While Apple has done amazing things with iPhone accessibility features, especially FaceTime and Siri, this prosthetic arm-as-smartphone really has to be seen to be believed.

Trevor Prideaux was born without a left arm, but that hasn’t stopped him from using his smartphone just like everyone else. Trevor, along with medical experts and communications engineers from Nokia, developed a custom prosthetic arm that doubles as a smartphone holder.

“I can now take calls and make texts just by using my one hand, while the phone sits inside my arm.” says Prideaux. “The phone slots smoothly and securely within my limb and is easily removable, when required. I think this would help a lot of people with prosthethic arms – especially those who were not born with the disability.”

It’s really pretty cool, and rather interesting to say the least. It’s great to see those with disabilities are still able to enjoy the full benefits of using a smartphone these days.

The only glaringly obvious problem? He’s using a Nokia C7 instead of an iPhone!

Source: The Telegraph

The first purchase you make after you get a new device should always be some sort of protection — ideally, a case that suits your needs in the best way possible. You paid good, hard-earned money for your iPhone, after all, and sometimes a simple rubber skin case or hard case will just not do. So what’s left? A nicely crafted holster case, and today I’m going to be taking a look at the Krusell Apollo leather case for iPhone and iPhone 3G. This case can be purchased directly from TiPb store for $34.95. For the full run down on this holster case read on after the break!

Design

When it comes to cases that nicely fit a businessman or businesswoman’s needs, Swedish case manufacturer Krusell is the one brand that pops into my mind. The previous Krusell case that I was able to review, the Krusell Hector, left me fairly impressed with their quality and design. The Krusell Apollo Leather Case was able to get that half right.

First thing to point out is the Krusell Apollo’s Multidapt feature that allows for you to have a few different wearing options. The Multidapt system is simply a fancy name for a swivel clip system that is completely removable from the case, reducing the size of the Apollo’s profile. If the swivel clip system is not your cup of tea, just remove it from the back of the case.

This case has been beautifully hand crafted and solidly put together with very soft genuine leather. The color is black on the outside with a very soft, silver interior. On the exterior of the case you will notice a magnetic flip-top closure, an off-white stitching, and a small Krusell badge. The stitching appears to be exact, with no stray threads or excess glue. There are some minor issues with the functionality, which I’ll get into a bit later, but overall the Apollo is a very well constructed case.

Daily Use

So far this has been a pretty positive review for the Krusell Apollo but it’s not all a bed of roses. Yes, the Multidapt feature is nice and convenient to have but if you do choose to use it be prepared to deal with a very bulky case. So bulky, in fact, that I could not use the Apollo as my daily driver. Now if you are the complete opposite of me and wouldn’t mind sacrificing a slimmer profile to wear the case on your hip, this case may suit you well.

Another worry I have is with the magnetic flip-top. It seems to be a pretty weak magnet and it doesn’t take much to flip open, which of course should be a major concern for anyone, especially if you are active person. So if you do purchase this case, be very wary of wearing it horizontally.

The vertical holster functionality, on the other hand, is suburb with the Multidapt clip. It will securely hold your phone tightly to your side via a belt or pants pocket.

This case also keeps your iPhone 3G very well protected. With some cases that you wear, you run the risk of bumping into something, whether it be the corner of a table or wall, that will severely scratch the iPhone itself or, worst case, crack screen. I’m happy to say with the Apollo those are things you need not worry about.

Conclusion

The Krusell Apollo Leather Case for iPhone 3G is a decent product, solidly built with fine materials. While its style will not win any awards, and personally I feel Krusell missed the mark with the Apollo, it is a way to protect your iPhone 3G while at the same time offering more than one way to carry it via the Multidapt clip.

Pros

• Built from high quality materials
• Multidapt clip allows for numerous ways to carry your iPhone 3G

Cons

• Way too bulky
• Magnetic flip-top seems very weak

TiPb Review Rating

The Speck SeeThru Case ($29.95) for the Apple iPhone is a hard plastic case that also comes with a belt holster. When I saw Speck at Macworld, I was impressed with their wide array of cases and also with their clip/stand system. After some time with their SeeThru case, I continue to be impressed.

