. Within only a few weeks of release, numerous iPod nano watchbands started popping up, some better than others. There’s a new watchband in town now, and it’s shaping up to be the most impressive one yet. The Syre is the first iPod nano case to feature Bluetooth technology built in.
Apple mentioned during its unveiling of the MacBook Pro last week that it has made some substantial changes to the construction of the notebook’s display to help make it super thin. Unlike existing MacBooks, the new Pro does away with a cover glass and case to measure just 1.5mm thin, essentially making the entire display just an LCD panel.
Canadian lawyer Perminder Tung is suing Apple over a Time Capsule failure that cause him to lose laptop backups that included precious photographs of his child’s birth. Tung wants $25,000 in compensation for the broken device and the lost memories after Apple told him the data on his Time Capsule could not be saved.
I have a thing for iPhone wallet cases. The ability to carry my iPhone and my credit cards in one unit and leave my wallet at home really pleases me, and I’m disappointed when I have to use a case without this functionality.
When I stumbled across the Zenok leather wallet case on Etsy, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. This unique iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S case is made using a silicone shell that is stitched inside a handmade, leather wallet, which boasts three card slots, and a pocket for your cash.
Each Zenok case is dyed by hand and purposely built to be different and unique, which is why I’m yet to see another iPhone case like it. As you’d expect, it also provides access to all of your iPhone’s buttons and ports, as well as its camera.
It might be pretty and unique, then, but is it worth its $60 price tag?
I don’t know about you, but I find my iPhone’s speaker just isn’t loud enough. I’m forever propping it up against a wall to amplify its sound while I’m in the shower, cooking dinner, or assembling the flat-packed furniture my wife insists on purchasing all too frequently. But AudioGlove is an iPhone case that solves my problem.
It’s the first case that features an “acoustically engineered retractable waveguide chamber that “naturally” amplifies the sound coming to and from the iPhone.” It requires no batteries, cords, or docks — it just makes your iPhone louder using the power of science.
My first decision is easy when heading out on an outdoor adventure: Take the iPhone with me? Oh, you betcha. The next one is much more difficult. Since the iPhone requires a boost in both protection and juice when playing Indiana Jones, I’m forced to choose between slipping on a battery case and worrying about my iPhone shattering on a rock, or (painstakingly) wrapping it in a rubber case and hoping it doesn’t run out of power.
But Mophie’s new $130 iPhone 4/S battery pack — sort of a cross between a tank and a tanker — says “COMPROMISE IS FOR THE WEAK.” And also, the poor.
The Somersault ($90), from iBackFlip Studios, is a sling-style backpack built to give you quick, on-the-go access to the tablet it is also sworn to protect: your iPad.
It works like this. While traversing life’s urban landscapes, you keep the Somersault on your back, iPad stowed safely within. When you want to use your iDevice, you simply swing the bag around to your chest, unzip the iPad storage pocket, and now your iPad sits perpendicular to your stomach, ready and waiting for all your oily finger-poking.
Now that you’ve filled your device with bargain iOS games from those Memorial Day App Store sales, maybe it’s time to accessorize it, too. ZAGG, which makes some of the finest accessories for mobile devices, has discounted 20% off keyboards and cases, and 50% off almost everything else.
The Cygnett Alumni canvas iPad case ($50) may look pretty, but you should know by now that you can’t judge a case by its cover.
One thing that frequently keeps me awake at night is the worry that my digital devices won’t survive the next ice age. But the guys over at ZooGue have proven that Apple’s latest iPad can be frozen deep within a block of ice without losing any of its functionality. Just be sure you wrap a sandwich bag around it first.
Using your iPad on a plane or a train can be a frustrating experience, especially if you’re attempting to use a wireless keyboard at the same time. But the Arctic Flight is a new Kickstarter project that hopes to change that. It’s a lightweight case and stand that’s fully adjustable and designed specifically for use in flight.
It fits perfectly onto those tiny pull-down trays, and it has one novel feature than means you’ll never have to hold onto your iPad through a whole movie again.
The Notebook Case from CPeel is a plastic keyboard case for the iPad that’s designed to transform your tablet into a mini MacBook for €85 (approx. $111). It adds a full QWERTY keyboard that includes 13 function keys and connects to your iPad via Bluetooth.
But it’s not only its looks that make this case desirable. It also features an integrated 4,000 mAh Lithium-ion battery and a built-in USB port, which allow you to charge almost any device via a USB cable while you’re on the go.
Like the rest of the BookBook range, Twelve South’s BookBook for iPhone ($60) is a luxury, handmade leather wallet case that’s designed to look like a pocket-sized vintage book. Not only will it lovingly house your iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S, but it also features three credit card pockets, and a larger pouch for notes and bills.
The BookBook is available in a dark tan brown leather, and every one is hand-distressed to ensure each one is a little bit unique. As you’d expect, the case provides access to your iPhone’s dock connector; headphone jack; mute switch; and volume, home, and sleep/wake buttons.
The Ozaki iCoat Finger Case turns your iPhone 4/S into a see-saw, or teeter-totter. Kidding! While it *does* do that, it also protects your phone whilst storing a tiny, stubby stylus on its back. This design not only makes it awkward to hold the phone while in the case, it also stops it from fitting into pretty much any pants pocket or sleeve designed to accommodate even an iPhone already inside a case.
Holy crap. Check out this amazing custom iPad cover Redditor 44 Oz. had made for him by Australian-based leatherworking firm High On Glue, made with premium leather, suede lining, a kangaroo leather spine and embossed with the original Apple logo designed by Ron Wayne back in 1976, featuring Sir Isaac Newton resting under an Apple tree.
I don’t usually like folio-style cases, but I’m sliming myself with thick ropes of drool here. Covetous ropes of drool. This is a thing of beauty. Beat the rush and go give High On Glue your business, they’re going to be backed-up for months after this case goes viral.
More images below.