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Targus made a backpack with a built-in Find My tracker
The company also unveiled a docking station with a fingerprint reader at CES.
Presenting the Best of CES 2021 finalists!
Here are the finalists for the official 2021 Best of CES Awards.
Targus unveils a virus-killing keyboard light and antimicrobial backpack
Targus is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic by releasing an UV light for your keyboard, an antimicrobial backpack and other safer gear.
I want a wireless charging pocket in my next bag
Look, it's hard to get excited about a backpack. But, I have to admit, the Targus Mobile ViP+ Backpack is actually pretty damn cool. Most importantly, it's a solid feeling bag with plenty of padding where it's needed most and tons of storage space. But it's also got a few pretty unique features. The most obvious is the zip up pocket on the side that hides a Qi wireless charging dock. There's rails to keep your phone from moving about too much, and even ventilation to prevent overheating. The whole thing connects to an easily removable and rechargeable 5,000 mAh battery pack.
Targus announces line of Mac-compatible docking stations
Following on the heels of Kensington, Targus announced this morning that it has made its USB 3.0 docking stations Mac-compatible. Targus' docking stations have four USB 2.0 ports and two USB 3.0 ports. The stations can handle resolutions of up to 2,048 x 1,152, deliver 1080p video and graphics through DisplayLink and support up to four displays. The stations also come with a DVI to VGA and HDMI to DVI adapters as well as a 2-foot USB 3.0 cable. The Targus docking stations are US$169.99 and $219.99 and are available now. For those who already own a Targus 3.0 docking station, there are drivers that make the new docks compatible with the Mac and are backwards-compatible. If you are looking beyond Targus for your hardware needs, you should look at Kensington, which upgraded its docking stations to be Mac-compatible in April, thanks to the same DisplayLink support update that's in the Targus models. Note some of the issues with the DisplayLink tools in Mountain Lion. Henge also had its horizontal dock, which boasts an impressive six USB 3.0 ports, on display at Macworld/iWorld 2013.
Alleged next-gen iPad rear casing suggests mini-esque design and finish
We've seen a possible case, what could be the front portion of Apple's next iPad and this time around, Tactus has got its hands on the other half, the rear casing. Unfortunately, it's the not-so-interesting view, but we can still make out the space for the hole for the camera lens, sharper corners and the same dark blue finish we saw on both the fifth iteration of the iPhone and the iPad Mini. Tactus reckons it'll hold onto the original iPad's 9.7-inch display, but surround it with a thinner bezel. As for the rest of the specs that will eventually reside inside the redesigned shell, well, we'll have to wait for the official reveal from Apple for the full story. Update: It's worth noting that 9to5Mac spied a similarly redesigned iPad shell at the start of the year. We've included their leak after the break. Thanks for everyone that sent this in!
Targus debuts the Touch Pen for Windows 8, we go hands-on (video)
The Targus Touch Pen for Windows 8 is a paintbrush that you can rub all over you Windows 8-enabled PC monitor, whether or not it's actually a touchscreen. By using an independently powered dongle attached magnetically to one side of the screen, the Targus Touch Pen's strokes are picked up as both actions in the "Modern" UI and within a painting application we were shown (running on a non-touch Acer laptop). It's hard to imagine many folks using the Touch Pen for its touch capabilities, but we sure could see ourselves spending an afternoon using it for electronic painting. Regardless, the pen retails for $100 and becomes available to aspiring digital artists everywhere in Q2 2013. Take a peek past the break at our hands-on video for a better idea of what you'll be getting yourself into.
