Hasta La Gadget!

What if I told you that for “just” $25, you could add a stretchy silicone web to your iPad? You’d rejoice, right? “Finally,” you’d shout, as you leaped up and punched the air, “At last my problem of owning a sleek, easy to hold slab has been solved. Thank you Charlie. Thank you!”

Well, don’t thank me. Thank Padlette, the people who brought you this rubbery appendage. The Padlette is also the name of the handle that stretches from corner to corner of the iPad, running a diagonal strip which will help you pick it up off the table and then, erm… Let’s check the promo video to see what it does:

That’s it? Sure, the strap makes picking it up easy, and maybe even helps with that whole “carrying around” thing, but it doesn’t seem to actually make it any easier to hold when you’re actually using the iPad. And using it is just about the only thing I’m doing if I’m holding it.

Now, the iPad is slippery, to be sure. That’s the main reason I have the non-slip Apple case/skin on it. But I don’t see how the Padlette is going to help. Are you supposed to wear it like a mitten?

If you do decide to buy a Padlette, hurry. For a limited time, you can make your new toy even more annoying by choosing the limited-edition glow-in-the-dark version. Available now.

Padlette product page [Padlette]

See Also:

• Straps
• Shoulder Strap for Hands-Free Grocery Shopping
• Hand-E-Holder Turns iPad into Giant Mitten

You love your Apple iPad case. You love that it is more like a slim, slip-on skin than a thick case. You love that it seals in the iPad from all sides, and that it has a built in stand for typing. You love that, once fitted, you almost don’t notice it.

Problem: You don’t love the way it picks up dirt, or that you can’t fasten it shut. And you hate its utilitarian blankness, made to look like a corporate, trade-show giveaway by the Apple logo on the front.

Solution: The gorgeous Travelteq iPad case, almost identical in design to the Apple version, only fashioned from leather and costing a scary €225 ($300). The Italian leather is lined in a choice of colors and seals the iPAd in just like the Apple case. There are cutouts for all ports and switches, a fold in the front cover to bend the flap into a typing or movie-watching stand, and a strap to keep the case closed. You even get a business-card holder inside, should you need it.

If only this thing wasn’t so damn expensive. I’m an avowed fan of the Apple case, for all the reasons listed in the first paragraph, and I don’t even care about the cons in the second (apart from the logo). But even I would buy the Travelteq case in a second if it wasn’t over the half the price of an actual iPad.

Travelteq iPad case [Travelteq. Thanks, Brandon!]

See Also:

• Leather Cases Turn iPad into a Book
• BookBook Case Turns iPad into One-Inch Leather-Bound Slab
• Moleskine-Shaped, Bamboo iPad Case
• Slim, Minimal iPad Bag is a Purse for Men
• Hands-On with the ZooGue Genius iPad Case

At first look, $150 seems a ridiculous price for a Bluetooth dongle that lets you control your SLR from your cellphone, but digging into the specs shows that it ends up as quite a bargain. But first, what does it do?

Named the BlueSLR, the little box plugs into your Nikon SLR via one of its ports (there are three identically priced models with different plugs) and talks to your phone via Bluetooth. From a companion app, you can control the camera’s focus, shutter speed, and self-timer, or fire remotely from “up to 300-feet away” (that must be some powerful Bluetooth in there).

That alone might be worth it for some pros, but we tend to ask a little more of our gadgets. The BlueSLR also has a GPS unit to geotag your photos, writing the GPS data directly into the RAW of JPEG file. Given that GPS-only widgets go for around the same price, the BlueSLR starts to look cheap.

Right now the device is Nikon and iOS-only, with support for Canon, Android and Blackberry (!) coming soon. The iOS app is a free download. Wow. I think I just sold myself on this thing…

BlueSLR product page [BlueSLR]

BlueSLR app [iTunes]

See Also:

• DSLR Camera Remote HD for iPad
• Remote Display Lets You Use Camera from 500 Feet
• Downgrade Your Camera With The Gigtube Remote Viewfinder
• Unleashed: Bluetooth GPS for Nikon Cameras

Ever get scared that somebody will nab your iPad from the coffee-shop table when you quickly run off to the bathroom? Then stop leaving the iPad unattended, you fool! Just take it with you.

If you just must leave it lying around, though, maybe you could try this iPad lock, from Maclocks. It’s a clear plastic case which adds bulk to the iPad, coupled with a Kensington-style cable lock that hooks into a slot on the side of the case. Once in place, the tablet cannot be removed from the case “without damaging the iPad”.

But a thin metal cable isn’t much of a deterrent, and no matter how tough that plastic case is, it won’t last long if the metal teeth of the lock are given a sufficient yank.

The price for the combo case and cable is $65. Or you could just wish upon a unicorn and hope that that keeps you iPad safe.

iPad Lock and Security Case Bundle [Maclocks]

See Also:

• Combination-Lock iPad Case is Almost Pointless

The LoopIt is a smaller – and possibly better – version of the LumaLoop, a bandolier-style camera strap invented last year by photographer James Duncan Davidson. Like it’s older brother, the strap is slung across the body for both security and comfort, only this one is designed specifically for the modern crop of mirrorless cameras.

The strap is fashioned from the same Pennsylvania-made webbing that NASA uses, and this extends to sixty-inches and holds the camera at your hip. The camera itself joins onto a lanyard which loops through one of its two strap-mounts, and the lanyard has a swivel that it also used by the US army for its gear. It won’t be falling off.

The trick of the lanyard is that it can slide freely along the webbing, letting you grab the camera from your hip and raise it to snap in a second. I currently use one of the seatbelt-webbing straps from Photojojo, which allows you to get the camera up pretty fast, but the strap still catches on the clothes.

There is also a tripod-mount adapter for hooking up any other device with a standard-sized screw, but for camera the loop is probably better, as it can’t unscrew. Best of all, the LoopIt is half the size of the bigger, SLR-sized Loop, $35 compared to $70.

LoopIt product page [Lu.ma]

See Also:

• Solar-Powered Camera Strap Keeps You Shooting
• Camera Strap Buddy Makes Any Camera Comfy
• LumaLoop: Finally, a Camera Strap Done Right?
• Sliding Sun Sniper Shoulder Strap
• Buckle Up! Seat-Belt Camera Straps
• DIY Camera Hand-Straps From Photojojo