iPad, uPad, we all Pad for iPad

The New York Times has an article by Stephen Williams about new accessories for the iPad:

When Apple began selling the first iPods, millions of people were delighted with its ease of use. You’d pay for the songs you downloaded from iTunes, and what else would you need? The iPod owners soon bought millions of cases, speakers, and chargers.
When the iPhone arrived, millions of people signed up for the data plan, charged the battery, and started buying cases, docks, and better-quality earphones (not to mention apps).
No one was too surprised, then, that, when the iPad arrived last month, the ecosystem of accessories was already rapidly expanding. Because the iPad was designed with an exposed screen, and without a camera, separate keyboard, memory card slots, or USB ports, you could say it was built for accessories. Many owners will have an inclination to modify it in some way, whether for mere decoration or hard-core protection.
Some think it is patently obvious that the iPad is more susceptible to screen damage than a clamshell-case portable notebook. So let’s start there with this sampling of iPad add-ons:

ColcaSac’s iPad Sleeve ($35), made in Utah, looks as if it can take some abuse. It has a canvas outer cover and an inner sleeve lined with soft polyester fleece, so the whole thing looks like a small winter coat. It comes in red, black and floral prints. You will have to slide the iPad out of the sleeve to use it. But an outer pocket holds a charger or a Snickers bar. If you want something with less of the consignment shop look, the Vers wooden case-stand combo ($80) is a handsome binder for the iPad. Made from cherry, walnut or bamboo, it covers the entire iPad (except for the display). You’ll find scores of cases and sleeves in neoprene, canvas and leather. Incipio makes one of high-density silicone— in red, blue, or yellow— that fits tightly around the iPad. It has thick grips on the corners because it is made for gamers, but serious readers would also benefit from the extra lightweight padding. For $35, it comes with screen-protection film and a cleaning cloth.

If screen protection is your paramount concern, but you still want to show off the device’s naked beauty, Zagg makes clear film that covers the iPad. A sheet for the entire front screen costs $30 and full body coverage costs $10 more. Some users who have written to the company say the “invisibleShield” film also stops fingerprint smudges. How well does it work? The company produced a forty-second video in which employees drop keys and nails on the iPad screen and attack it with a hobbyist’s electric grinder. It shows the screen surviving.

There is no camera on the iPad, but for people who also have an iPhone, there is a solution. The Camera for iPad is a $1 app that installs on both devices. The iPhone uses the app to capture the picture on its camera, while the software on the iPad is used to view and manipulate it. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s a start. The images are transferred using the Bluetooth connectivity of both devices, but this limits the range to about thirty feet. If you want better pictures on the iPad, you can import them from a digital camera using the Apple Camera Connection add-on. Since there is no slot in the iPad to channel photos from a flash memory card, this $29 extra is important to have. The kit comes with two dongles, one to connect a USB cable from a camera and the other to import pictures from an SD memory card.

The iPad lacks a separate keyboard. It has an on-screen keyboard, but that’s hard on the fingers for anything longer than an email message. Apple sells a $69 docking keyboard, but here’s a way to save $69: pair your iPad’s Bluetooth circuitry to the wireless Bluetooth keyboards that Apple has been selling for a couple of years. You may very well have one that you’re using now with a Mac desktop computer. If you have no remote keyboard, consider spurning the stationary $69 dock, because the keyboard can’t be moved without moving the dock, and buy the company’s $29 dock stand and a $49 wireless keyboard. The extra freedom of movement is worth the $9.

Nearly a hundred years ago, Henry Ford said of his Model T that customers could have it in any color as long as it was black. Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, gives customers as much choice with the iPad: gray aluminum, take it or leave it. But a company named Colorware will paint the back plate any of 45 different colors, including several metallic and pearlescent finishes, for $400. The Apple logo can be painted in a contrasting color. You send them your device and they mail it back within three weeks. (The company also paints game machines, computers, and phones.) For another $250, the company will paint it any color on the Pantone color chart. Colorware will also sell you a new Wi-Fi-enabled iPad in a chosen color, with prices starting at $900 for the sixteen-gigabyte model.

For using an iPad on road trips, a car charger is indispensable. Kensington, which made its name selling iPod accessories, sells the PowerBolt Micro Car Charger for $25. The company says it puts out a bit of extra juice, 2.1 amps, to charge devices faster. The tiny plug-in charger comes with a detachable USB cable that works with iPhones and iPods as well.

Why do you need this final item, the $130 Joule “luxury stand”, when you can certainly lean the iPad up against a large box of Cheerios? To show off, of course, although the Joule’s heavy, machined base with rubber pads and adjustable tilting “foot” is certainly more stable than the cereal box. The maker of this accessory, Element Case, called the Joule “the first luxury stand available for iPad.” No argument there. It certainly looks elegant, in either polished silver or anodized black. The “nesting slot” is lined with velvet to further pamper your iPad, and the company will laser engrave it as well.

With Louis Vuitton designing an iPad sleeve for just under $400, luxury marketers have clearly embraced the iPad. But how well will the Vuitton case hold up against a power grinder?