Targus iNotebook: Pen, paper and iPad
Despite having the latest in high technology at my fingertips, I like to take notes on good old paper. Yeah, I know -- I should at least snap photos of my scrawls and upload them to Evernote, but being middle-aged, it's hard to get rid of some old habits. Targus has just released an iPad accessory that may work for me (and Dave Caolo, my paper-notebook-addicted cohort here at TUAW) by letting me write on regular paper with a real pen, and capturing my notes in an iPad app. The iNotebook (US$179.99) isn't exactly as inexpensive as a pad of paper and a regular pen or pencil, but it offers a way to capture, annotate, and organize your handwritten notes. Design iNotebook doesn't need to be near your iPad all the time. It's able to capture and store up to 100 pages of notes that can then be synced to the iPad with a touch of a button. That's a good thing, since the iNotebook is about the size of an iPad in a case, meaning you'd have to lug around two devices. Inside the nice case -- there are two varieties, one made of black leather, the other covered with cloth -- you'll find a notepad. You don't need to use this particular notepad, so if you happen to be a fan of Moleskine's Professional Notebook you can drop one of those in. There's a place for the back cover to slide into so that the paper notebook doesn't move too much while you're using it. There's one negative point to using the iNotebook -- both the sensor in the case and the pen need to be charged before use. Both have a mini-USB connector, and there's a handy two-headed charging cable included so you can charge both pieces at once. The pen takes about six hours to charge fully, while the sensor charges in about three and a half hours. On the plus side, once both are charged up and ready to go, they'll happily wait up to 60 days for you to use them in standby mode. Working life when not paired to your iPad is about 15 hours, but only about six hours when you're paired via Bluetooth. %Gallery-174007% While waiting for everything to charge up, I took the time to install the free iNotebook App that provides the repository for your notes. It's of the skeumorphic design school, with a cherry wood bookshelf with all of your virtual notebooks. Those notebooks can be named anything you want, and with a tap and drag, your individual captured note pages can be moved to any notebook. The pen comes with a trio of refills so you can continue to take notes and not throw out the pen. Additional refills can be purchased for $7.99 for a pack of ten. So, how does the sensor know where the pen is on the piece of paper? The sensor is covered with a transparent red plastic and there are what look like IR LEDs behind a transparent part just above the pen tip. It's smart that they're using IR to do this, since the iNotebook itself uses Bluetooth to talk to the iPad and you wouldn't want any battling Bluetooth signals. Functionality Let's start with the charging process. There's a red LED on the pen that shows when it is charging, and a red icon on the sensor that glows during its charging period. Both LEDs go out when charging is complete. Pairing the iPad and iNotebook is easy. While in the Bluetooth settings on the iPad, you press and hold the power button on the iNotebook until a green light flashes, then press the Bluetooth button on the iNotebook until the blue light flashes. Once iNotebook appears in the list of Bluetooth devices on your iPad, you tap the device name to pair it. In the iNotebook app, you tap the New icon on the bookshelf to create a new notebook, then open the notebook with another tap. Another tap on the New icon creates a new page. At this point, you can start writing in the notebook. Whenever a page is filled, you either tap the + icon to add a new page, or press the physical "page" button on the sensor. I like the fact that there's no special paper or notebook required for the iNotebook. Basically, anything that is 5 inches wide by 8 inches tall or smaller can be used. Now, let's get into the actual operation of this device. The first unit I got wouldn't charge up, and fortunately the folks at Targus were good about sending a second test device and taking the first back for troubleshooting. However, I had some issues with the second unit that made me a bit trepidatious about recommending the iNotebook. The first issues came about when I had linked the device to my iPad and was busily writing on the paper pad watching my writing being captured in digital ink on the iPad. Very cool! Then, all of a sudden, I noticed the writing capture turning to an illegible pile of scrawls. I also had a problem where some text was suddenly angled on the page differently from the rest of the text. That was just plain odd. I was able to figure out what caused the first problem to happen -- the notebook was just thick enough that the upper right corner of the page was sticking up and blocking the sensors. There's a small elastic band that can be used to hold down the corner of the page and stop that problem. The angled text seem to occur when I slightly changed the position of my hand of the page while writing. I was able to get the hang of how to hold my hand pretty quickly, so that issue went away. Next, I decided to try writing in the notebook, capturing my pen motions while nowhere near the iPad. I turned on the unit and as I wrote, I saw the flickering green icon that indicated that my writing was being captured. When I was done writing (it was a list of dinners for the week), I went to transfer that to my iPad. The first time I tried, the green light on the iNotebook went solid green, indicating that the sensor memory was full. I doubted that, since I was on page three of my notebook. I kept trying to