Twelve South Surface Pad iPhone Case: Sticks to Your Phone, No Joke!

iPhone cases are necessary in order to ensure that your precious iPhone doesn’t all scratched up. I’ve had a couple of friends who weren’t using any cases end up with a completely scratched up iPhone. While Twelve South’s earlier BookBook case had an interesting look to it – it was a bit thick for practical use. This new iPhone case from Twelve South is called the Surface Pad, and it’s much thinner than the BookBook case.

surfacepad iphone case

It’s made from Napa leather, and it’s lightweight and just 1.7mm thick, meaning that it will easily fit into most pockets without bulking up your phone.

surfacepad iphone case side

The Surface Pad is supposed to stick to your iPhone thanks to a removable  reusable adhesive substance, and it’s supposed to wrap around your iPhone, protecting both the front and the back.

twelve south surface pad iphone case colors

The case can also be used as a stand in landscape mode, which is also a handy feature. The SurfacePad sells for $34.99(USD) from Twelve South, and is available now.

twelve south surface pad iphone case strap

Archos Ultrathin Keyboard for iPad: Barely Thicker than the Smart Cover

One of the coolest things about the newer iPad models is the Smart Cover that turns the tablet on and off when you open or close the cover. There also have been a number of iPad Bluetooth keyboards, but most of them add significant bulk to Apple’s slim tablet. Archos has just unveiled a keyboard for the iPad, which they claim is the world’s thinnest, and functions like the Smart Cover too.

archos bluetooth keyboard 1

The keyboard is, appropriately enough, called the Ultrathin Keyboard for iPad, and is a scant 5mm thick. The keyboard also weighs 240 g making it roughly half a pound. Archos says that the aluminum-backed white keyboard is the thinnest and lightest iPad keyboard available, noting that it’s almost as thin as the Smart Cover itself when attached to the iPad. With the keyboard fitted to the iPad, the tablet weighs 1.9 pounds and is 13.4 mm thick, working out to a bit over half an inch.

archos bluetooth keyboard 2

The keyboard has a stand that allows you to prop the tablet at various angles for typing comfort, and locks your tablet into place using the same magnetic method as the Smart Cover. The keyboard will also turn the iPad screen on and off when you open or close it. The QWERTY keyboard also has shortcut keys for iOS functions and connects to the tablet using Bluetooth.

archos bluetooth keyboard 3

Archos expects to ship the Ultrathin Bluetooth iPad keyboard this March for a retail price of $79(USD).

CST-01: The World’s Thinnest Watch

One of the things you may not expect to see at CES is wristwatches. Despite that fact, it’s not uncommon for companies to show up with geeky timepieces claiming to be the “world’s first” or “world’s most” this or that. This year a company called Central Standard Timing has unveiled what it claims to be the world’s thinnest watch called the CST-01 (The CST stands for “Central Standard Timing“.)

cst 01

The CST-01 watch is only 0.80mm thick. That means it’s thinner than a credit card. It uses E Ink electronic paper display to help achieve this feat. The patent-pending design is assembled by laminating the flexible watch components into a 0.5mm deep pocket etched into a single piece of flexible stainless steel. That flexible piece of stainless steel holds the display and acts as the watch bracelet.

cst 01 watch 2

Power for the watch comes from an embedded Thinergy Micro-Energy Cell that promises to charge the watch in just 10 minutes using an external dock. Thanks to the energy efficiency of the E Ink display, that charge is enough to power the watch for an entire month. One other unique feature is that you actually set the time on the base station, which cuts down on the need for buttons or a touchscreen on the watch itself.

The makers of the CST-01 are currently raising funds for production on Kickstarter, and you can pre-order one before February 22 for $129(USD). The watch is expected to ship in Q2 of 2013.

Western Digital brings wafer thin 5mm hard drives to IDF, we go hands-on (video)

Western Digital brings wafer thin 5mm hard drives to IDF, we go hands-on video

We're a jaded bunch here at Engadget sometimes, and with most of us using SSD-based systems these days it's hard to get too excited about good old spinny disks. Still we're also suckers for impressive technology, so our interest was piqued when Western Digital announced its 5mm thin 2.5-inch hard drives the other day. Luckily, the company saw fit to bring samples of its skinny new WD Black hybrid drive and WD Blue HDD to IDF 2012 and let us handle both briefly. The verdict? These are impossibly thin -- perfect for all those nice Ultrabooks we're expecting to see hit the market in the next few months. Details on performance, availability and pricing are scarce since these drives are intended for OEMs. Take a look at our gallery below, which includes thickness comparisons with WD's upcoming 1TB 7mm thin HDD and a standard-sized loyalty card -- then peek past the break for our hands-on video.

Update: yes, the loyalty card was demagnetized in the making of this video, and you now owe us all coffee.

