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Author Archive for Mike

Aug

Why You Should Choose Sanyo Eneloop Over Apple’s Rechargeable Batteries

Categories: Battery charger and Rechargeable Batteries

Emperical evidence suggests that the new, hyped Apple rechargeable batteries are actually just the Sanyo Eneloop brand in disguise.

One of the best kept secrets in the world of business today is branding. Companies can buy anything they want, stick their logo on it, and sell it as their own. It happens all the time. As consumers, it is sometimes quite obvious when a product is being branded by the retailer who sells it. Other times, however, it can take you by surprise.

Batteries — and particularly rechargeable batteries — are one of these products.

You may have recently heard or read about Apple’s newest gift to the technology sector: Apple-brand AA NiMH rechargeable batteries and a convenient battery charger, both of which are touted to be “industry leaders” in quality, performance, and environmental focus. As usual, Apple has employed their unsurpassed marketing and promotion mechanism to ensure that Apple devotees see their new rechargeable batteries as the rechargeable battery reinvented; they practically used the old “This changes everything. Again” slogan from the iPhone!

It’s easy to get caught up in the Apple hype machine since, after all, most of their products really do live up to the hype that the company creates. The iMac, MacBook, iPod, iPhone, and now the iPad are indeed all groundbreaking electronic devices. It isn’t an understatement to say that these devices are more than just “gadgets” — they are real cultural icons; game-changers.

The same, however, cannot be said about Apple’s new rechargeable batteries.

To be sure, Apple has invested millions into their own rechargeable battery technology: the iPhone, iPad, and MacBook LiOn battery packs get better and better with each new generation, and the technology that recharges and conditions the batteries are among the “smartest” on the market. Apple, however, is trying to cash in on their battery credibility with their new AA rechargeable batteries without actually designing or manufacturing them.

You won’t find it in many places, but a little-read review of the new Apple rechargeable batteries by SuperApple — a Czech Apple website — clearly illustrates that Apple’s rechargeable batteries are in fact nothing more than rebranded Sanyo Eneloop rechargeable batteries!

Nothing about this revelation is shocking: again, branding and rebranding go on everywhere, and we as consumers are constantly buying into it, knowingly or unknowingly. It is clear that Apple saw the product development of consumer rechargeable batteries to be a no-brainer: the sector itself is headed towards being an A$ 53 billion dollar industry, and on top of that, Apple’s newest accessories, the wireless trackpads and keyboards, are AA-powered. The fastest, easiest way for Apple to get into the action is to simply get Sanyo Eneloop to produce a bunch of AA rechargeable batteries with their logo on them, and then just switch on the Apple hype machine and cash in on some of that credibility they already have.

The last part of that equation is why you should avoid the Apple rechargeable battery products and just go straight to Sanyo Eneloop.

What you’re buying when you invest in the Apple rechargeable batteries is essentially the Sanyo Eneloop technology, plus the added expense of Apple’s marketing campaign. Remember: you’re being goaded into believing that the best way for your electronics to run — especially your new Apple trackpad and keyboard — is to use only Apple rechargeable batteries. This is a long-held tactic in marketing simply one that you have to make yourself immune to.

It’s no secret that Sanyo Eneloop rechargeable batteries are considered to be the top brand in the world. That’s good news if you buy the Apple rechargeable batteries — at least you know you’re getting solid technology. But why pay for the hype? Instead, just buy your AA rechargeable batteries directly from Sanyo Eneloop and leave the groundbreaking gadget wizardry to Apple.

Aug

5 iPad Accessories That Aren’t a Waste of Money

By electronicswarehouse 0 Comments

Categories: Mobile Gadgets Living and New Product Reviews

Most of the iPad accessories out there are pointless at best, and border on being absurd. While apps are probably the best “ipad accessories” you can invest in, there are some physical, tangible accessories that you just shouldn’t go without.

Over the past decade, there has been a growing trend in the computer accessories market, where apps and software are being seen more as “accessories” and the physical, tangible additions to your gadgets are more and more like “novelties.” This is especially true with the iPad. We’ve explored some of the absurd iPad accessories on the market today in an earlier article, acknowledging that the most innovative and useful additions to your iPad will most likely be app-based.

