APPLE IPAD: Eco friendly iPad cases and iPad accessories

Guest post by Henrik Larsson

THE iPad is made from recyclable materials like aluminum and glass, and contains no arsenic, bromine, mercury or PVC. It consumes a measly 2.5 Watts an hour and the battery can be recycled and used for other purposes when it dies. Given all the effort Apple has made to bring out a gadget that's environmentally responsible, it would be a shame not to buy eco-friendly accessories to go with it. Here are a few ideas.

iPad Accessories: The TAPE iPad case (￡20 - roughly R220)

South African designer Ryan Frank and TAPE, an independent British record label, have joined forces to create an eco-friendly iPad case made from fabric-backed cork. Cork is recyclable and completely biodegradable. The cork used for the TAPE case is sourced from sustainable cork grown in Portugal. The handmade case is light and durable, and holds your iPad nice and tight.

iPad Accessories: The F23 iPad Sleeve (€65 - roughly R520)

There are an abundance of iPad cases on the market made from all sorts of recycled materials, including vintage clothes, reclaimed wet suits and recycled plastic bottles. One of the most original cases, produced by the Swiss company Freitag, is the F23 iPad Sleeve. This case is made from recycled truck tarpaulins. It has a velvety lining which cleans your iPad when you take it out of the sleeve and put it back in again.

iPad Accessories: The Treegloo iPad case ($35 - roughly R250)

Treegloo allows you to design your own iPad case. You can choose the colour and design for each component, from cover to liner, and you can get your own logo or special design put on the case. Made from locally sourced pine, animal-friendly faux leather and special adhesives that are safer for the environment, these handmade cases take 5-7 days to produce.

iPad Accessories: Lost Dog Slim Case Stand ($60, roughly R420)

The Lost Dog iPad case, by Bluetrek, is made from recycled – and recyclable – microfiber with a suede-like finish. This is wrapped around a plastic shell which keeps your iPad securely in place. The nice thing about this case is that the front flap does double duty as a stand when it's folded back. The Slim Case also comes with something that looks a like suede branding tag but is actually a microfiber screen cleaning pad which can be used to keep your iPad's display free of dust, smudges and oily fingerprints.

iPad Accessories: The Lap Log (From $40 - roughly R280)

The Lap Log is a nice alternative to the usual type of tablet stand. It's a 100% recyclable beanbag made from organic hemp or cotton fabric - filled with naturally grown buckwheat. It also has a salvaged wood insert to rest your iPad on. The beanbag weighs about half a kilo and is stable enough to use on almost any surface. The breathable organic materials used to make the beanbag ensure that it stays cool when it's on your lap. The Lap Log also makes a nice pillow.

iPad Accessories: The Woodtec docking station (From $98 - roughly R680)

Woodtec's unique log docking stations are handmade in New Paltz, New York, from local cedar trees. Not only does the docking station allow you to charge your iPad and sync with your computer and iTunes via a standard USB plug, it also adds the pleasant waft of cedar to your surroundings. The docking station is designed to work without an iPad case but you need to ensure the tablet is supported by the back of the dock to avoid putting too much pressure on the 30-pin connection when it's leaning back. Woodtec docking stations are compatible with all iPhone and iPod models, except for the Shuffle.

iPad Accessories: The Spark Tablet Case ($300 - roughly R2100)

If you feel like splashing out on a cutting-edge accessory, the Spark Tablet Case was launched in June. Produced by Voltaic, the company that brought us the Converter solar backpack, the Spark Tablet case has a solar panel and is made from recycled plastic bottles. It is lightweight, waterproof and UV-resistant. The waterproof solar panel generates roughly 8 Watts per hour, providing around an hour of iPad runtime for every hour in the sun. The case comes with a universal battery pack which holds nearly one full iPad charge and can be recharged in 8-9 hours of direct sunlight, or by using the included high power 2A USB port. The case weighs just under a kilo, has mesh pockets to store adapters and cables, and is big enough to hold the odd bit of paperwork and other iPad accessories.

• Henrik Larsson manages a project entitled Emoinstaller which enables users to add Facebook emoticons & Facebook smileys to their Facebook accounts.

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APPLE IPAD REVIEW: Hands-on, touch technology at its best

DIGITAL entertainment technology has a nasty habit of being released onto the market too soon — usually before it can be fully tested, optimised, fine-tuned and sold at a fair price. The Apple iPad, on the other hand, couldn’t have come soon enough, and is the perfect balance between a smartphone — such as the iPhone — and a netbook or MacBook. It is also one gadget being marketed at a very reasonable price.

We South Africans, however, may have to wait a little longer to get our eager hands on iPads and experience them for ourselves. Nonetheless, several bloggers and tech experts have been raving about the iPad since it’s unveiling on January 28; but not all of it has been positive.

Techsperts are arguing that the biggest downfall of the iPad is that it is trying to be the best at everything and failing to be the best at anything. It’s great if you already own a laptop and an iPhone, they say, but perhaps not so great as a stand-alone device.

I would argue differently, and propose that the iPad is perfect for people who own neither an iPhone nor a netbook — or any Apple product for that matter. For starters, you would only be paying for one gadget (it is the cheapest of the three), which is able to do what the netbook and iPhone can … even if not as well.

What is an Apple iPad?
The iPad is a tablet computer. It is a flat, magazine-sized device with a multi-touch screen that allows users to surf the web, watch video content, send emails and read online media and ebooks (electronic books), among other things.

