10.5.3 introduced an issue with getaddrinfo (again?) and this is supposed to be fixed with 10.5.4, so hopefully I'll have nothing to worry about.

They also have pink cases for the iPod Nano as well.

I think I've also found a workable install process for imagemagick, my past attempts at getting this going have all failed. The steps I've found include a number of additional modules which appear to be either required or strongly recommended, and these may not have been installed previously. My last attempt at doing this via MacPorts failed miserably, including having two separate version of Perl installed, which I think I've now managed to remove all traces of.

There is, I found, a new plugin that allows for template exporting, but it requires a paid license, so it looks like that's out for me as well. I was able to get all my prior modifications back in place, so I'm back to getting the final template and CSS changes put in place to make the new template look like my old one.

Also, the formatting of the HTML and MT code is terrible, all the formatting is done with spaces, no tabs. This was done, I'm sure, because the templates are edited via the web browser, and entering a tab in a text field is a bit hard to do, but it would have been so much nicer if after saving the spaces had been converted to tabs to make things more readable and ensure that everything lines up, which the built in templates don't.

Basically, I used the new install instructions, but renamed the mtstatic folder to mtstatic2, and instead of a MT folder in my CGI-Bin, I created a folder called MT2 and placed all the necessary bits there. A quick setup of the new DB structure and config, and it was quickly up and running. Now to hammer out the templates...

The case does gap slightly around the top where the phone slides in, but this isn't that noticeable. The case has a nice feel in the hand, a slight give, and the phone fits snugly, it won't accidentally slide out of the case.

The iPhone's controls are easily accessible, volume, mute, home, and an opening in the back for the camera lens.

A separate holster is available ($24.95), and is not included, which is unfortunate considering the $34.95 price of the case. The case is designed to slide into the holster and be removed easily, there is no unsightly clip permanently attached to the back of the case.

My wife's observations in using this case is that it is a bit bulky when slid into a pocket, but otherwise works well in protecting the phone. But the lack of an included holster is definitely a sore point with her, so I'll likely be ordering one of those in the near future.

Update: 2/1/08

This case has developed a cosmetic issue, the pink coating on the leather has begun flaking off, revealing a grey undercoat, presumably a primer of some sort to bond to the leather. A call in to Case-Mate indicates that this is a rare, but not unheard of issue, and they have given me instructions on returning the unit for exchange. Unfortunately, they can not just send out a replacement, they need the old one back first, so my wife will be temporarily using my old Speck case.

I'm getting a discount on the holster though, $10 off, so I'm ordering that in for her.

Update: 2/23/08

Holster arrived a few days ago, replacement case now in hand. The holster has a tight fit on the case, the case slides straight down into the holster, curved plastic on both sides of the phone hug it securely, and a bottom lip holds the bottom of the phone in place.

Removing the phone from the holster is fairly easy, but is still very secure, there doesn't seem to be much chance of the phone accidentally being dislodged from the holster.

Update: 3/30/08

Not having a great track record on quality, after a month of use, the holster has broke, the metal spring in the belt clip apparently became unglued and went flying. Simply pressing it back into place isn't working, time for an RMA.

Update: 4/7/08

Replacement holster received, my wife is happy again.

I have both POP and IMAP configured, but haven't tested IMAP extensively, and have only used it via the webmail apps I run, and the iPhone was trying to talk on ports that I hadn't set up yet.

The next trick was editing the account setup on the iPhone. After entering all of the account info, the initial connection failed. I began tweaking settings on the mail server, but couldn't easily get back to change my wife's account setup on the phone. I found that by going to the phone's Settings, then Mail, I could select the account, and at the bottom of this screen was an Advanced option, that let me tweak all of the settings.

Despite declining to use SSL encryption, this option was still selected for both incoming and outgoing, very simple to turn off. This screen also lets the default ports be overridden, again, useful to get around certain network blocks.

Once I had tweaked the necessary settings on the iPhone, I had her mail running just fine. Thank goodness for unlimited data plans...

A 'make install' later, I was up and running with Courier-IMAP 4.2.1. It's the little things that get you, sometimes...

I've not really been a fan of hard cases in the past, but having the flexible outer skin on this one gives it a great feeling, solid, yet slightly giving to the touch. My phone felt better in my hand than if I were holding it without any case at all.

