iPad Accessories For Australia

When the iPad was released, we in Australia didn't get it until almost two months after the rest of the world. I guess being down under means we get all the cool gadgets here a little late. But there were some good things about having to wait for the iPad: Apple was able to iron out all of the bugs of those early iPads, so that by the time the iPad arrived in Australia in June of 2010, Apple had two months of trial and error under its belt.

The same is true with all of the iPad accessories out there. 

Because the iPad was "rushed" out by Apple -- having released it just about 2 1/2 months after Steve Jobs announced it in January of 2010 -- al of the iPad case designers scrambled to get something out to the market that would work as an iPad accessory. Virtually all of the early iPad cases and accessories were little more than re-treds of laptop cases.

But by the time the iPad made it to Australia, even the iPad accessories companies had had time to get their act together. 

So now, we're happy to be able to report on the iPad accessories market from the Aussie perspective. There are tons of great iPad cases and other accessories on the market now, and we'll be sure to report on them as best we can. Thanks for reading!

Uniea's Omniverse iPad case was released about a month after the iPad itself, and it proved to be one of the first really viable iPad accessories out there. Like all of the other first generation iPad cases, the Omniverse was simply retro-engineered from Uniea's laptop case of the same name. But this was a good idea: while most of the top iPad case designers basically "inflated" their iPhone 3Gs cases to accommodate the iPad's bigger dimensions, Uniea realized that a padded sleeve/tote hybrid would offer much better protection.

The Omniverse case's padding isn't some cheap foam: it's made of a unique memory foam material that conforms to the shape of the iPad. This means that there is no empty space between the gadget and the padding, making for maximum protection from drops.

Another great feature of the Omniverse is its zip-open enclosure. The zipper zips open a full 200 degrees, allowing users to keep their iPad inside the case while using it. Four nylon corner tabs on the inside of the case keep[ the iPad in place.

Finally, having the versatility to be able to stow the handles away and convert the case into a sleeve is a great feature as well. It gives you the flexibility of being able to carry the case alone or in a backpack or bag.

There's a wide range of iPad accessories out there -- some cheap, and some premium. Uniea's iPad case is most definitely one of the more premium iPad cases we've seen on the Australian market to date.

Whenever a new gadget hits the market, it automatically creates a whole new market of accessories and cases to go with it. The same is true for the iPad.

The thing is, few iPad accessories outside of cases have really made much of an impact on the iPad accessories market; because the iPad is so accessible and dynamic, external iPad accessories really aren't that necessary or needed.

One gripe that iPad users have, however, is that the touch screen gets smudged and dirty easily. No matter how much one tries to keep the screen clean, because the iPad is a tablet that has to be touched in order to be used, it is quite prone to smudges. Apple worked hard to develop a glass surface that stays as smudge-free as possible, but after a full day of using the iPad, it gets pretty marked up.

Because of this, pound for pound, a $10 iPad cloth is clearly the best accessory out there, and definitely worth investing in. 

Using an iPad cloth quickly becomes a ritual act -- it's just part of the experience of using the device on a regular basis. All of the microfiber cloths on the market right now will do the trick.

We're also predicting that iPad case designers will probably begin to offer iPad cases that will offer next-generation iPad cases that will have compartments for an iPad cloth. It is even possible to see cases in the near future that will feature some kind of pull-down iPad "squeegee." I guess we'll just have to wait and see!