The Hive

The Hive will either immediately excite you or leave you with a feeling of disgust. It is a thick case. Make no mistake, it’s soft, bulky and does eat a tad bit more lint than we’d like. What we love about this case, however, is that for long gaming/landscape web browsing sessions, it makes our iPhone exponentially more comfortable to hold. It also, of course, is extreme protective against shock damage from lengthy drops. While we didn’t get too carried away, several repeat drops from waist height were handled with little fuss at all.

The two piece hard/soft design requires a tad of finesse when putting your phone in and taking it out. Though, it’s hardly a sticking point in our book. (We’ll also add the two pieces are very securely held in place — they won’t be coming apart by any “natural” means.)

At $29.99, the Hive Response is actually a pretty good price for a heavier duty case in our books. Similarly sized protective (and gaming) cases from the likes of Otterbox, Ballistic and others cost $10, $20 or more dollars. We just wish it weren’t so lint-hungry. But that’s the price you pay for comfortable grip and excellent shock protection we guess.

Get it: Incipio Hive Response iPhone 4/4S Case

Gadgetsteria’s Rating: 8/10

Le Deux

In completely contrast to the Hive Response above, we have the Le Deux — a very thin, barely there case. The Le Deux shares a two-piece design with the Hive Response above, but that’s where the similarities end. Everything about the Le Deux is focused on style and thinness.

The brushed stainless steel backplate comes in black, silver or gold while the plastic band/bumper that wraps around the antenna of the phone and holds the backplate in place is offered in smoke, pink, clear and translucent. Together, the pairings aren’t the best/nicest we’ve seen. That said, they are sharp and eye catching nonetheless.

In our testing we really loved how the Le Deux gave our iPhone a hardened, tough exterior protection from sharp, pointy objects. Drop protection with the case is obviously pretty much non-existent. While it will offer a tad of protection in this regard, expect things to get all smashy if you happen to let your precious iPhone slip from your grasp and onto hard concrete.

$29.99 for the Le Deux is average for iPhone cases these days, especially more trendy cases with quality materials. In the end, the difference between the Le Deux and Hive are great and ultimately play towards key demographics. Gamers and outdoorsy people will love the Hive where as more city-dwelling folk will find the Le Deux right up their alley.

Get it: Incipio Le Deux iPhone 4/4S Case

Gadgetsteria’s Rating: 8/10

Scene, Defense 360 and Cubit

The Scene by Xdoria is actually one of our favorite cases we’ve ever used. It has a thin yet protective (enough) bumper that doesn’t cause the same scratching/blemishes that the stock Apple bumper does and has a thin, hard plastic covering on back to keep the glass scratch-free and clean. The Scene is thin enough that you don’t really notice it and doesn’t feel exceptionally bulky on the sides where the rubber is at all. But the best part in our eyes are the volume and power button covers — they’re great! A lot of cases like the Scene feature button coverings that are either far too stiff and hard to use or their are cutouts that are equally as difficult to navigate, especially if you have larger fingers.

Get it: Scene by Xdoria

The Defense 360 is quite different than the Scene, and perhaps our least favorite case. While we like the concept and love how thin it is, it’s simply too thin and flimsy to be of any real use. The two-piece design is meant to “snap” around your iPhone and give it total protection with a touch-through front case. If you’ve ever used similar cases, you’ll know that Xdoria’s in insanely thin compared to the competition. However, despite being much thinner than competitors, the same issues with a case of this type persist; you have to push harder than normal to get the screen to recognize your input, and have to do so harder still on the edges. But our real gripe with the 360 is that it doesn’t feel very well put together/designed. There isn’t any “snap” or notification of any secure installation. You can push as hard as you want on the two halves and they will always feel this close to falling off. It’s not reassuring in the slightest.

Get it: Defense 360 by Xdoria

The Cubit is the most unique case of the bunch, as it features a bunch of tiny little silicone/rubber squares that can be installed/uninstalled/re-arranged on the back of the case at will. We like the customization here and are happy to report that the little cubes are well secured. You don’t have to worry about them falling out when you slip the case in your pocket, purse or bag. We really don’t have any qualms with the Cubit save for the plastic on the sides — it is in our opinion too slippery. But really, we’re just nitpicking. The Cubit is a fantastic little case.

Get it: Cubit by Xdoria

iPad Smartstyle Case

For iPad lovers, Xdoria has you covered too. The Smartstyle is more or less like Apple’s smart cover, but nicer. The front material comes in a number of colors and has a nice stitched leather look. The back of the device, and where the iPad sits, is a harder, somewhat flexible rubber-coated plastic. For the most part it works well. The only thing we could find fault with is that it isn’t malleable enough to really hug your iPad nor is it hard enough that it snaps on with authority and unwavering grip. It’s in a weird middle area that while somewhat disheartening, isn’t too big of a problem. We actually dropped our iPad once and it stayed put within the case just fine.

Get it: Smartstyle by Xdoria

Xdoria has a ton of awesome gear and certainly many more options than what we’ve looked at today. Be sure to stop by their store and check out everything they have to offer for your iPhone 4/4S, iPod Touch and iPad.

More: Xdoria

Gallery

You see, better keep your eyes peeled at CES. You never know what you’ll find.

Via: Engadget

As many of us have experienced over the years, getting that extra $5-$10 of an accessory doesn’t always lead to “value”. You know how it is — you get what you pay for. In Apple’s case, their accessories tend to be higher priced. But part of that is because Apple requires a 20-25% royalty on any products that are “officially licensed” with Apple’s seal of approval. Naturally, that cost gets passed along to consumers.

Regardless of how many companies are found guilty in this initial lawsuit, Apple’s gadgets are a hot ticket item world wide, with knock-off companies and accessory companies alike churning out new products faster than you can blink an eye.

