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Winner of the ‘most expensive iPhone case’ at CES is a cool – and hot – gadget

Short of any solid gold or diamond-encrusted cases you might find for those with more money than taste, you are probably looking at the most expensive iPhone case on the market: the FLIR One, yours for $350.

The case is, however, a fully-fledged gadget in its own right: a thermal imaging camera. TechCrunch had a play with one, and reported that it has several different modes, making it suitable for use by you and I as well as those trained to read thermal images. It can, for example, be set to highlight as simple binary differences the hottest and coldest heat sources in an image (sample images below the fold) … 

While the camera is most likely to appeal to those who need it for professional purposes, FLIR believes there is a consumer market too, for example detecting water leaks behind a wall or seeing where heat is lost from a home in order to beef up insulation.

While $350 might seem a steep price to pay, it seems rather more reasonable when compared to the typical $1000+ price of a standalone thermal camera. The case contains a built-in battery to power the camera, and can also help power the iPhone.

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Comments

  1. abozdar - 11 years ago

    Nice nail polish :-)

  2. sardonick - 11 years ago

    I like it. If it works as well as most consumer grade FLIRs, I might have to look into this. We have many uses for such a device but without the 1500+ price tag.

    • Ben Lovejoy - 11 years ago

      I’d be interested to hear about some of the uses you have for it

      • André Hedegaard Petersen - 11 years ago

        You can use it for thermal testing of your house, to see where there are heat leaks from windows/doors/cracks e.t.c.

        If you lose your small pet, that has crept in some crevice, you can see if its there or not. Likewise to detect mice nests in woodworked houses e.t.c

      • Ben Lovejoy - 11 years ago

        Cool, thanks

      • sardonick - 11 years ago

        “IF” it works, our uses would include inspections on inbound and outbound transportation related items, such as containers, trailers, and boxes. We have strict guidelines on these items and the added benefit of possibly staving off “unwanted” passengers by being able to detect anomalies in cargo transport units would be greatly beneficial. I’m just not confident in the actual product without having first hand experience with it.

      • André Hedegaard Petersen - 11 years ago

        @sardonick
        In other words, you want to use it to see through clothes of female passengers? :)

  3. ramon solorio - 11 years ago

    Iphone goes predator!!

  4. danbridgland - 11 years ago

    Would be nice if I could rent one for a few days, but I can’t see much value in owning one. Would love to find those pesky heat leaks in my house, it could potentially pay for itself I guess.

  5. Patrick Trumbull - 11 years ago

    Depending on the precision and accuracy you want, consider the IR-Blue – Thermal Imaging Smartphone Accessory (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/andyrawson/ir-blue-thermal-imaging-smartphone-accessory)

  6. Only problem I see is that if you intend on using this more than once, it has a shelf life of about 2 yrs or less depending on how often you upgrade your phone. If you use it commercially for work, you might as well invest in something stand alone. Its a cool concept and I would want one, but then it becomes a paper weight when Apple tweeks their design and I want to upgrade.

Author

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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