However, we were able to find a few key iPad accessories that do not occupy cyberspace and are actually worth investing in. Here is our quick rundown of 5 iPad accessories that aren’t a complete waste of money:

1. The iPad Cleaning Cloth

I always found it funny that the first thing new iPad users complained about was that their iPad has fingerprints all over it. What does the iPad user expect from a tablet device that operates solely on the premise of you touching and typing onto its surface with your fingers? The “fingerprint criticism” interestingly pointed out a kind of obsessive-compulsive fixation that the iPad user demographic seems to possess; they seemed both surprised and alarmed that a) they have fingerprints and b) no matter how many times they wash their hands in a day, they’re going to leave marks on their iPad.

The good news is that there are plenty of high quality iPad cleaning cloths on the market today for under A$10 that should last you a lifetime and alleviate any irrational insecurities you may have about leaving fingerprints on your iPad. The iPad cleaning cloth is one of the essential iPad accessories because you can keep it close by in your iPad case or pocket and you can get tons of valuable use out of it. Also, try to avoid buying iPad cleaning sprays, as the oleophobic-coated glass of the iPad really doesn’t call for it. Just a good microfiber iPad cloth is really the perfect accessory.

2. The iPad Case

However cool-looking you may think the iPad is, toting it around in the buff is a very bad idea. I’ve said more than once that no other mobile device is as “droppable” as the iPad: while a mobile phone stays securely in your hand and a laptop ususally sits on a desk and not your lap, the iPad isn’t made to sit flat on a table and is too small to use comfortably on your lap. Instead, it is a device that is meant to be held in one hand and controlled with the other — like a tablet.

Your iPad will take a nasty fall sometime in its life and, even though Apple gives it a tough polycarbonate design, a dramatic fall could easily break the tablet glass. Thus, you should invest in an iPad case. But not just any iPad case: the vast majority of iPad cases on the market today are little more than a flimsy piece of stylised plastic that snaps onto the back of your iPad and only offers scratch protection. If you drop your iPad in a “shell case” like this, the case is going to do nothing to protect your iPad’s life.

Instead, go with a padded iPad case that still gives you access to the iPad itself. These are hard to find, but they’re out there. Uniea’s Omniverse iPad case works this way, functioning as a padded memory foam sleeve and tote that can be zipped open, allowing you to use the iPad while it is still safe inside the case.

3. The iPad Dock

Apple gives you everything you need in the standard iPad package to charge your iPad when not in use. But for about A$45, you can invest in the sleek, Applish iPad dock, which offers a 30-pin pass-thru connection for connecting to a charging cable, video output cable, or any other accessories that would otherwise plug into the iPad’s dock connector. In addition, the iPad dock positions the iPad in such a way that allows you to easily access it while working on your iMac or PowerBook. You may consider it to be unworthy of making this top 5 list, since the iPad already comes with a recharging cable, but since we’ve illuminated the challenging ergonomics of the iPad, the iPad dock gives you a solid, sturdy way of mounting your iPad so that you don’t have to be holding it, all while charging and trasferring data. It is definitely one of the best and most worthy iPad accessories out there.

4. The iPad VGA Connector

People are dead-set on making the iPad work as a serious business tool. It remains to be seen whether or not it can truly replace the laptop as a viable working machine, but if your goal is to take a crack at using this tablet as a means of upping your work productivity, then you must not be without the iPad VGA Connector from Apple. This diminutive little adaptor allows you to hook up your iPad with a computer monitor or projector. The projector function lets you take a presentation with you on your iPad, while connection to a computer monitor allows you to convert your tablet back into a desktop and simply use the tablet as a keyboard. Both of these scenarios should seem very attractive to business and personal iPad users alike, especially the ones who are committed to trying to make the switch-over to tablet technology.

5. The iPad Keyboard Dock

Some would argue that both the iPad keyboard dock and VGA connector seek to erase the “tablet” out of the iPad itself. After all, if you were to plug in the VGA connector and keyboard dock at once (not possible, by the way), you’d be back to having a desktop computer again. But maybe that’s the point for you: that you can have it both ways. Maybe that is the secret to being a successful iPad user? The iPad keyboard dock allows you to position your iPad at a productive angle and offers a comfortable keyboard for getting some serious work done.

Considering the versatility of the iPad, it’s hard to imagine that iPad accessories could greatly enhance an already amazing computing experience. But these 5 iPad accessories are worth the money and will most certain expand your use of the newfangled tablet.

