I bought myself an iPhone 6. While many like to keep their iPhones uncased for the slinky high-tech look, I’m not the kind of person to drop a grand on a phone that can then slip out of my hands.

Apple laid down the gauntlet by launching its own very useful silicon or leather iPhone 6 and 6+ cases that protect, add grip and best of all, offer very little extra bulk to these slinky smartphones. But while Apple sticks to simple, elegant, slim-line cases that offer some protection, they don’t guard your screen beyond offering a raised edge so that when you lay an iPhone face-down, the glass is a millimetre above contact with a flat surface. More protection than this inevitably adds more bulk.

Belkin Grip Case
This snap-on TPU and Polycarbonate has nice feel, with a textured matte surface.
What’s great: Slim-line, non-slip, attractive
But: No protection for the glass (which goes for most of these – you could still fit a plastic or armour-glass cover to the screen)
Details: Belkin Grip, RRP $24.99, available in ‘blacktop’, ‘sorbet’ (a pinkish-crimson) and ‘purple’.

iLuv Peanuts case
Slimline and snap-on, but it’s not grippy. Not exactly ‘executive’ in styling, with Peanuts cartoon graphics. This is shaped like an Apple case with cutaways.
What’s great: Shulz fans rejoice! Quirky fun. Easy to take on and off.
But: Quirky fun? Plus it’s not got quite as much protection as the Belkin, and it’s slippery.
Details: iLuv Snoopy hardshell case, RRP $29.95, available in blue, grey, black and brown with different cartoons.

Speck Candyshell + faceplate
Another snap-in rigid case, this adds more bulk than the two above. The result is more protection; this also comes with a plastic cover for the screen. It has a rugged, reassuringly protective feel and the corners the iPhone sits in are cushioned.
What’s great: Protection, certified to meet or exceed the military MIL-STD-810G drop-test standards.
But: I prefer toughened glass screen protectors.
Details: Speck Candyshell + faceplate, RRP $49.95, in six colours.

iLuv Regatta dual-layer case
These hardshell cases come in bright colours, with cutaways for ports, and even for the Apple logo on the back and it has buttons to match the iPhone 6 buttons. They are designed in New York.
What’s great: Dual layer, so you can use the inner soft case without the hard back, and mix-and-match outers and liners. Two layers ˗˗ soft plus hard ˗˗ means good protection.
But: Garish and I’d prefer non-slip. Because they are matted the cases are thick so there is a lot of material around the ports (quite hard to use the mute button).
Details: iLuv Regatta dual-layer case, RRP $24.95, in seven colour combinations.

iLuv Vyneer ‘dual material protection case’
These iLuvs are slim, semi-transparent hard-shells. The cases come in black with a smoke back panel, or pink/pink or turquoise/turquoise. The non-transparent frame is TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane), with cutaways for the switches and ports.
What’s great: You can see your iPhone 6.
But: The raised edges could do with a chamfer; they catch on your fingertips.
Details: iLuv Vyneer, RRP $24.95, in three colours.

Maroo Woodland, Executive and CL
These look more ‘executive’, with material inlays (wool, vinyl, leather). The outsides are hard and strong, the insides are cushioned.
What’s great: It’s slim, useful and smart. They feel great to the hand with that slightly organic touch.
But: Maybe not as protective as some.
Details: Maroo Maroo Woodland, Executive and CL, $RRP$39.99.

Maroo Woodland, Executive and CL Wallet Cases
These are full-on wallet replacements. Some people will love being able to bundle their cards, cash and ID in one pack that includes an iPhone.
What’s great: Enough variations to suit many tastes.
But: They’re bulky and you have to open the case to use the buttons or shoot a picture.
Details: Maroo Woodland, Executive and CL Wallet Cases in various colour/texture combinations, RRP $69.99. (Maroo cases are available in Harvey Normans.)

Casemate Caliber
The ‘Genuine G10’ Composite is a two-part case you separate to get your iPhone into. It offers a rugged-looking textured surface made from ‘ballistic’ G10 for the back and, with the dull-green bezel snapped to the black back-plate, is a little bulky, with positive-feeling buttons.
What’s great: Strangely business-like case with a very definite feel.
But: Not very forgiving to the touch.
Details: Casemate Caliber, RRP $55.

