This year, like most years over the past decade, I've used one whole heck of a lot of smartphone accessories. Today we're going to talk about a sort of case, sort of cover, sort of mix between the two. Today I'm going to tell you about my favorite smartphone accessory of the year, case of the year, cover of the year - all that, all in one. This is a two-wood custom-cut phone cover from the folks at Toast.
The Essential Phone PH-1 is a victim of circumstance - it's not the most traditional phone on the block. Because the Essential Phone PH-1's creators didn't succeed the way they'd hoped with their first phone, the phone's future is in question. In its current state, the PH-1 isn't exactly the most likely candidate for custom-made or ready-made accessories or cases of any sort. The folks at TOAST seem to have tossed caution to the wind, because they've got a wood cover for the Essential Phone - one they've got available to custom-cut, too.
OnePlus 6 will have "the speed you need" if along with a wild assortment of release materials. If what we've gathered is true, we've got one long-shot of an awesome piece of hardware that could have been just another OnePlus, but isn't. Instead, OnePlus 6 might well launch in several editions, each one more appealing than the last.
Star Wars parents, remember that hand designed and built X-wing rocker from a few months ago? Well, another craftsman has just topped it. An Australian father has come up with an amazing custom rocking horse that looks just like the Speeder Bike from Return of the Jedi. While you look at the pictures below (including the one of his daughter in that adorable Princess Leia hairdo knit cap), don't be discouraged that it isn't for sale, as the craftsman has detailed the construction process on the Instructables website, under the username "Tez_Gelmir."
If you're a big Star Wars fan with young children, get ready, you're going to find this incredibly adorable and then want one for your own kid. A craftsman from New Zealand who builds wooden toys has constructed a rocker in the design of a X-wing fighter, paired with its own R2-D2 figure. While Steve Coupe has been building toys for some 25 years, this master piece is a one-of-a-kind that is meant to raise money for a children's hospital.
Even while its smartphone is still a no-show in markets everywhere, OnePlus is already teasing the public about the things that it still can't get their hands on. With a simple "Knock on wood" phrase carved into a wooden background, OnePlus is teasing what could be the arrival of wood back covers for the smartphone on 22 July.
The continued exploration of 3D printing has resulted in a variety of uses and materials, some of them promising huge breakthroughs in the future, and others refining the way existing projects and technologies are approached. Regarding that latter category, the company 4 AXYZ has developed a method for 3D printing wood furniture with embedded electronics.
Over the past several weeks we've gone through a surprisingly simple process with the folks at WOODCHUCK with some premium customized wooden bits for some of our favorite devices. What you're going to see here is a set of three cases from WOODCHUCK from their "Customize Your Case" series of wood designs.
Motorola has officially teased the addition of a wood backing option for its Moto X smartphone. The option has long been rumored to debut at some point before year's end, with the first estimates of Thanksgiving being a bit quick on the trigger. A revised, Q4 release date range for wood backs surfaced around then, and it looks like that one is going to pan out sometime in the next few days.
We saw a bit about the Hasselblad Stellar camera back in late-July, though at the time what we were looking at was leaked information. The Hasselblad Stellar is a custom modded Sony RX100 camera with features to include special handgrips and other tweaks such as the "H" logo. Those earlier leaks did include some pricing details, however it was a rather wide and expensive range.
This week it would appear that the team at Haselblad have been working on a custom modification of none other than the Sony RX100 according to several leaked images. This run of customizations would have a series of odd - and awesome - new grips for the machine while the outer body gains its own bit of Hasselblad-unique flare. Included in this lineup is a Padouk wood grip, carbon-fibre, Walnut, Wenge, Olive, and Mahogany.
There's nothing quite like spending several hundred dollars on some of the most advanced smartphone technology in the world with the iPhone 5, then covering it with wood. That's exactly what you're going to be doing with the 10terra wood iPhone 5 case, and in this case, you'll be working with the Tree design. The folks at 10terra currently have a relatively limited set of wooden cases, made for the two most recent iPhone sizes, the iPad back to the 2, and the Nexus 7, and they're all made from high-quality bamboo - real bamboo, accept no imitations.