I’ve kind of missed the boat for publishing the inaugural episode of the Mac Nerd News. So here is episode 2.
The Mac Nerd News is published on Saturdays as part of the excellent Mac Review Cast podcast. A day or so later it is published on here.
I hope you enjoy it? We enjoy doing it.
on a tractor. Oh well she\’s the boss!
Sent from my iPhone
Why not follow me on twitter? www.twitter.com/macwingnut
my mum and dad aren\’t on email. So if I win a Peek I would give it to them and then I can pester them with hundreds of pictures of their grandchild.
So pick me!
Sent from my iPhone
Why not follow me on twitter? www.twitter.com/macwingnut
This week, I finally managed to hook up with the super-talented Lola Wong to talk about some of my favourite and not so favourite gadgets for Tim Verpoorten\’s excellent Mac Review Cast! What will they be?
Well, just click on the link below to find out! And if you don\’t already subscribe, shame on you!
http://www.surfbits.com/?p=2085
Sent from my iPhone
Why not follow me on twitter? www.twitter.com/macwingnut
Just got home to find this little gem had arrived.
Going to hold off reading it tonight. But I did take a tiny peak. The art is stunning. If I could draw as half as well as Mr. Kubert I would be very happy.
Can\’t comment on the story yet, but with the the amazingly talented Mr. Gaiman at the helm I expect great things.
Sent from my iPhone
Why not follow me on twitter? www.twitter.com/macwingnut
Picture of the tiny castle in Lewes, East Sussex.
Sent from my iPhone
Why not follow me on twitter? www.twitter.com/macwingnut
Reading all about fleshing out characters on my commute home.
Sent from my iPhone
Why not follow me on twitter? www.twitter.com/macwingnut
Great article, and essential reading for any creative people out there in the twitterverse.
http://lateralaction.com/articles/social-networks-for-creatives/
Sent from my iPhone
Why not follow me on twitter? www.twitter.com/macwingnut
Well, I’ve had my new, beautiful, shiny, black iPhone almost a month now and I’m thoroughly enjoying all the new features I now have available at my fingertips on plane, train or automobile!
And that device is the reason that I’m here today. How do I keep my iPhone looking, new, beautiful, shiny and black?
Yes I’m here to talk about cases for the iPhone.
Some people may turn their noses up at covering up such a beautiful device. But for me it’s a no brainer. Considering that I have a small child charging about the house and that it will be travelling with me, I felt it deserved that extra, little bit of protection.
In the preceeding weeks before I picked up my iPhone I was determined to find exactly the right case. I’ve cracked in the past, opting instead for convenience and have usually regretted it. So this time I did hours and hours of research, paying particular attention to customer review ratings. I also did some market research in the office.
A colleague of mine has an iPhone and he is already on his second case. But now he’s considering a third, because he’s not completely happy with his current case.
Ironically, his awful second case was a front runner in the research that I had done. Up to this point I was definitely leaning towards what I affectionately now refer to as a ‘lunch box’ style case. It’s the kind where your iPhone is completely encased in a thin, transparent plastic shell.
His had only been installed a few short weeks but it was already looking decidedly worse for wear.
You know how old lunchboxes go kind of milky and semi-opaque when you wash them in a dishwasher repeatedly. Well that’s the best way I can find to explain the condition I found his case in.
Being transparent it also showed all the crumbs, dust, hair and general crud collecting in the corners. And that just wasn’t good enough for me.
So what did I get? Well in the end I opted for the iSkin Revo2.
iSkin are one of the big players in the iPod/iPhone accessory business and they have a wide range of cases for an even wider range of devices! In particular I like their incorporation of innovative design touches, but more about that later.
When you un-box the case you are presented with 3 parts. So let me tell you a little bit about each of them.
The best way I can think to describe the outer material, is that it has the appearance of the bat suit! No, not the 1970’s Adam West nylon number, I’m talking the Christian Bale bat suit.
The outer jacket is a matt black silicone, and it fits where it touches. Yes, you can still appreciate the beautiful curves of your iPhone. Initially, I did have concerns about the silicone material as I thought that it might get slightly tacky and pick up dust and dirt. So far this has not been the case. This may be due to the fact that the case has a special dustproof protection built in and I must admit it works very well.
To help with grip most of the back and all of the outer edges are moulded with an intricate cross-hatch pattern. This helps a lot with handling your iPhone especially on cold, frosty british mornings.
Even though your iPhone is covered in this rubberised jacket you are still able to access the controls. The volume, power, and home button all are covered, but they are still responsive through the silicone layer. Meanwhile the headphone jack, and docking port connectors are covered with generous flaps of silicone that spring reassuringly back into position.
The camera lens and the mute rocker switch are not obscured and work perfectly whilst in the cover. And I’ve not noticed any problems with call/noise quality whilst using it in the case.
Finally, I want to tell you a bit about Microban®. Micro… what?
A few years ago this germbusting technology started appearing in cutting boards, lunch boxes and the such like. Well now it’s in iPhone covers and iSkin were on the of the first to incorporate! What it gives you, is a degree of permanent antibacterial protection built into the silicone material.
OK, next up is the film screen protector. Firstly, I want to ask if anyone has ever managed to get one of these blasted things stuck down without a flaming air bubble!
Honestly?
Well, I am truly in awe of your magnificent dexterity!
I’ve grown to accept my own air bubble now and we get along fine.
Once you’ve adhered the screen protector it is almost invisible and I didn’t notice any negative effects on picture quality or colour. It also has a very, very slight tactile texture when you touch the screen, which is not unpleasant.
Finally, if you decide to part company with your screen protector, you will be pleased to know that no sticky residue will be left behind.
So, what else you could possibly need for your iPhone? Well, how about a visor which adds yet another layer of protection for your iPhone screen.
This clips onto the front of the iPhone outer case and kinds of wraps around the side. The outer case is recessed so that when the visor is attached it sits completely flush.
Now I must point out that you will not be able to operate the touch screen of your iPhone with the visor attached. So, yes you will need to pop the visor off to access the screen.
At first, this was a bit annoying. But I’ve kind of warmed to it, a bit like the air bubble.
So what do you do with the visor once it’s popped? Well of course, you stow it away on the back of the outer case. Remember how I mentioned iSkin’s innovative design earlier?
To be honest I have missed a few calls by fumbling around, trying to attach the visor to the back of the iPhone whilst answering a call. Personally, I don’t think it’s entirely necessary to stow it away all the time, but it is a nifty feature once you get the knack and into the habit of remembering to do it.
The iSkin Revo2 retails at US$39.99 and I purchased mine at the Apple Store for £29.99 and I think it was money well spent. I happened to choose Black, but they are also available in Red/Black, Blue/Black and Clear/Black.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this review and all the others that I have done over this past year. I’d like to thank you all for reading and wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Recent Comments