CLICK TO SKIP REVIEWS AND JUMP TO GIVEAWAY INFO

I was finally fed up enough with the hard case I originally purchased from Verizon (see my gripes here) and made the move to buy a full-coverage Invisible Shield and a pretty Decal Girl skin to use instead. Of course, these are just stick-on skins and don’t protect it from big drops, but I keep my phone in my outer purse pocket and probably dropped it more often with the slippery hard case on it, anyway!

First, I’ll review the Motorola Droid 3 Maximum Coverage Invisible Shield. I got this during the ZAGG Cyber Monday sale for half off (I think their full price of $24.99 is a bit expensive) and it offers great scratch protection just like the one I had on my original Droid.

Maximum Coverage Invisible Shield for Droid 3

The “maximum coverage” version has a panel for every facet of the phone, and let me tell you, it was a pain in the butt to install. I ran out of the spray liquid they send when I was about 80% through the installation, because I had to re-adjust the panels often and tried to keep my fingers damp throughout. There are LOTS of little panels for maximum coverage on the Droid 3. I’d say it took an hour to put on. It has cut-outs for all of the microphones, camera lenses, and speakers on the phone. These are tiny, and I missed punching one out before installing, but was able to pick it out with tweezers after the install.

A disappointing part of putting the Invisible Shield on this phone was that it just wouldn’t stick to the large curve on the back of the Droid 3. I tried the “palming” method that worked on my Droid, but that was for a flat piece curving around an edge that had a mostly-flat surface, like wrapping tape around a pen. This corner on the Droid 3 has more of a spherical curve, so it’s like trying to get a flat piece of tape to lay flush on the surface of a small ball.

Once it was installed, I felt I had great protection from scratches (such as from my keys when I accidentally put them in the same purse pocket), but the one place on my phone that had actually been dented in a fall before wasn’t covered by the Shield (I had taken off the front piece of the hard case a while back). I realize it would be near-impossible to create one that covers this area, but it goes to show that the Droid 3 design has some vulnerabilities, like this raised edge, that can only be protected by a snap-on or silicon case.

One benefit of the Invisible Shield over the screen protector that came with the phone from Verizon, is the texture. I am getting much better responsiveness from the touchscreen and like the way it feels better with this one.

Droid 3 with Invisible Shield

A couple weeks later, that edge that wouldn’t quite lay down is now filled with dust, and I’ll probably have to clip it off so it won’t lead to peeling of the whole back panel.

So, in summary, though I love and recommend the ZAGG Invisible Shields, it’s difficult to apply to spherical curves like the back panel corners of the Droid 3, and doesn’t cover the vulnerable-to-dings raised edges, so a silicon sleeve would offer more protection in this case. I would recommend getting the screen-only Invisible Shield for the Droid 3 and finding another way to protect the edges.

Now, on to the Decal Girl skin. I spent some time looking through the Decal Girl website, and they have some beautiful designs! If they offer a pattern from an artist and it isn’t officially listed for your device, you can still order it by clicking “Shop by Design”, choosing the design you want, then selecting your device from there. That’s how I ended up getting this “Violet Worlds” design for the Droid 3.

'Violet Worlds' Decal Girl Skin on the Droid 3

I chose the Matte finish, and I like it a lot. It’s smooth, but not shiny or slippery, and has a papery feel. The decorative skin offers less coverage than the maximum-coverage Invisible Shield (which is why I applied it over the Shield), but has two front panels and two back panels to cover all but the side-edges of the Droid 3.

My favorite part ended up being something I hadn’t even thought about before buying the Sheild: now I can feel the “buttons”, which are not actually buttons, but touch-sensitive spots below the screen. The thickness of the skin leaves an edge around each icon, so I can feel when I’m touching one and don’t need to look. It’s a great bonus feature!

Decal Girl also offers a wallpaper that matches the design of each skin so you can get a “full coverage” feel, but the Violet Worlds design was a little too busy for the screen, so I opted for a solid color that matched the design background (using the “Colors” app to select a solid wallpaper color).

Left - Decal Girl Wallpaper, Right - Solid Color Wallpaper
(The photos aren't the best, but you'll have to trust me that the backgrounds match the decal in real life!)

I haven’t had any trouble with the decal peeling up or any other issues in the weeks since I applied it, and I recommend Decal Girl skins for personalizing any device.

