Gizmodo Australia » protection

Speck SeeThru iPhone 3G Hard Case is its Own Movie-Viewing Stand

Kit Eaton — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:33:00 +0000

Speck’s See Thru Hard Shell case for the iPhone 3G is one of the few cases I’ve seen that makes me go “Oh, interesting” instead of “bah, nonsense.” Firstly because it’s simple, just snapping in two polycarbonate parts around the sides and rear of the phone, with rubberised grips so it doesn’t slip out of your mitts. Secondly, when you’ve snapped it in two, one half remains snugly on the phone while the other half acts as a stand, perfect for impromptu movie viewing. And that’s just neat. It’s in a variety of colours for US$30. [Product page via Slipperybrick]

Nanotubes Could Make For Bouncy Cellphones: I’m Talkin’ to You Butterfingers

Sean Fallon — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 22:20:00 +0000

Ah nanotubes. Is there anything you can’t almost possibly do? Well, now you can add bouncy mobile phones to the list because a team of Clemson University researchers have developed a way to make beds of tiny, shock-absorbing coiled carbon nanotubes which could be used to cushion objects from damaging impacts. They hope that these coiled nanotubes could be used in everything from body armour to mobile phones in the near future.

Coiled nanotubes are nothing new, but the real breakthrough for the Clemson team has come in the production process. The problem was that no one had developed a way to make these nanotubes in a substantial quantity at an reasonable price. Their new method can mass produce the nanotubes in a single step using proprietary hydrocarbon-catalyst mixture. After forming, these beds can be peeled off and slapped onto an object to create an instant layer of protection. As promising as all this sounds, it will have to be relegated to the “only time will tell” pile until actual products start rolling out. [Science Daily]

Waterproof Gadget Coating is Invisible, Mystifying, Mind Boggling Witchcraft

Adrian Covert — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:23:00 +0000

Golden Shellback is a coating that lets you spill, pour, or submerge your gadget in a liquid and have it survive. Golden Shellback says it will protect against oils, water-based liquids, synthetic fluids, dust and dirt. Tekzilla’s Patrick Norton shot a segment on Golden Shellback and has footage of mobile phones and CB radios functioning normally under a foot of water (Golden Shellback claimed the CB sat underwater for 455 consecutive hours).

Apparently, the coating is applied in a vacuum and covers both the inner and outer components of a gadget, which doesn’t conduct electricity. Golden Shellback hopes the protective coating will be available soon, and expect the service to cost between US$50-US$75 depending on the size of the gadget. But seeing is believing, so you should watch the video, which is borderline mindblowing. [Golden Shellback via Tekzilla via gCaptain]

US Army Selects Top Inventions That Can Take, Or Save, Your Life

Gizmodo US Edition — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 22:00:00 +0000

IEDs, or Improvised Explosive Devices, are a sad fact of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, so you’ll see the influence of these deadly weapons in this list of the US Army’s top inventions for 2007. Every year the Army selects the top refinements, outright new inventions, or streamlined weaponry, and pumps out a list. This year’s list features several new types of Humvee armour, GPS-guided artillery rounds, and a wheeled contraption for vehicles called SPARK (above), which sniffs out IEDs before they have a chance to do any damage.

Here is the XM982 Excalibur precision-guided artillery projectile. Soldiers are able to program map grid coordinates into an Excalibur round and use GPS to guide it to target with pinpoint accuracy.
The Objective Gunner Protection Kit (OGPK) is a motorised, rotating turret mounted on top of Humvees and MRAP vehicles. According to the Army it offers protection from IED fragmentation and small-arms fire, includes transparent armour, a sling for the gunner, and super handy rear-view mirrors.
The HMMWV Egress Assistance Trainer (that’s better known as “Humvee”) is a mockup of a Hummer’s cabin, and can be spun around to simulate an upended vehicle. Soldiers use this invention to practice disembarking from damaged or overturned vehicles before they’re deployed. [CNET]

Toyota Gosei Creates 360º Airbags, Plus One on the Front for Unlucky Pedestrians

Gizmodo US Edition — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:15:00 +0000

We’ve already seen a version of this: Autoliv’s hood airbag system, but Toyota Gosei (an offshoot of, no prizes for etc etc, Toyota) has gone one better. As well as protecting the pedestrian from being squished like a bug on a windscreen, it has airbags down the side of the car, both front and back, protecting passengers from injury in the event of a nasty shunt from every which way in the car.