Read on for the full review!

Design of the Case

The SeeThru comes in two colors – red and smoke. I naturally chose the red. To use it, You put the rear-cover on, then slide the front on the bottom until it goes over the lip of the rear side and then snap it on top. The “snap” at the top is very secure and there’s a convenient “divot” to get your fingernail in there if you want to remove the case.

The end result is that the entirety of the iPhone (minus screen, ports, and buttons, of course) is covered and protected. The “ridge” between the two halves of the case is non-obstrusive and designed to not grab every piece of pocket lint that it comes in contact with.

Being hard plastic, the SeeThru does a very good job protecting the iPhone from scratches, but it might not necessarily be ideal for drops, as hard plastic can be brittle. That said, I think the red looks great on the iPhone.

Of course, the iPhone won’t fit in the standard dock with this case on it.

Design of the Holster

The holster is actually quite clever. It comes with a relatively low profile, ratcheting belt clip. It rotates 360 degrees and feels very sturdy. The only knock on it that I’d like the spring on to be a bit stronger. It’s fine on a belt, but clipping it to my pocket (as I usually do with these holsters) felt a little dicey because of the weak spring. More on the clip in just a moment.

The holster is matte black plastic and is very sturdy – it’s just flexible enough to not feel brittle. The iPhone can go in face-in or face-out (an important detail), and is inserted by placing the bottom into the holster and then snapping it in beneath a tab at the top. It took quite a bit of force to yank the iPhone out without lifting the tab, so it shouldn’t be falling out of the thing. When you actually do want to remove it, it’s easy to do.

Of course, you should note that the holster won’t work without the case, as it’s designed to fit it. If you just want a holster on its own you can find several here.

Holster as Music Stand

The clever thing about the holster is that at the top of its ratcheting belt clip is a small tab. You can squeeze the clip open all the way and then lock it in place with that tab. When you do that, the belt clip becomes a desktop stand!

It will work both vertically and horizontally, but when you are using it horizontally be sure that you leave the clip in the “vertical” position, otherwise the whole thing will fall over.

Conclusion

The Speck SeeThru ($29.95) is a solid, quality case. I’m a fan of the case itself and I like the holster as a music stand. As a holster, though, it will only really work if you’re going to put it on a belt, otherwise the spring on the clip may not be strong enough to attach to, say, a purse strap or a pocket. Still, though, a worthwhile purchase if you’re in the market for this style of case and want a desktop stand to go with it.

Pros

• Stylish and protective case
• Holster works face-in and face-out
• Holster makes a good desktop stand for watching video

Cons

• Spring on belt clip is too weak

4 out of 5

The Marware Sidewinder iPhone Holster ($24.95) is a great holster just by the standards of regular holsters, but it offers a couple of neat tricks you won’t see elsewhere – hence the “sidewinder.” Read on for our full review – including a coupon good for 30% off on the Marware holster, good this week only.

Holster Design

Figures 2, 3, 4: Sidewinder on its own

If you’re looking for a good, straightfoward holster, you could do a lot worse than the Marware Sidewinder. It’s a black, hard plastic holster with a nice “soft touch” rubberized finish. When the iPhone is in-case, it has a clean look (well, usually, more on that below) which line up well with the iPhone. You can also use the case with the iPhone facing out (if you prefer to release the case from the belt clip but still the main part on the phone) or facing in (to protect the precious screen).

More importantly, it securely held the iPhone on my belt during testing, surviving a shake test, a bump test, and the ever-dangerous “get out of the car and let the case get caught on the seat-belt” test. On that last test – the toughest for any belt-case, I was pleased to find the case pulled me back towards the car instead of invisibly falling off.

There are other well-thought-out touches on the case. There are holes on the bottom for the microphone and the speaker. The case is also cut out on the back for the camera. Of course, what few buttons and switches the iPhone actually has are available and uncovered.