import the writing from the sensor, and kept getting an error message. Not good. And finally, I found that I could not turn the sensor off. I found a small hole next to the switches, and used my handy iPhone SIM removal tool to reset the unit. After that, I was able to do the import of information from the sensor unit. Although I had written three pages of text, the app imported a full eleven pages. Five of those were blank, three had drawings I had not made, and the other three were the pages I had created. I erased all of the pages that weren't mine, and then used the "clear sensor memory" command in the app to hopefully get rid of the garbage pages. WIth that done, I decided to shut off the iNotebook and turn off the iPad, and try again. I wrote a complete page of handwritten notes, then turned on the iPad and imported that information into my digital notebook in the iNotebook app. The import showed that I had accumulated 42,442 bytes and it slowly brought the information into the iPad. Sure enough, my writing was straight and almost as clear as what I had written into the notebook. Victory at last! With four pages of handwritten notes now in the app, I decided to use the app to try sharing the notes. For individual pages, you can email a page. This saves the page as a PNG file and emails it. Pages can also be saved to the Camera Roll, saved to Dropbox, or printed. For a group of pages in a notebook, you can email, print or save to Dropbox from the Export command. Multiple pages are saved as a PDF before mailing. A couple of thoughts about the software. It's quite easy to create a group of notebooks -- say one for each class you're taking or project you're working on -- to put on your virtual shelf, organize the notes by tabs, and move pages to different tabs. To do the latter, you just slide a page to a particular tab. That's quite intuitive. Finally, there are a number of pens and annotation tools that can be used after the fact when your notes are in the iNotebook app. You can add text boxes, use highlighters, and more. There's also a voice notes feature that could come in handy to provide a verbal backup to your written notes. Conclusion Despite the few issues I ran into, I eventually got everything working properly. I would suggest to anyone who wants to use an iNotebook for classes or work to practice with it for a while to make sure you get the hang of writing, capturing, and transferring notes. Once you're up to speed, then you should be able to use the iNotebook with no problems. However, to me there just seem to be too many manual steps involved in capturing your notes. Open the notebook, turn it on, grab the pen, write, make sure the iNotebook is connected to your iPad, launch the app, import the captured information, send the information to yourself or others via email or Dropbox. It's a workflow that just doesn't make me want to use the device. As much as I wanted to like the iNotebook, there is an alternative available that I feel might be more useful to those who want to use handwriting to take notes. The Evernote Smart Notebooks by Moleskine ($24.95 to $29.95) don't require any batteries, sensors, or special pens. Basically, they're regular Moleskine notebooks with a special page design. You can write on them with any pen or pencil, then take a photo with the Evernote Page Camera app for iOS and they're "cleaned up" and uploaded automatically to Evernote. In addition, the service (which requires an Evernote premium account) also allows users to place special stickers on pages to automatically tag them for searching in various categories. Another way to keep handwritten notes that has a drop-dead simple workflow is to use an app like Penultimate ($0.99) and a stylus to just write the notes right onto the iPad. That way you don't have a notebook and an iPad to keep track of, and your notes can be on a variety of different "paper" types. Photos can be embedded in your notebook pages, and since the app has been purchased by Evernote, it's simple to sync your notebooks with both Dropbox and Evernote. The iNotebook is an interesting device, but make sure that you really have a need for a separate device to capture handwritten notes before you consider purchasing one. And seriously, think about the workflow involved -- if your notes go to Evernote anyway, either the Smart Notebooks or Penultimate might be a much less expensive and "busy" alternative. Honestly, when I want to take notes, I want to just sit down and write 'em, not worry about whether my notebook and pen are charged, whether or not the pen motions are being captured, or whether or not those motions will be transferred to the iPad app. The iNotebook isn't the device for me, but it might work for you. Pros Good looks, and much less obtrusive in meetings than an iPad since it just looks like a regular notebook Ability to use different notebooks, plus standard pen refills App provides good organization and annotation tools Cons A rather expensive way to take handwritten notes No direct way to upload to Evernote Workflow is somewhat complex unless you rarely upload your notes to the iPad -- it's just easier to write on the iPad or just take a photo of your handwritten notes Who is it for? Those who prefer to take handwritten notes but want a way to capture them electronically Giveaway Although the iNotebook didn't receive a rave review from TUAW, we're giving one of these away to a TUAW reader for whom it may be the perfect answer to capturing handwritten notes. 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 December 26, 2012 11:59PM Eastern Standard Time. You may enter only once. One winner will be selected and will receive a Targus iNotebook valued at $179.99 Click Here for complete Official Rules. Loading...
