This is a guest post – About the author: Jaime is a former Freeskier and US Ski Team member who enjoys writing in her spare time for www.USBundles.com – Home of CenturyLink Internet.
As usual, the holiday season has brought out the finest examples of the grand entrepreneurial spirit of inventiveness and accessorization. By that, of course, I mean crazy stuff for your cell phone.
Whether you’re trying to expand your smartphone’s limitless capabilities or merely expressing your own wacky individuality, here’s a selection of some of the most eye-opening accessories that you didn’t know you needed, until now.
And, as an added service to all the budding entrepreneurs and futurists out there, I’ve also added a “Next Step” — a glimpse of what this tells us about the future (as in, next holiday season).
- Vibroy Vibrating Speaker: anything can be a speaker in the wonderful world of Vibroy. Sure, the Vibroy’s frequency response and signal-to-noise ratio is an audiophile’s nightmare and you may find that it’s almost easier to locate an actual speaker than it is to find something that will sound good. But that’s beside the point; the real fun of the Vibroy is to make anything, anywhere into a speaker, and it does the job far better than you might expect.
Next step: Making one in stereo? But then you’d have to find TWO random things and chances are they wouldn’t be a matched pair. Maybe Bluetooth wireless Vibroys? But then they’d sound worse …
- Universal Toilet speaker (w/ USB, 3.5mm Cords & Red Plunger stand): at first, I was disappointed that this wasn’t a full-size working toilet speaker (but for that I have my Vibroy). Nope, this is merely an accurate scale model of a toilet, and although it works nicely as a speaker, it’s not fully functional (so it’s up to you to shoo away constipated gnomes). On the other hand, the plunger stand is really useful for propping up your smartphone, making this an ideal matched set for the toilet-themed mini home theater crowd.
Next step: Make the toilet fully functional. My gnomes are lining up already and boy are they stinky.
- Pico-projectors for phones: wireless HDMI is all very well, but you still need a TV or monitor to not plug it into. Just as the Vibroy turns everything into a speaker, pocket Pico Projectors such as AAXA’s turn everything into a screen (and just like the Vibroy, YRMV depending what you choose to use it on). It’s a useful shortcut for boardroom presentations, but a major boon for on-the-go entrepreneurs and marketers. Docomo’s Sharp SH-06C proves that the technology is already being integrated into the phone itself; for now, impromptu presenters will have to settle for carrying an extra little box with them.
The Next Step: Better image quality, obviously. But perhaps more tantalizing is the third dimension; 3D projectors are on the horizon, as well as the possibility of incorporating Wii/ Kinect-style accelerometer gestures to give your presentation a truly dramatic and expressive flourish.
- Bluetooth Retro Handset: nothing says ‘I’m ironic/blase about my cutting-edge technology’ like making smartphone calls on a handset from the ‘70s. The blessing of Bluetooth frees you from the burden of long tangled curly cords, so all you need to worry about is the burden of a huge clunky handset. Genius!
Next step: Perhaps a Bluetooth telegraph station? Or possibly a Bluetooth Tin Can on a String?
- iPhone horn stand speaker: from the dauntingly titled “Bone Collection” comes this unique and rather clever idea to boost your iPhone’s volume by 13 decibels with no additional electricity required (for reference, that’s approximately the volume difference between normal conversation levels and the noise of city traffic, and more than enough to wake you up with your heart pounding when someone calls you at 3am).
Next step: Tinnitus, most likely. But there has to be a way for the iPhone to blast through one of those huge Swiss Ricola horns — and maybe make it so classy that it actually adds to your decor?
- The personal speaker pillow: that’s more like it, a way to get both music and comfort via the iPhone. The description swears that the sound is crisp and clear and yet undetectable by the person snoring next to you. Just make sure that you remember the charger, or you’ll wake up every morning to Dawn of the Dead Battery.
Next step: well, the multi-touch mattress, of course. Duh.
- I was all set extol the virtues of the perfectly detailed Etch-a-sketch phone case when I realized that those knobs don’t really DO anything. Now, I know that Etch-a-Sketch lovers will adore the look, but I’m the kind of guy who needs at least a little function with his form. So I decided to write about the cassette tape phone case instead, which not only looks great, but actually works as a phone stand.
Next step: Please, in the name of all that is holy, make the Etch-a-Sketch knobs integrate with an Etch-a-Sktch app so that I can Etch-a-Sketch on my 21st Century mobile digital device.
- Wi-Fi smart phone helicopter: yes, yes, a thousand times yes. Not only does this combine the geeky joys of remote controlled piloting with the geeky joys of Smartphones, but it symbolizes all the potential of the future in which our Smartphones will allow us to interact in real time with the world around us in ways that we are only now beginning to realize.
Next step: Remote-controlling just about everything with our smartphones.
- Joystick-it arcade stick for iPhone — don’t call it a comeback. Multi-touch gestures are great and all, but sometimes you just need to grab hold of a joystick and take control. Whether you’re taking your iPhone back to the arcade days of the ‘80s or simply finding a better way to anger the birds, it’s finally all in your hands.
Next step: Dual-shock controller for your phone? No, that’s just silly. Unless you’re a hacker…
- iBottle opener: yes, you purchased the defining electronic device of this generation so that you can use it to pop the top off of your brewski. If that wasn’t functional enough, the case also does a good job of protecting your iPhone (from, for instance, spilled beer. Recycled or otherwise).
Next step: Uhh … iCanOpener? Sorry, I’m drawing a blank. Some inventions are so iconic and innovative that it’s impossible to see what the next step could be.