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Trick or Treat! Hard Candy and Gumdrop cases for iPad Air
The new iPad Air will arrive in stores the day after Halloween, so it's quite appropriate that the first iPad Air cases that we've received for review come from two companies with sweet names -- Hard Candy and Gumdrop. Today we'll look at a pair of cases from each company, and give four TUAW readers a chance to win a protective case for their new iPad Airs (and one can win a case for iPad 2/3/4 as well) Hard Candy Shockdrop for iPad Air Since I haven't yet had my hands on an iPad Air, the first thing that surprised me about this -- and all -- of the cases was how thin it seems. The Shockdrop (US$49.95) isn't exactly a svelte case thanks to an interior polycarbonate shell and outside silicone wrapper, but it's still amazingly easy to hold. The Shockdrop comes with built-in screen protection as well, so it's going to be able to put up with drops and bumps easily. I personally like the bumpy texture of the back of the Shockdrop, as it makes it quite easy to grab the otherwise slick iPad. The Shockdrop comes in both basic black and a bright, bold red. Hard Candy Squish for iPad Air The aptly named Squish ($34.95) doesn't have the interior polycarbonate shell, just the squishy silicone wrapper. As such, it doesn't offer quite the level of protection of the Shockdrop, but it still has a textured surface for good grip and can definitely keep your new baby from being damaged if it slips onto the floor. While the Shockdrop comes in just two rather normal colors, the Squish has colors as fun as its name: lime, pink and light blue. There's also a black case if you're not inclined towards those brighter shades. Gumdrop Drop Tech Series for iPad Air The Gumdrop Drop Tech Series ($59.95) is the equivalent of the Hard Candy Shockdrop, featuring that two-layer design for extra protection as well as a screen protector. The texture on the back is surprisingly like that of a good snow tire, and it keeps the enclosed iPad Air from sliding off of surfaces as well as firmly planted in your hand. You have a few more color choices with the Drop Tech Series than you do with the Shockdrop: there's black/black (exterior silicone and interior polycarbonate), black/red and army green. Gumdrop Bounce Skin for iPad Air What the Squish is to the Shockdrop, the Gumdrop Bounce Skin ($34.95) is to the Drop Tech Series. In other words, it's a silicone skin with no interior polycarbonate shell. It has pretty much the same tire-tread texture on the back as the Drop Tech Series, and comes in a larger variety of colors: red, black, clear (really more like "translucent"), light blue, grey, pink, purple, royal blue and teal. Conclusion If you're looking for a way to protect your new iPad Air, the four new case designs from Hard Candy and Gumdrop are inexpensive and offer a great way to keep that investment looking new. The Hard Candy Shockdrop and Gumdrop Drop Tech Series both provide two-layer protection with a screen protector as well, while the Hard Candy Squish and Gumdrop Bounce Skin are both silicone skins that offer a good grip and some air and silicone cushion from drops. And now, my gripe du jour: These cases are amazingly alike. The pricing is similar for the two-layer cases and the silicone skins. And despite the two different names of the manufacturers, they're both essentially from the same company run by founder and CEO Travis Hickman. So why mislead the public into believing that these are two different companies, considering that the only real difference in the lines is the color of the boxes and the name on the products? </rant off> Giveaway We're giving away the following items to TUAW readers: Gumdrop Bounce Skin for iPad Air (black) Gumdrop Drop Tech Series for iPad Air (black) Hard Candy Shockdrop for iPad Air (black) Hard Candy Squish Skin for iPad Air (lime green) Gumdrop Drop Tech Hideaway for iPad 2/3/4 (orange) 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 November 3, 2013 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. Five winners will be selected and each will receive one of the five cases listed above Click Here for complete Official Rules. Loading...
Daily Update for September 5, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Hard Candy has a sweet tooth for iPhone 5s and 5c
Yes, you read the headline correctly. Hard Candy Cases has beaten Apple to the punch by sending out a press release for cases for products that don't officially exist at this point. The company is jumping on the hopeful rumor bandwagon by pinging the tech press with word of these cases -- which (conveniently for the manufacturer) aren't available until October 2013. The new HarvestCraft Slider for the iPhone 5s and 5c rings up the cash register at US$39.95. These colorful cases can be arrayed in three different combinations per harvest color. For the 5c -- if it even actually exists -- I'm wondering about the logic of hiding a supposedly colorful phone in another colorful case. And what about the alleged "champagne" iPhone 5s? Are you really going to want to cover that gorgeous light gold finish with a case? In all fairness, it looks like many case manufacturers are jumping the gun. Just yesterday, we were given a link by an anonymous tipster who pointed out that Booq Bags had a page up touting the Complete Protection Kit for the iPhone 5C (note the capitalized "c"). The page is now down, but it showed a line of protective cases and screen protectors for the alleged colorful plastic iPhone. If an iPhone 5c or 5C or whatever the hell it's called is actually announced on Tuesday, you can use that bookmarked link to order a case for your new phone. More "jumping the gun" accessories for other unannounced products will be coming soon!
