Thanks to gadgets like the Apple iPad, many new companies have been formed that provide complimentary products to go with these amazing gadgets.  There are a countless number of stands available for the iPad and the Mantis iPad Stand is one of them; created by U.K. based company flatscreen arms.

The Mantis iPad stand is an upscale stand for the tablet and is made out of Aluminum with a maintenance free anodized finish.  It looks very stylish and could be mistaken for a product made by Apple.

The Mantis stand securely grips the iPad in place with four arms/fingers and can be adjusted to various positions including landscape and portrait.  It fits both the iPad and iPad 2 and works with iPad smart covers.  The Mantis iPad stand is on the pricey side, it’s priced at £149.99 or about $232 US at today’s exchange rate.

Buy It: $232

Mantis iPad Stand Photo Gallery

Most tablets users would agree that although these devices are portable and convenient, they can only be used comfortably if you are seated at a desk or when you use something else to support it against. If you let it rest on your lap for a long time, you can develop strain in your neck, a burning sensation between your shoulder blades or even a lower back pain.

Now there is good news for those who are hooked to their tablets and electronic devices. A unique, convenient and inexpensive accessory, Rocketfish PadPivot, is available where you can relax and enjoy your favorite device in style, comfort, and privacy. Strapped to your thigh or placed on a flat surface, you can use your tablet or mobile device whether you are at home, office, school, on a plane, or a bus. The flexible ball and socket attachment allows you to raise the tablet and gives you a flexible pivot to which you can position the tablet so you can use your device most comfortably within your own privacy. The full-fledged accessory can be folded and easily stored in your back pack or pocket.

Rocketfish PadPivot is compatible with most digital readers and tablets with a flat back. It attaches to the back of your device via a stick on grip plate. Simply remove the protective dust cover from the grip plate and stick the accessory to the back of your tablet. After your session is over, remove PadPivot and replace the dust cover over the grip plate.  Periodically clean the grip plate by rinsing it under warm tap water. Do not use solvents or paper products.

When seen clasped to your thigh, it is pretty much guaranteed to raise curiosity and that someone may ask, ‘where did you get this?”. Rocketfish PadPivot is available at Best Buy for $39.95.

Growing up, late July and the entire month of August were my least favorite months of the year.  Sure, it was fun playing in the hot weather, going to the swimming pools, and all the other fun summer things you can think of.  But during those “end of summer” weeks, everywhere you went, there were ads for back to school, which took most of the fun out of the last few good weeks of summer.

Now a days there are awesome gadgets (that go on sale during back to school weeks) that make the transition from summer to school a lot easier and enjoyable.  Take, for example, this cool 3-ring binder ad-on/case for the Apple iPad 2, it makes me want to go back to school.  The binder accessory is called the iPad 2 BinderPad Pouch made by ZooGue, it clips neatly into any 3-ring binder making it part of your paper notes and keeping it away from prying eyes.  It is the perfect accessory for the hip student and with the ever increasing popularity of the iPad, it’s only a matter of time before paper books get replaced by their digital cousins but the BinderPad still gives you that “real” book feeling.

Buy it: $29.99

If you’re one of those people that enjoys the modern day gadgets but still long for the simple gadgets from the good old days then we have yet another cool gadget for you.  The Handmade Natural Wood Retro TV iPad Dock lets you turn your iPad into a cool looking retro-Television (which was the most popular gadget back in the day ) from the 50’s and 60’s.

The retro-wooden iPad dock not only looks cool but also functions as a dock/holder for your iPad when you need to use both your hands on the iPad or just to give your beloved iPad a rest.

These wooden docks are handmade and are made-to-order, so you can have it for the original Apple iPad or the iPad 2.  I’m sure they might be able to make these stands for other tablets as well.  The retro-TV wooden iPad docks are available at etsy for $60 each.

If you want a cool looking case for you iPad or iPhone, Incase is the go-to case company; they make cases that have modern, minimalist designs and the material they use is of very high quality.

Incase has just some new cases for the iPhone 4 that are either finished chrome or metallic colors.  The metallic cases come in dark grey, pink, and red colors while the chrome cases are finished in gold, silver, or black.  The cases are made out lightweight durable hard-shell materials and easily snap onto the back of the iPhone 4 and allow direct access to all of the phone’s features.

The cases are available at Incase online store for $34.95 each.

Centercode, the guys behind OnlineBeta.com, have just announced a new community: iPadBeta.com.

We’re pleased to announce iPadBeta.com, a new unique user community being offered by Centercode.  Unlike other communities we’ve announced in the past which use our software, iPadBeta.com is owned by Centercode and will act as a sister community to OnlineBeta.com, but focused specifically on the Apple mobile platform

Very similar to the OnlineBeta.com project, iPadBeta will allow users to sign up to test new iPad/iPhone/iTouch apps.  The site allows users to chat about the new product in forums, create problem reports and submit bug reports.

App developers will  have FREE access to a wealth of knowledge and, what I’m sure will be, a huge tester community.

App Developers are each given their own private projects which include bug and feature tracking, custom surveys, discussion forums, custom wikis, build distribution, tester participation monitoring, reporting, and much more.  iPadBeta.com will also recruit App Testers matching the Developers market; or they can invite their own friends and customers. Developers will also have access to market research materials on the App market, as well as the ability to request custom research.  These services are all offered at no cost, with no ads.

Head on over to iPadBeta and join in!

Well, it finally happened…  Way back in July, many speculated about a tablet coming from Apple, and now we get to see how close everyone came with their guesses.

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Am I disappointed?  Well … yes and no.  It’s cool, it’s really f-ing cool.  It’s almost exactly what I expected from Apple,  but it’s not exactly what I wanted.

[singlepic id=143 w=500 h= float=]I think it’s evident by many of the speculative renderings that some additional connectivity was expected.  We wanted, at the very least, a built in USB port.  I think the other thing everyone wanted was a full-blown version of OS-X and not the iPod Touch software running on a large screen.

Oh, and can I just mention the name….  Uhm.  iPad just sounds like a feminine product.  I don’t know why, since crunchpad sounds like a great name and doesn’t bring tampax to mind, but I can’t shake the image….

Anyway — I can’t wait to get my hands on one for a little real-word play.  Maybe it’ll be enough for me — at the very least, it’ll make a great little news-reader and e-book platform.

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