SwitchEasy CapsuleRebel Hybrid Case for iPhone 4/4S both GSM and CDMA model iPhones.

The CapsuleRebel Switcheasy Hybrid iPhone 4/4S case does a great job protecting the iPhone. The CapsuleRebel consists of two preassembled layers for added protection.  It has an exoskeleton type frame made of a tough polycarbonate material which offers extra protection for the iPhone. The Capsule rebel Case is easy to put on unlike other cases that can be a struggle especially trying to remove. The Capsule rebel case includes a cleaning cloth a small stand that can be used as a video display to watch videos etc. it also includes headphone protector jacks that most cases don’t including two screen protectors.

The design of the Capsule Rebel is very sleek and nice. However do to the uneven design on the back of the case makes using the iPhone a bit difficult while trying to lay flat on a flat surface.

Despite the uneven design of the case it looks great and for the most part it protects the iPhone.  The backside of the iPhone is completely covered giving the iPhone that extra protection. The frontal side of the iPhone is protected as well. While using a screen protector you should be careful while putting on the case. Since the frontal side of the case is designed to have a custom mold fit it does peel away the screen protector causing it to peel off especially from the corners however this can avoided by carefully putting on the case. The Switcheasy Capsule Rebel case comes in many colors. Overall this is a great case that provides reliable protection with style. The design of the case is really nice and sleek. The Package includes extra things that help reduce cost of you purchasing separately especially screen protectors that can cost upward of $20.00.

The Switcheasy CapsuleRebel can be purchased for $29.99, link is at the bottom.  The case comes in several different colors for the iPhone 4/4s (both AT&T and CDMA models).

Buy the Switcheasy CapsuleRebel here.

Thanks,

Mitch Stevens

The PDO CarFM Transmitter is used for charging the iPhone/iPod including taking incoming and placing outgoing calls hands free while keeping your eyes on the road.  It uses the cars FM frequency to play over the cars speakers.  Many states are trying to come up with laws against using cellphone while driving.  Some have already passed laws against texting and driving.  It can be very distracting but it just sounds funny, I was given a citation for texting while driving.  Anyway, the PDO CarFM Transmitter can eliminate all the distractions of calling or texting on the cellphone.

The great part about using this product is while you are listening to your favorite tunes or taking incoming calls, it charges your device.  It includes a USB port in the front of the plug for charging an additional device.  So while you have the PDO plugged into your car’s AC outlet, it doesn’t occupy the outlet solely. You can still charge the wife’s phone or she can use the laptop while taking a long trip.

Features as they appear on PDO website:

• Listen to your iPod/iPhone music through your car stereo * CarFM can tune to any FM frequency between 88.1 and 107.9 MHz
• Four Quick Select FM frequencies of 88.1, 94.1, 100.1, and 106.1 MHz * CarFM charges your iPod/iPhone when plugged in
• For iPhone users, CarFM can serve as a hands-free talking device * USB socket can charge a second device through USB
• Silicone padding on the arms helps to securely grip your iPod/iPhone * Adjustable arms can hold iPods/iPhones, even with bulky cases

The PDO has a very extendable and Flexible neck for adjusting it to the perfect spot. There are a lot of similar products out in the market that we have seen however the PDO CarFM Transmitter is built so its cradle won’t sway back and forth while driving with your iPhone/iPod docked. The Flexible goose neck as I call it adjusts in multiple ways for you to adjust. The cradle also rotates so you can view your iPhone vertically including horizontally. The product itself is not bulky or oversized that it would take up room in the car it was manufactured accordingly compared to other similar items. It also can be used with most cases that don’t have a holster or belt clip attached to the back of the case while using the PDO CarFM Transmitter.  If you are interested in taking calls hands free or playing your music over the car speakers, this works flawlessly.  The PDO Car FM Transmitter can be purchased for around $54. Feel free to leave any comments below.

The PDO Car FM Transmitter can be viewed and purchased here.

Thanks,

Mitch Stevens

The iSkin Revo 4 is made from a hypoallergenic and washable silicone protector.  It includes a visor shield as a screen protector, which snaps on the back of the iphone 4/4S when not in use.  The iSkin Revo 4 provides shock, impact, and moisture protection.  The Revo 4 resembles the material uased for making bikini bra covers for automobiles.  It has a tight sleek fit to the iphone.

