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What with kids heading back to school and weather turning colder, germs will become more prevalent in households. A study in the Journal of Applied Microbiology in 2010 found that most smartphones and tablets carry more germs than subway toilets. In that context, adding an extra layer of protection to your idevice with the Antibacterial Screen Guard for iPhone and iPad from fuse ( http://www.fuseplusyou.com ) to neutralize these devices as miocrobial pathogen vectors has its attractions.
The fuse Antibacterial Screen Guard combines antibacterial properties of the microscopic silver particles it’s impregnated with physical screen protection against dirt and abrasion. It is claimed to be capable of warding off 99 percent of potentially harmful germs, not only defending against, but also killing any lingering germ residues on your device.
The Screen Guard protects against fingerprints, static and residue, and covers the entire touchscreen surface without interfering with its sensitivity or capabilities. It's also claimed to reduce or eliminate glare. More on that latter point in a moment.
Multiple people using the same phone or tablet, people using these devices when they’re ill, and certain environments such as hospitals, labs, and industrial sites where these highly portable devices may be used, possibly resulting in screen contamination, are a few reasons why for many iPad and iPhone users, from frequent business travelers to busy, hands-on parents, the fuse Antibacterial Screen Guard could be a way to keep users and gadgets healthy.
The screen guard kit contains the self adhesive guard, protected by a thin layer of clear plastic film that you peel off just prior to application, a screen cleaning cloth, and a minimalist squeegee, plus an instruction sheet.
The first preparation step before installing the Screen Guard is to make sure the device’s screen is clean and free of finger smears and dust particles. The included screen cleaning cloth can be used for this, but I gave mine a good rubdown with an old, many times laundered, soft cotton sock that I keep around for the purpose.
Actually applying the Screen Guard turned out to be easier and quicker than I had anticipated. The priority point is to get the guard lined up precisely with the iPad’s periphery and then roll it on from one end to the other. Because the fuse Screen Guard is made of heavier gauge plastic than some plastic film appliqué products I’ve sampled, there was no problem with crinkling as the film was applied. However, if you don’t get the alignment quite right on the 1st try, you can remove the Screen Guard and try again. Incidentally, the Screen Guard leaves no residue upon removal.
With my installation, there were a few residual air bubbles to be worked out, but that’s what the included squeegee is for, and it worked surprisingly well. I was able to easily tease the air bubbles out with only a few passes.
Once the Screen Guard is successfully installed, it’s not obviously visible, and you pretty much forget it’s there unless you’re thinking about it. The film’s outward facing surface, despite being marqueed as “matte finish” by the manufacturer, is in my observation if anything even glossier than the iPad’s own Gorilla Glass screen surface. That’s okay with me. I like glossy screens. However, some folks find potential reflections in the gloss problematical under certain lighting conditions. You can detect in this photograph a reflection of the camera’s lens bezel and a faint outline of the photographer’s hand.
I quite like the feel of the Screen Guard surface, and a happy bonus is that it doesn’t seem to attract finger smearing as efficiently as the iPad's own glass screen. It’s also very easy to clean, and obviously offers a layer of protection for the underlying glass. My iPad 2 has a scratch about inboard of 4 o’clock with the screen in landscape mode that I think came from the factory. I only began noticing it several weeks after I purchased the device back in June, and I figured it probably wasn’t worth the hassle of complaining about and trying to get a replacement. However the fuse Screen Guard does make it effectively disappear, which is another positive side-benefit.
I liked this product even more than I had expected to, and have not been able to detect the slightest diminishment in touchscreen performance and responsiveness. I can’t think of much of anything to complain about, and the combination of attributes the fuse Antibacterial Screen Guard adds to your idevice makes it well worth considering at $29.99. Versions are available to fit the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4, and the original iPad and iPad 2.
For more information, visit:
http://fuseplusyou.com/antibacterial
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