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X-Doria iPhone 6/6 Plus case review and giveaway
This is a first for TUAW -- we'll actually be giving away some iPhone 6 and 6 Plus cases before the new larger iPhones are in the hands of readers. These cases from X-Doria arrived at TUAW Labs just after the Apple announcements on September 9. I think you'll like what you see. Engage Folio The Engage Folio (US$29.99) for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus is the perfect marriage of protection and style, with a clear hardshell back to show off your latest Apple phone and a leather-like folio cover to protect that big screen. The first thing that hit me was just how thin the Engage Folio is, which of course is a good indication of how skinny both the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are going to be. I love that X-Doria chose to keep the Apple-logo'd back of the new iPhones open to view, providing a white, black or red faux leather cover to cover the screen. That's the red cover on the image below. If you need to carry your driver's license with you -- after October, you certainly won't be using your credit cards since your new device will be performing that function for you -- there's a slot on the inside of the cover. The front of the cover features an embossed and silvered X-Doria logo. The top of the Engage Folio is complete closed, with openings on the right side for the sleep/wake switch, a full-length opening on the left side to accommodate the volume toggle and silent mode switch, and an open bottom for the speakers, microphones, and ports. Of course, there's also a large opening for the camera and flash. Rating: 3-1/2 stars out of 4 stars possible Defense 360° Want protection all the way around that big iPhone 6 of yours? The X-Doria Defense 360° ($29.99) is a translucent "frosted" polycarbonate case with a screen shield that you can control your device through. It's probably the most plain-Jane of the X-Doria cases for the iPhone 6, but if you're just looking for something that will totally protect your device from scratches without adding a lot of weight or masking the beauty of the phone, the Defense 360° is it. Rating: 3 stars out of 4 stars possible Scene If you're looking for a bargain case to keep your latest iPhone safe, the Scene ($19.99) is probably one of your best bets. It has a soft-edge bumper in black, white or red, a soft rubber liner, and a hard clear polycarbonate shell to protect the back of your iPhone 6 or 6 Plus. It's not fancy at all, but provides just what a case should -- protection for everyday use. I particularly like the thin clear line in the bumper that lets the natural color of the iPhone (silver, gold or space gray) show through. X-Doria is going to sell a lot of the Scene cases... Rating: 3 stars out of 4 stars possible Engage Plus This $29.99 case is another take on the clear hardshell case, adding either silver or gold reflective bands to the back of the case while keeping the area around the Apple logo clear. To be honest, I think the Engage Plus case would be more reasonable at the same $19.99 price tag as the Scene case, since it's just clear polycarbonate. At least the Engage Folio has a leather-like cover for the same price. Rating: 2-1/2 stars out of 4 stars possible Giveaway We have five X-Doria cases to give away. There's a Scene for iPhone 6, a Defense 360° for iPhone 6, an Engage Plus (gold) for iPhone 6, an Engage Folio in white for iPhone 6, and an Engage Folio in black for iPhone 6 Plus. Here are the rules for the giveaway: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter, fill out the form below completely and click or tap the Submit button. The entry must be made before September 15, 2014 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. Five winners will be selected in a random drawing. Each will receive one of the five cases describe here with a value between $19.99 and $29.99. Click Here for complete Official Rules. Loading...
X-Doria's KidFit is a low-cost fitness wearable for five-year-olds
X-Doria is a company we normally associate with smartphone accessories, but now it's decided to branch out into wearables. While the jury is still out on whether children should be introduced to the concept of the quantified self, X-Doria wants to help get kids moving with its new KidFit activity tracker. Targeted at children between 5 and 13, the multi-colored slappable wristband scores activities to reach a daily goal of 100 points. Parents are encouraged to set goals using the iOS or Android app, which connects to a smartphone or tablet using low-power Bluetooth and provides feedback on a child's progress via its vivid "Results Cards." The wearable is also splash-proof, holds a charge for up to seven days and like the FitBit or Jawbone Up, can be set to track sleep patterns with the push of a button. While it won't track your kids in the literal sense (there are plenty of GPS-enabled wearables targeted at kids that can do that), it does offer a 24/7 overview of their activities. It'll be available on August 15th for $50 in black, aqua, hot pink, yellow, and red variants. If you get in now (and are one of the first 1,000 buyers), you can pre-order the tracker for $40.
