cases

TAIPEI, Taiwan--We stumbled upon YoungYear Electronics' new fanless PC case made of mesh here at Computex and did a double take. Instead of being fully enclosed, with fan ports for proper airflow, the Green Mesh Computer Case does away with all that in favor of an open-air approach. It looks nothing like your usual PC chassis.

That's right. There's nothing to stop the dust from accumulating inside the case, not even a filter. But according to the Taiwanese manufacturer of power supply units (PSUs), this open-air design is actually the reason dust will not magically accumulate inside the case. In fact, the company claims it will have three to four times less dust than a normal PC tower. … Read more

At the E3 Expo yesterday, accessory maker PowerA announced a new line of officially licensed Star Wars iPhone cases.

Now, depending on your age, your overall level of geekiness, and the chronology of your initial exposure to "Star Wars," this will probably prompt one of the following reactions:

1. "Ohmigod-ohmigod-ohmigod!"

2. "Cool! On second thought, which 'Star Wars' are we talking about: prequels or original?"

3. "Sorry, but I'm so disgusted with George Lucas that I no longer consider myself a fan."

I must admit I'm in the third category. … Read more

If you've shopped around for a case for your PlayStation Vita, you probably know that they can get pretty pricey. In fact, I recently wrote about WaterField Designs' Vita cases, which are sweet but retail for upward of $50.

Shifting gears, I decided to go the budget route and checked out Monoprice's $5.28 Brushed Aluminum Clamshell case in silver (alas, that price doesn't include shipping, which brings the total up to $7.82).

The verdict? … Read more

Think of Mophie's new Juice Pack Pro as an Otterbox case that's packing a 2,500 mAh battery that more than doubles the battery life of your iPhone 4 or 4S.

Mophie would probably argue that the Juice Pack Pro is actually tougher than an Otterbox case. It's touting its first ruggedized battery pack case as exceeding military specification MIL-STD 810G, which is pretty tough.

That said, the case is water-resistant but not totally waterproof (it can't go underwater). It has a built-in screen protector and comes with a rotating belt clip. According to Mophie, that … Read more

The sun is busy powering all sort of devices these days. There's a solar plane, a solar keyboard, and a solar Apple data center. Solar iPad and iPhone cases have been around, but they often require a fair amount of sunshine to make them work well.

The KudoCase from Kudo is taking a slightly different approach. As far as the KudoCase is concerned, sunlight is nice, but indoor light will do just fine.

Kudo claims that your iPad can go 10 days, with 2 hours of iPad use per day with average light. That's all a little vague, but it's also plenty intriguing. I usually plug my iPad in for a recharge every two days. It would be nice to extend that time a bit.… Read more

I had the opportunity to check out the Trygger iPhone Camera Case for iPhone 4/4S firsthand a couple weeks ago in Portland, Ore. Its co-creator, Joel Kamerman, and I sat down to test the prototype and I was immediately blown away.

As a fashion photographer in my spare time, the benefit of having the Trygger case secured to my iPhone was easily apparent. With a solid and sturdy case structure that maintained a slim feel to my iPhone, the Trygger case adds great functionality without the bulk. … Read more

Otterbox has a teaser video out for a new iPhone 4/4S case that it says is the toughest case the company's ever made.

Set to ship June 24, the Armor Series case is dust proof, drop proof, waterproof, and apparently crush proof. No word on how much it will cost, but I'd been hoping Otterbox would have something new that offered increased protection while hopefully not adding any bulk.

Otterbox has been one of the big smartphone accessory success stories but it has faced increased competition from upstarts like Lifeproof that have put out more durable, slimmer … Read more

Moshi's Concerti case for Apple's new iPad and iPad 2 is a popular item in CNET's San Francisco office, where it was passed around, lived with, and fought over at least once.

The $55 fold-over case has many charms, including a soft microfiber material and the ability to trigger the iPad's sleep/wake mode. The case keeps a strong grip on the iPad with a silicone sleeve, and has an elastic band to keep it more tightly bundled still.

The Concerti also has a couple of quirks that you can read all about in my full Moshi Concerti review.… Read more

Otterbox has built a booming business out of its ultraprotective iPhone cases but today has a lot more competition -- and it's only getting fiercer.

Case in point: iSkin's just-announced Fuze case, which also comes in a special-edition model, the Fuze SE. What's nice about these is that they offer solid protection in a relatively low-profile case.

While they don't offer the same level of protection as the $80 Lifeproof case, which is waterproof and features an integrated screen cover, the overall concept and design are somewhat similar.

iSkin says the new Fuze cases took months … Read more