Casemate Naked Tough
As transparent as the emperor’s new clothes, but with metal buttons that press the iPhone buttons. The transparent back is scratch-proof and the bezel (it’s another snap-together) is slightly more giving to the touch.
What’s great: Everyone gets to see you have an iPhone 6. Nice positive buttons.
But: Everyone gets to see you have an iPhone 6. There’s an unfortunate ridge running all round where the two parts meet.
Details: Casemate Naked Tough, RRP $35, available in clear or a tinted smoke/black. (Casemate cases are available from Dick Smith, JB HIFI, Noel Leeming and Harvey Norman.)

tech21 Classic Shell
This is a shock-proof shell made from D30 ‘impactology’. This case has a matte interior that mates with the iPhone back-plate and a glossy outer surface, semi-transparent on the back. It has a nice positive hand-feel.
What’s great: It’s probably the most protective and less slippery than many.
But: It’s bulky.
Details: tech21 Classic Shell, RRP $44.95, available in clear, smoke, pink and blue with different rim colours. (Available from JB HIFI and Noel Leeming.)

Conclusion
I looked at nearly 20 different cases. My fave at the end was the Maroo Woodland, a simple, attractive, very slim line case with a very nice feel thanks to the touch of felt in the back panel. In this respect, for me it just beats out the also-very-nice Apple (actual) leather iPhone 6 case. Teamed with a tempered glass screen protector, the Woodland is the one for me, but all the others are good, adding precious protection, with different looks and feels, to an iPhone 6.
Mark Webster is an independent writer of Apple Mac and iOS/iDevice news and reviews for Australia and New Zealand, covering Apple Mac and iDevice (iPad, iPhone, iPod touch) hardware and software and accessories. His guest blog posts make it easy to find the most up-to-date news and information on Apple products and software.

There has been a lot of discussion recently about iPads in education, and discussion is a good thing. However, the debate quickly turns to iPad versus bring your own device (BYOD), with the intimation that BYOD means tablets other than iPads. There are definitely benefits to both models. In some areas, like Blockhouse Bay Intermediate in Auckland, the BYO devices tended to be iPads anyway, which suited the staff as it was already an Apple-using school. In others, the model is BYOD with iPad strongly recommended, while others go as far as to say it’s ‘BYO iPad’.

I can only talk about non Apple devices in the most general terms, since it’s not my area of experience, but the same general principles apply: essentially, any institution that simply introduces portable devices as learning tools is in for trouble. In every instance I have personally looked at, and this is backed up by reports from overseas, first the teaching staff needs to be engaged and then the students. Every aspect of the introduction has to be worked through over a period of time (at least several months) and if the teaching staff don’t buy into it, you should reconsider the entire thing.

First, let’s look at iPads. They’re not cheap – I think they’re reasonably priced for the build quality and capability, but sure, there are cheaper tablets out there, and of course price is one of the primary considerations. But buying an iPad puts you in solid company – Apple has sold over 200 million of the things worldwide since it defined the tablet market as we now know it back in 2010. But that’s probably not the main draw. Advantages Apple has over Android include the fact that Apple builds the hardware and the software, so there’s a remarkable consistency both across product lines and directly between the hardware and software on any single Apple device. Most iPads around the world are running the exact same operating system, which has just been prime-updated free to iOS 8, so from an administration and consistency viewpoint, they’re good. A classroom full of iPads is quite different to a room full of Android tablets. Thirty or so iPads are all designed by Apple and built for Apple on dedicated production lines. They’re all running Apple’s OS. Thirty or so Android tablets could be running up to seven different versions of Android, since some hardware manufacturers demand customised model-specific writes of the OS. The hotbed model of Android development means new OS versions arrive regularly, and the tablets themselves might be made by ten different vendors, so even basic things like buttons are possibly in different places. Screens will be different sizes and resolutions (Apple only makes two sizes). Apps that will work happily on some Android tablets will not work on others.