Aug

Are Lithium Ion Rechargeable Batteries Already Becoming Obsolete?

By electronicswarehouse 0 Comments

Categories: Rechargeable Batteries

courtesy of hshelleys.demon.co.uk/

Lithium Ion rechargeable batteries were said to be the next generation of rechargeable batteries and are used in today’s top electronics. But is the new Li-S lithium sulfur rechargeable battery poised to make the LiON obsolete? And are these Li-S rechargeable batteries even safe for the environment?

In case you didn’t notice it, the Lithium Ion rechargeable battery has become the darling of the technology and electronics industry. All of the top mobile devices — including the iPad and Amazon Kindle — utilize LiOn rechargeable battery technology in order to provide long-lasting, sustainable mobile battery power for high-performance gadgets that need a lot of juice for their processing power. Even the NiMH rechargeable batteries used in hybrid electric cars are said to be on the way out as LiON rechargeable batteries will supposedly offer a better charge and longer battery life.

Some even say that LiON rechargeable batteries will even overtake the NiMH rechargeable battery design in the consumer electronics marketplace someday.

However, recent advancement in a new Lithium-based rechargeable battery is beginning to turn some heads in the electronics community and suggest that the Lithium Ion battery cell may become outmoded even before it reaches its peak. A bolder Lithium battery design — the Lithium Sulfur, or Li-S rechargeable battery, was recently highlighted by the successful flight of the QinetiQ Zephyr, an unmanned drone aircraft that smashed the world record for the longest duration unmanned flight, exceeding 336 hours (14 days) of continuous flight.

The QinetiQ Zephyr did it entirely using an Li-S rechargeable battery pack, which is said to be significantly smaller, lighter, and more efficient than even the Lithium Ion rechargeable batteries.

The belief is that, although none of the major automobile manufacturers have yet to indicate that they are considering Li-S rechargeable battering for up-coming hybrid models, the results of the Zephyr will most certainly lead them to add Li-S into their R&D plans over the next few years. and if the Li-S rechargeable battery becomes a viable energy technology for aircraft and automobiles, we can safely assume that the technology will continue to be adapted for consumer electronics and even AA and AAA rechargeable batteries down the line.

There is one question yet to be asked regarding Li-S technology: is it safe for the environment?

Rechargeable battery formulas are notoriously toxic. Disposable alkaline batteries, for example, are among the most polluting to the environment and, because they are disposed of frequently, they present a continuing problem for affecting water sources and other environmental hazards. Early rechargeable battery designs, such as NiCD rechargeable batteries, offered a better option than alkalines, since they could be used over and over again for a longer period of time. But eventually when NiCad batteries make their way into a landfill and begin to break down, the cadmium offers as much pollutant to the environment as alkaline.

The more contemporary rechargeable batteries — NiMH and LiOn — offer consumers the “greenest” options for rechargeable batteries, since the predominant nickel and Lithium in these designs have nominal impact on environmental resources, such as drinking water and air, and the technologies themselves are considerably more sustainable than Nicads.

Sulfur, however, is a concerning element in the Li-S design when it comes to pollution.

Little has been said about the environmental impacts of Li-S rechargeable batteries, but the destructive nature of sulfur — and particularly sulfur dioxide — is well documented. While sulfur dioxide primarily contaminates the air, questions must be raised about how sulfur will affect the ground and water when disposed of, or whether or not incinerated Li-S battery cells could be harmful.

Even though there is a buzz about Li-S rechargeable batteries, clearly NiMH rechargeable battery technology remains the most reliable and non-polluting to this day. And since the rechargeable battery industry continues to climb towards becoming a A$5+ billion dollar industry, my guess is that we won’t see Li-S enter the consumer marketplace until it is fully tested.

Aug

Advanced Apps, Features Minimize Interest in iPad Accessories Market

By electronicswarehouse 1 Comment

Categories: Mobile Gadgets Living and iPad Cases

Aside from iPad cases, you aren’t likely to find a wide range of useful iPad accessories, thanks to an ever-increasing number of innovative apps and features.

Electronics accessories have always been a kind of “micro-market” surrounding the world of computers and gadgets. For every one Apple, HP, or Blackberry, there are literally hundreds of accessories designers and manufacturers, ranging from the predictable to innovative, and from cheap to expensive. It is, to be sure, a parasitic industry that relies on a fresh, steady stream of new gadget wizardry to stay afloat.