Continue reading Western Digital brings wafer thin 5mm hard drives to IDF, we go hands-on (video)

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Western Digital brings wafer thin 5mm hard drives to IDF, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Sep 2012 20:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NEC’s LaVie Z Ultrabook has definitely lost weight: just 875 grams and priced from $1,600 in Japan

NEC's LaVie Z Ultrabook has definitely lost weight just 875 grams and priced from $1,600 in Japan

No one complained when we reported NEC's initial claimed weight of 999 grams (2.2 pounds) for its LaVie Z Ultrabook, but it turns out that statistic is brutally unfair. The 13.3-inch laptop actually tips the scales at just 875 grams (1.9 pounds) thanks to the magnesium lithium alloy used in its 0.59-inch chassis -- not bad when you consider that there are still 1.3kg netbooks wandering the planet. Of course, in line with Intel's official Ultrabook spec, you're getting a minimum Core i5-3317U processor (yes, that's Ivy Bridge) and 128GB SSD, plus USB 3.0, SDXC slot, HDMI out and a claimed battery life of 8.1 hours. There's no word on US pricing yet, but that base spec will set you back ¥130,000 ($1,600) in Japan, while the top model with Core i7-3517U and 256GB SSD will add another ¥30,000 ($375) to your bill.

NEC's LaVie Z Ultrabook has definitely lost weight: just 875 grams and priced from $1,600 in Japan originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Jul 2012 10:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Credit Card Thin iPhone Emergency Battery Charger

credit card thin charger Credit Card Thin iPhone Emergency Battery Charger
It can be very useful to have a way to charge up your iPhone’s battery when you’re away from home and this Card Style Emergency Charger is one you can keep with you at all times because it’s credit card thin. Small enough to fit into your wallet at 7mm, it holds a 400mAh battery which can’t fully charge up your phone, but it can give you a healthy battery boost. An integrated Apple sync cable and USB cable means it doesn’t require any extra wires AND it can be used as a sync cable itself. To top it off it has a small LED flashlight too. Not bad for $12. (via gizmodo)

Credit Card Thin iPhone Emergency Battery Charger


Visualized: Second-gen Samsung Series 9 gets torn down to its ultra-slim components

Visualized: Second-gen Samsung Series 9 gets torn down to its ultra-slim components

Chances are you're no stranger to the Samsung Series 9 -- the first generation stood out for its slimness, and the most current version is an impressive 28 percent thinner. If you're wondering how those notebooks can be so dang skinny, your curiosity will be satisfied by Samsung's teardown of a 13-inch model. A thinner LCD and a customized main board contribute to the machine's slight profile, as do a 40 percent slimmer touchpad and a built-in lithium-polymer battery. As is so often the case, the pictures speak much louder than words, so hop over to Samsung's blog for a gander.

Visualized: Second-gen Samsung Series 9 gets torn down to its ultra-slim components originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 May 2012 04:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung intros ‘world’s thinnest’ external DVD writer, tries to convince you to pack it with your tablet

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Generally, a new optical disk drive is nothing to write home about, but how about one that's specifically purposed for tablets and Ultrabooks? That's the pitch Samsung is selling for its SE-218BB DVD / CD writer, which the company claims is the world's thinnest external ODD -- because what better to go with your svelte computing devices than more pluggable doohickeys? Cynicism aside, Samsung says this $60 add-on is just 14mm tall, "18 percent thinner than conventional DVD writers" and eight percent less weighty than its standard DVD ODD. The bus-powered unit connects via USB, and it'll work with Macs, PCs and devices running Android 3.1 and up. Oddly fascinated? The drive is currently on sale worldwide if you're willing carry it along with you. You'll find full details in the press release after the break.

Continue reading Samsung intros 'world's thinnest' external DVD writer, tries to convince you to pack it with your tablet

Samsung intros 'world's thinnest' external DVD writer, tries to convince you to pack it with your tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oppo teases 6.65mm-thick smartphone, about to steal ‘world’s thinnest’ title from Huawei

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China-based Poop Oppo is back again with yet another smartphone, only this time there's no pretty girl teasing Mr. DiCaprio. Instead, what we have here is an exclusive leak that shows off a 6.65mm-thick device -- just 0.03mm thinner than the Ascend P1 S from local rival Huawei. In other words, if all goes well then Oppo will have us the world's slimmest smartphone. Details are scarce at the moment, but judging by the above picture this phone will come with a metallic bezel of some sort, along with three capacitive buttons and a three-pin contact for dock connection. Obviously, stay tuned for more deets.

Oppo teases 6.65mm-thick smartphone, about to steal 'world's thinnest' title from Huawei originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Apr 2012 00:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows 7 already coming in 2009?


TGDaily reports that they have information that Microsoft is moving up the release date of the Windows Vista successor into the second half of 2009. If this is true, Vista would be pretty short...