Apple’s consistency and tight UI control sounds boring to some developers, but for the customer and administrator, it’s an absolute boon, especially when that customer is a student who needs to focus on learning rather than grappling with device differences and changes. And there are over 75,000 education-specific apps in the App Store. Some enhance the curriculum and some fit directly into different curricula. That’s why people choose iPads.

(By the way, since the iPhone 6 got a whole new CPU, the iPad Air 2 has also been upgraded.)

ABOUT MARK WEBSTER//

Mark Webster was editor of NZ Macguide magazine from 2002 to 2007, author of Assembly: NZ Car Production 1921-1998 and now spends his time blogging about Apple Inc, helping people get more from their Apple devices and writing New Zealand history books.

Apple has had another good year, despite the year’s decline in iPad sales (and all tablet sales actually). Regardless, the tablet hasn’t had its day yet. The iPad Air 2 is a simply stunning example of slim, high-tech computing power (see my review here – there’s lots of development left in this space, but pundits, particularly those not particularly enamoured of Apple, continuously demand more innovation from the Cupertino giant.

But Apple is set to deliver. Apple Watch is the big news for 2015; it has been announced, developers have been given the tools to create Watch apps and Apple has been adding more information to its site. We’ll be able to buy it … some time in 2015.

Meanwhile, there are lots of other watches with varying degrees of ‘smartness’ available already. And they’re affordable. These tend to be aimed at fitness, although they can also (usually) tell the time. While I can be a bit cynical about those people who simply have to monitor every single aspect of their lives (tech-enabled narcissism?) there are lots of very practical uses for a monitoring device on your wrist. For a start, I do appreciate seeing the time at a glance rather than having to dig an iPhone out of my pocket or bag. More importantly, if you have some medical condition, this kind of unobtrusive monitoring which also looks fairly attractive and tells you the time could literally be a lifesaver, or at least genuinely informative.

This medical space will be a big Apple Watch draw card. Imagine your medical specialist being able to follow some of your medical parameters remotely. More generally, though, we should probably all be moving our bodies more. I’ve long used the free app Moves to tell me how many steps I’ve taken, calories burnt and distance walked, and it’s a salutary lesson sometimes just how inactive I can be over a day. Wrist-borne devices take all this to the next level, with the added benefit that you don’t actually need to have your smartphone on you to measure the same, or even more, data.

I’ve had a closer look at three non-Apple smart watches you can buy here. The LifeTrak C200Core ($150) doesn’t talk to my iPhone, but it does have the ability to track heart rate, measure calories burnt (once you’ve set your personal age, weight, height etc) and has workouts with goal setting all in the device, plus a replaceable battery – no recharging.

It’s also attractive and has changeable wristbands (there are many available). It’s extremely quick to change into a band that suits your attire, or your mood. But since it doesn’t talk to my iPhone, I have to tell Endomondo that I’m ‘going on a workout’ (a bike ride in my case) plus launch the workout mode on the LifeTrak. It’s a nice enough device, but think of the LifeTrak more as a standalone thing. The newer LifeTrak C300 does communicate with iOS, via a LifeTrack app. That would be worth a look.

The Mio ($250) seems big and chunky when you look at it on a desk, but once on your wrist it’s surprisingly comfortable. A USB charger clips to the back for charging from computer via USB. It has two bright LEDs underneath that shine into your skin and measure your pulse with remarkable accuracy. That means no chest band: a big plus. It lasts several days on a charge. You can load up an app like Endomondo and tell it to communicate with your ‘heart-monitoring chest band’ – however, it finds the Mio and you’re away. Mio communicates with your iDevice (or Android) and is registered as a device by Apple’s Health app, so between those two apps, you get a pretty detailed overview of your activity. Endomondo already measures a pretty impressive range of data points, and even tells you what the weather was like on the day you exercised – I cycle more slowly when it’s raining, and now I can see at a glance why my figures were slow a month ago. Adding your heart rate into that data set is pretty cool.