The iSkin Revo 4 offers great protection from keys and other items inside a pocket or purse.  The visor shield snaps over the screen, which completely protects the screen from any damage.  The Revo 4 protects the iphone from damage should it be dropped.  The iSkin helps absorb the shock of impact and eliminates damage to the iphone 4/4S.

I have been using the iSkin Revo 4 for about ten days.  Since I have been using this case I have received many compliments and other people enquiring about the design of the iSkin Revo 4.  The sleek, tight fit attracts many peoples interest.

I have had the opportunity of reviewing hundreds of iphone cases.  The iSkin Revo 4 is one of my favorite cases.  I like the idea of having complete protection from keys or other sharp objects while the iphone is in my pocket or backpack.  The visor shield completely protects the screen while carrying the iphone.  Giving complete peace of mind about my iphone 4S.

The iSkin Revo 4 is on sale currently for $38.24 can be purchased click here.  The case is currently on sale so get it while you can save big.  Feel free to leave any thoughts or comments below.

Thanks,

Mitch Stevens

Knowing that I would be taking notes using my iPad, I wondered whether I would need a keyboard. I had seen the Scosche and Kensington keyboards sold on iPhoneAccessories.com but before I made the investment, I wanted to give the iPad’s keyboard a try to see if perhaps I could do without. And if not, then which of the two would fit my needs best, a case that has a keyboard or just an external keyboard? Don’t get me wrong; I love having all the cool accessories. I have at least two of everything. I just didn’t want to have to pull out the keyboard every time I was in meeting or doing data collection.

Still, with the iPad, there is the issue of the auto correct. As magical as this function can be, there are times when it doesn’t recognize what I want to type. In a regular meeting, I have time to go back and correct it, but when I’m doing data collection, like taking notes at an interview, this function can be really frustrating because I don’t have the time and luxury to correct it right there on the spot. For this reason, I wanted to see if the keyboard would in fact be necessary.

So I decided to do a test. I was about to start doing interviews with several members of an organization to ask them what their roles and responsibilities are and to get a sense of their scopes of work. I was going to conduct at least 6 interviews so I decided I would do three on the iPad and 3 on a regular laptop to simulate keyboard use. Here is what I found:

iPad without the full sized keyboard – Pros:
- Easier/lighter to carry
- Battery lasted longer (believe it or not!)
- Easier to send the notes via email when on the go (of course you need 3G for this)
- Less intimidating for the interviewee

Laptop (AKA full sized keyboard simulation) – Pros
- Accuracy: I am more used to typing on the keyboard so I made fewer mistakes
- Less time to clean up the notes and try to figure out what the auto correct function mistakenly “corrected”

Decision:
I’ve decided that since accuracy in my work is a necessity, I’m going to need an iPad keyboard. I decided to come to a compromise and get the Scosche external keyboard for use when I’m collecting data and need to type fast and accurately without the ability to go back (for example, during an interview). Then for regular work meetings, I can leave the iPad external keyboard in my iPad bag and simply type on the iPad’s internal keyboard.

If you’ve ever been asked to comment on or revise a PDF and you were not provided with the MS Word version of the document, this post is for you. As a project manager in my day job and an adjunct professor as my side gig, one of my primary tasks is to review, comment on, revise, and approve written work. I do this daily. Let’s just say me and Track Changes are best friends. I depend on an easy to use and versatile revision system that tracks my comments (and sometimes that of my colleagues simultaneously) and need the software to work with me when I want to insert a question, comment or suggestion for the author. PDFs don’t allow this kind of flexibility. All they allow are random sticky notes that you drop as close to what you are commenting on as possible. This doesn’t make for an efficient form of communication with the author.

Well, my life changed recently when a student of mine introduced me to a free iPad app called neu.Annotate. My students and I had been engaged in a casual conversation about personal preferences for reading course materials. All of my students in this particular class were working on their doctoral degrees so you can imagine many of them were set in their ways, having been in school settings for many many years, having already received their bachelors and masters degrees. One of my students argued it is wasteful for professors to produce course readers with tens of articles totaling hundreds of pages printed for each student. Instead, she exclaimed, “we should go paperless. Much of what we read is already available digitally, so why not take advantage of that?” Another student disagreed. She argued that she couldn’t handle reading articles on a computer screen and needed to write all over it, highlight important passages, scribble in the margins. I agreed with both students, saying I want to go paperless, but also need a way to write all over the documents, often PDFs. This is when a third student chimed in to offer an app for anyone who owns an iPad. Neu.Annotate has both a free and paid version for iPad users, although I am not sure what the added value is for the paid version (it doesn’t seem much different from the app description). With the free version of neu.Annotate, you can open documents sent to your iPad in a user-friendly app that allows you to highlight text with the swipe of your finger, add text in different colors either via a stylus or via a text box feature. You can also add images and free form drawings. Neu.Annotate also organizes all your annotated PDFs by allowing you to tag them.

