GearDb.com

3M_SmartPen

If you were in the right place at the right time at the 3M booth at CES you’d get one of these conductive touch screen 3M Smart pens.  Well we were and we did.  Bottomline – it works like a dream on the iPhone – better than the finger in our opinion.  That’s the good news.  The mild downside is that it is currently not sold in the US but it is available in Asia (and online)  for about $20 – $30.  It was developed by 3M Korea.  I am told that Korea is where the notion of using a sausage as an iPhone stylus during the Winter was conceived -  gloved fingers don’t register on the touch screen.  Totes-isotoner.com makes a conductive glove but the fit must be OJ Simpson snug.  Heck, we want to use the Smart Pen all the time – hot or cold so the main advantage of gloves would be for multi-touch operations.  If you are a chopstick ace, you can do multi-touch with 2 Smart Pens.  Perhaps in the future there will be either a hinged dual tip “Gemini” pen or a finger tip attachment with a low profile conductive nub.  One on a finger and one on the thumb and multi-touch away!

Anyway, 3M USA was gathering usability/ user feedback at CES and they certainly must have also run comparative testing against the Pogo Stylus. I can’t help but think the overall reaction was very positive and it will soon be distributed directly in the US.  We’ll be doing some long term usage testing of the Smart Pen to see how it holds up.  The tip is a conductive fabric and there’s a spring-loaded rod behind it – the body of the Smart Pen feels like aluminum.    So if you’re tired of mis-typing or smudging up the touchscreen with finger oils, you’ll probably enjoy using a stylus.   www.3M.com

Otterbox for iPhone

Otterbox makes a wide range of protective cases.  Many are seriously watertight.  They also have a broad line of cases for smartphones and other compact electronic devices.  Let’s start off with the black and yellow Defender iPhone case from Otterbox.com.  The design, fit and finish are excellent. Your iPhone 3G/Gs will be ruggedly armored, yet you’ll still have crisp response on your controls. It includes a thin rigid clear panel over your LCD yet your finger actions are still accurately received.

A 2 piece rigid plastic inner case snaps around the iPhone then the rubber outer layer is pulled into place.  I found the balance of grip & slip to be just right – it feels secure in my hand but slips easily into a pocket without the stickiness of some silicone cases. And it comes with a belt clip holster.  The belt clip rotates with detents so you can wear it in portrait, landscape or angles in between.  The holster also is a desktop stand – just rotate the belt clip for the angle you want – you may want to put the belt clip in the locked open mode.  When you snap the iPhone LCD facing inward on the holster it’s really locked in there, the LCD is covered/not visible and well protected.  If holstered with the LCD facing outward, a moderate jolt or bounce can dislodge it.  They sell the belt clips separately as well so you can easily get an extra one to modify and hard mount.

The earphone port, docking connector, and ringer switch are protected with attached, press in place/swing away rubber covers.  Mind you while the Defender will protect against misting & spray, it will not protect against heavy rain or immersion.

Also pictured is the blue Otterbox 2000 clamshell case which can hold 1 Defender or Commuter encased phone or 2 “naked” iPhones and is rated to 100 feet submersion.  The Otterbox 8000 and 9000 (not pictured) are swing top cases (100 ft rated) with belt clips (removable) and cord lanyards and can hold 2 Defender phones.  The hinge pin is 316 stainless steel and the inside of the opaque versions have a thin plastic foam lining. The clear version is unlined. Otterbox makes 4 other cases for Iphone including the waterproof  2600 and many other rugged cases big and small.   Well-named and well done Otterbox.

www.otterbox.com