X-Doria's iPhone 5c/5s cases: First look and giveaway
As you can probably imagine, iPhone case manufacturers have been jumping all over tech bloggers since before the iPhone 5c and 5s were even announced. One of the first to actually ship us hardware was X-Doria, with four new cases designed for the new phones. Take a look at what X-Doria has to offer, and then enter for a chance to win one of the cases for your new iPhone 5c. Defense 720° The $34.99 Defense 720° provides a hard injected protective shield to completely cover the screen while still giving your fingertips full control of the screen. There's a translucent plastic back to show off the colors of your favorite iPhone while still offering protection, and a rubber-like patterned edge as a defense against drops. The screen shield includes a hole that will be perfect for using Touch ID on the 5s to unlock the device. For the iPhone 5 and 5s, the Defense 720° comes in blue, purple and black. If you have an iPhone 5c, there are bright red, blue and yellow cases in addition to gray. Rapt For only $24.99, the Rapt is made of two different materials in two different colors. Polycarbonate and thermoplastic urethane keep your iPhone 5/5c/5s protected from drops while looking good at the same time. There are three flavors of the Rapt; black/grey, dark blue/light blue, and pink/fuschia. It's available for both the iPhone 5/5s and the 5c. Scene For good, inexpensive protection of your iPhone 5c without covering up the Apple logo or bright colors, the $24.99 Scene is perfect. It has rigid clear polycarbonate all around that is protected from drops around the sides with a rubbery material. It's available in red, grey,blue and yellow, but only works with the iPhone 5c. Scene Plus The iPhone 5c and 5/5s both get the $29.99 Scene Plus, which has a patterned translucent back. It uses the same hard polycarbonate / rubber exterior and side design as several of the other X-Doria entries, and the patterns are quite eye-opening. For the iPhone 5 and 5s, the designs are Black Prism, Pink Bubbles, and Blurry Dots Blue. The iPhone 5c gets Bubbles, Tribal HB, and Stripes. Giveaway Now it's your turn to grab one of these new cases for your sleek and colorful iPhone 5c. Here are the rules for the giveaway: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter, fill out the form below completely and click or tap the Submit button. The entry must be made before September 17 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. Four winners will be selected. One receives an X-Doria Scene valued at $24.99, one receives an X-Doria Scene Plus valued at $29.99, one gets an X-Doria Rapt valued at $24.99, and one takes home an X-Doria Defense 720° valued at $34.99 Click Here for complete Official Rules. Loading...
X-Doria Dash Icon for 13" MacBook Air: Review and giveaway
X-Doria is well known as a manufacturer of iPhone and iPad cases, and now the company has announced the Dash Icon case for another Apple product -- the 13" MacBook Air. The Dash Icon for MacBook Air retails for US$59.99 and appears to be a perfect companion for the Apple's thin 13" notebook. Read along as I outline the features of the case, then join in for a chance to win one courtesy of TUAW and X-Doria. Design Rather than a traditional notebook computer case or sleeve, the X-Doria Dash Icon is a tight-fitting two-part shell that covers all of the exterior of the 13" MacBook Air. The entire shell is made of polycarbonate, with the top surface covered with a textured fabric that adds both style and grip to the case. The Dash Icon comes in two styles; Blue Waves and Color Burst. Blue Waves uses a repeating blue pattern on a dark blue background, while Color Burst (below) dazzles the eyes with shades of red interspersed with light blue accent lines. The protection doesn't add a lot of weight; the Dash Icon adds only 12.7 ounces to the nearly 3 lb. 13" MacBook Air. This is a wonderful idea for protecting a MacBook Air that is getting tossed into a backpack or messenger bag, keeping it from getting scratched by other items in the bag. Functionality Installing the Dash Icon is a snap, literally. The top fabric-covered piece snaps onto the back of the display, while the bottom piece snaps onto the keyboard/CPU portion of the MacBook Air. Should you need to remove the case, it's possible to just pull away one of the connecting "hooks" in one corner and then move to the other connectors to easily pop the covers off. I found the texture on the Dash Icon to be a great idea. I currently own an 11" MacBook Air that doesn't have a cover like this and I find that it's somewhat slippery in my hands. I'm hoping that X-Doria decides to expand the Dash Icon line to the 11" MacBook Air as well. Conclusion While the Dash Icon isn't going to protect your MacBook Air from a drop off of a third-story balcony, it will help keep your investment fairly well protected from everyday bumps, splatters, and scratches. It's a bit pricey for two pieces of polycarbonate, however, with Speck's similar SmartShell and SeeThru shells running $10 less. Pros Attractive fabric design on top with texture for extra grip Very lightweight and form-fitting to the MacBook Air Easy to install and remove Cons More expensive than similar competing products Who is it for? Owners of Apple's 13" MacBook Air who want lightweight protection for their skinny friend Giveaway We have one of these gorgeous "Blue Waves" Dash Icons that we're giving away to a lucky TUAW reader with a 13" MacBook Air. Here are the rules for the giveaway: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter, fill out the form below completely and click or tap the Submit button. The entry must be made before April 4, 2013 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. One winner will be selected and will receive an X-Doria Dash Icon for 13" MacBook Air valued at $59.99. Click Here for complete Official Rules. Loading...
