The need to buy a case for your iPhone 4 has disappeared since Steve Jobs decided to give every owner a free one on Friday. But if you want your case to do more than allow the antenna to work Factron may have a tempting product.
The new Factron Quattro case is designed to house an iPhone 4, 3GS, or 3G. As well as giving your phone a robotic look, the shiny aluminium case should be ample protection against knock and drops. But it also has an added bonus on the back of the case.
The hole left for the camera lens can have additional lenses screwed into place. Three lenses are available giving the option to capture fisheye, superwide, or close-up video and images. Not only does that diversify the content your iPhone can capture, it also allows for some pretty strange FaceTime chats.
The Factron Quattro case isn’t for those on a budget though, with a price tag in excess of $200. The lenses go for between $15-$50 each escalating the price even further into the realm of the ridiculous.
Factron have been making iPhone cases for a while. Below are some video examples of what the lenses allow you to achieve.
Read more at Factron, found via Akihabara News
Matthew’s Opinion
The case strikes me as more of a gimmick than a usable protection for your phone. The design would almost certainly make it uncomfortable to slide into a pocket, if indeed it fit in your pocket at all.
If Factron can smooth down the edges to better match the design on the iPhone 4, add a few more lens options, and get the price (including lenses) below $100, it might see some sales. But at the moment I can’t see many people investing nearly $300 to get the case and lenses.
Even though Apple gives away a free bumper with the iPhone 4, the fact you need a case means more people will probably buy one. There is an opportunity here to not only market desirable cases, but also print on the box “drop less calls with this case”. Expect a flurry of iPhone cases of varying quality to hit the market soon.
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