The outward appearance of the Case-Mate Tank doesn’t look all that special with a thicker rubberized housing, but there’s a special protective and retractable screen cover to keep the display protected. They say that cracked screens make up 67% of damaged iPhones. I’m not sure if I like the aesthetic of the almost corrugated-looking retractable screen cover, but you can’t argue about its added utility.

In addition to its screen-cracking resistance, the Tank also meets or exceeds US DoD standards for sand, dust, shock, drop, wind, rain, and vibration. The textured polycarbonate exterior is said to be 2.5 times more impact resistant than the leading competitor. Bold claims, but the embedded video below helps back those claims. In any case, the Tank is available now for $60.

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Said to be “built for the harsh realities of life,” this ruggedized case will protect your portable spinning platter for drops of up to seven feet. Go ahead and dunk water all over the drive or throw it through the desert sand. The Nomad should keep your data safe and functional. There’s a “shock-absorbing elastomer cushion” on the inside and a polycarbonate casing on the outside.

If you’re thinking this sounds mildly familiar, you might remember the LaCie Tank, which offered some similar claims. Both adhere to military specs for ruggedness and both chime in at a similar $30 price point. WD just better hope that Creative doesn’t get on their back about the whole Nomad naming scheme.

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For some people, shiny aluminum unibodies just won’t do. They need something that’s tougher and rougher to handle the hardships of daily duty. And that’s where Black Diamond Advanced Technology is taking us, transporting a military-spec ultra rugged wearable PC to the realm of a commercial release.

The Modular Tactical System starts as a computer in a vest-based pack, but the components are split up and integrated into different parts of a soldier’s uniform. This modular approach makes it easy for military personnel to configure the system to suit their specific needs and it’s that same kind of concept that’s heading to the commercial off-the-shelf version too.

Critical components like the processing platform and peripheral controller are on the rear plate carrier, while the 6.5-inch Universal Tactical Display (UTD) sits in the front. It’s friendly for nigh vision goggles, as well as for viewing under the harsh Afghanistan sun. The power of the unit isn’t huge — 1.6GHz Atom, 2GB RAM, 128GB SSD — but this is a purpose-built solution that needs to last.

Black Diamond focuses mostly on military, but they see the MTS being used in other applications too. I imagine some hardcore hobbyists could be interested in this kind of real tactical gear. No OS specifications were announced at the time of the release, but by looking at the hardware specs it’s sure to be Windows something. Android soldiers will have to look elsewhere.

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When it comes to super ruggedized cases for our portable electronics, one of the first names that comes to my mind is OtterBox. Unfortunately, most OtterBox cases can be quite bulky and not all that pocket-friendly. And so, we turn our attention over to the LifeProof iPhone 4 case.

The idea is to provide military spec protection in a case that doesn’t look all that bulky. In fact, the LifeProof case only adds 1.3mm of thickness to your iPhone 4. That’s no worse than the many non-military spec’d cases out there, but it’s obviously not as thin as something like Invisible Shield by Zagg.

As a rough and tumble case, the LifeProof case can submerge in up to 6.6 feet of water. It’ll also stand up to to dust, dirt, snow, six foot drops, and all sorts of other abuse. There’s even a “shock absorbing elastomer” to help with those unfortunate tumbles. I wouldn’t completely trust these cases for underwater photography, but it’s supposed to hold up to that too.

LifeProof might be a little late to the party with its new $69.99 case, so I’d hope that they’ll have a timelier release for the inevitable LifeProof iPhone 5 case.

[iPhone Guru]

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