However, over the past few years, gadget users have shied away from investing in accessories.

While cases continue to be a mainstay of gadget and computer users, other more quirky external accessories are losing traction in the consumer electronics market. This is particularly true with iPad accessories. Even though iPad cases are flying off the shelves, few other external iPad accessories have come to the market that have really made their mark with neophyte iPad users.

Taking a quick look around the online marketplace, you find the same level of quirkiness that you’d find with any other set of electronics accessories. For

instance, there is the iPad chair, which evokes comparisons to Captain Kirk’s command chair on Star Trek. Modeled after lesser-priced inflatable iPod and gaming

Image from independent.co.uk

chairs that interface the audio and sound portions of your gadget experience with the furniture itself, the iPad chair comes across as an overpriced Lazyboy recliner with a tacky iPad holder affixed to one of the arms. Sure, it might be more technologically advanced than the portrait I’m painting of it here, but all in all it ranks as one of the iPad accessories you’ll look at but never buy.

iPad accessories can get quirkier than this, however.

image from etsy.com

The iPad finger stylus, for example, effectively neutralizes the one feature of the iPad that makes it truly innovative: gesture control. This iPad finger stylus is indeed clever in that it works with the touch screen of your iPad by transferring the natural electrical pulses from you hand. However, the disturbing prospect of gripping an alarmingly life-like, “fully functional” (the designer’s words) finger and perusing your iPad with it begs the question: do you want to be seen in public using a dismembered finger to work your iPad? Or better yet, what do you have against your own fingers?

Thing from the Addams Family would be crushed.

But perhaps the most excruciatingly ridiculous and over-engineered addition to the pointless iPad accessories market is the hands-free iPad bookstand. From my own perspective, there is probably no other position where the

image from crunchgear.com

iPad is most easily held, gripped, and used than while sitting up in bed. And yet, someone out there has spent a lot of time, money, and metal coming up with this hospital-grade monstrosity for affixing your iPad in just about the most cumbersome position possible for using a tablet gadget. Sure, it’s a sturdy, unflinching design, constructed of metal and sporting a myriad of clamps, bumpers, and support beams. Practically speaking, this is one of the only iPad accessories that you could reasonably put yourself in traction with, following some unforeseen iPad disaster.

Oh, to imagine the blood rushing out of your fingers as you strain to read your new ebook!

So you might ask, why so many flops in the iPad accessories market? The answer is simple: accessories are quickly being replaced by apps, thanks to more emphasis on what’s inside and less emphasis on external accessories that used to make up for what the device itself couldn’t offer.

Add to this the improved ergonomics of mobile gadgets — protective housings, smaller sizes, and improved aesthetics, and pretty soon gadget users realize that they don’t necessarily need a bunch of useless iPad accessories to enjoy their tablet experience any more than they already are.

The one bastion of electronics accessories that will never be outmoded is the case industry. No matter how hardy and rugged gadget cases may become, users will always seek to cover up their beloved iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, or laptop. The iPad, in particular, demands a solid iPad case, since it is a larger device that is often gripped with only one hand, leaving the other to operate it.

Aside from that, anticipate a steady flow of iPad accessories to grace the consumer electronics market over the years to come. Just don’t expect too much from them!

Aug

New, Hyped Up Apple Battery Charger Offers Greener Standby Power Outputs

By electronicswarehouse 3 Comments

Categories: Battery charger, New Product Reviews and Rechargeable Batteries

Image courtesy of mactalk.com.au

Everyone knows that Apple isn’t in the consumer-driven rechargeable battery business — they leave that industry vertical to companies like Sanyo, Vapex, and Panasonic. However, behind the scenes, Apple has invested millions into the R&D of its own in-house rechargeable battery technology. The LiOn rechargeable batteries used in its iPad, iPhone 4, and latest round of MacBooks are unprecedented in how long they can hold their charge and continue to perform an optimum levels. This, of course, is great news for the Apple consumer, since most of Apple’s most popular product are mobile-based.

But just as Ferrari started out as a strictly race-oriented car builder and only eventually got into the street car business, so too has Apple thrown its hat into the consumer rechargeable batteries market, looking to share a slice of the A$ 39 billion dollar pie, which is projected to grow to A$ 56 billion by 2013.

