Hasta La Gadget!

This week the folks at Harman have pushed their Aha system to several vehicle communications systems including Porsche, this system being the one we’re having a peek at today. Porsche’s Communication Management System is shown here working with the newly announced Aha integrated with vehicle systems. Here we’re seeing the full 30,000 Aha internet-based stations in action, everything from internet radio to Facebook integration.

While you’re about to see this system working tethered to an iPhone 5, you’ll also be able to use it with Android. What you’re doing here is not just using your smartphone’s app to make this whole system work, you’re tethering with your smartphone for internet as well. This way you’ll only have the one internet bill rather than needing to work with another bill for your vehicle – well played.

Aha’s system allows for the display of Facebook and Twitter statuses and also allows you to interact with your friends on both of those systems in a relatively basic way. You’ll be able to get news updates and tap through to hear podcasts galore as well. This system is an extremely simple extension of the Aha app and ecosystem in a perfectly simple-to-work user interface via Porsche’s Communication Management System.

This system will be available to everyone using a vehicle equipped with the Porsche Communication Management System immediately if not soon, and Aha is pushing to several other similar car systems this week as well – Ford and Chrysler amongst them. In the near future, Aha will be integrating with Subaru, Honda, and Acura too.

Have a peek at our Porsche tag to see all the fabulous red hot vehicle action through our archives, our gigantic Car portal for vehicles of all kinds, and also be sure to catch up with everything CES 2013 through the rest of the week in our CES hub!

Porsche Communication Management System with Harman’s Aha hands-on is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s usually a no-brainer — Mophie exits quickly out of the gate with a battery-equipped case soon after a new iDevice gets announced. This year, however, it appears iBattz is poised to hit it out of the park faster with two of its own iPhone 5 cases. Notably, each case comes packed with two swappable i9300 Li-ion battery packs (the same kind for Samsung’s rival Galaxy S III, seriously). The cells are rated at 2,200mAh each, which is notably larger in capacity than the iPhone’s roughly 1,400mAh batts. The streamlined Mojo Fuel (pictured) will set you back $90 come February, while argonauts can sang the ruggedized Mojo Armor for $100 in March. The cases charge via microUSB, and an external battery charger will also be included with each. The company has also detailed its waterproof AquaSeal Hi5, featuring a detachable 2,500mAh aluminium battery back — no further details just yet. We’ll be sure to report back if catch ’em on the show floor here at CES. Find the full press release after the break.

Continue reading iBattz beats Mophie to iPhone 5 charging case, ups the ante using interchangable i9300 batteries

Filed under: Cellphones, Misc, Peripherals, Mobile

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[CES 2013] If you love the Optrix case for the iPhone 4, then you will be happy to hear that the company is releasing a new rugged case for the iPhone 5. Introducing the Optrix XD5, marketed as the world’s most rugged iPhone 5 case. The XD5, made from military grade products, is a wide-angle camera case that is capable of withstanding the challenging conditions of the outdoors. Optrix has made its latest case thinner, lighter, and stronger. In fact, it does have a higher waterproof rating. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: iPhone 5 Pantone Universe Bookcase , AT&T Sells 10 Million Smartphones In Q4 2012; Aims For 25 Million In 2013,

We’ve all had or seen that terrible moment where someones shiny new smartphone falls into the toilet, pool, lake, or sink. While there’s many different technologies available today to protect and water-resist our favorite devices Liquipel is among the best. We first saw them last year at CES to great fanfare, but at CES 2013 they’ve announced Liquipel 2.0 — and it’s coming to a mall near you.

What makes this type of water protection for smartphones and tablet unlike anything else available is the fact that it coats the entire device, electronics inside and all. The entire device is protected on a molecule level with an invisible to the eye Liquipel coating. This certainly isn’t cheap, and requires users to send off their device for treatment. Today they’ve announced that will soon be changing.

