We’ve seen waterproof Bluetooth speaker that replace your Jambox when you go to the beach, bit what about a waterproof case that lets you take your actual Jambox to the beach? That’s the Vault, a rugged, water-shrugging case which will keep any small, candy-bar-shaped speaker safe and dry wherever you take it.
The Ballistic Tough Jacket is the clearest case of overkill I have seen in a while. If you need protection at the cost of size, weight and style, then you should probably buy one now. Otherwise, read on. The case is actually pretty useful.
It seems to me that the least vulnerable part of your iPhone 5 is the rear panel: The glass windows at the top and the bottom are tucked away, and the rest is aluminum, which might scratch or dent but it will never shatter (unless you freeze it in nitrogen first).
But if you think covering the tough rear panel with a thick plywood coating is a good idea, then the SkateBack might be just what you’re looking for. It’s a candy-colored cover refashioned from old skateboard decks.
It is becoming clear that some case styles are better suited to the iPad Mini than others. And it seems that Pad&Quill’s bookbindery cases are clearly way more appropriate for the little mini than they ever were for the bigger iPad.
Not that the regular-sized cases aren’t great — they are. But the whole bundle always seemed a little big. Now, though, the match looks to be ideal.
Oh man. I’m trying so hard not to buy an iPad Mini, and this new Skech case isn;t helping any. It’s a variation on one of my favorite iPad cases ever, and now it has been made tinier and cuter.
It’s called the SkechBook, and it looks good enough to make me buy a new iPad.
Sometimes a problem is solved by sweating the details until a solution is reached. A solution so elegant that it appears to be the only possible answer to the problem. A solution so thoroughly worked through that it seems effortless.
Other times, the designer will think of something, grab the first parts that comes to hand and call it good. The solution might work, but it won’t be getting stocked at the Apple Store any time soon. The Clutch is one such solution.
On of my favorite case makers, Mujjo, has announced its new iPad mini sleeve. Like Mujjo’s MacBook and iPhone sleeves, this new iPad mini holder is handcrafted with wool felt and quality leather. You’ll turn heads with this thing.
Mujjo’s design taste is very minimalist and swanky, and this new sleeve for Apple’s latest tablet looks like no exception.
With its pocket-sized price and pocket-sized, uh, size, the new iPad Mini looks to be the ideal iPad to carry naked. It’s tough, it can be gripped easily, and it never needs to be left face-down on the kitchen countertop as long as your pants have normal-sized pockets available.
But of course you’re going to buy a case. And if it’s bumps and scratches you’re worried about, perhaps you might consider the Smooth Series case from Ballistic.
The iPad Mini is here, and it is lying naked and vulnerable on your desk/bed/lap/passenger seat. And that’s ok, because today is all about tweaking and configuring your settings, installing apps and seeing which of your pants have back pockets big enough to carry it (don’t sit down!)
But what of tomorrow? Soon you’ll start searching for cases, speakers, docks and other accessories for the latest tiny addition to your family, and that’s where we come in. Yes, you can use most of your iPad and iPhone accessories with the new Mini, but here are some add-ons which work particularly well with Apple’s littlest tablet.
I have a plan for trouble. When it rears its ugly head again, I’m grabbing my all-hell-has-broken-loose list, dumping the items on the list into my trusty backpack and hauling ass. I figure there’s still the zombie apocalypse and the Mayan whatsit (which may well be the same thing) to worry about, so I might as well be prepared.
I’ve populated the list with things I would need in a disaster scenario: things like a sleeping bag, first-aid kit and rum. Of course, my iPad is also on the list. Oh, I’ll be taking my phone for sure — but the iPad’s large screen will be invaluable in any disaster situation as a navigation tool, for work (yes, even in a zombie apocalypse, blogs must be updated) or just keeping up with current news; mine’s a wifi+cellular, so I suppose wifi-only versions would be somewhat less useful in that last role.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: “A disaster zone, Eli, is no place for an iPad.” That’s true only if you don’t have the right gear to accompany it. The following list will show you how to turn your iPad from a liability into an asset when things go very wrong.
These gorgeous wooden iPhone 5 cases come from the U.K, and look like they’d cost you an absolute fortune. Amazingly, for something hand-crafted and exquisitely designed, they cost just £35, or $56. Sure, it ain’t cheap, but neither is it crazy.
Just $124 will buy you the mCAMLITE, an aluminum case for your iPhone 5 which lets you attach all manner of photo and video accessories, as well as making it easier to hold.
No, this isn’t a stylish retro-camera case for fauxtographers, but it is a serious tool for photographers and videographers.
We love DODOCase here at Cult of Mac. They are the finest of a surprising number of purveyors who makes cases that turn your iDevice into a simulacrum of the Moleskine, and now they’re doing the same by selling three new products for the iPad mini.
There’s the classic DODOCase, which starts at $59.95, the DODOCase Hardcover, which starts at $35,94, and the BookBack, which affixes the back of your iPad mini with a Moleskine-like leather and costs just $19.95.