Apple’s new consumer-based NiMH battery charger hit the Australian consumer market just recently and, even though a battery charger is a rather modest piece of technology for the company that brought us the iPad, iPhone 4, and MacBook, it has caused as much of a splash as many of its top-tier gadgets.

Priced at A$ 39.00 — a middle-of-the-road price point for battery chargers — Apple’s battery charger is being hyped as one of the most “Green” NiMH battery chargers on the market, boasting a very low standby power output. While Apple claims that the average battery charger outputs 274 mW of power in a day when it is not charging batteries, the Apple battery charger only outputs 30 mW, thus saving a ton of electricity over the long haul. It does this by way of a sophisticated circuit that shuts the charger down automatically when not charging, similar to technology it uses on its mobile gadgets.

In addition, the battery charger comes with 6 NiMH AA rechargeable batteries and can charge them all at once — a particularly impressive feat, given the diminutive, portable size of the charger. This, combined with available interchangeable plugs for traveling, make Apple’s battery charger an immediate contender in the battery charger industry.

What are the downsides?

For one, Apple’s battery charger features the same sparse, minimalistic design features that you find on their pricier gadgets. Just as no Apple computer has an eject button for its disc drives (very strange), the battery charger features no LCD or indicator for determining the minute status of its charging cycle. Given its price when you compare it against similar battery charger designs, you’re actually paying quite a lot of money for a portable, non LED NiMH battery charger. You can get a very similar product, such as the VAPEX Super Fast LCD NiMH Battery charger for A$ 32.99 that features a LED display, 4 ports for charging both AA and AAA NiMH rechargeable batteries, and comparable charging technology as found on the Apple battery charger.

Also, while the Apple charger’s low standby power output is impressive, ultimately you can make any battery charger on the market achieve a zero mW standby power output very simply: just unplug the charger when you’re not using it! One can argue that because Apple’s battery charger has no LCD indicator, it encourages you to leave the charger plugged in for longer durations, thus wasting more energy than a comparable battery charger with an LCD.

The fact is, Apple has rolled out this new battery charger as a counterpart to its new keyboards, trackpads, mice, and other wireless accessories for their computers. If you check out their online store, you can see that they are heavily cross-promoting all of these items together, trying to upsell new trackpad customers on getting this little gadget to go with it.

And because we are so used to Apple making such great products, when we see their marketing hype machine go into full force for this little battery charger, we assume that it must be “The ‘iPad’ of all battery chargers.”

But the fact is, the Apple battery charger is probably just as good as lesser-priced battery chargers on the market. What are you paying for?

The logo, of course.

Aug

New Battery Boost Battery Charger Makes Up For Sluggish Battery Packs

By electronicswarehouse 0 Comments

Categories: Battery charger

Image courtesy of GearLog.

Battery chargers are great for keeping rechargeable batteries constantly charged. But for mobile phone rechargeable battery packs that just can’t hold their charge anymore, the Battery Boost is a perfect option.

I’ve waxed poetic before about the benefits of the unheralded USB jack. You gotta love technology that both provides power and can transfer data simultaneously. Although the power-providing side of the USB ports and jacks are still being perfected, there are many upsides to the technology that makes me believe it may one day replace the common household electrical plug and socket.

While we’re not quite there yet, another new USB-based innovation has hit the market in the realm of battery chargers. Technocel’s Battery Boost is a remarkable little portable battery charger that is designed to come to the rescue of mobile phones, digital cameras, or nearly any other portable gadget with a mini USB port and rechargeable battery pack that suffers from a sluggish charge.

Battery charger designers have toyed with several different ideas on how to give mobile gadget users a portable “boost” to their dying battery packs, many of which have taken the form of solar powered cells on the backs of battery packs. A good idea, to be sure, but alas, solar power has proven to be unreliable for recharging most battery packs.

Technocel’s Battery Boost — which will make its debut in the U.S. with the Sprint Mobile logo on it — instead offers a portable punch of juice for your dying battery, all in a compact keychain-sized package. Plug the Battery Boost battery charger into your phone or other gadget and flip the switch — it’ll add about an hour’s worth of power to your rechargeable battery pack in a pinch.

In addition, the Battery Boost also features a SD card storage functionality that allows you to store and transfer files, as well as a durable carabineer clip for connecting it to a keychain, bag, or other loop. This battery charger also features a battery status indicator light that shows you how much power you have left.

