TOOLBOX
BodyGuardz Protective Films
$15–$30 bodyguardz.com
New image per Ed
I bought an iPhone 4. “Helicopter glass,” I said in awe. But even helicopters
get scratched up, so I never dared put anything else in my pocket but a
hankie or a doggie doo bag. Nothing that could scratch my precious.
BodyGuardz gives you two sets of skins for your smartphone or iPad,
plus lifetime replacements, for about 25 bucks. It’s the same tough polyurethane film that 3M sells to protect car paint from rocks, so it’s got a nice
glassy shine and clarity. I can’t tell any difference in touchscreen sensitivity.
Application is a bit fussy — you spray a soap solution to temporarily
deactivate the adhesive — but unlike “dry-apply” films, it allows unlimited
do-overs to get it placed just right on your precious. —Keith Hammond
Parallax RFID
Read/Write
Module
$50
bit.ly/RFIDreadwrite
Parallax has introduced a new RFID module, representing the first economical, fully
assembled RFID reader/writer for hobbyist
use. The device allows writing of up to 116
bytes of 32-bit password-protectable data
using a simple 9,600-baud asynchronous
serial connection.
The manufacturer’s downloadable documentation provides full details on basic
read/write commands. A “read legacy”
command allows for reading of older style
read-only tags. Command source code is
downloadable for the BASIC Stamp 2 as
well as Propeller object code. This makes
it easy to serial interface with other microcontrollers such as Arduino.
The RFID read/write module is well constructed. The easy access and documented
commands allowed me to integrate RFID
into a hacked toy brainwave monitor
I experimented with, so I could write the
monitor’s session data to a log on the
RFID card via a BASIC Stamp 2 interface.
—LAS
Protoflex Adapter
$60 protoflex.net
Protoflex is a cool new electronic prototyping product.
These IC component adapters are made from thin flexible PCB materials with an adhesive backing. All you do is
peel and stick. Why didn’t someone think of this before?
I assembled a prototype in only minutes by sticking
the Protoflex adapters directly onto a thin plastic case
without drilling holes or using a protoboard. It worked so
fast I wanted to do it again.
Clever dual-hole solder patterns allow for through-hole or surface-mount wiring. The smaller hole pattern
just fits a 30AWG wire and works great to hold it in place
before soldering.
Protoflex panels come in SOIC, TSSOP/SSOP, SOT,
SC- 70, and DD-PAK IC devices plus adapters for Ribbon
and D-Sub connectors. If you need to mount through-hole
components, Protoflex even provides a special tool to
align the flexible adapters to a 0.100" pitch protoboard.
These adapters will probably change the way we all
build circuits.
—Tom Baycura
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