The Scosche Rhythm (c$80) doesn’t even have a watch-face, just a bright yellow plastic case with three buttons on it: Minus, S and Plus. The cloth band is super comfortable but you have to wonder how long the velcro will last; luckily a spare is included. Also, you don’t wear it like a watch, but up on your forearm nearer your elbow. It charges via USB in two hours via a cradle that snaps to the phone back. The centre stylised S button is play/pause with one press, next track is two, three presses is previous track, press and holding it for three seconds turns it off – the other two are volumes. Everything you do is via the Scosche Rhythm app. Basically, the Rhythm is just an iTunes controller with a heart-rate monitor until it’s transmitting to the app – then it covers calories, speed/distance, indicates workout intensity and presents an activity summary.

Of the three, although I like the look of the LifeTrack, the Mio is the most useful to me – but this space is increasingly rich in products.
Mark Webster is an independent writer of Apple Mac and iOS/iDevice news and reviews for Australia and New Zealand, covering Apple Mac and iDevice (iPad, iPhone, iPod touch) hardware and software and accessories. His guest blog posts make it easy to find the most up-to-date news and information on Apple products and software.Apple Matters is proudly supported by:

As the author of Apple Matters, the blog for all things Apple, Mark Webster keeps a keen eye on the Apple landscape and described the recent launch of iOS 8 as “a bit of a confusing release”. Critics have been harsh, complaining that currently iOS 8 does not support the iCloud Drive – Apple’s answer to Dropbox – which is being touted as one of the major features of the new operating system. iCloud Drive needs the new Mac OS, Yosemite, which has not been launched yet, although it is generally expected to be released in October. Until then iOS 8 cannot fully deliver on its promises, and has even left some people who inadvertently upgraded to iCloud Drive with software that won’t sync. Webster commented that perhaps it would have been wiser for Apple to launch iOS 8 without the iCloud Drive and release it as an update once Yosemite is available, rather than confuse everybody. Webster advises caution if you are upgrading.

The release was not without other issues. Despite Apple’s fastidious attention to detail and quality, the iOS 8.0.1 version,which was released a week after the original iOS 8, had some major issues, chiefly the fact that it disabled the new iPhone 6’s ability to make phone calls (oops). Apple pulled the update an hour after it went live on the App Store (presumably NOT after the call centre went mad). Fortunately all of this happened while we were still peacefully slumbering here in Australia and New Zealand. Asked if it was unusual for Apple to make such a blunder, Webster said: “I think the difference between Apple now and Apple under Steve Jobs is that Apple now tries to please its audience, whereas Steve Jobs didn’t care. Nothing was ever released until he signed it off, and I think Apple nowadays is much more responsive to what people want.”

With that desire to please comes pressure to deliver and Webster suggests that it was this that pushed the company to release things that possibly weren’t quite as rigidly signed off as they might once have been. The new era has also brought the larger format iPhones – which Jobs had flatly refused to do – and they have been hugely popular. Apple has sold 10 million iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in just three days. Apple is now taking more heed of its customers, not just pleasing Steve Jobs, Webster said, which can only be a good thing. On a personal level he added that it has been much more pleasant dealing with Apple in the last two years.

The concerns that everything might fall apart post-Jobs have been well documented, but new CEO Tim Cook is making his mark and the quality of the products shows, said Webster. iCloud Drive issues aside, he said the new system is really slick and there are lots of little details that make for an overall improved experience. For example you have more control over the camera (timer, exposure, focus), and easier, faster access and reply options for recently called contacts, incoming mail and messages which can all be done without having to boot up the individual apps. Although it’s not a game-changer right now, he said he thinks the full effect of iOS 8 will be felt when Apple Watch comes out as it will make the Apple ecosystem much more powerful. He added that the Apple Watch is much more impressive and sleek than people thought it would be, which is bound to help it on its way to becoming the accessory du jour.

If you are keen to try the new iOS 8, Webster said to make sure to pay attention to the pop-up boxes so as not to upgrade to the new iCloud Drive. He also said that although Apple says iOS 8 works on the iPhone 4S upwards and the iPad 2 upwards, the iPhone 4S can barely handle the new system– “it gets very hot and struggles,” he said.

Mark Webster is an independent writer of Apple Mac and iOS/iDevice news and reviews for Australia and New Zealand, covering Apple Mac and iDevice (iPad, iPhone, iPod touch) hardware and software and accessories. His guest blog posts make it easy to find the most up-to-date news and information on Apple products and software.