The Tuff-Luv In-Genius smartphone case: A back-to-school essential

In June, I included the Tuff-Luv Tri-Axis tablet case/cover in my list of unique gifts for grads. It was a great cover and I can attest to just how "tuff" it really is: my puppy attacked the case and tore it to shreds, but the structure of the cover remained intact and my Motorola Xoom was unscathed.

Tuff-Luv makes a variety of protective cases for everything from Kindles to laptops in materials ranging from hemp to faux leather. ZDNet's Scott Raymond reviewed their saddleback leather MacBook Air cover (I really want one of these) and had more than a few nice words to say about it. Most recently, the company announced its new line of In-Genius smartphone cases. This one screams "STUDENT!" and, after passing on the test unit that arrived yesterday to my iPhone-wielding college-sophomore son on his way to campus, I realized that this might, in fact, be an essential bit of student kit for back to school.

They aren't cheap - none of the Tuff-Luv products can be considered cheap, but given the quality and utility of all of their cases, they're remarkably reasonable. They come out of the UK, so what you pay will depend from day to day on the value of your particular currency. Today, the £32.99 saddleback leather model for the iPhone 4 (you can get it in Napa and faux leather for less and for several upcoming and current smartphones) for about $54 plus shipping.

The In-Genius is particularly slick, not just because it's a nice cover for expensive smartphones but because it has 2 slim slots for credit cards, ID cards, licenses, etc. The slots are attached to a pull-tab that doubles as a clasp for the folio-style cover, making it easy to pull them out for access to their contents. My son ran out the door with iPhone in hand, his student ID, a credit card, his license, and a $20 bill all in a single, slim case. He left the velcro wallet that my wife gave him when he was 12 behind.

So if you have a bit of cash left over from your student loans or need to grab a last-minute back-to-school gift to go with that new iPhone, the Tuff-Luv In-Genius case should be on your short list. Honestly, the little case is enough to make a die-hard Android fan like me want my next smartphone to be an iPhone.