Like many iPhone cases these days, the Marware Sidewinder comes with a few extras beyond the holster itself – namely a screen protector and a spare microfiber cloth. Also in the box: a strongly-worded warning card telling you to always put the iPhone in the holster with the home button at the bottom. This is indeed good advice — despite the fact that the antenna is at the bottom. The clip that holds the iPhone in place at the top is rather sturdy (a good thing), which means that if you put the iPhone in upside-down it clicks over the connecting port, putting strain on it that could potentially damage your iPhone after repeated use.

Figure 5: Can you say eek?

Multidapt Clip

The Sidewinder comes with a standard two-part clip and button system. You can pull just the iPhone out of the case for use, or you can leave also the beltclip itself attached your belt and press a button to release the holster/iPhone combo. It’s a very sturdy clip and it “ratchets” 360 degrees, staying in position where you ratchet it. The bundled clip sticks out just a tad further than I prefer, but I don’t mind that too much as it means that, with the clip on, the case sits at just about the perfect angle for viewing videos on my desk.

Figures 6, 7: The Multidapt clip and the nice angle for tabletop viewing

The neat part, though, is that the clip is actually from the Krussel Multidapt clip system. This means you can actually:

1. Remove the button altogether
2. Replace the clip with another clip that you prefer.

The Multidapt system is great and I’m a huge fan of it: there are Spring Clips, Arm Bands, Car mounts, and more available for the system.

Sidewinder

The Sidewinder’s claim to fame is the slide-out headphone winder. It slides out on the left-side of the holster, which is actually very intelligent, as that’s “up” when you’re watching a movie on the iPhone.

Figures 8, 9: The “sidewinder” in the “Marware Sidewinder”

There are several slots on the slide-out winder designed to help wedge your headphones in so they’re not flopping around (or unwinding) as you go. In practice these slots work fairly well, though it does take a little creative wrapping sometimes to get the ends of the cables in the right spot to secure them. The end result is definitely better than having a tangled mess of cord in your pocket.

There’s also a third, large slot that was designed to hold a bluetooth headset. Actually, it appears to be designed to hold the Apple bluetooth headset, as several of my “old standby” bluetooth headsets weren’t able to fit into that slot. A nice idea, but it would be virtually impossible to implement it for every headset out there.

Figures 10, 11: Wound-up cords are good, but not necessarily pretty.

I am of two minds on this feature: One mind tells me that it’s incredibly convenient to always have my headphones on-hand. The other mind tells me that it looks silly and a little ugly to have a big old wound-up cord sticking out of the side of my iPhone. That “other mind” usually wins out and I go back to my default solution: using the Belkin TuneTie “dogbone” cord manager ($9.95).

Although the sidewinder feature isn’t for me, I could see other people really liking it – especially if you get the arm-band clip for the mulitidapt system. If nothing else, you can pretend the sidewinder isn’t even there, I suppose.

Conclusion

The Marware Sidewinder Holster isn’t quite my ideal holster – I find the clip sticks out too far and I ultimately wouldn’t use the sidewinder feature. However, that’s a personal issue and definitely not a knock on the case itself. If you like the a ratcheting, removable belt clip (or are interested in any of the other multidapt clips) and can imagine yourself using the sidewinder even 10% of the time, this is probably the holster for you.

Figure 12: Sidewinder with stock headphones and Apple bluetooth headset

Pros:

• Solid construction
• Nice rubberized finish
• Can face in or out
• Sidewinder good to have as an option
• Can get different clips for it

Cons:

• Standard ratchet-clip sticks out a bit further than I prefer
• Bluetooth headset holder only works with Apple headset

Overall: 4 of 5

Coupon:

The Marware Sidewinder Holster is $24.95 at the Phone different Store. However, if you purchase it this week (i.e. before October 2nd, 2007), you can get 30% off by using the coupon code SIDEWINDER when you check out.