Targus buys premium accessory maker Sena Cases
Prolific accessory maker Targus is no slouch when it comes to making attractive products, but when it came to upping its game in the realm of high-end iPhone and iPad cases it opted to acquire an established brand rather than start from scratch. That name is Sena Cases, a California firm known for its exquisitely crafted leather accessories. Founded in 1999 by brothers Ramsey and Fevzi Oten, Sena Cases specializes in high-end phone and tablet cases, some of which carry the imprint of designers such as Michael Kors and Dylan George. The company will continue to operate as a separate entity under the ownership of Targus with the Otens remaining at its helm. According to a spokesperson, Sena Cases will also remain responsible for its own product designs, so you shouldn't expect to see either brand influencing the other in the forseeable future. Sena Cases recently introduced a line of wallet, folio and journal style cases for the iPad mini starting at US$69.95. Show full PR text Targus® Acquires Sena Cases The Sena Acquisition Positions Targus as a Leader in the Smartphone Case Market ANAHEIM, Calif., – October 30, 2012 – Targus Group International, Inc., maker of the world's top-selling laptop and mobile device cases and accessories, announced today it has completed the acquisition of Sena Cases, an Irvine, California-based luxury leather designer, manufacturer, and marketer for smartphone, tablet and laptop cases. Effective immediately, Sena Cases will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Targus, continuing to operate under the Sena® brand and under the leadership of its founders. The Sena acquisition positions Targus as a leader in the smartphone case market with a full line of expertly tailored iPhone® cases under the Sena® brand and additional licensed brands, including Michael Kors® and Dylan George®. With numerous models to choose from, Sena delivers a variety of fashion forward styles in support of today's mobile lifestyle. Sena is a leading provider of leather cases for the Apple® retail consumer. Sena is known industry-wide for its commitment to design as well as for providing the highest quality cases for smartphones and other mobile devices. "Targus is dedicated to maintaining the product experience and unique brand relationship Sena has with its customers and partners," said Michael Hoopis, president and CEO of Targus. "We are thrilled that the Sena leadership team led by Ramsey and Fevzi Oten will continue to steward the Sena brand." "By leveraging Targus' global infrastructure, Sena will be able to supply Apple consumers all over the world with beautiful, handcrafted leather mobile device cases designed and made by true artisans," said Ramsey Oten, president and CEO of Sena Cases. About Targus Celebrating its 30th anniversary this coming July, Targus invented the laptop case and continues to advance the mobile accessories category with innovative and relevant solutions for today's mobile lifestyle. Targus products enhance productivity, connectivity and security, liberating users to work in any and all environments with the utmost convenience and comfort. Founded in 1983, Targus headquarters are located in Anaheim, Calif., with offices worldwide and distribution agreements in more than 100 countries. For more information on Targus visit targus.com. About Sena Sena Cases™ is a leading designer and manufacturer of slim, functional, protective and luxurious genuine leather cases for today's most popular mobile devices.
