Marware's $15 Sport Grip for iPhone is a silicone skin case for the iPhone that's available in blue, pink, clear, and black. The Sport Grip provides simple protection for the iPhone while leaving all of its controls easily accessible.
As with most silicone skins, the Sport Grip has a large opening at the front for accessing the iPhone's touchscreen; you also use this opening to insert and remove the iPhone from the case. The front of the case also includes small holes for the iPhone's earpiece and proximity sensor as well as an indentation over the Home button that makes it easy to locate by touch. The back of the case has a small opening for the iPhone's camera lens, and holes in the edges of the case let you get at the iPhone's headphone jack, Ring/Silent switch, microphone, speaker, and dock-connector port. Rather than leaving openings for the volume buttons and Sleep/Wake switch, Marware has chosen to instead provide small nubs of silicone over those buttons to let you operate them through the case. The company also includes a thin, adhesive screen protector along with the necessary tools for applying the film to the iPhone.
The ridged sides of the case make it easy to grip and the slightly tacky-feeling silicone means that the phone won't slide off a table or other smooth surface, though that texture also means that it's more troublesome getting the phone in and out of a pocket. The silicone on the back of the case is somewhat thicker, giving the Sport Grip a solid, comfortable feeling in your hand.
I found the opening for Ring/Silent switch to be a little on the small side for convenient use, yet I still accidentally triggering the switch on more than occasion when putting the phone into my pocket. The silicone material gathers a decent amount of dust and lint, some of which can become trapped between the case and the phone, but this is a problem we've encountered with several cases.
Overall, the Marware Sport Grip is a respectable entry among silicone iPhone cases, and it's a fair sight cheaper than many of the others we've tested.
Over at the Mothership, I review five headphone adapters (microphone and clicker included) for the iPhone. The contenders are: the Griffin Technology SmartTalk, the Shure Music Phone Adapter, the Boom Bags iJack, the Newer Technology Mic Extender, and the FastMac iPhone Adapter w/ Mic.
Click on over to Macworld.com to read about which product -- hint: it's not the one that'll cost you $40 -- reigns supreme. Second hint: you may find it to the left.
I admit I was a little skeptical of Seidio's $30 Rubberized Spring Clip Holster for Unskinned iPhone after my first encounter with it. The simple holster uses a mostly-open design with only two small, curved brackets at the bottom and a spring clip at the top for keeping the iPhone in place. How could this possibly be a secure way to carry your iPhone?
Turns out it's surprisingly secure. The case is molded precisely to the iPhone's contours, and the tension in the spring clip makes it easy to snap the phone into place; pulling the phone out requires only a slight lift of the clip--enough that you won't do it by accident, but not enough that it's difficult. The inside of the holster is covered by a soft felt that won't scratch your iPhone's back (or screen, depending on which way you prefer to put the phone in the holster). Face in or face out, all of the iPhone's controls and ports are easily accessible (with the obvious exceptions, of course, being the Home button and touchscreen if your opt for the face-in orientation). The rest of the case is finished with a rubberized coating that's smooth and pleasing to the touch.
The only other feature of note on the holster is the rotating belt clip on the back. This sturdy clip turns 90 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise, and the bottom of the clip features a slight hook so that the whole assembly won't fly off your belt.
My only complaint with the holster was minor: if you ever wear a shirt or sweater that falls over the holster, it can sometimes be tricky to take the phone in and out of the holster without the fabric getting in the way; I dropped my iPhone at least one while trying to do this. (I supposed this could be a problem with any holster, but for some reason I noticed it more with the Seidio.) Another think to keep in mind--and this applies to most holsters--is that the the phone is unprotected when it's not in the holster.
From a protection standpoint, the Rubberized Spring Clip Holster doesn't provide anything special. But it is a simple, easy to use, and well-constructed holster for those who like to have their phone always close at hand.
It's time for yet another iPhone lawsuit, this time from my grand old home state of Massachusetts. An electronics consultant by the name of Romek Figa claims to hold a patent which the iPhone infringes upon—namely, the display of caller ID information. The patent was granted wayyyyy back when in 1990, when the iPhone was nary even a glimmer in the eye of Steve Jobs, but it's been licensed by other industry heavyweights, like Motorola, Nokia, and Samsung.
Figa sent a letter directly to Steve Jobs about a month before the release of the iPhone, but Apple apparently refused to agree to the proposed terms, which haven't been publicly disclosed. Now, Figa's seeking monetary damages—which they've asked be increased threefold because of Apple's "willful and deliberate" infringement.
My guess? Apple will likely settle out of court with Figa, to avoid having to go through a costly legal battle. In the end, it'll probably be cheaper for them, and no doubt, they'd like to avoid the publicity.
[via Engadget]
Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook spoke yesterday at the Goldman Sachs Technology Investment Symposium in Las Vegas and had some interesting things to say about the iPhone. In what's already becoming one of those soundbites heard 'round the world, Cook made a comment about Apple's choice to use exclusive deals with cell phone providers:
In the US, our fundamental choice was "Do we want to develop two phones, a CDMA phone and a GSM phone?" And we didn't. We wanted to do the simplest approach in the beginning, because that's the fastest way to learn...and AT&T is the largest carrier and the business relationship we could work with AT&T allowed Apple to be Apple and AT&T to be AT&T...We feel very good about that. We went into Europe and we picked the top carrier in each of those three countries...Now, are we married to this model? Will we do that everywhere? We're not married to any business model. What we're married to is shipping the best phone in the world [...] You might find [a country] where being exclusive might not be in our best interests...we're going to intelligently think about each one and decide what's best for the company to do.Of course, Cook was clear that he's not saying that Apple will choose to go the non-exclusive route, but that it may be an option, given the circumstances. Given that no matter how much they make off carrier deals, Apple is above all in the business of selling iPhones, it's not surprising that they're leaving the option open.