The hard shell protects the phone very well, and the silicone skin has snap openings for the headphone and dock connections, keeping dust and moisture out of those sensitive areas. The volume buttons, power button, and home button are also skinned over, providing barriers for these openings as well. The camera lens is not covered, nor is the Apple logo on the back, nicely sized circular openings in the case allow these to show through.

For those of you paying attention, note that I made no mention of the side switch to enable vibrate mode, turning off the internal speaker. This switch is unfortunately completely covered by the hard shell case. Word from the manufacturer is that because of the size of that switch (and it is a small one!), even had there been an opening for it, it would have been impossible to activate by hand. The workaround for this is simply to use the volume controls to lower the volume to its lowest level. Note that this will not completely silence the phone, but even in a quiet room, the minimum volume can barely be heard.

The holster is likewise a very nice piece, the phone slides in easily, and can be removed very quickly as well. That is, as long as you slide the phone in with the screen facing inwards. I'm used to having my screen face outward, and didn't realize that it wasn't supposed to work that way.

If you insist on having the screen face outward, here's what you will face. If you slide the phone in bottom first, the home button may trigger as it slides into the case. Minor annoyance, the phone will go back to standby in a few moments. Sliding the phone in top first, through, is a different story.

The hard shell has a notch on either side, that will mate with ridges inside the holster, giving a very solid fit. If the case goes in top first, these parts don't line up, and the phone tends to stick in the holster. This makes it slightly difficult to remove, but not terribly bad. The more annoying thing is that the volume up/down buttons will be triggered as the phone slides into the case. If the phone is in standby, this isn't an issue, but if the phone is still active, you will note the volume level will jitter, as the up/down buttons fight for control. You may also note that the screen may blank, which the phone will do if both buttons are held down long enough (no idea why).

As much as I had been used to having my phone facing outwards so that I could simply glance at the display to see if I needed to take the call, having it facing inwards hasn't been that bad, and since it slides out so easily, I've adapted rather well to this way of doing things.

Those of you with a Dremel that really want your phone to go in facing out can probably grind down the case just slightly to avoid the issues mentioned above. I do have a Dremel, and I love hacking things (regular readers will know this), but at this point I'm not going to mess with a good thing.

The hard shell of the case includes a built in screen protector, a nice feature. The protector doesn't interfere with normal operations of the phone, finger taps and slides work just fine. But since the protector is part of the shell and not actually affixed to the display, there is a very tiny gap, and this does slow the response slightly. I have a tetris-type game installed, and have found that I can't tap quite as quickly through the screen protector. But for normal use, as I said, this isn't an issue.

The Speck iPhone case I reviewed recently had a rather disappointing clip on its holster, very loose. The clip on the Otterbox case is very solid, and not prone to opening up when it isn't supposed to, it has a very tight spring and holds where it is supposed to. My only comment on the design is that the clip's hinge is too close to the edge, making it slightly difficult to release, having a bit more room to press down on the hinge would have been nice, but it still isn't that bad.

I will say this, in the week I've been using this case, I have not once had the phone slip out of the holster. This combination is very good at what it is designed for, it will protect your phone and keep it secure. It feels great, and it looks sharp too.

If you need a case with a holster, then this is a fantastic one to try out. If you're just looking for a nice hard shell case without a holster, then this is still a fantastic one to try out. The case works great without the holster, slip it into a pocket, pouch, or purse, whatever you've got. Use it with the holster and clip it to your pocket, belt, etc. Either way, this unit works great.

Update: 6/30/08

This case still continues to be my favorite, over the months since this review I've talked with a number of other vendors and inspected their wares, and most weren't even worth picking up off the tables.

This case, despite the use it has seen (throwing into the passenger seat, drops, moisture (including a visit to Niagara Falls!), loose change, keys, etc), there are no marks or scratches at all, it looks as good now as the day I pulled it from the box. There has been no distortion of the material, the shape has held, no gaps, etc.

So, this came as somewhat of a surprise that formerly working servers were now being rejected after my upgrade to Leopard. Some troubleshoot assistance from the postfix mail list uncovered the issue, the getnameinfo function in the OS was not resolving DNS addresses that resolved to a CNAME record, or anything other than a PTR record. The unix nslookup and host commands though, worked fine, but postfix relies on the getnameinfo function.

The good news here is that this bug has been reported to Apple, and signs are good that this should be fixed in Mac OS X 10.5.2 when it is released. I'll report back on that after release. For now, my temporary workaround is to identify servers that aren't resolving, and whitelist them in my helo_access list.