With the barrage of smartphones releasing every month, the phone case manufacturing industry is thriving and constantly innovating. Manufacturers are trying different things to attract users ranging from battery packs on the case to solar-powered charging cases. There is no dearth of options.
Two manufacturers recently announced innovative cases that dare to think different. One of them is an established player in the accessories segment and the other is a fairly new entrant.
Logitech Case+
Modular smartphones may become a reality in the near future (read: Project Ara), but Logitech on Thursday introduced to the world a unique modular iPhone case – Case+. Logitech’s Case+ essentially acts as the system’s base and has an exposed back metal plate which works as a magnetic mounting point for accessory add-ons. There are four ‘+’ add-ons that are currently available.
The +Tilt add-on for the Logitech Case+ resembles an iPad Smart Cover and is offered in two different cover materials. It features a magnetic mounting system that attaches a connected iPhone to any metal surface. It can also be converted into a kickstand for viewing videos and headphones can be wrapped around the phone and locked in place in one of the tri-panel. The +Energy is an external battery pack that can be attached to the iPhone for charging it.
The +Drive is a standalone product which features a twist-to-lock suction cup base that can latch onto a windshield or dashboard. A universal adapter is also included for use with any other device. Finally, and as the name suggests, the +Wallet lets users carry credit cards, keys and cash on the back of their phone. The accessory manufacturer states that a ‘Magnashield’ technology will block the Case+ from demagnetizing cards with magnetic strips.
The Logitech Case+ iPhone case is expected to go on sale in the U.S. later this month for a hefty price tag of $200 (approximately Rs. 12,042) and will include all the ‘+’ accessories. We have no word on whether users will be able to purchase individual attachments separately later.
Lunecase
Lunecase is a kickstarter project of Concepter based out of Ukraine. This interesting iPhone cover uses LEDs to display notifications on the cover using the electromagnetic energy emitted by the phone.
The developers explain how the electromagnetic energy conversion works. ‘Electronic devices emit very small amounts of electromagnetic energy. The energy surrounds most technological products in our daily life. People have endeavoured to harness this energy and make it usable. We decided to transform the unused energy from the iPhone into a notification system on the back of the phone. Thus, we started to use the unused.’
The Lunecase does not have any internal battery and just needs to be snapped on for it to work. Also, it only works on GSM networks. The notifications do not identify the caller when someone calls or display any line of the text message, however.
Concepter has already reached its goal of $50,000 dollars on kickstarter and interested users can head to this page to back the project. We are intrigued by the tech on offer here and can’t wait for its fruition.
