LITTLE ROCK — The Samsung Galaxy S III that I reviewed last week seems to be a hit, based on the feedback I’ve received.
With good reason - aside from a few issues with its size, I think the S III is a great phone. It’s definitely a top contender in today’s market.
Like other top phones, the S III is made just a little better with the right accessories. I happen to have been playing with a couple of stylish and fun accessories for the S III.
The first is a protective case and holster combination for the Galaxy S III from Seidio.
The Surface case protects the back and sides of the phone, and the Surface Holster protects the screen with a felt lining and a strong clip to hold it in place.
The Surface comes in black, white, red, purple, blue and green. It’s plastic, but it has a slight metallic sheen to the color.
The Surface has an intelligent design. The interior is hard plastic, but a thin piece of felt protects the surface of the phone from scratches while it’s in the case. The exterior has a soft coating to make it more pleasant to hold. It also makes it easier to grip. A straight hard case may prove to be too slippery, especially in sweaty or wet hands. The coating helps prevent it from slipping from your hands.
The Surface has cutouts for the charging port, buttons, speaker, camera and flash. I tried out the camera with the flash several times. In the past, I’ve seen other cases interfere with photos because the flash would reflect off the edge of the case around it. That didn’t happen here, even with the flash at its brightest.
The case has raised edges on the front, so it protects the screen if the phone falls flat on its face. However, there is no true screen protector with the Surface.
That’s where the Surface Holster comes in. The Holster holds the phone backwards, so the screen faces the inside of the Holster. The Holster’s interior is coated with black felt as well, so the screen is protected from scratches. A strong clip on top and small corner tabs in the front hold the phone in place very securely. The belt clip on the back also is very strong, and it rotates, so you can wear the phone horizontally or vertically.
My only issue is with the Surface. It’s supposed to slide on and off easily, in case you need to remove the phone for any reason. But it took quite a bit of effort to get the back pieces apart. So much so that I worried about damaging the phone. Luckily, I eventually got the case off. The trick is to press down on the top center area of the bottom piece while pulling up slightly and sliding off the top piece.
The next product proved to be very interesting. They’re little tiles that can be programmed to make your phone do certain tasks.
The Samsung TecTiles are programmable NFC tags designed for Samsung phones like the Galaxy S III. Don’t worry, I’m going to explain.
NFC stands for “near field communication.” An NFC tag allows information to be transferred between the tag and an NFC-compatible device. It works along the same lines as a bar code or a QR code, or even the Plus system the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette uses with its photos.
What’s cool about the TecTiles is they can be programmed using a free app for the phone. They can be reprogrammed numerous times, or locked down so they can never be reprogrammed. Best of all, they’re relatively inexpensive, with five tiles costing $15 retail.
The tags are small, square and made with a tough plastic coating, so they’re fairly durable. They’re sticky on one side, so you can stick them on any surface but metal ones (they don’t work on metal surfaces).
So, for example, you can program a tag to pull up the alarm clock app on your phone and stick that tab on your bedside table. That way, when you get into bed and see the tag, you can just scan it with your phone, have it bring up the clock app and set the alarm for the next morning.
The tags can have several uses, including placing phone calls to certain people, launching certain apps, opening Web pages and even checking in on social media sites.
The tags seemed to work well, but you do have to be somewhat careful with them. They’re basically a very thin wire sandwiched between two plastic-coated pieces of paper. Bend them wrong, snag them or get them too wet and they won’t work. Luckily, thanks to that plastic coating, it will take quite a bit of force to destroy them.
The Samsung Galaxy S III has a lot going for it, and these accessories make it easier to use. The Seidio affords a lot of style and protection, while the TecTiles add quick commands to the phone in a fun way.
A cool smart phone is great to have, but even a cool smart phone can be that much better with the right accessories.
Melissa L. Jones can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].
Where it’s @
The Seidio Surface Combo works with the Samsung Galaxy S III and retails for $49.95. The Samsung TecTiles also require an S III or other compatible Samsung smart phone that is NFC compatible. The TecTiles retail for $14.95 for five tiles. More information on the Surface Combo is available at www.seidioonline.com. More information on the TecTiles is available at www.samsung.com/us/microsite/tectile/.
Business, Pages 21 on 09/24/2012