X-Doria Dash Folio for iPad mini: review and giveaway
If there's one thing that lets loose a flood of goodies from accessory manufacturers, it's a new Apple device with a different form factor. We're starting to see a lot of new cases for the iPad mini, including the Belkin Portable Keyboard Case I reviewed on Friday. X-Doria has released a sweet leather case for the mini as part of the Dash Folio line ($39.99) that is worth a look by owners of Apple's little tablet. Design I'm impressed with the physical design of the Dash Folio with one exception that I'll discuss in a minute. For the most part, this is your typical folio-type case with a leather exterior and a flexible plastic casing that holds the iPad mini in place. There are magnets in the cover to turn the iPad mini on and off as you open and close the cover, and X-Doria threw in a nice touch with an elastic band that keeps the cover closed while you're in transit. Once the case is open, that plastic casing has a small ridge that slides into any one of a number of thin slots embossed into the cover. This provides a way to use the case as a handy landscape orientation iPad mini stand. Functionality The construction of the Dash Folio, like many of the other X-Doria products we've reviewed, is excellent. The plastic casing is easy to slide on and off of your iPad mini, but holds it into place securely. That casing also does a great job of protecting the sides and back of your mini, complete with covers for the volume and on/off/sleep/wake buttons. The stand capability of the Dash Folio works great. I put my iPad mini into the case while going for barbecued ribs last night (yum!), and having the stand available made the device easier to use with one hand -- and I was able to complete dinner without coating my screen or the case with barbecue sauce. %Gallery-179049% The magnets in the cover do their job well, if you have them lined up properly with the right side of the iPad mini. I found that I needed to listen for the "latch" noise to be sure that the iPad was actually turned off, and sometimes needed to scoot the cover back or forth a few millimeters to get it to turn off the mini. My only major complaint? Well, the case comes in two colors -- black and brown. The black case uses a black plastic casing to hold the mini, while the brown case uses a fluorescent yellow-green plastic casing. Why fluorescent yellow-green? I don't know, but I wish they had used something less ... radioactive looking! Conclusion There are a lot of cases available for the iPad mini, and if you're looking for attractive, inexpensive, and functional mini protection, the X-Doria Dash Folio is worth considering. Pros Relatively inexpensive Plastic casing provides a lot of protection for the iPad mini Fit and finish is excellent Stand works well Magnets in cover turn your iPad on and off Cons Yellow-green plastic used in the brown leather case is eye-jarring Magnets don't always turn off the iPad the way they're supposed to Who is it for? iPad mini owners who like the look and feel of leather, the protection of plastic, and the functionality of a case that doubles as a stand. Giveaway Our loss is your gain! If you don't happen to mind that yellow-green plastic, enter this giveaway and the X-Doria Dash Folio could be yours. Here are the rules for the giveaway: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter, fill out the form below completely and click or tap the Submit button. The entry must be made before February 20, 2013 11:59PM Eastern Standard Time. You may enter only once. One winner will be selected and will receive an X-Doria Dash Folio for iPad mini valued at $39.99. Click Here for complete Official Rules. Loading...
X-Doria makes a case for your Valentine
With Valentine's Day just around the corner (next Thursday, to be exact) you might want to get thinking about that special someone with an iPhone or iPad mini. X-Doria has a selection of cases that are perfect for Valentine's Day, that day when pink and red seems to be everywhere. The X-Doria Valentine's Collection highlights four designs in the company's Dash Icon line for iPhone 5 and SmartStyle cases for iPad mini. There are two styles for the iPhone 5 -- Fluttering Hearts and Rising Hearts (both US$29.99) -- and two for the iPad mini -- Love's Armor and XO (both $39.99). The Dash Icon cases for the iPhone 5 soften a tough polycarbonate shell with heart-covered 3D textured fabric on the back. Let's face it, your sweetie is gonna melt when you encase her/his iPhone 5 in this season-appropriate protective statement of love. As for the two SmartStyle iPad mini cases, they're puff-printed with either a "love 'n kisses" XO pattern or a bright red pattern with little white hearts. The cases are easy to grip and are quite protective, gripping the mini in a shell in a complimentary color. We have two of the Dash Icon cases and two of the SmartStyle cases to give away. In order to get these to you before Valentine's Day, we'll pick the winners on Monday and ship the cases overnight. You, however, are responsible for picking up dinner, chocolates, flowers, and other items for your sweetheart. Here are the rules for the giveaway: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter, fill out the form below completely and click or tap the Submit button. The entry must be made before February 9, 2013 11:59PM Eastern Standard Time. You may enter only once. Four winners will be selected and will receive either an X-Doria Dash Icon case for iPhone 5 valued at $29.99 or an X-Doria SmartStyle case for iPad mini valued at $39.99 Click Here for complete Official Rules. Loading...