Targus Ultralife accessories for Ultrabooks turn their noses up at lesser, non-ultrafied PC peripherals
If sales figures from earlier in the year are any indication, it would seem that Ultrabooks are gaining traction, so you can't really blame accessory makers for wanting to piggyback on their success. Targus just introduced a bunch of slim, lightweight peripherals, and while you don't have to use them with your skinny little ultraportable, the company's marketing team really hopes you do. All told, the Ultralife line includes almost a dozen items, all of which have the same anodized bronze aluminum design and peekhole accent (looks like you're out of luck if your laptop skews more gray). Included in the group are a 65W adapter ($70) and a $40 hub with three USB sockets and an Ethernet jack, the idea being that most Ultrabooks don't have a wired internet connection built in. Also on tap: a polishing cloth ($10), a stylus with a magnetic holder ($20) and a slew of cases and sleeves, ranging in price from $40 to $80 (the MSRP varies depending on the material, and whether you buy it in a 13.3- or 14-inch size). Finally, the company announced a trio of wireless mice, including a plain-Jane model ($50), one with a microSD reader ($60) and one that doubles as as presenter ($90). All of these are available now, if the heavy, pedestrian mouse and USB hub you currently own just won't do.
DisplayLink shows off adapters and docks from HP, Lenovo, EVGA and Targus at IDF 2012
With the proliferation of Ultrabooks, laptops are shipping with fewer ports and smaller screens. One of the benficiaries of the streamlined designs is DisplayLink, whose technology can turn a single USB port into a bevy of connections. At IDF 2012, the company showed off new gear from several vendors, including EVGA, HP, Lenovo and Targus. First, there's a handsome little puck from EVGA, called the UV Plus+39, that plugs into your laptop's USB 2 or 3.0 socket to grant you HDMI and DVI output at up to 2048 x 1152 resolution for $85. Next up, Lenovo's self-explanatory USB 3.0 to DVI adapter that supports the same max resolution as the Plus+39 for $80. Lastly, a pair of docks from Targus and HP. HP's 3005pr USB 3.0 Port Replicator turns your laptop's USB 3.0 port into four USB 2.0, two USB 3.0, one HDMI, DisplayPort, and RJ-45 jacks, plus audio in and out connections for a mere $150. Targus' $250 USB 3.0 SuperSpeed Dual Video Docking Station has similar connectivity to HP's solution, but swaps DisplayPort for DVI and adds the ability to charge 90W laptops using its included array of power adapters. Having trouble deciding which one's for you? Perhaps our photos in the gallery below will help you decide.%Gallery-165490% Myriam Joire contributed to this report.
Targus Plug-N-Power Charging Station keeps peace in the family
In many homes with multiple iOS devices, charging up those iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches can turn into a battle for dominance over a wall socket. Targus is now selling the Plug-N-Power Charging Station (US$29.99) to keep the peace in your household and ensure that all of your gadgets are fully charged up every day. Instead of requiring you to replace a wall socket like the Newer Technology Power2U AC/USB Wall Outlet, the Plug-N-Power simply plugs into a standard US double-socket AC adapter and provides two high-power USB ports and three AC plugs. Those three regular AC outlets are surge protected, keeping your electronics or kitchen appliances safe from the occasional nearby lightning strike. In our household, the Plug-N-Power has become a quick favorite, as it allows my wife and I to charge up all of our gear -- two iPads and two iPhones, and still leave an outlet open for something else we might need to plug in. The Plug-N-Power surge protectors provide 540 joules of protection for the three AC outlets, and the USB plugs put out a full 2.1 Amps of current for rapid charging of your iPad. There's a green LED that lights up to let you know when the AC outlets are protected. The USB ports can pump out 15 watts of power. Sure, it's not the most exciting iOS accessory on the market, but it's certainly a useful one. Check out the official Targus video below.
