iLounge

First Looks

Welcome to our new, continuously-updated First Looks - a collection of previews showing brand new iPod, iPhone and iPad accessories that we’re currently in the process of testing. Here’s what’s hot right now:

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Company: Incase

Website: www.GoIncase.com

Model: Slider Case

Price: $35

Compatible: iPhone 4

Incase Slider Case for iPhone 4

As the latest version of the company's iconic, texture- and color-shifting series of Slider Cases, Incase's Slider Case for iPhone 4 ($35) is a hard plastic shell with padding on the inside and a slide-off bottom piece for added compatibility with Dock Connector accessories. Minimalist with barely adorned back and side surfaces, the version here has a matte black soft touch rubber coating, but metallic versions are about to be released, and if history repeats, there will be plenty of other variations to choose from over the iPhone 4's life cycle. Incase includes a clear plastic video stand in the package; Slider Case doesn't come with or do especially well with protective screen film.

Company: Element Case

Website: www.Elementcase.com

Model: Vapor

Price: $80-$100

Compatible: iPhone 4

Element Case Vapor for iPhone 4

Conceptually, Element Case's Vapor for iPhone 4 ($80-$100) might strike some people as a good idea, and this machined aluminum version of Apple's Bumper case is indeed attractive: it adds an additional metal frame to the outer edge of the iPhone 4, initially in either an all-black color scheme or in black and pink -- red, yellow, and silver variations are planned for future release. (The samples shown here are all gunmetal and black/orange versions that are apparently not actually being offered for sale.) But despite some cool touches, such as a right side grip groove, the option of custom laser engraving, and a built-in metal Sleep/Wake button, the design is seriously impractical. Small, recessed headphone port and Dock Connector holes make non-Apple accessory incompatibility a given, four teensy-tiny screws and a mini wrench need to be used to open and shut the case, and the carbon fiber back panel -- a $20 add-on above the $80 base price -- is supposed to be attached to your iPhone 4 with adhesive rather than fitting inside Vapor's frame. Antenna signal strength is a bit of a question mark, too: the frame has several small foam pads inside, but we noticed our iPhone 4 initially exhibiting death grip-like bar loss when it was inside Vapor, then seemingly bouncing back. You can decide whether the fashion benefits outweigh the accessory and other design issues, but for us, the answer's a strong no.

Updated: Almost immediately following our original First Look, Element Case sent over a revised version of Vapor that it claimed “will serve to improve overall signal levels rather than impact them.” It’s the version in black and red shown here, oddly with a cut-out for the iPhone 4’s SIM card tray now in one side. Unfortunately, just like the original version, signal strength dropped when we put Vapor on, falling from the standard 2-3 bars we normally see down to 1-2.

Company: Eccentric Goods

Website: www.Eccentricgoods.com

Model: iPadValet

Price: $100

Compatible: iPad (2010)

Eccentric Goods iPadValet

Apologies in advance, Eccentric Goods, for what has to be said in honestly evaluating your new iPadValet ($100) stand for the iPad: for many reasons, this really isn't a good idea. Positively gargantuan and inefficiently designed by comparison with virtually every iPad stand we've previously looked at, iPadValet uses 1/4" thick aluminum to form what comes out of its large plastic carrying box as a set of long metal brackets, unfolding first into a crucifix and then -- after unscrewing three separate pieces and attaching them to different positions, a really big iPad stand. A hinge in the center of the stand enables you to tilt the iPad on different angles to get it upright. Unfortunately, the whole concept of mounting an iPad by grabbing its sides really isn't great, nor is iPadValet's padding design, which accommodates only unencased iPads. Having to pull pieces on and off with thumbscrews just to render this stand portable is inconvenient, too. Then there's the name, which Apple's legal department will torpedo soon after discovering this product's existence. Sorry, guys, but there are times when simpler solutions accomplish the same or better functionality at lower prices, and this is one of them -- we can't see this working as anything other than a way to install iPads in a gallery, and even then, insecurely.

Company: Vaja

Website: www.Vajacases.com

Model: Leather Agenda

Price: $280

Compatible: iPad (2010)

Vaja Leather Agenda for Apple iPad

The price will pop your eyes, but Vaja's Leather Agenda for Apple iPad ($280) is designed in typical Vaja fashion to impress fans of luxury leather products -- and in some ways, it does. Once again, you get the choice of two colors -- one for the bulk of the exterior, the other for the interior and a matching front stripe -- plus high-end leathers that are used to form a folio-style iPad holder with a front flap. Floater leather is used for the outside, while a finer-grained leather is found on the stripe and Vaja logo-embossed inner shell, with metal accents on both sides of the case. Novel to Agenda are two types of stands that prop the iPad up for video or keyboard use, alternative designs to the similar features found in Apple's official iPad Case and the more recent Vaja variation on it, Leather Agenda 2. The custom-manufactured case comes in a large version of Vaja's new colorful sliding box, which we first spotted on the iPhone 4 Black Series case.