The New Year TUAW iPad mini case roundup and giveaway
Note: We're fixing an issue with the giveaway form and will have it back around 2pm EST. As we begin the new year, a lot of people wound up receiving an iPad mini as part of their holiday celebrations. Case makers are looking to make outfitting your iPad mini much easier, and we've gotten so many that TUAW Labs head mad scientist Steve Sande had to ship some of them out to the newly created iPad mini satellite office for us to then try to pass on to you guys! Celebrate your new year with a new case for your new iPad mini! BookBook for iPad mini We reviewed the revised BookBook in June, and BookBook for the iPad mini ($69.95) is a smaller version of its bigger sibling. Like Steve, I wasn't a fan of the straps that secured the iPad to the original BookBook, and it's what turned me away from buying one when I had a full-sized iPad. The leather enclosure protects your entire iPad mini, and you can unsnap it from the back to position it in a comfortable typing mode and viewing angle. It has the look and feel of a real book, and as you can see in the picture, I can easily shelve my iPad mini among my regular books if I want. It's the case I kept on my iPad mini the longest out of all the review cases to date, and the one I'm most likely going to buy for myself. Speck FitFolio The Speck FitFolio ($34.95) is a competitor for the Belkin cases you can find at most retail locations. The draw to the Speck for me is the colors, which I like better than Apple's selection and Belkin's. I like the viewing angle standing position for watching video, but not so much the typing position when you fold the case behind itself. If you don't do it just right, typing isn't comfortable at all. The fit was a bit so-so. The plastic case wasn't flush with my iPad around the earphone in the review case I received, but it doesn't impede with the protection. If you can live without the sleep/wake function and like the colors, give the Speck case a try. Gumdrop Drop Tech Putting the Gumdrop Drop Tech ($59.95) on my iPad was like encasing it in a tire, a sentiment that Steve shared when reviewing the iPhone 5 case. Like Otterbox cases, there is a rugged silicone exterior that surrounds a thin plastic case with a screen protector. Your iPad is sandwiched in between. Silicone covers all the ports, and you can flip the Lightning connector, earplug and side switch. The fit over the ports is good. Everything aligns perfectly, and the buttons you press through the silicone (home, power and volume) work like normal. I worry about the quality of the plastic frame and can see it easily breaking if you make a habit of inserting and removing the mini from this case. Also, if you're not careful in putting on the silicone cover, the four corners of the case can bulge out. If the case is put on correctly, it's a good one to use if you're carrying your iPad mini outdoors a lot. X-Doria Smart Jacket When it comes to looks, the X-Doria Smart Jacket ($34.99) comes fairly close to the Apple Smart Cover, but with a plastic, 3D-texturized back. It boasts the same viewing angles as the Smart Cover, but the built-in stand doesn't work at all. The cover doesn't hold its shape when you fold it into the viewing angle or the typing angle, so the iPad mini keeps falling over. If you want just a very basic cover with sleep/wake function, then the Smart Jacket is OK. If you want to do anything else with your iPad mini, spend your money on another case. X-Doria SleeveStand However, I liked X-Doria's SleeveStand ($29.99) far better than the Smart Jacket. It does what it says on the tin -- provides a plush home for your iPad mini with tabs in the opening of the jacket to hold your iPad mini in portrait or landscape mode. It's a sturdy viewing stand, but it's not good for typing. It comes with a carrying handle tucked into the front pocket, but I don't see the need for it. If you're swinging your iPad mini from your wrist, you're asking for someone to come rip it off. Giveaway Now it's time for these cases to go from my home into yours! Here's your chance to enter to win one of five different cases from TUAW and the manufacturers discussed in this review. Keep in mind, these cases are all for the iPad mini, so if you don't have one (or don't know someone who does), please don't enter! Here are the rules for the giveaway: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter, fill out the form below completely and click or tap the Submit button. The entry must be made before January 5, 2013, 11:59PM Eastern Standard Time. You may enter only once. Five will be selected and will receive an iPad mini case (value of case varies, please see descriptions above) Click here for official rules Loading...
