Accessories

First off, congrats to Laura G. of Royse City, Texas, for winning last week's giveaway -- an LG Nitro HD smartphone signed by Bob Schreck, editor in chief of Legendary Comics.

This week's giveaway shows some serious skin -- iSkin that is. The winner gets a $300 gift certificate from the popular company, which makes all kinds of gadget accessories: cases and covers for iPads, iPhones, BlackBerrys, and, most recently, the Samsung Galaxy S3; MacBook keyboard protectors; earphones; camera pouches; travel bags; and more. Load up however you want. … Read more

Apple's next iPhone hasn't even been announced, but that hasn't kept third-party case manufacturers from getting products ready to go.

Case in point (pun intended), this new crop of cases that have shown up on Shenzhen, China-based TVC-Mall. Spotted by jailbreak enthusiast blog Cydiablog (by way of Macrumors), these cases promise to fit Apple's next iPhone. That's complete with a rectangular cutout on the bottom, presumably where Apple's reportedly tweaked dock connector will be.

Buyers beware though. TVC-Mall, which makes accessories for numerous technology manufacturers, says there's no guarantee the case will work … Read more

On first read, the patent application (uncovered by AppleInsider) seems to underwhelm. Apple describes a form-fitted case that would contain an opening that aligns with the microphone on the device (in this case, an iPhone).

The opening would contain a thin mesh, foam, or featherlike screen that would reduce the amount of wind noise that makes its way to the device's microphone.

Apple leaves the door open for many variations of its case, stating that it could be made from rubber, silicon, polycarbonate, acrylic, or plastic.

The mesh windscreen would be embedded into the case and extend across the … Read more

Not everyone wants to keep their iPhone hidden away in a pocket. Some folks prefer to hang them on hooks or wear them around their necks.

And what about sticking them on a fridge, filing cabinet, or other metal surface? If my wife's phone had a magnetic backing, she could slap it on the door to our garage, thereby increasing her chances of remembering to take it to work. (Don't tell her I said that; she'll kill me in my sleep.)

To paraphrase the ol' saying, there's a Kickstarter project for that. MagSkin adds a magnetic backing to your iPhone 4/4S, thereby giving it an adheres-to-metal personality. (What, you thought I was going to say "magnetic"?)… Read more

Much as I like the idea behind Apple's Smart Cover for iPad, I never much cared for the execution.

That's because it's no good at holding the iPad in portrait orientation for reading books and magazines, and it offers only two positions for landscape viewing -- one that's too high, and one that's too low for anything but typing.

The problem lies in the cover's design: it has too many folds. App developer Dotan Saguy figured out a way around that problem and created the Smarter Stand.… Read more

O-shaped speakers are apparently in fashion these days. I recently reviewed Philips' SoundRing and now I notice Iriver is about to release its Sound Donut here in the U.S.

The speaker comes in a chocolate flavor, as well as a version that's a bit chocolate and mostly vanilla. As you might have already guessed, this is a Bluetooth speaker and it has a built-in microphone for making cell phone calls.… Read more

I had the opportunity to check out the Trygger iPhone Camera Case for iPhone 4/4S firsthand a couple weeks ago in Portland, Ore. Its co-creator, Joel Kamerman, and I sat down to test the prototype and I was immediately blown away.

As a fashion photographer in my spare time, the benefit of having the Trygger case secured to my iPhone was easily apparent. With a solid and sturdy case structure that maintained a slim feel to my iPhone, the Trygger case adds great functionality without the bulk. … Read more

As the saying goes: "The best camera is the one you have with you." More often than not, for me, that camera is my iPhone. I always have it on me, it's ready to take a photo in a matter of seconds, it takes amazing photos, and I can edit and share those photos all from the same device.

With the iPhone's camera continuing to be used more and more, there are plenty of accessories available to aid iPhone photographers in getting the best shot possible.

Here are five tools you should have in your bag:… Read more

There's not a lot to say here, except that this lens, with its effective focal length of 150mm on the Micro Four Thirds system and a fast aperture of f1.8, sounds like a great addition to the pool of MFT lenses.

Olympus doesn't currently have any fast telephotos in its MFT lineup -- just some really clunky, slow zooms, and Panasonic's best equivalent only goes as low as f2.8 (for about the same $899.99 price). Olympus' 45mm f1.8 is one of my favorite MFT lenses, and this looks pretty similar. I can't wait to give it a shot, so to speak.… Read more