Cook also briefly discussed third-party applications, though he declined to give specifics, saying that he wanted to leave some surprise for next week's SDK event. He also touched on iPhone inventory levels—specifically the so-called "missing million" iPhones that form the discrepancy between sold and activated iPhones. And, unsurprisingly, the COO also reiterated Apple's goal of selling 10 million units in 2008. Here's a transcript of the relevant portion:
We have a situation where we purposely rolled out iPhone in four markets...we did this at this chosen speed so we would learn and could apply those learnings to future rollouts. We are right on track where we want to be. The 4 million units we've sold over the first 200 days gives us confidence we can achieve 10 million units in 2008....We believe we're right on track for that.There's a full stream of the discussion at Apple, should you be interested in the entire 45-minute session, in which he also talks about Apple's stance on innovation, the Mac, Apple TV, and more.So, where are the iPhones?...The demand for the iPhone is so intense in the market where we aren't officially selling that people are exporting it out of the US in many different ways and then running it on local carriers in countries where we're not officially selling it. It shows a lot of worldwide demand. [...]
There will always be some level of hacking. There will always be a case where someone wants to run on a different carrier. In the US, what we see, very few people have bought a phone to unlock it and use it on a carrier on AT&T. What's happening is people in all of these countries around the world are finding ways to get the phone in their country. Of all the problems that I might face, this is one that I face looking at with a little bit of a smile, because it means there's great demand for the phone. To have people stepping over each other to get the phone isn't a bad thing, I say.
[via BusinessWeek]
Thanks to the fact that it shares a mobile phone provider with one of Apple's already established countries, it appears that Ireland will be the next nation on the list to receive iPhone-hood. O2, the iPhone's British distributor, said today that they'll bring the iPhone to Eire on March 14th.
Both the 8GB and 16GB models will make the trip, costing €399 and €499 respectively. As usual, O2 will be offering a variety of different service plans for use with the phone, including a 175 minute/100 text plan for €45/month, a 350 minute/150 text plan for €65, and a 700 minute/250 text plan for €100/month. Additional minutes and texts will cost 20c and 10c apiece respectively. All plans are contingent upon an 18-month contract; if you're an existing customer, you'll have to extend your current contract when you upgrade.
There are some significant catches, though. Unlike most other countries, voicemail is charged at a rate of 15c/minute, and the iPhone's trademark visual voicemail is said to not be "currently" available. What's more, O2 will not apparently be offering an unlimited data plan, rather limiting the transferred data to 1GB a month and charging 2c per megabyte over that cap. You'll also be limited to Ireland's O2 network, unless you're roaming. And, of course, there's the usual warning against unlocking, that it may render your phone "permanently unusable."
Any Irish readers out there itching to get their hands on an iPhone? What say you to these restrictions? How do they compare with other offerings in Ireland? Do the benefits of the iPhone outweigh the limitations? Have I asked too many questions? Sound off below.
Belkin's $30 Acrylic Case for iPhone is like many other plastic iPhone cases on the market these days: it's transparent, protects most of your iPhone from damage, and--most importantly--doesn't get in the way of using the phone.
The Acrylic Case consists of two halves that sandwich the iPhone between them: one covers the iPhone's entire back (except for a small hole for the camera), the front is basically a ridge that goes around the iPhone's face. The case fits securely as long as you make sure to firmly press the clasps around the edges into place; you'll hear a definite click when each clasp is fastened. An opening in the left side of the case provides access to the volume up/down and Ring/Silent buttons; the top has openings for the Sleep/Wake button and the headphone jack; and the bottom has an opening to accommodate the microphone, speaker, and dock-connector port. To remove the case, you just pull on the top edge of the front piece--there's a small tab for doing so--and the front will pop off.
Since the case is constructed from acrylic, it's fairly resilient. Dropping an encased iPhone didn't do any substantial damage to the case or the phone, although I did get some nicks and scratches on the case's plastic. As long as you've securely fastened the clips, the case should stay together, too.
Although the case provides no screen protection, the front half of the case forms a raised ridge around the screen that helps avoid incidental scratches while leaving the Home button, touchscreen, and earpiece accessible. The case doesn't add much bulk, either, so you can still slip your phone into your pocket without any trouble.
Belkin has also included a rotating belt clip that doubles as a stand for watching video. The stand function works well--the clip, which rotates 90 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise, actually folds out, letting you stand the iPhone in either portrait or landscape orientations, though at only one particular angle. (I found that in landscape mode, it wasn't tilted quite as far back as I'd like.) The clip attaches to the case using a thin strip of plastic, as long as the phone, which clips onto the back of the case. It's nice that Belkin gives you the option to use the case without the belt clip, which makes the case thicker. My only complaint is that the clip sometimes folds out into stand mode more easily than it comes off your belt, which can be awkward.
Overall, the Belkin Acrylic case is a solid offering in the plastic hard case market, and the stand functionality and belt clip are helpful add-ons that extend the usefulness beyond just mere protection.