Roundup of announced iPad mini accessories (updated)
Along with today's debut of the iPad mini came a tidal wave of accessory announcements for the littlest iPad. Here's a roundup of several of those new products. Update - 10/24/12 10 AM ET: Added Dicota Protective Covers at the bottom of this post X-Doria X-Doria actually pinged us before the announcement with enticing photos of a new series of cases for the iPad mini. The cases (from left to right below) include the bright and stylish SmartStyle (US$39.99), the SmartCase-like SmartJacket ($34.99), the Dash Folio ($39.99), the puffy and versatile SleeveStand ($29.99), another bright and stylish SmartStyle, and Engage back shell ($19.99). Otterbox You may be more likely to take your iPad mini out for a bike ride or on a hiking trip than your full-grown iPad, so Otterbox has announced that the Defender Series case will be available for the diminutive iPad for $69.95. They're taking pre-orders now, and you can get the case in Black, Crevasse (gray), or Blush (magenta). ZAGG invisibleShield Hey, these guys don't have to do much more than detailed measurements of a device to create the "invisibleShield" for a product, so this was a no-brainer that ZAGG would have one announced almost immediately. The full body (front and back coverage), original military-grade protection protector for the iPad mini goes for $34.99, while the Hi-Definition version is $39.99. They're back-ordered until the week of November 6-14, so order now. Incipio Incipio has come out with four new cases for the iPad mini. The mini NGP ($34.99) is an impact-resistant semi-rigid case that comes in pink, black or white, while the mini LGND ($34.99) is a premium hard-shell folio that folds into a stand. There's also the $39.99 mini Lexington, a hard shell folio case with a "vegan leather" exterior and a micro-suede interior. Finally, the mini Feather ($34.99) is a ultra-thin snap-on case in orange, red, pink, black, light blue, purple or gray. Check out the video below for details. That's about it for today's announcements. Many of the other manufacturers are probably queueing up their PR announcements for the next few days, so be sure to check back often for news of more iPad mini accessories. Dicota European manufacturer Dicota has announced the Flexi Back Cover and Hard Back Cover (see below) for iPad mini. No prices have been announced; visit the Dicota Web site for pricing by country when it becomes available.
X-Doria Drive-In iPad case perfect for rear seat movie viewing in your car
There's still time for a summer vacation trip before the kids have to return to school, and one sure way to stop the "Are we there yet?" whining is to let the little ones watch movies as you cruise along in the Family Truckster on the way to Walley World. X-Doria's Drive-In iPad case (US$39.99) is an inexpensive and effective way to position your iPad for optimal rear-seat viewing. Drive-In The Drive-In is an iPad case with a single purpose -- it hangs from a front-row auto seat headrest to let the rear-row passengers watch movies on the iPad. In comparison to some other headrest mounts that I've reviewed, the Drive-In is amazingly simple. There's a buckled strap that goes around the uprights for the headrest -- one click of the buckle and it's installed. Some other headrest mounts required me to remove the headrest temporarily just to get the thing on, or had complex thumbscrew mechanisms that were a pain to adjust. Not so with the Drive-In. Throw the strap around the headrest uprights, click the buckle, and pull on the strap if you want the Drive-In to be snugged up to the headrest a bit more. Done. The Drive-In also has a nice little mesh pocket that snaps to the back of the case. Want to put some crayons in there for the kiddos? Zip them into the pocket, unsnap the pocket, and they'll have access to the crayons when they want 'em. When you decide to claim your iPad back from the kids, it's a simple matter to remove the iPad. The entire top side of the case is open, and the iPad can be pulled out in seconds. Conclusion As with the X-Doria Sleeve Stand, the Drive-In is a deceptively simple design that is very well-executed. Don't spend more than $40 on a rear-seat mount for an iPad. Pros Inexpensive Simple design makes it easy to install and remove, and the iPad is inserted or removed from the Drive-In in seconds Helpful pocket for holding other goodies the kids may want access to Well constructed Cons Although $40 is inexpensive compared to some other mount kits, it seems like this could be sold at a lower price. There's just not that much to the case in terms of materials. Who is it for? Parents who want the kids to be able to watch movies on the iPad but don't want to spend too much Giveaway We've got a stash of X-Doria goodies to give away today, including the Drive-In. There's also a Sleeve Stand (valued at $29.99), a fun and unique Cubit iPhone 4/4S case (valued at $24.99), a clear protective Defense 360° iPhone 4/4S case (valued at $29.99), and a Defense Pro iPhone 4/4S Self-Healing Screen Protector (valued at $19.99). Here are the rules for the giveaway: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter, fill out the form below completely and click or tap the Submit button. The entry must be made before August 13, 2012 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. Five winners will be selected. Items to be given away are listed above, along with their retail values. Click Here for complete Official Rules. Loading...
