Hasta La Gadget!

If you decided to go small by getting an iPad mini but find yourself needing to do some serious work (like blogging, for instance), Belkin may have just the accessory: the Portable Keyboard Case. The removable chiclet-style keyboard marries up wirelessly with the 7.7-inch tab via Bluetooth and has “well spaced keys for its size,” including custom iPad shortcuts, according to the peripheral maker. The battery lasts a whopping 155 hours between charges, and when the Starbucks staff finally kick you out, you can fold all your kit up into the built-in folio, complete with a camera-lens cutout. If that sounds like your cup of chai latté tea, hit the PR after the break.

Continue reading Belkin bulks up iPad mini with $80 Portable Keyboard Case

Filed under: Peripherals, Tablets

Belkin bulks up iPad mini with $80 Portable Keyboard Case originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Nov 2012 09:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s time again for the hardcore excellence of Spigen SGP with their newest in all-glass screen protectors for mobile devices – here with the GLAS.tR for the iPhone 5. This screen protector takes the protection of your iPhone 5′s front-facing display more than just a little seriously – making sure that not only to do you get the most hardcore glass protection with a super 8H hardness rating, but round edges as well. The R in the title of this product stands for “rounded”, a noted improvement on the edges of this protector compared to previous releases from Spigen.

Here you’ve got a protector that works with cases on the back if you want, but is now completely ready to be a fabulous addition to your iPhone 5 on its own as well – if that’s what you want, of course. When we used the previous version for the iPhone 4S, things got a little bit sharp – not dangerous, but ever so slightly odd feeling. Here with rounded edges the whole protector through, we’ve got a solid-feeling experience, and ever so smooth.

This unit is 0.4mm thick and made with chemically treated glass that makes is oleophobic – this is supposed to prevent fingerprints, but mostly makes for a slight less fingerprint-y experience on the whole. Application was absolutely easy and the package brings cleaning wipes if you need them as well as a sqee-gee – though you CAN apply it all without them, no worries. This unit also comes already adhesive coated, so no need for odd sprays of any kind.

Without GLAS.tR

With GLAS.tR

You have a hole in the glass for your speaker up top and a hole at the bottom for your home button. The home button will be a bit lower in your iPhone experience, which actually makes for a unique and oddly enticing situation, but you also get some home button pillow stickers you can use to raise it back up if you like. Two blacks, two whites, a terrifying lime/yellow and a cute pink, too. Match with your case!

If you do come in contact with a force that’s strong enough to break the glass, you’ll find that the unit’s Anti-Shatter Film has your back. The Glas.tR will turn into a bit of a folded-up monster of death, but you wont be hurt, and your iPhone 5 will still be fresh and undamaged as ever. This unit will cost you a cool $34.99 in the Spigen SGP store and is available right this minute.

Spigen SGP GLAS.tR for iPhone 5 Review is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

I kind of understand the need for a keyboard with today’s smartphones, but to be honest, you can type pretty quickly with your fingers on your touchscreen, once you get used to it. If you can’t and absolutely need a keyboard to get things done with your phone, then check out Elecom’s collapsible Bluetooth keyboard.

Elecom’s TK-FBP049E (JP) has a sliding mechanism that will split the keyboard in half, and then folds up. A folding cover doubles as a stand for smartphones, in portrait or landscape orientations.

Its single AAA battery will give you 8 months of use, and the keyboard works with any Bluetooth-compatible device. The keyboard is available in either black or white, but it costs ¥14,595 (~$182 USD), which is almost as much as you probably paid for your phone.

[via PC Watch]

iPhones can take plenty of abuse, but they get scratched up pretty quickly, which is one of the reasons why cases are necessary. Unlike some, I prefer to keep my phone in as good condition as possible, so when I inevitably upgrade and resell it, I get maximum value. The BookBook case from Twelve South is an interesting idea, since it combines a protective iPhone case with a wallet.

The BookBook case is nicely designed, and fits the iPhone 4 and 4S well. There are 3 slots for credit cards and ID cards, as well as a small slip pocket for some cash. The best thing about this case is that it keeps your iPhone screen scratch-free. Unless you are very diligent in always storing your iPhone in a pocket with nothing else, it will eventually get scratched up. Thanks to its phone pocket and folding cover, this case stops this from happening. The case can also be put inside a bag or purse without any problems.

Personally, I like my cases minimal and simple, but when I was offered this case for review, it made me wonder if that’s really what I wanted. For me, it’s not the best fit due to its bulk. The book-like cover is a cute idea, but the overall design makes the phone a lot thicker than it needs to be. That said, if you’re looking to travel light, it does combine wallet and phone case, and that’s all some people need when they go out clubbing.

With a list price of $59.99 (USD), the BookBook is one of the more expensive iPhone cases I’ve seen. In fact, it’s close in price to some of the waterproof cases that I’ve been looking at. That said, it’s reasonably priced if you take into account the cost of both a case and a wallet.

The BookBook case is available over at Twelve South in either brown or black leather. You can also find the case At TiG on sale for just $21 right now.

It doesn’t matter what brand or model of smartphone you use; odds are the battery won’t last as long as you want it to. If you are using a smartphone on a 4G network, the battery may not last long at all. Mophie has been around for a long time making battery cases for smartphones to extend the run time of your device. The company’s latest offering is one of its Juice Pack smartphone cases for the Samsung Galaxy S III.

The battery inside the case is 2300 mAh and promises to roughly double the run time of your S III. Mophie claims that the phone will get an additional nine hours of talk time, eleven hours of Internet use, or an additional eight hours of video playback.

It also has a USB pass-through that allows the user to charge and sync the phone without removing it from the case. The battery inside the case can be turned off using a toggle switch, and it has LED indicators to show how much power remains. Those indicators can also show how much time is left when charging the case’s battery.

The case is available right now for $99.95(USD) in white with a black version coming later this month.