While I have to admit that I’m on the fence on whether to get the iPad Mini, I’ve been told by a couple of friends that they’d appreciate a smaller iPad because it would be easier to carry around with them everywhere. That being said, if you’re planning on getting one, you’ll need a case to protect it from bumps and scratches in your bag, and Belkin just released a couple of good ones.
Their new line of iPad Mini sleeves and covers feature an array of fabrics, patterns, and features that will go along nicely with Apple’s new mini tablet. They will definitely protect your precious new gadget (and ensure that you’re ready to resell it when the iPad Mini with Retina display is surely launched next year.)
Prices for the casese range from $29.99 to $39.99(USD) and there are currently a total of five different styles and a variety of colors to choose from.
I’d wager most people out there who ordered the new iPad mini have yet to eveb get the tablet in their hands. I know several people who were due to have theirs delivered today, but a few folks already have theirs. The geeks over at iFixit have their hands on an early delivery iPad mini and they are naturally taking out the heat gun and tools to tear the thing apart as usual. Such a vivid gadget autopsy may make Apple fans a little sad.
The teardown isn’t quite complete, but there are plenty of pictures to show you what the iPad mini looks like on the inside. The gadget killers do report that the glass is much easier to remove on this device than previous Apple gadgets. The brains of the operations include an Apple A5 CPU, and various other custom Apple chips.
It also appears that Apple is very serious about screws when it comes to securing components inside the little tablet. Cupertino used 16 screws to hold down a plate underneath the display. Underneath that plate hide the juicy insides including the battery and other various bits of hardware.
Be sure to stop by iFixit today as they continue their disassembly and wrap up the teardown step-by-step.
You have to give it to Urbanears, their headphones are really distinctive, so much that I almost bought a pair without finding out how they sounded. This Plattan Tweed Edition is part of the Urbanears Editions range, and once again, these look pretty spiffy.
The Urbanears Plattan Tweed Edition headphones are enveloped in hand-woven Harris Tweed, which is made out of 100% virgin wool. They have brown ear caps, and a brown textile cord with a Kevlar core, so it won’t end up all twisted. These headphones are pretty interesting, and will nicely match any Harris Tweed clothes you might have.
There is a plug to share music with a friend, who will need to use his or her own headphones. These headphones sell for $80 (USD), but unfortunately, they are currently sold out. For now, be sure to check out the additional styles of Plattan headphones over on the Urbanears website.
A few days ago we saw an iPhone case with a built-in pepper spray. The Coyote Case isn’t as aggressive, but it was invented with the same idea in mind: to protect the owner of the phone as well as it protects the phone itself. The case tries to accomplish this by freaking out.
By pressing a button, you can activate the 100dB siren built into the case. But aside from the tried and tested scream for help trick, the Coyote Case has a more advanced and more practical feature. You can also set it to send an emergency text that contains a map of your location when you press its button. The case is also fairly customizable. You can set it to activate by just pressing one of its buttons or require both buttons to be pressed. You can also choose whether activating the case will make it emit the siren and send a text or just one of the two.
A pledge of at least $60 (USD) on Indiegogo gets you a Coyote Case for your iPhone 4, 4S or 5 if it gets funded. I think it’s easy to see that the Spraytect and this case have their pros and cons. The Spraytect is far more useful if you don’t have the time to call for help or if you have nowhere to run from the bad guys. On the other hand, I think the Coyote Case is more versatile. For example, you can use it to help people find you if you’re lost, whether or not someone’s after you.
With the number of bamboo backs, cases, and stick-on phone decals available, it’s no wonder that someone decided to make a phone out of bamboo too. Remember the Adzero bamboo phone? Well it looks like the specs have been finalized and it’s heading for crowdfunding through Kickstarter.
AD Creative have developed the first bamboo smartphone, which is powered by a 1.4GHz quad-core processor. It has 1GB or RAM and 16GB of internal storage. It will run Ice Cream Sandwich or the company’s Android operating system build they’ve named ADAOS.
The ADzero’s 4.5-inch screen is a TFT LCD with 1280 ×720 HD resolution and a retina-sharp 326ppi density. Its camera is spec’d at 8MP with f/2.0 back illuminated sensors, and its battery offers 2050 mAh of power.
When it’s launched through Kickstarter, it will be available for $500(USD), without a contract requirement.
With the 2012 holiday shopping season quickly approaching, more and more fancy high-tech gadgets are making their way to market in time for gift giving. With the popularity of Apple’s iPad line, it’s not surprising that Google has just outed another new tablet – aimed squarely at the 3rd and 4th generation iPad. The new Google Nexus 10 certainly has the hardware specs to compete, but will it finally help Android make a dent in Apple’s iOS tablet juggernaut and to keep Microsoft from gaining the #2 position with it’s Surface tablet?
