A KLUTZ-PROOF IPHONE CASE
BALLISTIC HC, $29.99, WWW.GOBALLISTICCASE.COM
You have to be one serious klutz to need the Ballistic HC iPhone case. This chunky Humvee of a case encloses an iPhone in a hard shell, which includes a clear screen cover, which is then wrapped in a silicon bumper, which is then inserted into a hard holster.
The manufacturer said the case was tested to military specifications. It said the HC (for Hard Core) was drop-tested from at least 4 feet, as well as tested against vibration, temperatures ranging from 160 degrees Fahrenheit to minus-60, and humidity.
The case seems solid, the finish is good and the screen protector does not interfere with operation of the phone. But this writer was not brave enough to confirm the tests with his own phone, nor quite clumsy enough to find out unintentionally.
SHARING PHOTOS WITH STRANGERS
Color, free, www.color.com
Color is a new photo-sharing app, but it takes the practice in a new, more open direction: Color shares your photos with whoever else is using the app in close proximity to you, whether you know them or not.
The app, which is free for iOS and Android (other versions are expected soon), works with your smartphone's camera to broadcast photos and videos. Photos or videos you take are sent to Color's cloud-based servers, which stream the photos to other Color users within a couple of hundred feet of you.
Walk through Times Square near other users, and you see not only the photos you took, but the photos taken by Color users around you (including pictures that you are in, which is both fun and, at first, slightly unsettling).