The Battery Boost is a welcome addition to the world of rechargeable batteries and battery chargers. Battery chargers for NiMH rechargeable batteries work great for mobile gadgets that allow you to use AA and AAA rechargeable batteries. But as you know, the vast majority of mobile phones on the market utilize Lithium Ion rechargeable battery packs. And even though the LiOn battery packs hold their charge well, the fact that mobile phones are constantly being half charged and drained makes them susceptible to memory effect.

Having a portable battery charger in your pocket is just about the best solution to this problem. Even if you buy a new battery pack for your mobile phone, it can never hurt to have an extra shot of emergency power on-hand.

The Battery Boost is going to retail in the U.S. for $29.95, and should be making it to Australian shores sometime in the spring. We’ll be sure to keep you posted when any new Australian news breaks about it.

Aug

New “iPad Mini” & iPhone 5 Apple Rumors Throw iPad Case Designers Into Panic

By electronicswarehouse 0 Comments

Categories: Mobile Gadgets Living and iPad Cases

Electronics accessories designers have produced hundreds of iPad cases for the burgeoning iPad market. But fresh rumors of a smaller, mini iPad for early 2011 has them scrambling to keep up.

Apple’s announcement of the new iPad in January of 2011 put the electronics accessories designers on red alert. They had very little time to design and produce iPad cases that would work with the iPad, and as a result, many of them simply retro-engineered iPhone 4 cases to work with the iPad. Since that time, most iPad case designers have been playing catch-up with the iPad.

Only now are we starting to see really interesting iPad case designs.

Just as the iPad case designers have begun to hit their stride, we’re now hearing rumors that Apple has a new iPad in the works that would send the case gurus back to the drawing board once again. Word around the Apple water cooler is that a “mini iPad” is in the design phase that would offer the same functionality of the 9.7″ iPad, but in a more diminutive 7″ package.

To date, we have seen a significant increase in the rate of new products from Apple. Just one month after the release of the iPad in Australia, the iPhone 4 was quickly released to Australia and the world market. While many people assumed that the hasty release of the iPhone 4 was due to the leaked photos of the phone in May, new rumors of a mini iPad — plus a fresh rumor that the iPhone 5 could debut as early as January 2011 in the U.S. and Australia soon after — suggests that the stacked release of Apple gadgets could be more than an aberration.

It might be a new marketing tactic that iPad case and Apple accessories designers will simply have to keep up with.

No details about the new iPad mini accompany the rumor, and as a result, tech journalists are debating what it will look like? Will it simply be a smaller version of the current iPad, or will it feature a different body type, port positions, buttons, and switches?

All of these questions concern the iPad case designers, who will once again have to move quickly to roll out new mini iPad cases. Adding to the pressure is the fact that Apple has recently made aggressive strides into the accessories market by offering their own branded iPad case — which debuted ahead of all of the others — as well as free bumper cases for the iPhone 4 (another stresser for the case companies).

If the mini iPad is a reconfiguration of the current design, brand new iPad case designs will have to be drawn up.

Regardless of how excited you may be about the process of accelerated Apple gadget releases, the new trend doesn’t bode well for electronics accessories. The fast pace, together with Apple’s notorious lack of transparency about their device specs prior to their release, will result in poorly-designed cases or delayed releases of cool cases.

Perhaps this plays directly into Apple’s move to enter the accessories market?

Jul

Video Reviewer Sprays Water on His iPad Case – With iPad Inside – To Prove It’s Waterproof

By electronicswarehouse 0 Comments

Categories: New Product Reviews and iPad Cases

Ever wonder if all of the iPad cases that claim to be waterproof actually live up to their claim? This YouTube reviewer put his iPad case to the test and sprayed it with a hose – with his iPad inside!

There’s nothing that poses a bigger threat to your iPad than water. Apple does its best to build sturdy, rugged gadgets that can survive drops (both the falling and water kinds) by using strong PC polycarbonate plastic housings and tight assembly. But the bottom line is this: if moisture gets inside your iPad, it’s fried.

Add to this the fact that the iPad spends a lot of its life outside, and you can start to realize how a waterproof iPad case is an attractive idea for many iPad users.

But do you ever wonder if supposedly “waterproof” products, such as iPad cases, really live up to their own claims? After all, how many people are ever really going to put their waterproof iPad case to the test and risk ruining their iPad?