All of Dodocase’s products for the iPad mini are available to buy now. Stay tuned for a Cult of Mac review.
Source: DODOCase
I seldom let my geekiness get in the way of my nerdiness, but even I’m slavering over this Eye of Sauron iPhone 5 case designed by Shapeways user joabaldiwn, “in which the Apple logo becomes the evil eye of Sauron, in the tower of Barad-Dûr, by the fiery pits of Cupertino… I mean, Mordor.”
Step 1: Apple announces new product.
Step 2: Accessory makers photoshop their entire product lineup to fit that new product.
Step 3: The press is deluged with PR emails.
And so it goes. The first in my inbox was iLuv, and its product picture people really have been busy shrinking everything down for the iPad Mini. If you’re planning on buying Apple’s shrunken-iPad-2-with-a-better-camera, then you’re not going to want for cases, chargers or any other crap.
It’s got to be tough making cases and other accessories for Apple products. While it may seem that everyone knows everything about the new iPad mini already, the truth is that the actual specifications of the product are unknown by anyone except Apple and its manufacturing partners in China.
An accessory maker who wants to create an iPad mini case, for example, is hard pressed to know what to make, what size and shape to make it, and what type of person is going to want it, especially at first. The stakes are high, considering that a well-designed case that makes it to market at the same time as the iPad mini will be the one that most people choose.
We spoke to Marware’s Director of Marketing, Ronnie Khadaran, who opened up about the process his company went through to design its new iPad mini cases and accessories.
The iPhone’s camera is a little wonder, not least in its actual physical manifestation. The tiny lens is now capped with a crystal cover made from the same scratch-shrugging glass used for high-end watches. And all it takes to clean off the daily gunk is a quick rub on your pants leg.
But that hasn’t stopped the folks at Ace Display (ace name, BTW!) from designing a redundant case to protect and clean that same lens.
Say what you want about the stupid, impossible-to-control previous generation iPod Nano, but don’t say its clip wasn’t useful.
If you wanted to clip your tie to your shirt whilst making both of them sag thanks to the extra weight, or if you wanted to go jogging and have the heavy little block of aluminum and glass pull at and eventually drop off your t-shirt sleeve, then the old Nano was ideal.
The new one gets handy buttons and no longer looks like a Shuffle-with-a-screen, but it lacks the clip. Luckily, for $20 you can put it right back.
Grove has long made some of the sexiest Apple accessories around, hewing them out of polished bamboo and then laser etching them with attractive designs of your choice, so it’s no surprise that the Portland, Oregon based outfit now have cases available for the iPhone 5. Also unsurprising is just how gorgeous they are, especially in their etched incarnations.
You’ll pay, of course — Grove’s iPhone 5 cases start at $79 without any engraving, and go up from there to $99 for one with a design and $129 for a custom engraving. Fashion never comes cheap.
Source: Grove
The Don’t Panic case is like a pair of comfy slippers for your iPad. As the name suggests, just using it is relaxing, the iPad-acessory equivalent of a valium or a well-mixed Old Fashioned at the end of a long day.
The floppy felt and leather sleeve is also a little like your embarrassing uncle. He has some horrible habits, and annoys you to death some times, but you can’t help loving him despite his foibles.
Cork: soft, sustainable, impact-absorbing, grippy and nice to look at and touch. Who wouldn’t want to use it as an iPad case? The answer, in the case of the iCork from Pomm design, is anyone who like their iPad storage to be thin.
Some design changes to the new iPad Mini that was revealed via photos of leaked parts has halted the production of iPad Mini cases of at least one major case manufacturer. We’ve seen numerous cases and physical mockups of the rumored iPad Mini, so it’s not clear which changes have caused the production delays.
According to Japanese site Macotakara, a large OEM mobile accessory maker noticed that the round shape of the iPad Mini has changed and they may have to drop their designs based on leaked iPad Mini parts.
Some gadgets pick one thing, and do only that thing. And they do it very, very well. Other gadgets try to pack in everything possible, and they usually end up doing everything badly. This is called the Swiss Army Knife Approach (SAKA), and if you ever wondered why the Swiss are neutral in all wars, now you know.
The ReadyCase takes the latter approach, and like any good SAKA device, it’s way more fun to marvel at the amount of widgets the makers packed in than it would ever be to use.
Tripod and lighting supremo Manfrotto — the Italian company whose name seems to combine the words “man” and “frottage” — is finally getting in on the iPhonegraphy game. And its Klyp looks to be every bit as sturdy and well thought out as the rest of its products.
The iPhone isn’t the only thing that looks more handsome when it gets taller and thinner. Bookbindery cases get better looking too, as you can see with event he quickest glance and Pad&Quill’s new Little Pocket Book. Stretched lengthwise and squashed a little depth-wise, it’s “thinnest we have ever made,” says P&Q honcho Brian Holmes.