It just goes to show that Apple’s own motto — “Our way or the high way” — is practiced in everything they do. Though in this case, they at least have some consumer interests at heart. No one wants a shoddy case…

PhoneArena > AppleInsider > Bloomberg

Hong Kong retailer, ‘JOYCE, has released a new line of designer-created iPhone cases, now, I am only posting about the rock case, but the rest of em aren’t that pretty, but they make a hell of a lot more sense than a Rock Hide-a-key! Come on people, with all that China bans and keeps from the people, you think they wouldn’t allow crap like this to be produced, lol. My only advice, well, other than not to buy this garbage, is that if you happen to own this thing, PLEASE! remember to switch out cases before you go rock climbing, iPhones are too expensive to have lost in plain site.

Okay, now the other case we have today, albeit the complete opposite side of the spectrum, is the ‘Decepticon’ iPhone case. This beast was created by a man named Ryan Glasgow from Portland, OR, and has started selling this thing for $95. I have never been a fan of these ‘clamshell’ type cases, as I think you look like a complete dbag with the flap open while making a telly call, but this is ridiculous. I’m kinda curious as to how long it will take before it decapitates one of is unsuspecting owners.

So there ya have it, if spending hundreds of dollars on a phone wasn’t crazy enough, why not make it look like crap.

Engadget (Steel Case) <-> Gizmodo (Rock)

**Video walkthrough of case inside…

Technabob > Xbox-Scene > Max Console

Ya, the fact that this is even funny is sad. When your typical smartphone case is getting contention from Mr. Sandwhich’s humble abode you know 3rd party manufacturers need to step it up.

Droid Forums

PC builders take pride in their art/work because it gives them a freedom that no big electronics retailer can match in regards to specs, price, or appearance.  One aspect of a computer builders life, especially a gamer, is how to cool your system when running a high end CPU and multiple graphics cards.  All of that silicon and plastic heats up pretty quickly and without proper air flow will turn your dream machine into a smoldering pile of uselessness.  Sure you can go buy some fancy air or liquid cooling systems, but why not tackle this little dilema head on and just do away with the main reason the heat builds up – the case.  “Nonsense, a computer has to have a case.” you say.  Well the “case” above does the job of holding all of your PC innards-no-outards in place while giving them all of the fresh air that they could every possibly need.  (Save for the very few who are trying to clock their aging P4 up to 5GHz+…for you special few, Nitrogen is more up your alley).  The Acrylic Cowboy shown above will set you back $76 which seems pretty pricey for a board of acrylic.  Look on the bright side, it’s less than many other PC cases so it’s not all bad.  So are you going to eschew normality and turn your next PC inside out?  I think you should.

Source: Crunch Gear, Geek Stuff 4 U, BBG

Finally!  A battery-in-case that isn’t so big you can’t fit it in your pocket, it almost doubles battery life, AND looks awesome!  Following Mophies fairly successful “Mophie Juice Pack”, the company realized that even that model was too big, bulky, and unsightly and that something else needed to be done.  Today, Mophie introduced the new slimmer sexier “Juice Pack Air“.  A  new battery-in-case that is lighter, smaller, and a whole lot better looking than the bigger model.  The JPA contains a 1200mAh battery that as Mophie puts it, “nearly doubles battery life”.  I am a pretty heavy user and manage to get just about 13 hours out of a charge so double is plenty for me.  Eager buyers can snap up a pre-order of said case in exciting colors such as black, white, and…purple…(odd choice for some pizzaz but whatever).  I’ll take two please.  Hop on through if you must read the press release.

Press Release:

Mophie Unveils Juice Pack Air – The World’s Thinnest ‘Works with iPhone’ External Battery/Protective Case

Ultra-thin, light-weight juice pack air virtually doubles iPhone 3G battery life and offers the full protection of a hard-shell case in a low-profile design

Los Angeles, CA – February 11th, 2009 – mStation | mophie announces juice pack air, the world’s thinnest apple-certified external battery for iPhone 3G. The rechargeable 1200 mAH lithium polymer battery housed in an ultra-thin case virtually doubles the amount of time you have to rock, talk, surf, and send. Juice pack air will be available to consumers world-wide this spring at Apple stores and mophie.com for $79.95 in Black, White, and Purple. http://www.mophie.com/products/juice-pack-air

Juice pack air features an innovative “standby mode” that allows users to control when they want to take advantage of additional battery support versus simply using it as a protective case. The integrated 4 LED charge status indicates how much juice is remaining in the external battery. Unique pass-through design allows users to simultaneously charge their juice pack air and sync their iPhone 3G with iTunes with the included USB cable.

“The juice pack air is a simple yet elegant battery boosting solution for iPhone 3G power users” says Ross Howe, Sales and Product Development Director for mStation | mophie. “Advanced features like standby mode and ultra-thin design make juice pack air the ideal option for both extended battery support and protection.”

 

Additional Battery Time Provided by juice pack air

Standby Time:	Up to 270 hours
Talk Time:	Up to 4.5 hours (3G) Up to 9 hours (2G)
Internet Use:	Up to 4.5 hours (3G) Up to 5.4 Hours (Wi-Fi)
Audio Playback:	Up to 20 hours
Video Playback:	Up to 6 hours

The mophie juice pack air will be available at Apple stores and mophie.com this spring with an MSRP of $79.95. For more information, please visit www.mophie.com

About mStation | mophie
mStation is consistently praised for its ability to create quality products with cool Industrial Design. mStation recently acquired mophie, an iPod accessory company with a wide array of award-winning cases. Their products can be found in Apple Stores and major retailers worldwide.
 

Source: Engadget, Mophie