Targus welcomes the next-generation iPad with seven new cases
Accessory manufacturer Targus wasted no time in announcing a line of seven new cases specifically for the new iPad. The cases appear in two separate lines -- the "Slim and Elegant Cases" and the "Higher Utility Cases." Slim and Elegant Cases Three of the new Targus cases fall under the Slim and Elegant line. The Simply Basic Cover (US$29.99, at right) encases the iPad in a very slim design, features a magnetic on/off feature and a soft cover lining to protect the screen. The Simply Basic Cover is available in graphite black, charcoal gray, orange peel, and indigo blue. If you plan on using an Apple Smart Cover with your new iPad, the Vucomplete ($39.99, below) might be the perfect way to protect the back of your device. It snaps on the back of your iPad, and comes in basic graphite black. The last case in this line is the Slim Case ($49.99, below), which works as a stand and case. Equipped with the magnetic on/off feature, the Slim Case is available in calypso pink, indigo blue, bittersweet red, bone white, charcoal gray and graphite black. Higher Utility Cases While the Slim and Elegant Cases are designed to provide the maximum amount of protection with a minimum of bulk and weight, the Higher Utility Cases are perfect for iPad owners who want more than just protection. The Vuscape ($44.99, below) case provides a number of different viewing conditions, magnetic on/off, a water-resistant outside cover and soft lining, and storage for a stylus. It's available in graphite black, bone white, charcoal gray, and calypso pink. Perhaps one of the classiest of the designs introduced today is the Business Folio and Stand ($49.99). Available in black and charcoal gray, this folio-style case provides storage for a stylus or pen, business cards, and ID as well as the iPad. There's also space for a notepad if you decide writing on your iPad isn't fun enough, and Targus throws in a CleanVu cleaning pad to get those finger smears off of your screen. The Versavu Case ($59.99) has been around for a while, but has been updated for the newest member of the iPad line. The Versavu comes with a 360-degree rotating mechanism for viewing the iPad in four different viewing angles. There's storage for a stylus, and it comes in graphite black and charcoal gray. If those two colors don't rock your boat, Targus also makes the case in two color combos: bone white and charcoal gray, and calypso pink and charcoal gray. This case also comes in a Bluetooth keyboard version, unsurprisingly called the Versavu Keyboard Case ($99.99). All of these Targus cases are available immediately at Targus.com and a number of online and traditional retailers.
Targus collabs with iDevices to create iNotebook, transcribes your scribbles for $150
What happens when a computer accessory manufacturer and a Bluetooth-savvy app developer team up? iNotebook, that's what. Targus has been working with iDevices to create the aforementioned writing recognition app / pen combo for the iPad. Making use of a rechargeable Bluetooth receiver, the pair utilizes a special pen to transfer the slate owner's haiku from paper directly to their mobile device. So long as you mind the 9.5-inch x 7.5-inch notepad size restriction, you shouldn't have any trouble getting that grocery list transferred quickly. Available in June, the only question is if you'll drop $149.99 on this bad boy. Even though an iPad case is included, we might have to pass.
Crapgadget: 'it seemed like a good idea at the time' edition
We're sure that most inventors out there are genuinely looking to make the world a better place, but the best intentions don't always produce the best inventions, and while the following gadgets will all likely appeal to someone, somewhere, we can't exactly recommend, say, an ear-shaped iPhone case or a $300 toothpaste squeezer. But as the saying goes, "one man's crapgadget is another man's treasure." Read - It's like a beanbag chair for your iPad! For your lap! Read - At $300, this toothpaste tube squeezer should pay for itself exactly one day before the sun burns out. Read - How is this iPhone case different than all other iPhone cases? Simple: it makes it look like you've contracted some sort of engorged ear disease. Never get bothered during important phone calls again! Read - It's a battery charger! For the ladies!%Poll-69353%
Targus to release new WiFi PAN-equipped Laser Mouse this September, flips Bluetooth the bird
Back in 2008, Ozmo Devices paired up with Intel to get its WiFi PAN (WiFi Personal Area Network) tech into low-power devices. Fast-forward to a few years later, tack on a new partnership with Targus and get ready for the first of those Bluetooth-less peripherals to hit the market. The company's new accessory teammate is planning to rollout a line of WiFi Laser mice that incorporate the OZMO2000 chip, with the first mouse to hit sometime this September. The unreleased AMW58US model will connect directly to your computer's WiFi receiver and packs a four-way scroll wheel, laser sensor and compatibility for Windows 7 -- batteries included. There's no pre-order page available at the moment, so you'll just have to sit tight and wait it out. Official PR awaits you after the break.
