At first you scratch your head. Then you squint and turn your noggin sideways, as if that will help you understand better. Then you say, “Wow!” But then you scratch your head again. I’m talking about first, second, third, and fourth impressions of Magellan’s new GPS-enabled iPhone ToughCase. Doesn’t the iPhone have GPS? Some of them do, but not all–and this will add GPS capability to those that don’t, as well as iPods. So, WTF? Is this the coolest thing ever or nothing more than a ridiculously expensive Otterbox?

First, let’s look at the capabilities, which are pretty dang cool. It protects your iPhone from the elements, shocks, and water; indeed, it’s submersible to one meter for up to 30 minutes. (Given a half hour, even I can find things I’ve dropped overboard.) It has a battery, which Magellan claims doubles the phone’s operating time. All functions can be controlled through the case, including touch screen. There’s the SiRF GPS chipset that turns your pod into a navigator or boosts your 3GS’s accuracy.

What’s special is that the ToughCase brings it all in one package and (supposedly) boosts the GPS signal. My 3GS is frustratingly sporadic in signal acquisition and lock; despite the fantastic and inexpensive Motion-X mapping app, it’s too inconsistent in the field to serve as my primary GPS. If you are going to carry a GPS and a phone (that’s another debate), better that it’s captured in just one device.

On the other hand…it’s $200. An Otterbox Defender is $50. Batteries can be had for $20. The ToughCase weighs 7.5 ounces. It’s two inches thick, fatter than a stack of dark-chocolate bars from Trader Joe’s. And it doesn’t work with the iPhone 4 (gasp).

I’ll keep an open mind until I’ve gotten my hands on one, but my suspicion is that it’s too expensive, too bulky/heavy, and too late to market. No matter how many 3Gs there are, Apple sold 1.7 million of the iPhone 4 in three days. The 3GS is already obsolete. And the fact that Magellan charges $50 for its Roadmate navigation app on top of the case’s cost, should you want some frivolous little feature like turn by turn navigation, is so short-sighted it’s pitiable. If Magellan priced the ToughCase at $125 and threw in Roadmate, it might have a winner. But for two hunnies when the technology world is changing by the day–can’t wait to see what’s in the Android GPS pipeline–well, good luck with that.

Tagged as: apple, apps, iphone, tech, water