If you’re looking for an original gift for someone special – or yourself – this season, the oriGrid, a user weavable grid organizer for iPad is a suggestion to consider. It’s an accessory to an Apple accessory, as it’s designed to work with the keyboard for the iPad, so some people may think twice before going ahead and purchasing it, but the price, $45.99 for the leather bounded oriGrid Classic for 12.9″ iPad or $19.99 for the oriGrid Basic for 11″ iPad may be all you need to take a decision.
Designed by an iPad user who understands those who choose Apple choose a lifestyle, and a statement of personality, the oriGrid was designed to work seamlessly with Apple official accessory, and to perfectly blend in the ecosystem. The oriGrid, says TinyRigs, the company behind the product, “does not interfere with Apple design language, but only aims to be an extension of Apple design.”
Inspired by the simplicity and elegance of Japanese origami, oriGrid aspires to fuse fashion with technology. It’s an accessory – sleeve-on – that fits over your iPad’s magic keyboard lid and allows you to carry all the accessories you need. While it does make the iPad and keyboard thicker, it’s not much different, with the advantage that you can carry everything from cables to your earplugs in the pockets and the patented weavable grid-based organization system, which is part of this original product. And if you just need the tablet, you can easily pick and use it without the keyboard.
While some people may have no interest or need for the oriGrid, others, like photographer Andy Choo, say it’s the perfect solution. Choo, a wedding photographer in Singapore, says he hates having to reach in his bag searching after accessories and he has previously used “masking tape to tape stuff on my magic keyboard before” so “this grid is so d*** convenient.”
Compatible with Apple Magic Keyboard, Apple Smart Keyboard Folio and Apple Smart Folio 11 and 12.9”, the oriGrid is available in leather and canvas, with different configurations, from the $19.99 for the oriGrid Basic to the $45.99 for the leather bounded oriGrid Classic. It is also available in a variety of colors, if you opt for canvas as the material. The oriGrid is designed to let you continue to use your tablet to capture photos or video, and it has a 6mm PC plastic bumper that offers true camera protection.
TinyRigs started the oriGrid family with the Classis series, designed with the classic lining with two pockets on the lower half. For the 11″ iPad, they merged the two pocket to have a 3D shaped pocket ready for user to place pens or small cables. Built for long lasting durability, all trimmings use leather regardless of which series of oriGrid you choose. The oriGrid accessory is not compatible with iPad with 3rd party skin, as the slight increase in thickness will interfere the connection with magic keyboard, but TinyRigs is working so the new batches of the product work with different non-original skins.
Although this is a product designed with the iPad universe in mind, users of the Xiaomi Pad 5 Android tablet, which is extremely popular in China, can also have an oriGrid, as a version of the oriGrid Basic will be available soon to order, as Chi Yan Chan, the creator of the oriGrid, confirmed to ProVideo Coalition. So, if you’ve the Xiaomi Pad 5 who uses the tablet with a keyboard, this might be good news to you.
If you’re a photographer or videographer on the move, the oriGrid might be a solution to consider, to have a “workstation” where everything is in place and easily connected. If you edit your images or video from a small portable SSD, for example, the oriGrid makes it easy to keep everything neat. Only a long-term usage will reveal how durable the accessory is, but the concept is, no doubt, quite interesting.