12 iPhone (and iPad) Accessories That Define You

If you identify with the hard-core gamer, then Angry Birds probably doesn’t cut it. Truth is, iPhone gaming apps are light fare. But now there’s an iPhone and iPad game that measures up to the best consumer electronic games on the planet. It’s called AR.Drone.

With AR.Drone, you fly a model quadricopter in the physical world using an iPad or iPhone to control it in the virtual one. You can even dogfight with friends who have an AR.Drone. Cameras on the AR.Drone are connected to the iPad via Wi-Fi, essentially putting you in the cockpit on the iPad screen.

Cost: $300

Apps that go well: Drone Control ($4)

“My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way.” —Ernest Hemingway

The iPad is one of the greatest journals and reading devices to emerge this decade. If you keep a journal or consider yourself an avid reader, you probably already have an iPad. On the writing side, the iPad screen size delivers a relatively large soft keyboard for journal entries. You can also get a physical keyboard accessory.

But the essence of the iPad as a literary tool can be seen in the Dodo case: a handcrafted, classically binded case that turns your iPad into an old-fashioned journal. It looks a lot like the Moleskine notebooks that literary heavyweights like Hemingway used to carry.

Cost: $55 (red version, $50)

Apps that go well: iBooks (free), InstaPaper ($5), WriteRoom ($5), WordBook English Dictionary & Thesaurus ($2)

Did you watch Siskel and Ebert and The Movies religiously? Do you rack up iTunes movie rental fees? Is your iTunes library stocked with movies you’ve bought? If so, it’s probably time to get Apple TV for streaming movies and shows to your television. Apple recently overhauled its “hobby” offering by reducing both the size — it looks like a square hockey puck — and cost of the device.

Even better, Apple’s Airplay lets you stream movies (as well as photos and video) to Apple TV from your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. You can also use these devices as a remote control for your TV.

Cost: $100

Apps that go well: Remote (free), Netflix (free)

Carrying the iPad while shopping in Union Square, San Francisco, is fashionable enough. When the iPad is inside a colorful case that goes with your new outfit, you look maaaarvelous.

Targus has some of the most stylish iPad cases around, including the Zierra line, a leather case with pockets similar to a billfold. Some of the cases, such as the Truss line, come in a variety of colors (sky blue, bright orange, light green). Both cases prop up the iPad for hands-free viewing.

Cost: $60 (Zierra), $50 (Truss)

Apps that go well: Gilt on the Go (free), Satorialist (free), Gap 1969 Jeans (free)

The biggest Apple scandal happened earlier this year when an engineer lost a prototype of the iPhone 4 at a Silicon Valley bar and the finder sold it to Gizmodo. The sad truth is that iPhones tend to get lost or stolen at bars and nightclubs. If nightclubs are your thing, get the iPhone Leash available at MyPhoneLeash.com. It’s a retractable cable that keeps your iPhone close to you at all times.

Cost: $25

Apps that go well: Take Me To My Car (free), SplashID ($10), TapTrace Pro ($2)