Of course, as with anything, it’s not a perfect app. I’ve never quite perfected a clean writing in of text (it always looks a little sloppy) and the text box feature sometimes requires a few steps too many to be worth the effort, especially when you have more to write and only a small margin to write it in. For example, it takes a few extra steps to reduce the size of the text box to fit in the margins and often times you have to rotate the text to fit vertically. Nonetheless, if you own an iPad and, like me, need to review and comment on written work or want to read all your college/grad school reading in a paperless fashion, this is a must have app. My iPad and I are the envy of my colleagues. I show off my annotation abilities and have even emailed annotated PDFs back to the authors through my iPad. It’s a great way to get around the issue of not being able to use a word processor with its complex track changes capabilities. I’m certainly a fan and I thank my student on a daily basis for introducing me to this iPad app. Who says professors can’t learn from their students?

As we do on most weekends, we got called for an impromptu family gathering at my aunt’s house this past Sunday. After dinner had been served and our bellies had been filled, we moved on to dessert and more conversation, family connection. While eating cake I started talking to my high school aged cousin. We both had our iPhones out, she getting text after text from friends, me checking work email as I was waiting for an important email from my colleague. Somehow we got on the topic of apps and she told me I “HAD” to download Temple Run because “its the iPhone game everyone is talking about.” Her cousin from the other side who had been working on homework on her Macbook, also periodically checking texts on her iPhone, chimed in “its the best game out there. You get hooked and its what all the kids are playing now.” Since, at the age of 32, I’m not one to be motivated by high school trends (I don’t think I was even when I was in high school), I asked if it is free. As you may recall from a previous post, I rarely pay for iPhone or iPad apps unless they are for my 2 year old son or for work productivity. Only after she told me it’s free did I ask her more about it. She immediately flipped her iPhone around, having started up the app already. She handed me her phone and said “try it.” The game had started: a man on a bridge coming out from under a tunnel. He was being chased by six or seven black furry monsters. My cousin told me to use my finger to jump and to swipe left or right at a turn. “Tilt the phone to get the coins” she exclaimed as I fumbled with her iPhone. I ran straight into the first tree, because I reacted too slowly and I was hooked. What is it about game apps that get our attention in the first 5 seconds? What motivates us to tilt our phones to collect fake coins and keep hitting “start over” when we hit the roots of the tree, get eaten by the black furry monsters, or simply fall into the murky dark water? Whatever it is is pretty powerful to get a 5 star overall rating and over 37,000 reviews from iPhone peers alike.

It’s the day after. I’m sitting in the doctor’s office now, working on my iPad, waiting for my name to be called. If you’d asked me before the age of the iPhone what bothers me the most about going to the doctor or the dentist, my response wouldn’t have been the discomfort and/or pain of whatever procedure awaited me; it would be that I would have to wait for LONG periods of time, first in the main waiting room, then in the cold, lonely exam room. But for the first time, I don’t want my name to be the next one called. I just need to reach my next goal: 100 coins. Yes, like the many high school students 20 years my junior, I too am hooked!

Apply coupon code “hpyhol” during checkout to save an extra additional 10% on already discounted iPhone, iPad 2 and iPod Touch accessories.

*No Longer Valid*

Not all the cases that were originally designed for the AT&T iPhone 4 will fit the new iPhone 4S. Dimensions of all iPhone 4 & iPhone 4S models, with the exception of the AT&T iPhone 4 model will be the same. The iPhone 4S is the exact same shape as the CDMA iPhone 4.

So any case out there that fits the iPhone 4 from Verizon will fit the iPhone 4S. Also, there is only one model of the iPhone 4S so cases will fit all carriers.

I will make some updates as we start adding more accessories specifically for the iPhone 4S and as soon as we get our hands on an iPhone 4S.

Disclaimer:  Please note that the above information is based on the best of our knoweldge and is in no way demonstrative of Apple’s suggestions or recommendations.