The two cushions on the hood are supposed to protect the pedestrian’s head and waist. There’s no saying if and when Toyota will implement them in their vehicles. The system also includes an inbuilt radar and camera for pedestrian detecting, but my personal opinion is that too much “helping-hand” tech turns drivers into lobotomised eejits. If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. [FarEastGizmos via Technabob]

Clear Armor Brings Apache-Grade Scratch Protection to Your iPhone (But Will It Blend?)

Sean Fallon — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:00:00 +0000

Case-mate has announced the release of a “groundbreaking” new product designed to protect your iPhone, iPod touch, iPod classic (80GB and 160GB) or BlackBerry Curve from scratches using a military-grade Scotchgard film from 3M that was originally designed to protect Apache helicopter blades during Desert Storm. The film is also completely clear, so there are no bulky, ugly cases to contend with. But the real question here is: does it blend? Well, let’s find out:

Case-mate’s Clear Armor is available now for US$19.99. It may not have been released in time for the iPhone case Battlemodo, but look for a review soon. [case-mate]

Backstopp Destroys Your Data When Your Computer is Moved

Adam Frucci — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:41:58 +0000

Look, I know that you’re all about protecting your most sensitive of data, but a program that will destroy it if your computer is moved seems more likely to result in accidental deletion than actual protection. Sure, if you install it on a tower you’ll probably be OK unless someone moves it to clean or plug something in, but the first time your kid moves your laptop into the living room and erases all of your banking info from the last decade you’ll probably wish you had just chosen a really good password. [Pocket-Lint via New Launches]

SentrySafe Fireproof Waterproof USB HDD Housings Save Your Data (Not You) From Armageddon

Wilson Rothman — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 01:17:08 +0000

SentrySafe has made safes for 70 years, but now they’ve teamed with Seagate/Maxtor to make hard-drive housings that withstand up to 1550degrees Fahrenheit for a half hour, and “full” 24-hour water submersion. Some like the Fire-Safe/Waterproof 80GB and 160GB ($320) drives are freestanding units that house 2.5″ bus-powered drives in impervious containers. The other alternative is a full-blown $520 safe that has a USB pass-through for your bus-powered drive. A third option is a smaller filing box, the Data Storage Safe, which lets you keep DVDs and other small documents along with a small USB drive. [SentrySafe]

Phone Fingers Protect iPhone From Fingerprints, Have Obvious Sexual Uses

Addy Dugdale — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:05:34 +0000

We don’t know whether these phone fingers are real or not, but until the USB trouser press goes into production, these miniature, teatless, not-for-procreating-unless-you-lost-your-willy-in-a-freak-accident
-and-had-a-rodent-penis-transplant condoms are my favourite useless thing evah. What else do you think they should be used for, though?
Faked or not, I love the fact that the iPhone gets nicked at the end. Available in four sizes (that’ll be sceptical, disbelieving, gullible and John, then) you can buy a bag of 25 for $9.90. [YouTube and Phonefingers via MacMerc]

Mobile Phone Rubberized For Protection

Gizmodo US Edition — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 22:00:58 +0000

If you are anything like me, your cell phone takes a beating. If you’re not sitting on it, it’s getting scratched in your pocket, and if it’s not getting scratched you’re dropping it in the toilet. The SaY concept phone may not be able to withstand a good toilet dunking, but it’s rubberized exterior should be able to handle just about anything else you can throw at it. If the SaY was an actual product, it would also feature an angled keypad for better ergonomics, a 4-megapixel camera, and a pair of stereo speakers that are intentionally designed to resemble a dead cartoon character. A nice touch…I think.[Blue Map Design via Yanko]