Hasta La Gadget!

The ZAGGMate iPad case comes in two flavors, both of which look like aluminum tea-trays, only smaller. The cases protect just the screen of the iPad, clipping on like an iPhone shell-style case, only in the front instead of on the back.

Both cases also double as stands, with a neat, hinged plastic wedge that flips out of the interior and pushes at the back of the tablet while the case’s lip stops it from slipping forward.

Then things part ways. The ZAGGmate keyboard-case contains an hardware QWERTY keyboard on its inner surface. Once the iPad is propped into place, the Bluetooth keyboard can be used for typing, and has the full-complement of media keys for volume, home, starting a slideshow and adjusting the brightness. A 510 mAh rechargeable lithium polymer battery provides juice for a couple weeks of normal use (and charges via USB).

I scoffed for a while at these keyboard cases, thinking that the iPad’s on-screen keyboard was plenty good enough. It’s surprising still just how fast I can type on it, but with iOS 4.2 and all its fancy multitasking ways, the iPad just got a lot better at doing work, and even the simple addition of cursor keys and keyboard shortcuts for copy-and-paste make a huge difference.

The ZAGGmate costs $100 in its keyboard form, and $70 case-only. Available soon.

ZaggMate product page [ZAGGmate]

See Also:

• IPad Keyboard Dock Works with iOS4
• iPad Keyboard: Pricey and Awkward, But a Must-Have for …
• Video: Neo Keyboard Hooked up to iPad
• Resize, Split and Rotate iPad Keyboard? There's an App for That …
• Gates On iPad: Needs Pen, Keyboard, Voice
• ClamCase Turns iPad into Laptop

The 3Feet is an almost-indestructible, over-engineered plastic stand for pretty much any tablet or smartphone that needs a one. I tried one out, and found that maybe the best thing about it isn’t the capable range of tablet-cosseting features, but the fact that you can tinker and play with it for minutes on end.

The stand consists of five separate parts, all of which slot together with various deviously-conceived hingeing mechanisms. Thankfully, it comes pre-assembled, otherwise you’d likely mistake it for an impossible-to-solve puzzle and spend hours trying to put it together. In use, though, the 3Feet is very simple. You pull a tab on the back (marked “pull”) and it opens up into an A-frame, much like a tiny easel. Slots and rods molded into the plastic fit together to allow two angles, and a little lugged shelf folds down from the front to grab the bottom edge of the tablet.

This fold-open lip is oversized for the iPad, which means you can easily use it even whilst in a case (there is also a hole through which the charging cable can pass). It also means you’re not limited to the iPad: you can drop in pretty much anything, from a cellphone to a Kindle. The stand is sturdy enough to keep even the relatively heavy iPad safe in both portrait and landscape orientations.

The stability is helped by rubber bands made from silicone, which stop it sliding across the desk and also keep the happy tablet scratch-free (although the plastic stand probably wouldn’t damage much anyway).

The final trick is in a little kick-stand which flips out from the back when the main “leg” is folded flat. It is small, but somehow manages to both hold the stand at the right angle for on-screen typing, and also be sturdy enough to keep the iPad steady.

There’s not much to criticize about the 3Feet stand. It is light enough and compact enough that you can toss it in a bag and forget about it, and it’s even dishwasher-safe. And the complex folding design means you probably won’t be able to stop playing and fiddling with the thing. Hell, it’s even cheap, at just $15, and comes in a wide range of (interchangeable) colors.

The only thing that might put you off is the looks. This is a product for which the term “utilitarian” was invented. That’s not to say it is ugly, or even that the appearance hasn’t been considered. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but somehow it reminds me of medical devices, or perhaps even the toys of my childhood, which tended to be chunky and long-lasting rather than stylish and short-lived.

Or maybe I’m just seduced by the fact that this makes the ultimate executive stress-toy, something to keep your hands and brain busy when you should be working. Available now, from Amazon.

3Feet product page [3Feet. Thanks, Steve!]

See Also:

• How-To: Gorillapod Doubles as Awesome iPad Stand
• The Pencil iPad Stand: Smart Enough to Impress a New Yorker …
• Wired Bureau Chief Builds iPad Stand from $6 Doorstops
• Hands-On With The Kradle Stand for Kindle: World's Ugliest …

What have the Romans ever done for us? Well, it turns out that back somewhere between A.D 201 to 300, a clever Roman, probably named MacGyvericus, invented the multitool. And not just some weird, old-fashioned multitool, either. MacGyvericus’ tool is startlingly similar to the modern Swiss Army Knife, now part of the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England.

