Hasta La Gadget!

You know what the Apple iPad could really use? Some protective accessories. I know, it’s weird that no one thought of that before.

Good thing case-maker Speck is jumping in with its colorful line of iPad protectors. First up is the PixelShield Carrying Sleeve, a soft micro-fleece lined tote with a built-in handle. It comes in red and black, listing for $39.95.

The PixelSleeve Plus Reinforced Carrying Sleeve is a compact zippered case that also includes a built-in handle. It protects with a neoprene outer, a tough middle layer, and a soft micro-fleece lining. It’s available in black for a $39.95 list price.

If you just want to protect your iPad’s screen and don’t need a case, pick up the Shieldview 2-Pack of Screen Film Plus Cleaning Cloth. Speck promises that these two static cling screen protectors will adhere without any bubbles. This lists for $24.95.

These three are available now, but Speck has more iPad products coming, including the fabric-covered fitted hard case (shown), which will list for $49.95 when sold later this month. 

Cablevision, Comcast, and Time Warner have agreed to let customers roam across Wi-Fi networks owned by the other two at no additional charge, the three companies said late Thursday.

For now, however, the agreement simply applies to the New York metropolitan area, which extends from areas of the Jersey Shore to the Hamptons. Each access point today displays authentication options for
all three WiFi services – Optimum WiFi, Time Warner Cable WiFi and
Xfinity WiFi – allowing customers to use their own provider’s sign-on
process to get online, the three companies said.

In a statement, John Bickham, Cablevision’s president of cable and communications, said he hoped the agreement was “one of many” to come.

This week’s dumbest gadget award goes to the TV Hat, a baseball cap with an elongated peak from which hangs a “personal private theater”. It is a head-mounted blackout tent into which you drop your portable media player, wherein you can watch movies in the glare of the midday sun, or in bed next to your smiling spouse. It costs $30, and includes a 2.5x magnification screen.

Who would use this? First, you look like an idiot, or at the very best like some weird, creepy guy in night-vision goggles. Second, this is most likely to be used outside or in a public place, which means you will be rendered not only blind and deaf to the outside world, you will not be paying any attention to the goings-on around you. That would make me very nervous.

But wait, there is another use. The head-mounted dork-theater is not only for watching distraction-free. It is also for keeping others out: “Privacy side shields prevent others from seeing what you are viewing.” Be careful, though. They might not be able to peek at the naughty movie you are watching, but they can sure as hell still see what your hands are doing.

TV Hat [Things You Never Knew Existed via Book of Joe]

Apple appears to be casting an eye out to new shores, judging by the latest of its patent applications to go public. Filed in September 2008, this primarily relates to adding bonus digital content to event tickets, whereby swiping your entry pass to, say, a concert or a sports event into an electronic device would result in you gaining access to related goodies from “an online digital content service.” Additional claims describe the use of an electronic device (read: iPhone or iPod touch) as the carrier of the (digitized) ticket, allowing the user access to the event itself as well as “at least one other event-related benefit.” The whole thing is focused on the use of near-field communications as the data transfer method of choice, something that Apple’s hardware is not yet equipped to handle. Then again, NFC interaction is also referenced in a separate patent application (from August 2009, see WIPO link below) for peer-to-peer payments, suggesting that Cupertino might have more than a passing interest in the contactless transfer tech. What do you think, will you be buying your Steelers tickets with a side order of iTunes?

Apple files patent application for NFC e-tickets with ‘extra benefits’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 09:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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