The Nexus 10 is manufactured by Samsung, and has a substantial 10-inch multitouch display with an astoundingly sharp 300 pixel-per-inch 2560×1600 resolution (that’s even more dots than the top-of-the-line iPad). The tablet measures just 8.9mm thick, and weighs in at 603 grams, both specs ever-so-slightly besting the iPad as well. Under the hood, the Nexus 10 has a powerful dual-core A15 CPU and a Mali T640 GPU, 2GB of RAM and either 16GB or 32GB of storage for apps and media.
It’s also been enhanced with MIMO Wi-Fi connectivity for much-improved internet surfing speeds, with Google claiming up to a 4x speed improvement over standard wireless connections. Absent is a 3G or 4G option, but that also helps keep total cost of ownership way down. It’s got a 5mp rear camera, and a 1mp front-facing camera for chat sessions. Of course, it’s got all the other modern tablet features including an accelerometer, compass, gyroscope, ambient light sensor and GPS. They even threw in a barometer for good measure. Power is supplied by a massive 9000mA Li-po battery pack, and the tablet has both Micro USB and Micro HDMI outputs.
The tablet will ship with Android 4.2, the latest build of Jelly Bean, packed with juicy new features, including an immersive new photo-capture mode called “Photo Sphere”, gesture-based typing, and multi-user support.
The Google Nexus 10 will be available for purchase starting on November 14, 2012, and the 16GB model will go for $399(USD), while the 32GB version will sell for $499.
Livescribe is a been around for a while and can take your handwritten notes and allow you to transfer them to computer as digital files. One limitation up until now is that you had to connect the pen to your computer using a cable to upload stored notes. Livescribe has a new product called the Sky that has integrated Wi-Fi.
The new device said to be the first digital pen to integrate Wi-Fi technology and cloud services. Using the Sky and, users can take handwritten notes and then have those notes automatically uploaded to a Evernote account. The notes can be searched based on keywords and other parameters and can be shared with others.
The Sky pen is available to purchase online and in stores right now. The 2 GB version supporting about 200 hours of audio sells for $169.95. A 4 GB version is available for $199.95 and an 8 GB version sells for $249.95.
I have a love-hate relationship with vending machines. They’re often loaded with tasty, junk food treats, but the type with those stupid turning wire racks often get stuck and you end up losing your money, or with a vending machine on top of you if you shake it too vigorously. Now, you can have a constant reminder of these machines with you, wherever you take your iPhone.
The iPhone Vending Machine case from Luckybrew Designs features a photorealistic image of a snack machine, loaded with all sorts of goodies, including potato chips, Doritos, M&Ms and Ho-Hos and even pink Sno-Balls. Why couldn’t I have ever worked in a place with a vending machine selection like this? Every office I ever worked in had a crappy selection of wintergreen Certs, Necco wafers and 5-year-old egg salad sandwiches in its machines. But I digress…
The vending machine case is available over on Etsy for $15.88(USD), and comes in black or white plastic or rubber, as well as a clear plastic, and is currently only available for the iPhone 4 and 4S. That said, I’m sure they’ll get around to an iPhone 5 version at some point. So the next time you’re tempted to shake a vending machine when it eats your quarters, just whip out your iPhone instead and jostle it around a bit.
Phone cases are becoming quirkier and quirkier. This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen a pepper spray incorporated into the case (remember this one?). However, I think this different and newer variant called the Spraytect works and looks better.
Instead of a bulky and extended case to hold the pepper spray, it’s incorporated instead in the middle of the case so the design doesn’t depart much from that of your typical phone case.
And in case you’re worried about accidental firings, fret not because there are multiple safety mechanisms to make sure that that doesn’t happen – because there’s nothing worse than a face full of pepper spray when you’re trying to snap a picture.
The Spraytect case is available online for $39.95(USD).
We see interesting consumer electronics all the time, but we rarely get to see weird gadgets that people use for work – stuff like the HC1, a wearable computer by Motorola that looks as silly now as it did in 1992. But at least this one’s real and it sounds like a very practical device.
The HC1′s main component is a micro SVGA 800×600 display. As you can see it’s quite small, but it’ll appear to be a 15″ screen to the wearer. It has other optional components, such as a 2.0mp webcam and a headset. The user can control the HC1 via voice, gestures or using a Bluetooth device. All of those neat hardware and features are powered by a 800Mhz dual-core CPU and has 512MB RAM.
They should have hired Jean Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren to demo the device. You can find out more about the HC1 from Motorola Solutions.
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