iPad 2 case and stand roundup
Last year at the launch of the iPad, there were very few accessories available. Sure, you could pick up an Apple Case for the iPad, and I think there were a handful of third-party cases, but the variety wasn't exactly overwhelming. After the wildly successful first year of the iPad, everyone in the accessory business is going out of their way to make sure you have a choice of goodies at launch or shortly thereafter. In this article, I'll tell you about some of the cases and stands we've heard about so far. Targus 360° Rotating Stand / Case for iPad 2 This is the first iPad 2-specific product that I've actually received, and it's a beauty. The Targus 360° Rotating Stand / Case (US$59.99) features a unique design with a 360° swivel that allows the iPad 2 to be displayed in portrait or landscape orientations. Unlike other swiveling stands and cases, the Targus 360° is remarkably thin. The center of the swivel mechanism is open so that the Apple logo is clearly visible, there's a soft velour lining to gently caress your iPad 2 screen, and the exterior is a very attractive black faux leather. To hold the case closed while in transit, there's a wide elastic band similar to that used on Moleskine notebooks. The plastic "tray" that holds the iPad 2 has a hole in the proper spot for the rear-facing camera, although the device has to be swiveled into portrait mode for the camera to be able to "see." You can buy one now through Amazon, and Best Buy stores will have the cases available on March 11. Targus will also have the thin Protective TPU Skin for iPad 2 ($29.99) and Vuscape Cover and Stand ($39.99) available to protect that new iPad 2. Click the read more link to see more upcoming iPad 2 products.
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.
More great iPad cases from Targus
Now that the iPad has been on the market for three months, many vendors are coming to market with protection for the device. We've seen everything from hard shell cases to expensive leather sleeves, and even cases that kill germs (link to last post about iSkin case). When many people think about Apple accessories, they think of Targus, a company that has been in the business of making cases, keyboards, mice, and other accessory products for many years. Now Targus has come to market with four new cases for iPad that offer functionality, style, and color. The Z-Case, Truss, Targus Leather and Wallet Style cases are all available now at Targus dealers. The Z-case (US$54.99, see photo at right) comes in black, orange, and mustard and features a hard-shell body with a leather exterior. The soft interior liner contrasts with the exterior for an attractive look. For those of you who may still be waiting for an Apple iPad case, the Truss ($49.99, see photo below), is similar in functionality to the Apple case, but has a leather exterior in brown or black with a soft liner. Two more cases, the Targus Leather Sleeve ($49.99) and the Wallet Style Case ($54.99), also bring the class of leather to the lineup. The Sleeve comes only in black top-grain leather with a soft twill interior, while the Wallet Style Case comes in black and stylish red leather, and has a number of interior pockets for photos, cards, and notes. Targus was a bit late to the iPad case and sleeve party with these new models, but they'll certainly bring the typical Targus quality and functionality to the iPad accessory market.
Targus recalls half a million laptop power adapters due to burn hazard
Have a Targus laptop power adapter? Then you'll likely want to take notice, as the company has just issued a recall of more than half a million of its adapters, which are actually made by Comarco Inc. The recall specifically affects the company's universal laptop power adapters with interchangeable tips, which can apparently overheat and pose a burn hazard to anyone that tries to unplug it -- there's been 518 reports of connector tips overheating so far, and eight incidents of consumers being burned. Anyone with one of the adapters is advised to stop using it immediately and get in touch with Comarco for a free replacement -- complete details are available at the source link below.
