skins

The best way to review products meant to be used out in the trenches is to hit the trenches with those products in tow, going head-to-head in practical (preferably emergency) situations. In this case, we're talking iPhone cases that recharge your smartphone while protecting it.

Our two combatants in this intensely unscientific test are the Scosche Switchback Surge G4 backup battery case with kickstand for iPhone 4 and the PowerSkin recharging soft case.

The battleground was the parade for Chevrolet's 100th anniversary, part of the 2011 Woodward Avenue Dream Cruise car weekend in Detroit. With more than 1 million car lovers flocking to Motor City to view more than 40,000 custom cars, opportunities to take photos and videos were more prevalent than Chevy Small Block V8 engines. To the non-gearheads, there were a lot.

For two straight days, morning until night, I cruised Woodward in a 2011 Camaro as elite and custom cars came and went. Taking all of those photos and HD videos drains an iPhone's battery fast. So, I went into that crazy traffic jam with both the Scosche Switchback Surge G4 and the PowerSkin charged and ready. I tested how much protection they provided, how long they lasted, and how well they recharged an iPhone in constant use. … Read more

Full disclosure: I just finished a cup of black coffee, and it was damn fine. (And yes, I make Twin Peaks references wherever possible.)

So it is with vigorous jumping up-and-down motions, aided surely by the caffeine, that I write about a team's findings from the University of Washington and Rutgers University that caffeine can help lower one's chances of UV-associated skin cancer by inhibiting a DNA repair pathway, essentially helping cells die after exposure to sunlight.

The team reports on this "protective effect of caffeinated beverage intake" in the August 15 issue of the Proceedings … Read more

Engineers at the University of Illinois today unveiled novel, skin-mounted electronics this week whose circuitry bends, wrinkles, and even stretches with skin.

The device platform includes electronic components, medical diagnostics, communications, and human-machine interfacing on a patch so thin and durable it can be mounted to skin much like a temporary tattoo.

What's more, the team was able to demonstrate its invention across a wide range of components, including LEDs, transistors, wireless antennas, sensors, and conductive coils and solar cells for power.

"We threw everything in our bag of tricks onto that platform, and then added a few … Read more

If you're a Star Wars geek who happens to get lost a lot, it's a good thing you found your way to this week's Crave giveaway. The prize is a Garmin Nuvi 255WT GPS unit preloaded with Garmin's newly released Darth Vader VoiceSkin.

That means the dark lord will be steering you around town with such directions as "Turn around when possible. I find your lack of faith disturbing," and "In 100 yards, take the exit left, and do not fail me this time!" Does your fancy-shmancy in-car nav system talk to you like that? We didn't think so. (Hear samples of the menacing commands here.)

Normally, the Garmin Nuvi 255WT GPS unit with a preloaded Darth Vader VoiceSkin would cost around $125.99, but you have the chance to snag it gratis.

So how do you try to win this week's prize? Let me enumerate the basic rules. Please read them carefully; there will be a test (in Bocce, of course). … Read more

Beautiful Widgets outfits your Android OS with exactly what its name promises. It gives you the power to customize your Home screen with various-size clocks and weather widgets, plus smaller Toggle widgets that activate Wi-Fi, vibrate, plane mode, brightness, and more. The app also lets you customize appearance settings like widget text color and background transparency.

The free Beautiful Widgets Lite is bare bones. It comes with different clocks and weather widgets, but no Toggle widgets, Battery widget, or Accuweather services. And most importantly, it lacks access to skins, which could be something of a deal breaker, considering the skins … Read more

Directed at the tens of millions of uninsured and underinsured Americans, or for those who want immediate dermatology-related diagnoses, Skin of Mine is a platform for measuring and monitoring moles and other skin conditions.

The app--updated in mid-May and compatible with the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad--is now available for $2.99.

The setup is simple: create a free account at SkinofMine.com, upload symptom photos to receive automated analyses, and pay on average $50 to receive a certified diagnosis directly from a Skin of Mine medical professional (these include doctors, nurse practitioners, and physicians' assistants) of the user's … Read more

People take a lot of bad and/or boring photos (myself included). Do it with a smartphone, though, and you've got a bunch of apps, such as Hipstamatic for iPhone and Vignette for Android, to make things more interesting or cover up flaws. However, things are a little more complicated for people who still use a regular camera, and that's where Lo-Fi comes in.

The software--available for Mac and Windows--lets you do what those apps do by quickly applying different effects based on film types, flashes, and lenses. What's nice about using Lo-Fi is that it doesn'… Read more

Television shows have a way of escaping from the small screen into the real world. Now you can share your devotion to the foul-mouthed young residents of South Park, Colo., on your smartphone, laptop, iPod, or tablet with MusicSkins' new line of "South Park" images.

There is a reason for this special skinning occasion. "South Park" just arrived for its 15th season (that's a long time to be stuck in fourth grade). Choose from character portraits or memorable scenes such as the "Last Pizza Party." Am I the only one wishing Mecha-Streisand and the Loch Ness Monster were options?

MusicSkins are made from glossy 3M ControlTac vinyl for a tight, but removable, fit. Expect to pay around $15 to $20 per skin.… Read more

iSkin is known for its colorful iPhone cases, but this go-round it's taking the color out of the case and going completely translucent.

The new case is called the Claro and its selling point is that it fuses a layer of a premium soft polymer with a clear hard plastic, so you end up with a case that's ultraclear but has some grip to it (and is more scratch resistant). The Claro for iPhone 4 features an integrated camera ring that iSkin says eliminates flash glare when taking photos, while the Claro Touch features an integrated 30-pin port … Read more