If you're the clumsy sort you have absolutely no shortage of protective cases and coatings to shroud your pricey gadget in, but most are
ugly,
bulky, and
likely ineffective. The iBand from Tech21 isn't particularly attractive nor svelte, but after watching the video below there's little doubt about its effectiveness. It's made of a substance called d3o, which is a fancy orange non-Newtonian substance, starting out stretchy and gushy but, when put under pressure, hardening and protecting its precious contents. We've seen this stuff applied to high-impact applications like motorcycle armor, but we're glad to see gadgetry getting a little attention too. The video is a bit curious as it appears that the d3o is just applied around the edges of the case and yet the enclosed device survives a face-down landing, but it's an impressive demonstration nevertheless. Right now the £15 ($25) iBand is only available for the iPhone and iPod Touch, but future gadgets should receive the oobleck treatment soon.
posted Aug 31st 2009 7:51AM
This is nice, 1st, wish they would make it for other phones too.
Amazing demonstration!
Yeash, he called it an iTouch
Yeah definitely big pet peeve of mine as well--iPod Touch people!!!
Actually, its iPod touch. The touch is lowercase. That is a Pet Peeve of mine. :-)
So wheres the link to this product?
yeah, one problem though.. there's already a company called tech21. They make guitar/bass amps and speakers. They've been around a long time and are fairly popular. I know a few people who have their amps. Does this tech21 even have an website?
They need to make one of these for the htc magic.
I thought the same thing! I was like "Tech21? WTF?" LOL
Wow, really awesome stuff. I imagine there are a million applications where this type of material would be useful.
Physics lesson: HARDENING the case upone impact LESSENS the time/impact ratio, resulting in MORE damange than if the object were to become more "cushion-y."
It's still better than no case at all -- but trading in your normal silicon case for this is like removing the airbags from your car.
You're missing how it works. It's not immediately hard - the impact energy is transformed into making it harder, so the energy is absorbed in the case and is not transmitted to the device. BTW, this looks incredibly much like Aaron's Silly Putty (or something to that effect).
My question is does it work? Has anyone tried it out? can a shield go over the screen and back to protect scratches?
Before we all follow each other over the cliff like lemmings i have a few things to ponder over before considering purchasing this product that is the hyped up product of the moment:
1. read the comments on the apple UK website which has been selling this product (slowly) in the UK for the past few years.
http://store.apple.com/uk/search?find=tech+21&mco=ODQ3ODA2NA
A large majority of the positive reviews are highly suspicious as they over-promote the products - about 90% of all positive reviews are from UNregistered users (IE - HG or PF) with only initials rather than genuine registered users (IE - TY from New York) which has a town or location added to authenticate the user. NOTE THAT if you are UNregistered you cant purchase products from the apple site so this is highly suspicious. Worse still, look out for 2 separate 5* positive comments from a 'JR from Bushey' (where the heck is Bushey!) could this be the, er, CEO of Tech 21, Jason Roberts!!
In contrast, the negative views are all from apparent genuine registered users and this makes for much more interesting reading. A full list of problems as long as your arm are written about this product showing the design faults and you can guarantee that they are not written by anyone with a connection or interest in Tech 21 or its products!
2. The utube video on this link shows that even the CEO himself has to take the iband from his phone to use the mute switch, an obvious flaw in the design and contrary to the comments on their website that all buttons are accessible! See if for yourself, its approx 3m45s into the video.
Anyway, the utube link for this video is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4uMTZWh0Rc
Summary: the idea in principal look amazing, in reality some people on the apple forum are saying its a badly designed case that has been well promoted. Lets hope that Tech 21 manage to improve this design soon but in the meantime maybe wait fro your mate to buy one and check his out!
Dont forget the sucessful businessman's formula as follows:
an average product + great marketing hype + gullible public = big bucks!
Its always difficult when a product is first launched and there is sooo much hype to cut thorught to get to the actual usefulness of the product, add the nightmare of buying 'blind' online.
Therefore, if you want an insider look at the latest hyped up product - the tech 21 iband - then check out this MUST SEE review before you buy online . It will certainly help you make a quick decision
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjKZUiCh_ag