Kickstarter project turns iPad Smart Cover into smarter cover
The already funded Smarter Stand enables your existing Smart Cover to position your iPad at more (and more useful) angles.
Much as I like the idea behind Apple's Smart Cover for iPad, I never much cared for the execution.
That's because it's no good at holding the iPad in portrait orientation for reading books and magazines, and it offers only two positions for landscape viewing -- one that's too high, and one that's too low for anything but typing.
The problem lies in the cover's design: it has too many folds. App developer Dotan Saguy figured out a way around that problem and created the Smarter Stand.
Designed to work with your existing Smart Cover (or Smart Case), the Smarter Stand consists of two hard-plastic clips that slide along either edge of the cover. By positioning them over specific folds, you make the cover more rigid, and therefore able to achieve more stand positions.
For example, you can prop your iPad at 33 degrees for watching movies, or 45 degrees for FaceTime chats. An included stick-on polyurethane pad helps keep the iPad from slipping forward when placed at these angles.
Unfortunately, the Smarter Stand doesn't appear to help the Smart Cover with portrait positioning. Also, although you can currently buy in for as little as $11, Saguy plans to sell the product for $20 once it goes into production. That strikes me as a little steep for something you could just as easily accomplish with a couple binder clips.
Of course, one of the advantages of the Smarter Stand is that it's designed to be left on your Smart Cover at all times, and doesn't interfere with the magnets or any other aspects of the cover's functionality.
Interestingly, the project reached fully funded status within 24 hours of hitting Kickstarter, and currently shows more than $25,000 pledged on a $10,000 goal. Obviously this is a product people want.
Your thoughts? Ingenious? Overpriced? Somewhere in the middle?