iPad 2 accessories: The flood begins
No sooner had Steve Jobs bid farewell to the crowd at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco yesterday than the TUAW inbox began filling with news of iPad 2 accessories. While many of the accessories aren't as snazzy as the bath tub lid-inspired Smart Covers, I thought you might like to take a peek at what manufacturers have been working on under NDA.
Booq is coming out with a nice looking folio case for the iPad 2 that includes a non-digital component -- a built-in and replaceable paper notepad. The Booqpad for iPad 2 (below) starts at US$49.95, with a "luxury option" available at $99.95. The notepad sheets are the same size as an iPad 2 screen and are perforated for easy removal. Knowing Dave Caolo's penchant for cool notebooks, I've been asked by his wife Mia to tell him to not buy one of these.
Scosche also jumped onto the iPad 2 bandwagon with a whole new line of goodies for the newest Apple tablet. The foldIO P2 ($44.99) is a folio-type case in black or white leather or carbon fiber textured models; it has a suede interior and folds into three different landscape viewing angles. For those who are into rubber, the glosSEE P2 line ($39.99) provides a grippy surface in a choice of five different colors. The snapSHIELD P2 ($29.99) line features those same vibrant colors, but uses hard polycarbonate for protection. Scosche rounded out its announcement with several power adapters, but the $59.99 Scosche freeKEY water resistant roll-up Bluetooth keyboard (below) really caught my attention.
Longtime accessory maker Targus leaped into the fray as well, with a new 360° Rotating Stand / Case for iPad 2 ($59.99), a Protective Cover / Stand for iPad 2 ($39.99) and a Protective TPU Skin ($24.99).
The 360° Rotating Stand / Case (above) may not have a fun name like all of those Scosche products, but it does feature a hard shell and a mechanism that surrounds the Apple logo which lets the case rotate easily into portrait and landscape positions.
We've discussed the awesome designs from AViiQ before, and now it's bringing its design expertise to a very thin aluminum case with two little kickstands that will hold your iPad 2 in place. The Portable Case Stand for iPad (below) is expected later this month and is priced at an amazingly low $59.99.
iSkin wanted you to know that its "fashionable line of sleeves and slings, part of the Q.West Collection," will all work with the iPad 2, and that it's adapting the Duo, Vu, and my personal favorite -- the Aura folio -- to the iPad 2. That collection of Q.West goodies is pictured below.
I'm sure that we'll be seeing more accessories being announced in the next few days. Keep your eyes focused on TUAW for more iPad 2 goodies.
