Has the new speaker design killed case design?

[CAWjr]

The speaker design on the iPad 1 was easy. Have an opening in the bottom near the dock connector & you were good to go. The new curved rear speaker on the iPad 2 has led to manufacturers just taking a massive bite out of their first gen designs to adapt to the speaker & the result is unattractive (at least to me).

Does anyone think that this "notch" method is just a quick response to get new cases out & that we will eventually see a cleaner mesh or perforated design in cases to adapt to the speaker?

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Case-Mate has a fulled covered back shell w/ micro holes where the speaker is.

I imagine companies are playing it conservative, having to produce cases w/o having the actual device it fits in to test it with is a daunting task. The last thing they want is to spend & producing a case that renders muffled sound and no one buys. Now that the iPad 2 is out I suspect in the next few months new designs will surface w/ no cutout for the speakers.

I agree I don't like any part of the back exposed b/c I put a back shell on to protect 100% of the back not 95%.

Personally, I have put my iPad 2 in my old iPad 2 sleeve until more inexpensive 3rd party designs ship. The speaker is fully covered yet the sound quality is still more than acceptable.

 

[drenline]

Sucks I can't use my extra invisashields from my old ipad1