g-form-ipad-space-drop

To show the effectiveness of its Extreme Edge case, G-Form decided to drop an iPad from 100,000 feet in the air.

Let’s face it: Smartphone and tablet cases are, for the most part, pretty boring. So we can’t really blame case-makers for coming up with creative ways to show the effectiveness of their product. In today’s installment of creative case marketing, G-Form decided to send up an iPad, wrapped in its Extreme Edge case and tied to a giant balloon, into outerspace, then let it free fall 100,000 feet back to Earth.

Surprisingly (or not, since the company released the video), the iPad survives the fall, seemingly unharmed. Luckily for G-Form, the iPad did not land screen down — if it had, we highly doubt this video would have been released to the public, since iPads have been known to crack from far lower heights when the screen hits first.

This is not the first time G-Form has dropped an iPad from something to prove the effectiveness of its Extreme Edge case. The last time, however, the height was a mere 1,300 feet.

“As far as we know, this is the first iPad ever in space,” said G-Form’s VP innovations, Thom Cafaro, in a statement. “And definitely it’s the first iPad that’s ever free-fallen from space and survived to play more movies.  We are usually known for making the most protective gear on the planet,so we decided why not raise the bar to off the planet, too.”

It should be noted that the video of the fall is recorded on a GoPro cam, which, incidentally, also survives the fall just fine, in its protective case.

Along with the video, G-Form also announced that it will be releasing a new rugged iPhone case at CES 2012, next week. We’ll be there to check it out, though we doubt they’ll let us chuck an iPhone off of anything.

Check out the video below:

Showing 14 comments

  1. Bobsokoler at 5:28am 7th January 2012 Impressive... But I love the fact that the go pro camera also worked after crashing back to earth.
  2. Eric Lingren at 1:41am 7th January 2012 Isn't that a little overkill? My physics is a little rusty but I know that the force of gravity is 9.8m/s squared and at some point itb won't accelerate anymore, just a contestant free fall...
    1. legalman at 11:21pm 6th January 2012 Agreed, good eye man. It's called Terminal Velocity. It seems that at least two of us paid attention that day in class. Rarely does an article ever interest me long enough to read the entire thing anymore. However, I read this one entirely and the first thought on my mind was (did it land in water and the case made it float?)... LOL. I'm not one for watching videos - almost never - as it's obvious I didn't watch the video above, just red the article.
  3. Kevin Gregg at 10:58pm 6th January 2012 Better marketing than just crushing it with the Van I left off.
  4. Kevin Gregg at 10:57pm 6th January 2012 Something tells me this looked beautiful when it hit the Allen Radiation Belts.
  5. Elisha Fraser at 10:36pm 6th January 2012 I wanna drop an ipod like that. that sounds like FUN!
  6. Mike March at 9:17pm 6th January 2012 A much more realistic and severe testhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4uUhWtYDPk&feature=youtube_gdata_player
  7. Seth Spitz at 1:08pm 6th January 2012 So...I know when I was skydiving at only 10K feet off the ground it was cold up there...Plane windows even frost up at a specific height...so even though an iPad has temperature shut off reads, this managed to stay warm and functional...riiiiiiiiiiight
  8. Philip Palmer at 9:08pm 6th January 2012 Even though you guys stopped doing your viral videos page, I'm glad you still do stuff like this every now and then.
  9. TechFreak at 10:22am 6th January 2012 Am I missing something? All it takes is one hit on the front of that display and its dead. Somehow this iPad landed on its back.
    1. Andrew Couts at 10:24am 6th January 2012 Maybe the weighted it down in the back to help ensure a safe landing?
  10. jesterking at 9:56am 6th January 2012 Ok, besides the "extreme" factor of this test, I fail to see the point. Once the ipad reaches terminal velocity, it won't go any faster. They could have done this test from 50 feet and have the same results. Am I missing something here?Also, the camera did survive the fall. which brings me to another point... More drag! the added camera and arm caused the Ipad to slow down more than it would normally. Now if they had done some modifications to make the ipad stand on edge instead of falling flat... That would be something to see. Sorry, I'm a stickler for detail!
    1. Andrew Couts at 9:59am 6th January 2012 Haha - you are right on all fronts. It's all just a marketing ploy. But it's cool to at least see what would happen when you drop an iPad from space, even if it's a pointless exercise.As a side note: I just want to personally thank you for being such an awesome DT reader and commenter. I look forward to seeing what you have to say about our stuff every day!
      1. jesterking at 10:21am 6th January 2012 :) thanks! I enjoy reading. I know I like the complain a lot, but I do enjoy the articles.You're right. It is a cool experiment. I've always wanted to send something into space. A while back (I forget where I read it) there was a group that was sending a payload into space. you could put your experiment on that rocket and have your very own satellite in space, for a price of course. I always wanted to throw a solar cell, camera, radio, and GPS unit together, and send it up for all to use. I am 100% hooked on all things space!Thanks for the article.
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