Well, this crazy YouTube tech reviewer did!

Zain Sehgal, also known as “iglaswegian” on YouTube, actually took a garden hose and sprayed his Uniea Omniverse iPad case with water – while his iPad was in it!

Is he crazy? Brilliant? You decide.

Jul

The Facts Don’t Lie: Most People Hate the iPad

By electronicswarehouse 0 Comments

Categories: Mobile Gadgets Living, New Product Reviews and iPad Cases

Chart and poll courtest of MyType.com

A revealing new study indicates that the vast majority of people in the world either have no interest in the iPad or think it’s a piece of junk.

Since the release of the iPad in the Autumn (or Spring, depending on where you live), everyone in cyberspace has weighed in regarding the groundbreaking tablet. You could even say there’s as many opinions as there have been iPad sales worldwide. But until now, no quantifiable study has been done about iPad users, iPad critics, and the rest of the people who are somewhere in between.

Today, however, MyType.com’s scientific poll has spun off a wave of new reports on the kind of people who love the iPad as well as those who loathe it. While most people are debating the voracity of the poll’s juiciest and most controversial findings — that iPad users tend to be “Selfish Elites” while its critics are identified as “Independent Geeks” — most of the news coverage has missed an even more startling find: a vast majority of people just aren’t that impressed with the iPad.

I immediately noticed from the graph on MyType.com that among what is labeled the “average population,” 11% of people are critical of the iPad, while only 3% think it’s amazing. The 3% number really isn’t the startling figure: if you figure there’s 6,858,775,925 in this world, a 3% slice of that “market” is almost 206 million — not a bad sales figure! However, to imagine that there are almost four times as many people who are downright critical of the iPad. That’s a number that must demoralize Apple’s marketing department.

When you dig further into MyType.com’s numbers, you find an even more revealing stat: 54% are simply not interested in the iPad — and that’s a conservative number. When you add up the “don’t care that much,” “like the idea but don’t need one,” and “think it’s a silly product” poll responders, you get a 65% negative response. Compare this to the responses that indicate that respondents have an iPad and plan to get one, and they only add up to only 17% of the pie.

Of the entire iPad market pie, only 1% actually own the iPad.

The final question has to be, what does this study reveal about future iPad sales? After all, Apple doesn’t need to sell an iPad to 100% or 50% or even 20% of the world population in order for it to be both a cultural phenomenon and a huge success. Even if Apple only sold to a few more percentage points of the pie, they’d be in great shape.

However, this poll reveals a sobering reality — the iPad isn’t the next “lightbulb.”

In spite of Wired Magazine’s proclamation of “The Rise of the Tablet” a few months back, the iPad — at least to this point — has not proven to be a real game-changer for the vast majority of people in this world. To date, the iPad remains simply a “gadget,” and gadgets are tantamount to toys for grownups.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

And with only 6% of the population claiming they know nothing about the iPad, Apple doesn’t have much room left to expand their marketing efforts for their beloved tablet and all of the iPad cases and accessories that go with it..

Of course, we shouldn’t worry too much about Apple: just a few more percentage points, and they will be able to proclaim the iPad as their greatest success. When you mass market anything in this world, single digit numbers work (Coca Cola sells a billion drinks a day worldwide, and that equals 1% of the world’s daily intake of fluid).

That being said, I don’t think Steve Jobs will be joining that elite club with Thomas Edison and Henry Ford with the iPad.

Jul

Apple’s Own iPad Case Sets Trend For Other iPad Case Designs

By electronicswarehouse 1 Comment

Categories: iPad Cases

New iPad case designs continue to pop up on the consumer electronics market each month. But how much influence does Apple’s own homegrown iPad case have on other companies’ designs?

Apple's own "homegrown" iPad Case

You’ve probably read all about Apple’s recent iPhone 4 snafu, and how Steve Jobs has generously given all disgruntled iPhone 4 buyers a free iPhone case. Nevermind that the free iPhone bumper probably costs about .4 cents to produce — I’m sure that a bit of silicone rubber will make the new iPhone’s shortcomings disappear in the minds of Apple disciples.

But there has already been enough written about the iPhone 4 to fill the blogosphere for years. Instead, I’m wondering what kind of ripple effect that Apple’s now-free, el cheapo iPhone 4 case will have on the rest of the new iPhone 4 cases due out for the remainder of 2010?

