accessory

There certainly has not been a shortage of gaming headsets by way of third-party manufacturers in the past few years. We've seen impressive entries in the market from brands like Turtle Beach, Astro, and Logitech, all of which perform well, but are priced as high as $250. … Read more

I'm not a big fan of camera straps. I have one I use regularly, but in general I don't like having my camera dangling around my neck. That's what makes the Spider Black Widow holster an appealing alternative.

The basic Black Widow includes the holster and one pin. The pin screws into your camera's tripod mount and the holster threads onto your belt. Slide the head of the pin into the holster's slot until you hear a click and your camera is secured.

The Black Widow holster when used with your own belt is designed for cameras up to 2 pounds. From 2 to 4 pounds, Spider recommends using its $15.99 belt that can be combined with an $8.99 belt pad. If your gear weighs more than that, you'll want to step up to Spider Holster's Pro system. I tested the Black Widow holster on my regular leather belt with a Nikon D7000 and its kit lens as well as a few full-size megazooms and I never felt uncomfortable from the weight. … Read more

Members of the popular photo-sharing app Instagram are finding unique and creative ways to use their retro photos outside of the app. Casetagram is the latest to come along and provide another outlet for budding photographers to share their work.

Casetagram allows you to create a custom iPhone case, displaying your own personal Instagram photos. … Read more

Along with my review copy of Forza Motorsport 4, I was sent an example of Microsoft's Wireless Speed Wheel to test with the game. As a car guy and a bit of a racing sim snob, I initially viewed this wireless, motion sensitive plastic bauble down the bridge of my upturned nose. By the end of the weekend, the Speed Wheel had won me over.

Normally, I do my racing simulation from behind a proper racing wheel with 900 degrees of rotation; belt-driven force feedback; the choice between paddle, H-pattern, or sequential shifters; a trio of pedals; and an aluminum adjustable stand to hold it all together. The whole kit weighs about 30 pounds and takes me about 10 minutes to drag from its place in the bottom of my closet and set up, but once it is, the driving experience is spectacular. Surely the wireless wheel can't do better?… Read more

There you go; there's no iPhone 5, at least not yet. For most of us, this is a typical case of much ado about nothing, a huge hype followed by a letdown. For Tim Hickman, the CEO of Hard Candy Cases, it's also a business gamble that didn't work out. The company sent out an embargoed press release to the press a couple of days ago about its new cases for the iPhone 5, information that was leaked earlier today by the Cult of Mac.

It turned out Hard Candy wasn't sure that there would be an iPhone 5, nor did it know the actual design of the product. Just a few minutes ago, like the rest of us, Hickman was watching the live event from his home, but with much greater trepidation...… Read more

You can hang your iPad on your fridge, strap it to the back of a seat, and even mount it under a kitchen cabinet. But what about simply putting a frame around it?

That's the idea behind Striped Sail's MiFrame, which docks, charges, and accentuates the iPad--and functions as a plain old picture frame when your tablet isn't around.

As you probably know, your iPad already has a pretty awesome Picture Frame mode. But a docked iPad can also display stock updates, weather reports, your latest tweets, animated landscapes, and a lot more. (See our list of five killer apps for your docked iPad.)

The MiFrame provides a photo-frame-style home for your iPad, standing it upright and charging it via a standard dock connector. A 5-foot USB cable supplies AC power via your iPad wall wart. You can position it in either portrait or landscape orientation, though switching between them does require a bit more than just rotating the frame--you have to perform a bit of reassembly.… Read more

In my kitchen we have a great Altec Lansing speaker dock that plays host to my iPhone and the kids' iPods. But my wife's Android phone sits quietly on the sidelines, unable to interface with the dock's nonstandard, Apple-only 30-pin connector.

Same goes for the car: there's an iPod/iPhone connector in the glove box, but no interface for anything Android-powered.

Enter the CableJive DockBoss+, a specialized adapter cable that runs from your Android device's Micro-USB port and headphone jack to any 30-pin docking port or cable. It's a potentially killer solution for mating with speaker docks and car connectors alike.… Read more

If last week's mystery-laden posting and pull-down of iPhone 5 cases from accessory maker Case-Mate (which some are now claiming was a publicity stunt) wasn't enough to whet your appetite for details about what Apple's next iPhone will look like, this week brings more.

Razorianfly points to a peculiar product listing on DealExtreme for a $3.70 case for the "iPhone 5G," a product that does not currently exist. This isn't the first time a case for an unannounced, unreleased Apple product iteration has reared its head. But in this case the product description says the accessory maker has been given the inside scoop on the device to be able to make a case for it. … Read more

In a peculiar move, accessory maker Case-Mate briefly posted renderings of a new line of cases for Apple's next iPhone, which has not yet been announced by the company.

Included in the renderings were depictions of Apple's next device, which was shown as having a similar design to the iPad 2 and latest-generation iPod Touch, with a rounded aluminum backing. By comparison, the iPhone 4's backing is made out of glass.

The accessory gallery was pulled down shortly after its discovery, BGR reports. In its place, the old gallery page redirects to a page where users can … Read more