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Thursday January 17, 2008
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Last week at CES I caught up with the guys and gals at Invisible SHIELD,an incredibly strong and flexible transparent film. The film was originally intended to protect helicopter blades, but is now available to protect your gadgets . They gave me a demo of the product with the PC Mag cameras rolling.
This week I ordered one and immediately applied it to my Blackberry Pearl. I'll briefly walk you through the process of applying it to your phone, but bottom line it's a royal pain in the arse. Don't get me wrong, it's totally worth the trouble, but block out a good hour of time trying to apply it. They also recommend not turning on your device for 24 hours, stating, "this time allows the shield to 'set up' properly." I turned it on 5 mins after I was done. No one died.
I've yet to give it a good drop, but after a week of use, The Invisible SHEILD hasn't let a scratch through and adds no bulk, the only area not covered by the shield is the keyboard, volume keys, headphone jack, etc.
Images of the trying process, after the jump.
Post by PJ Jacobowitz
The Invisible SHEILD for the VZW Blackberry Pearl comes in 10 pieces along with an "install squeegee" and SHIELDspray
The 10 pieces which cover everything except keyboard, volume keys, and headphone jack.
The pieces are very sticky. You must spray them with "SHIELDsprary" (it's a lubricant) before you apply them. Once you do, you can place the shield on the device and maneuver it into position.
You only have about a minute to get the shield into position before the lubricant wears off and begins to stick. Use the squeegee to push out bubbles and lubricant.
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Gearlog
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January 18, 2008 5:30 AM
Good review! :-)
As soon as they come with a shield for the Nokia N82, I will get one!
(Perhaps the only negative point right there: It's a US company, and devices not (yet) available in the USA are not always present in their collection of products...)
January 18, 2008 10:15 AM
I was confused when you wrote:
"The pieces are very sticky. You must spray them with "SHIELD-spray" (it's a lubricant) before you apply them. Once you do, you can place the shield on the device and maneuver it into position."
So is this shield useful for protecting "other things"? (wink)...or just used for cell phone devices?
January 18, 2008 11:10 AM
@Mary C: How YOU doin? :D
I like this - very very cool, and looks like a really robust and clever way to protect my electronics. I might have to invest in this... I have a penchant for dropping my brand new company-issued Q on the pavement when putting my bag in my car after work. :(
January 18, 2008 11:31 AM
Okay, reading the comments in this post are officially making me hot!
January 18, 2008 3:22 PM
We've been using this product in an industrial environment to protect the touch screens of Motorola/Symbol PDA's for a couple years. We have several hundred terminals installed with them. It is great! We've used several other brands, one of which actually damaged the touch screen when we removed it due to the aged adhesive being too agressive. This is the one!
January 18, 2008 4:07 PM
I was so impressed with the CES stop on this product that I bought some stock: ZAGG
This stuff is spun as a GREAT scratch shield; dropping a device is probably gonna hurt it.
January 27, 2008 5:50 PM
How easily will it comform to sharp radiused corners
What is the best method for removal.
January 28, 2008 8:56 AM
This looks like a great idea. But, after watching the installation video on the Invisible Shield web site, I think this product should be sold to the manufacturers and not as an after market add-on. It just looks so tricky to get the installation correct.