My guess is that we’ll see a lot of cheap, rubberized bumpers from the likes of Griffin, Speck, Belkin, and others.

After all, Apple’s own homegrown cases seem to have set the agenda for many of the iPad case designers, regardless of how high- or low-quality the Apple-branded cases may be. “Case” in point: let’s take a look at Apple’s own iPad case to the left:

Incipio's IPAD-133 Kickstand Nylon iPad Case

The case features a lightweight, microfiber construction, corner stabilizers, cut-outs around the case for access to key ports and buttons, and — most strikingly — a front flap to protect the iPad’s screen, which also doubles as a kick stand.

Interestingly enough, we’ve seen several of Apple’s key iPad case features showing up across the entire spectrum of iPad case designs. For example, Incipio’s IPAD-133 Kickstand Nylon Case bears a remarkably similar set of features: its lightweight nylon design and cover flap/kickstand key on the same features that Apple has established in its own design. You cannot really claim any measure of creativity or uniqueness on the part of Incipio’s “incipid” iPad case.

Other designers, such as CaseCrown and Simplism, have begun to offer leather iPad cases as a more premium alternative to silicone and microfiber iPad case construction. But just as we see with the Incipio iPad case above, these leather case are blatantly copying Apple’s own iPad case design and simply interchanging leather with

CaseCrown's genuine leather horizontal flip iPad case

microfiber. CaseCrown’s leather iPad case adds several business-ready pockets to the inside flap, but all in all it offers the same basic design as Apple’s own iPad case. The same can be said for Simplism’s “simplistic” TR-LCFLIPAD-DR/EN Leather Flip iPad Case, though its slimmer profile gives the case more of a “folio” profile than the Apple case.

Simplism TR-LCFLIPAD-DR/EN iPad Red Leather Flip Case

Of course, this isn’t to say that the top consumer electronics accessories designers haven’t sought to part ways with Apple’s own iPad case design and put forth something completely new and unique. However, in many of the new models making their way to the marketplace, it is becoming more and more apparent that designing cases for the iPad has proven elusive for many of the top design companies — which is why many of them have opted to play it safe and stick to Apple’s own iPad case template.

A good example of an experimental-iPad-case-gone wrong is Belkin’s painfully awkward F8N377TT PU Leather Envelope iPad case. Someone over at Belkin came up with the brilliant idea that the old string-tie manilla envelope would make for a functional, convenient iPad case design. And while the aesthetics and leather construction is most certainly attractive, the idea of unwrapping the enclosure, opening up the flap, and yanking the iPad out of this suffocating envelope iPad case is cumbersome at best. as

Belkin's F8N377TT PU Leather Envelope for iPad

far as I’m concerned, it is a design like this that can effectively dissuade you from using our iPad on a regular basis.

But perhaps one of the most compelling iPad case designs comes from Hong Kong’s Uniea brand, which used a retread of one of its laptop cases as a starting point for its first iPad case offering. And interestingly enough, Uniea’s Omniverse iPad case shares some of Apple’s features while offering premium protection and versatility that you just don’t get from these other cases.

Uniea’s Omniverse iPad case is a combination tote and sleeve that features the same front flap design that is seen on Apple’s iPad case. But instead of it being a stiff flap, the Omniverse’s front flap is soft and pliable, featuring the same memory foam cushioning that surrounds the entire case. This memory foam technology, together with corner stabilizers, offers what I believe to be an industry-leading level of protection while still providing the same level of easy access as we see with other folio-style iPad cases.

Uniea's Omniverse iPad Case

There are similar designs on the iPad case market that mimic the Omniverse. For example, Targus’ Crave Slipcase at first glance looks like an exact replica of Uniea’s Omniverse iPad case. However, upon closer inspection, we see that, while the Crave sleeve shares the same stowable tote handles and similar design motifs, it does not offer the memory foam protection like the Uniea iPad case, nor can it be fully zipped open for access to the iPad.

Even though Apple is most definitely the leading creator of innovative consumer electronics in the world today, that doesn’t mean that the cases they offer for their gadgets offer the most protective and useful designs. Therefore, simply purchasing an iPad case that copies Apple’s own case design will not necessarily give you the features, versatility, and protection you’re looking for. My advice is to focus on a case that really puts protection and accessibility at the forefront of their design, and isn’t afraid to depart from Apple’s own design templates when necessary.