Reviews
SkinIt
Vinyl Skins
Personalize your PDA or phone with cool vinyl skins!
Software
skins that customize the look of a computer program's interface
are already old news. You can make WinAmp, for example, look a
thousand different ways. But have you ever wanted to skin a physical
device? People have decorated, even painted their portable toys,
but if you do that, you can kiss your warranty goodbye. There's
a new way, a much better way.
If
you want your PDA, cell phone, game console, iPod, remote control,
satellite radio or other gizmo to look different than everyone
else's, to fit your tastes and personality, here's the solution.
SkinIt, a new company, came up with a winning idea: they make
and sell durable, self-adhesive vinyl ãskins,ä custom cut to fit
hundreds of different devices. In a short review, it's impossible
to effectively describe or picture just how cool these skins are,
so take a good long look at skinit.com, and you'll be drooling
for a few for all your widgets.
Designs
of all description, and I mean all, from wood grain to rippled
satin, carbon fiber, stained glass, skyscapes, nature scenes,
animals, candy, fur, abstract art, coins, tie-dye, almost anything
you could think of are available. Thousands of them. These designs
are not raised or textured. They're printed on smooth, high tech,
self-adhesive, custom cut (for your device) vinyl.
For
a small extra charge, SkinIt will take an upload of your high
resolution bitmap, the higher the better, and create a custom
skin from it, to fit whatever device you want to apply it to.
You could have a picture of your car on your Tungsten. Or a photo
of your kid, your dog, your house, your favorite cartoon character,
mother, spouse, Playmate, or your nose on your cell phone. The
possibilities are literally infinite.
If
your company has 10 or 10,000 employees carrying around PDAs,
Blackberry devices or smartphones, you could equip each one of
them with a skin bearing your corporate logo. Get the picture?
SkinIt has a product that almost defines the word ãcool.ä
The
custom cut vinyl skin for whatever device you use is quite thin
but very durable. It's the same vinyl technology used to put ads
and logos on NASCAR and Formula One race cars. Most common skins
come in two sections, one for the front and back of a device.
Skinit estimates a usable lifespan of about four years or longer,
under normal conditions, and the skin will not only enhance the
look but will protect your device from minor scratches or paint
chips.
The
skins are easily applied and if done correctly with a modicum
of care, all of your devices screws, buttons and controls should
fit perfectly through the cut-outs. You don't have to cut or trim
anything. Just carefully peel the skin off its backing sheet and
take your time applying it. Don't rush it. If you're off a little,
it can be lifted and re-positioned. It won't harm the finish of
your device, or leave gummy residue all over it, and it won't
void your device's warranty. No disassembly required. Read the
application instructions on SkinIt's site before you do it.
Don't
confuse a skin with a case. It's not a case, into which you slide
your device, but the skins are durable and stay put, so you can
continue to use your existing case after your device has a skin
on it.
SkinIt
is working with many companies, such as Zodiac maker's Tapwave,
to create a package containing both a skin and a bitmap of that
skin to use as your screen's backdrop. By the time you read this,
that combo should be available. I also suggested to their CEO
that they should include a blank ãpracticeä skin with each order,
so you can get the hang of applying one before you use the one
you paid money for. Just in case you mess up the first time. At
press time, they were considering this.
SkinIt's
vinyl skins are a truly brilliant new idea, and irresistibly wonderful.
öHarv
Laser
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