Liquipel 2.0 is a brand new treatment for smartphones like the iPhone 5 that adds a nano-coating though a propriety process. This process starts by tossing your device into the chambers of a Liquipel Machine. The process removes the air inside the chamber to create a vacuum. Then the special Liquipel formula is introduced in vapor form.

“The Liquipel coating permeates the entire device and bonds to it on a molecular level leaving it watersafe for years to come.”

Liquipel states their new 2.0 is 100x more effective, although their first and original product was pretty impressive to begin with. In the end the result is a product that will be watersafe nearly for the entire lifetime of the device. The awesome news today however isn’t 2.0, it’s that this awesome process is coming to a mall nearest you later this year and throughout 2014. The first retail location West Edmonton Mall, will start treating devices like the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S III for $60 and will be located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Stay tuned for more details.

Liquipel 2.0 smartphone water protection coming to a mall near you is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week the folks at Griffin are sure to bring on more than just a couple of their own accessories for devices of all kinds, but right at the start they’ve made it bright and colorful for the kids. Starting with an item as small as a pencil – the Capper Stylus, shaped like a rocket here in the first images we’ve got, transforms a standard pencil into a tablet-friendly stylus – how about that? Then there’s a set of Kazoo iOS cases (which you see in monkey form here for the iPhone) and frog-themed headphones – needless to say, we’ll be getting really cute with Griffin this year.

The Kazoo Heaphones you’re seeing here come in several friendly animal-shaped looks including the aforementioned frog and at least one kind of penguin, then there’s a set of iPod touch cases with every animal from an elephant to a zebra – imagine that! They’ve also worked with that fancy little lanyard connector on the iPod touch bringing you a set of charms – once again very zoo-friendly. They’ve got a set of Kazoo AUX cables coming out, each of them made to connect in just about as kid-friendly a way as possible for your kid’s audio equipment, too, with more animals on the fritz of course.

The most interesting of the releases here is the Griffin Capper Stylus, this being tablet, smartphone, or any capacitive touchscreen interface, really, friendly, made to attach to your regular standard pencil or pen. This means that your child will be learning to use a standard-sized writing utensil while they’ve still got the tablet in front of them – how handy! These come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors as well. The fun continues with Nickelodeon and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-themed accessories, with both Griffin and Nickelodeon making a statements specifically for these new doors opening for 2013:

“Nickelodeon properties have passionate fans who are eager for products associated with their favorite shows. Partnering with Nickelodeon opens the door to tons of fun accessories modeled after the most popular characters among kids of all ages. We look forward to a long-lasting partnership, kicking off at the 2013 CES.” – Mark Rowan, President of Griffin Technology

“Nickelodeon properties have passionate fans who are eager for products associated with their favorite shows. We are excited to partner with Griffin to produce unique and trendy products to help us further expand our consumer electronics offerings.” – Manuel Torres, Senior Vice President, Global Toys and Consumer Electronics, Nickelodeon Consumer Products

This lineup begins with so much Spongebob your eyes are going to fall out. There’s an 8-bit styled iPad cases, “Faces” cases for the iPhone 5 and iPod touch (with interchangeable faces!) and a lovable SpongeBob Woogie – that’s a big stuffed animal with a special app to make it “alive”, so to speak, when you’ve got your iPhone, iPod touch – or even Android device inside! Dora the Explorer is popping up too with cases for iOS devices galore, starting with the Dora the Explorer Skin for iPod touch.

Then comes the most awesome set of comic book characters in the history of the world, those four green-skinned heroes in a half shell that hold a special place in this humble narrator’s heart, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This brand is working with Nickelodeon at this point in history and will be rolling out with Griffin with at least one TMNT Shell for iPhone 5 and iPod touch as well as a Folio for iPad.

Stick with us all week for more action from Griffin as well as the rest of the gadget-loving universe as we traverse CES 2013. Check out our big amazing CES portal for all things hands-on as well as early release and otherwise soon-to-exist in the consumer market machines. Check the timeline below as well for examples of some of the products above with slightly different designs, Griffin quality manufacturing in-tact.

Griffin kid-friendly accessories explode upon CES 2013 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.