Zagg

It doesn't get any cuter than Priscilla Pink or Charlie Chimp when it come to speaker equipment for kids.

Zagg -- which specializes in accessories for electronics -- introduced the Animatone Snug, a stuffed animal that doubles as a portable speaker, at CES 2013.

The company decided to drop its BoostPlus speaker into a fluffy doll and add it to its children's products line, Frogz. The BoostPlus is a speaker that amplifies the sound of a media device when it's placed on top of it, no wires or Bluetooth required.

Add a device pouch to the doll … Read more

The much-rumored iPad Mini may not be here yet, but screen accessories are already popping up.

Known for its mobile device cases and similar products, Zagg is selling a $24.99 screen protector for Apple's allegedly upcoming tiny tablet. Noting that the screen protector is "coming soon," Zagg touts it as a "precision pre-cut invisibleShield" that provides "the toughest, most durable protection you will find."

To back up its claim, Zagg offers a lifetime guarantee on the product, promising to replace it for free should it wear or scratch. Zagg also kicks in … Read more

I'll let you in on a little secret: I haven't been thrilled with any iPad keyboard case solution, despite testing and reviewing about half a dozen of them.

Sure, some of them are excellent products. Still, I don't find them essential. This is why I don't use my iPad during mission-critical trips to trade shows and live-blogged events. This is why I don't use my iPad as a laptop replacement. Not entirely. Not yet.

I agree with a lot of what Harry McCracken refers to in his experience with his iPad and the ZaggFolio keyboard case. Ideally, having such an ultraportable, flexible device with a long battery life would be a perfect travel tool. For me, however, that perfect tool hasn't materialized yet.

I'd love to have some sort of evolved hybrid of an iPad and a MacBook Air. I've been dreaming of it for a while, actually. Apple's clearly leaning toward a fusion of sorts between iOS and Mac OS X. Lion was the first step. iOS gets a bit more advanced every year, taking baby steps toward being a true operating system for hard-core computing tasks.

There are several reasons it won't work right now, and the biggest by far is the good old-fashioned trackpad--or lack of it.… Read more

Sometimes, gadget reviewers need to turn to their test products in an emergency. I found myself in that very predicament last week when I was on deadline for CNET--just as the hard drive on my MacBook Pro decided to pack it in permanently.

Editors can't print your whining about computer glitches, and you don't get paid much for plaintive cries of "I'm working on it." So when said laptop died on me with only a couple hours left to hand in my commentary on the anniversary of John F. Kennedy's "moon speech," I had to look to my iPad to get the piece written and turned over to the news desk.

You can get any number of word-processing programs for the iPad. For better file swap between my tablet and MacBook Pro, I turn to Pages. Though some say there are better app options, I figured Apple's native program would help me pound out several paragraphs mourning the current state of the American space program. But I can't use that pop-up virtual keyboard the iPad provides for entering text for anything more than an e-mail or a Facebook post. I've tried, and I end up with typed-up pseudo-English that resembles a code pumped out by the Nazi Enigma machine.

You've heard the cliche about an infinite number of monkeys with an infinite number of typewriters eventually creating all of Shakespeare's works? That simian scribble is what comes out of my iPad if I can't hear the comforting "click" of keyboard strokes.

After realizing all of that, I unpacked the five keyboards I had on hand to review and loaded them up for use in this order: the Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard from ThinkGeek, Logitech Keyboard Case by Zagg for iPad 2, the Apple Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard, the Omnio Wow-Keys and the ThinkGeek Bluetooth Keyboard Case for iPad.

These are hardly the only options on the market, and some of them have already been reviewed by the gadget crew here at CNET. But my personal crisis offered an excellent test as to how fast I could get these items out of the box and working with President Kennedy and the Apollo Crew waiting. … Read more

Keyboards and iPads...good bedfellows? A perfect way to add laptop functionality to your tablet? Or, mere accessory silliness? It's a debate as old as the iPad itself, which means only about a year and a month. Still, for as useful and portable as the iPad is, there are always some--myself included, at times--who bemoan its lack of a real, physical keyboard. At least, I feel that way when all I have is my iPad and I want to get some serious writing done.

The Logitech Keyboard Case by Zagg for the iPad 2 is an update to last … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Samsung Galaxy Tab owners looking to both protect and erect their tablets have a number of products to choose from.

On display this week at CES 2011 is another case-and-stand combo: the upcoming $49 Zaggmate for the Tab, which joins a similar Zagg product for the Apple iPad.

The Zaggmate creates a hard shell around a tablet and unfolds into a stand to prop it up.

Zaggmate for the iPad includes a Bluetooth keyboard as an alternative to the tablet's onscreen keys. The keyboard also supports the iPhone and iPod Touch. Taking it for spin with my iPod … Read more

Downtown San Francisco, where CNET's headquarters are located, is utterly awash in orange and black today, as Giants fans fete their team following Monday's World Series victory (yippee).

We're talking thousands upon thousands of exuberant fans in Giants T-shirts, jackets, and caps; orange and black balloons and face paint; and even babies in festooned strollers and hats with orange pom-poms. A couple of dogs decked in Giants colors have even trotted by. It's insaaaane--in the best possible way.

This is why these Zagg SportLeather cases for iPhones and iPads caught our googly eyes. The accessory maker … Read more

Before the launch of the iPad, Apple removed all the plastic and film screen protectors from its online and brick and mortar stores, even though they are among the most popular accessories for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Apple didn't seem to give any particular reason for this move, but as iLounge noted in an article, "One vendor speculated that the ban is an Apple marketing attempt to suggest screen durability, despite scratches that have damaged both plastic and glass displays of its products for years." Others have mentioned that because it's hard to adhere the … Read more