Like the common Swiss tool, the Roman version has a lot of foldaway implements stowed inside: a knife, spike, pick, fork and a spatula. Unlike the modern-day equivalent, the Roman Army Knife has a useful spoon on the end, making it likely that this iron and silver artifact, found in somewhere in the Mediterranean countries, was meant for eating with.

What it is is 100 percent awesome, and just makes me love the Romans even more. Sure, they invaded and occupied my home country and occupied it for years, but they brought with them central heating and civilization, two things that England lacked back then. When the Romans left, the country slipped back into dark times, where it became insular and xenophobic, and it remains so today. At least, though, the cold and rainy nation still has central heating and folding knives, although the latter is now used primarily by gangs of marauding teenagers as they roam the rainy twilight streets in search of old people to stab.

Roman Multi-Tool [Fitzwilliam Museum via Neatorama]

Photo: Fitzwilliam Museum

See Also:

• MacGyver Multitool. The Only Tool You'll Ever Need
• Tracing the Army Knife's Swiss History
• Swiss Army Knives, Rebooted
• MacGyver Action Figure – Profession: Danger

Remember Airturn’s Bluetooth foot-pedal, a prototype page-flipper which would allow musicians to turn the “pages” of sheet music displayed on an iPad? Sight-reading musicians rejoice: it’s a prototype no longer, and you’ll be able to buy the wireless controller as of November 16th.

The BT-105, as it is lovingly named, sits on the floor and lets you page back and forth at the tap of a toe. The battery, rechargeable via a USB-port, will last for around 100 hours in standby, and the device should auto-pair with your iPad. Jack sockets let you hook up one or two foot-switches.

You don’t need any proprietary software, either. There are already several third-party apps in the App Store which work with the switch, and any developer can add support with the Airturn Developer Kit. Even better, for those who complain that we have too much iPad coverage here on Gadget Lab, the switch will work with any Mac or PC software that is triggered by the page up/down keys on a regular keyboard. That brings in things like Keynote and PowerPoint as well as most PDF-viewers.

The foot-switch, which quite honestly needs a much catchier name (suggestions in the comments) will cost $69 on launch, which is way cheaper than keeping your drunken aunt topped up with sherry at your next piano recital and hoping she can still turn your music pages for you.

Bluetooth AirTurn BT-105 for iPad Launching November 16, 2010 [AirTurn. Thanks, Hugh!]

See Also:

• Bluetooth Sheet Music Turner Could Help Readers With Disabilities …
• iPad Sheet-Music Foot-Switch is a Real Page-Turner

Switch on the pocket-sized Tizi, pull out the antenna and fire up the companion app on your iPad or iPhone. Congratulations. You are now watching live TV.

Elgato’s EyeTV already lets you watch TV on your iDevice, but you need a computer to be switched on, near an antenna and running server software to do it. The Tizi is a tiny, standalone box that does all this for you. It is battery powered, for use both at home and on the move, and gives 3.5-hours of use on one charge. You can also hook it to any USB power-source to charge and power it.

How does it work? The Tizi pulls in local DVB-T/DT signals, decodes them using its ARM 9 processor and then sends them to your iPhone or iPad via Wi-Fi (802.11b/g). Yes, you’ll have to tune your iPad to this Wi-Fi network, but you can still stay connected to the internet via 3G if you have it.

A channel-guide helps you find what to watch, and during ads you can switch away to other apps but keep the audio running in the background so you know when to tune back in.

This looks like a great product. I don’t watch much TV, but I could hang this in the living room, which has a clear view of the sky, and beam signals to anywhere I like in the apartment. Neat.

The Tizi is available now for $150, and the companion app is in the App Store for free.

Tizi product page [Tizi. Thanks, anonymous Equinux mailing-list people!]

See Also:

• ABC's Ingenious App Uses Sound to Sync iPad, TV
• Hauppauge Soars On TV Streaming App For iPad, iPhone
• Apple iPad's Display Is More Like a TV Than a Laptop
• EyeTV HD, Hi-Def Mac-Top-Box Supports iPad