The real technology lies in the high-resolution, multi-touch screen, which is essentially what the iPad is. It requires no input devices such as a keyboard and mouse; everything is performed with the touch or sweep of a finger. A virtual on-screen keyboard appears when wanting to type something such as an email.

The iPad really resembles a large iPhone, but does not have built-in phone capabilities. However, the iPad is not marketed as a phone and it is still possible to web chat and communicate using social media websites and services.

Apple iPad size and specs
The iPad is two centimetres thin and weighs just 0,7 kg. It features an accelerometre, compass, speaker, microphone, headphone jack, dock connector, 802.11n WiFi networking, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, 16/32/64GB of storage, and Apple’s brand new, super-fast A4 1GHz processor.

That’s one tight package with a lot of talent. Some iPad models will also feature 3G connectivity to cellphone networks. Battery life is said to be 10 hours during active use and one month during standby.

What does the iPad do?
Apple CEO Steve Jobs punted the iPad’s capabilities as an electronic reader of books, newspapers and magazines. In this way, it operates in a similar manner to the Amazon Kindle; one is able to browse and download ebooks onto the device to be read on the screen. This saw the birth of the iBooks application, which users can use to find, purchase, and download e-books from the iBook Store using their iPads.

Users can also download podcasts and vidcasts or buy music, TV shows, movies and applications from the built-in iTunes Store and App Store. All applications that currently work on the iPhone will run in an iPhone-sized window or in a maximized view on the iPad. Apple’s latest iPad model — the SDK — will allow developers to further customise applications for the larger screen size.

Apple iPad Apps
The iPad comes with several built-in applications, such as Safari, Mail, iCal, Address Book, Google Maps, YouTube, Photos, and Music (to name a few). All these applications (which already existed in the iPhone) have been redesigned and optimised for the large multi-touch iPad screen. Data can also be synchronised with a Mac or PC via USB cable.

Apple iPad features and shortfalls
Jobs showed off various features of the iPad during the unveiling ceremony, which include browsing the web, checking email, working with spreadsheets and charts, playing videogames, listening to music and watching video. That’s a lot to ask for in just one device, yet it still lacks a couple of important capabilities.

Some critics predicted the iPad would become the best-selling electronics device of 2010, while others pointed to its shortfalls, complaining that it has no built-in camera, cannot multi-task, can’t be used as a phone and doesn’t support Adobe Flash.

The lack of Flash support is possibly the major shortfall, as many websites today incorporate Flash for rich media content. Several news websites make use of Flash video and banners, which simply cannot be viewed or accessed using an iPad.

Apple iPad Pros
The iPhone has been hailed as a revolutionary device. Since its release, a huge library of thousands of applications has been developed and made available to iPhone users – for nominal fees, of course.

It is not incorrect to say that the iPhone acted as a sort of testing ground for new applications, as it was the only device that could make first and proper use of them. It is also not incorrect to state that many of the applications were borderline useless and often left iPhone users who had purchased the applications feeling a little ripped off.

The iPad, on the other hand, had the advantage of determining which iPhone applications were most successful and popular, and the best ones have been incorporated, with considerable upgrades to them.

What I would argue is the strongest selling point of the iPad from a consumer perspective is that it is simple and easy to use. Microsoft Surface showed how quickly all types of people can get to grips with hi-end technology by using natural hand gestures to operate it.

The iPad has no right or wrong way of being held — whatever is on the screen will rotate and orientate itself to how you hold it. Clicking on links, playing video content, resizing and zooming in on images, using Google Maps, playing games … is all done intuitively, using your fingers. It is hands-on technology at its best.

Apple iPad Cons

“The iPad isn’t the transformational device so many Apple enthusiasts were hoping for. It won’t turn all the content industries upside down, it won’t be your primary computing device and it’s not even a bigger, better iPhone.” — Mashable.

Without Flash support the iPad is unfortunately not the best web browser, which is what Apple is claiming it to be. However, it is still highly capable and can do a lot more than just web-browsing. It is not meant to be used as your primary computing device and it will not replace your cellphone.

Battery life, however, may be an issue. There seems to be a major focus on making gadgets as small and lightweight as physically possible these days, which can hamper functionality. The Apple iPad is just two centimetres thick. Battery life is said to be 10 hours. I would much prefer a thicker device with a larger battery if that means I can use it for longer.

Yet the iPad’s ease-of-use appeal and links to Apple’s online music, book and applications stores will make it an entertainment gadget that appeals to a broader group of people than previous attempts to market tablet computers.

Apple iPad Prices & Release Dates
Apple has said that the basic iPad would be available worldwide in late March at a starting price of $499 (roughly R4 000). A 32GB version will cost $599 and a 64GB version will cost $699.

All iPads can access the Internet using WiFi, but Apple will also be selling versions of the iPad that connect to high-speed 3G wireless networks. These will cost an additional $130 (roughly R1 000). It is important to note that the 3G versions will also require an Internet data plan.

If sales speak any truth
Steve Jobs said that due to iPods, iPhones, and MacBooks, Apple is the largest mobile devices business in the world today - generating more revenue than Sony, Samsung & Nokia. Add the iPad to that list and Apple seems unstoppable.

PS: I'm hoping to get my paws on an Apple iPad when they are released and write a proper, full review. Until then, watch this space ...

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