Candy Convertible for iPad 2 combines case and stand in faux-nubuck
Folio-style cases are pretty popular for the iPad 2. They come in all sorts of designs, materials and thicknesses. Today we're going to be looking at the Candy Convertible from Hard Candy Cases. The first thing that strikes you about the Candy Convertible after you've prised it out of the packaging is just how nice it feels. Made from faux-nubuck, it feels just like the real thing, both smooth and velvety soft to the touch. It's available in red and white with a black version on the way. I got my hands on the black version of the case, which suits the style and form of the iPad 2 very well indeed. The iPad 2 slides into the case held in by a simple flap that tucks underneath the tablet holding it in place very securely. The beauty of the nubuck-style material is that it's pretty grippy, meaning such a simple mechanism can secure the iPad 2 without weight, bulk or any possibility of scratching your pristine tablet. The case frames the screen on the iPad 2 well -- a little too well in fact, covering too much of the front bezel of the screen. While the front facing camera and the majority of the Home button are easily accessible, the case's frame covers the iPad 2's ambient light sensor. Now we all know the automatic screen brightness adjustment in iOS can be frustrating at times, but to not have the option to use it was a real downer. With the sensor covered the iPad 2 assumes it's in the dark all the time, permanently keeping the screen dim. The only option is to disable automatic brightness adjustment and manually manage your screen brightness. On the iPad 2 it's not that much of a chore, with the brightness slider accessible from the multitasking bar, but all it needed was a small cut out from the top of the Candy Convertible's frame to accommodate the light sensor. Perhaps it's something that can be corrected in future shipping cases, but when questioned about this Hard Candy failed to reply. The rest of the iPad 2 is freely accessible within the case. The buttons, ports, mic, camera and speaker all have suitably sized cutouts in the side and back of the case. This does, however, expose parts of the iPad 2 even when the case is closed, leaving things like the camera especially vulnerable to damage. The screen itself, perhaps the most important part of the iPad, is well protected though with a rigid flap that covers the the screen. Unfortunately there is no clasp or strap to keep the Convertible closed when your iPad is not in use. In practice this didn't cause much of a problem in day-to-day operations, but if you were to put your iPad in a large bag, there is the possibility of the flap to opening leaving your iPad's screen exposed. Hard Candy also didn't see fit to bestow the Candy Convertible with the magnets required to automatically turn off the iPad 2's screen when you close the cover, something that meant I left the screen on by accident on many occasions having got used to the Smart Cover and many other cases that have that auto-sleep functionality built-in. The Candy Convertible is designed so the front flap also folds to support the iPad 2 in a landscape orientation, both stood up perpendicular to the table or propped up at about a 40-degree angle for easier typing. The front cover folds round the back and fits in a small flap on the back, which holds the cover in place. Unfortunately the arrangement means that the case will not stand up in portrait, but the landscape stand makes for a decent video watching experience. The inside of the front flap also has a little credit-card sized pocket, handy if you need to carry business cards or a credit card. Just don't expect to get the card out of there in a hurry because the faux-nubuck grips the card pretty hard. %Gallery-127625% Verdict The Candy Convertible is a decent all-rounder. It's well made and will last considerably longer than some of the cheaper no-name folio style cases out there. The case offers good protection while being thin enough to not add much extra bulk to the svelte frame of the iPad 2, with the tablet and case reaching about 1.4 cm thick at it's bulkiest point (dimension in the case 19.7 cm x 25.4 cm x 1.4 cm). It stands up reasonably well using the front cover as a support in landscape -- it's just a shame it won't stand up in a portrait orientation, and that Hard Candy failed to include magnets for auto-sleep and covered the ambient light sensor with the inside frame. If you can get over those drawbacks, however, then the Candy Convertible looks good, feels nice and will protect your iPad 2 reasonably well. The Candy Convertible is available for $44.95 plus shipping in red, black and white.
Macworld 2010: iPad mockup hands-on
The other day at Macworld Expo 2010, we did a quick interview with Tim Hickman, CEO of Hard Candy Cases. During that interview, in which they showed off an already-made iPad case, I asked him how they knew what the iPad would be like. He said that they had heavily researched the dimensions, including stats from Apple's site, information from over 300 pictures of the keynote (in which they compared the iPad's dimensions to things like a wristwatch band), and even some not-quite-public plans from an unnamed Chinese manufacturer. With all of that information, they had actually simulated and constructed an "as-close-to-real-as-you-can-get" mockup of the iPad's size and form. Then, on Saturday, the folks from Hard Candy Cases came back by the booth, and their VP of products, David Adam, said he'd actually brought the iPad mockup to the show, and asked if we would like to see and hold it. Considering that there wasn't actually a working iPad at Macworld this year, we of course gladly said yes. You can see what it looks like above, and hit the link below for our impressions of what it's like to finally hold and touch the closest thing to an iPad that money can buy.
Macworld 2010: TUAW interviews Tim Hickman of Hard Candy Cases
Hard Candy Cases runs a booth right across from ours here at Macworld 2010, so when they offered to come on the livestream and show us their cases for laptops and the upcoming iPad, we gladly accepted. Co-founder Tim Hickman brought along a bubbleshell MacBook case to show us, and talked a little bit about the kinds of protection and style his cases bring to your favorite Apple gear (I offered to hit his MacBook with a hammer for testing purposes, but he said they were really meant for bumps and scratches only). We also chatted about their iPad cases, and how you design and produce retail cases for a device that you haven't actually seen in person yet; apparently they took hundreds of pictures of the iPad keynote, measured the iPad dimensions up against a real-life wristwatch, and even "obtained" some manufacturing plans from somewhere in China. Very interesting stuff -- give it a watch below.