So, now on to the part you’ve probably been waiting for – the giveaway!

Giveaway #1

In the past, Decal Girl sent me skins for our readers and we didn’t have enough entries to give the Galaxy Tab skin away. I also bought an extra Droid 3 skin since there was a sale on Cyber Monday, and I’m offering that up as a giveaway as well. So if you want one of these skins I already have, just comment below saying which of these skins you want to win!

Samsung Galaxy Tab Skin – “Radiosity”

Motorola Droid 3 Skin – “Drama”

Giveaway #2 – Android Phone Decal of Your Choice!

For this giveaway, I’ll buy the winner any Android phone Decal Girl skin you want! You pick the design and tell me which phone you have, and I’ll send it your way. You have to work a little harder for this one, though! There are two ways to enter:

1. Check out our “Women With Android Apps” series and comment on one of the posts. Ask the interviewee a question, comment on their app, or just offer an encouraging comment about how awesome they are!
2. Bring us a new follower. Tell a friend in person or online about Women With Droids and tell them they should circle us on Google+, follow us on Twitter, Subscribe to our Paper.li newspaper by email, or add our RSS feed to their reader. No matter how they follow us, you get an entry!

Don’t forget to come back here and tell us how you entered. You can enter up to 3 times. So, find 3 new Twitter followers, or make 2 comments on our series and bring 1 Google+ follower, etc.

On January 10, 2012, or once we receive at least 20 entries for Giveaway #2 (whichever comes later), I’ll draw one entry randomly and notify the winner here and using the email you comment with (please don’t include the email address in your comment text, I can see it from the WordPress admin page).

Good luck!!

To be eligible for the giveaway, you must follow the entry rules above and must not have won a WomenWithDroids.com giveaway in the last year. Anyone in the world may enter, but if you live outside of the United States, we may ask you to help with the extra shipping costs to mail the skin to your location.

I know – long time no post! I hope to increase the frequency of posts on WomenWithDroids in the near future.

I logged back on today to share a giveaway with you. The makers of the MyFlare safety app have offered to give five WomenWithDroids readers free full versions of the app (normally $2.49)! This is an app that you will likely want to install on the phones of all of your loved ones.

MyFlare is a “Personal Emergency Response App” which can automatically text up to 10 contacts with a predefined message and your GPS location if you are in an emergency and need someone to be able to find you. It will update your contacts with new GPS coordinates every 3 minutes, and can even send video clips taken by your phone’s camera. Optionally, you can choose to have it blast a siren sound when activated as well.

I like that it just takes one tap of the icon to activate the distress calls and turn on the tracking – no fumbling around with your phone to make a call and explain to someone where you are if you think you may be in danger.

Here’s a promotional video for the app:

Developer’s website with additional usage tips:
http://www.myflareapplication.com/about

and the Android Market link – check out the positive reviews!
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.Myflare

The first five readers to post a comment below will win a free download of MyFlare! (Please don’t leave your email address in the comment text, I’ll contact you using the email address you use to post.) Once you use the app, leave another comment telling us what you think of it!

I’m happy to announce that we have not just one, but two Android accessories to give away: a Motorola portable charger and an Arkon Mega Grip Smartphone Mount.

First up, the Motorola Portable Charger P790. This small charger is compatible with Motorola phones and other mini-USB-compatible phones, including Nokia and Blackberry. When you’re at home, you plug your phone into the charger and plug the charger into an outlet, and they’ll both get charged up at the same time. Later, if your phone’s battery is running low, the charger will still have enough power to fully recharge your phone.

I love the fact that this portable charger is small enough to slip into a purse—and that it will work anywhere, because you just never know when you’re going to need it. (I adore my Android phone, but let’s face it, battery life isn’t exactly its strong suit.)

On top of that, we’ve got the Arkon Mega Grip Smartphone Mount. This versatile holder will mount your smartphone on the windshield, in an air vent, or on the dashboard. I can think of about a million uses for this—it will make it easier to use the phone’s Navigation app, listen to music, and yes, even talk on the phone. (Just please tell me you won’t use it to text. OK? OK.)

The mount is compatible with several popular phones, including the Droid Pro, Droid X, HTC Evo 4G, Droid Incredible, Samsung Galaxy S, Samsung Sprint Epic 4G, Samsung Verizon Fascinate, Nokia E73, and others.

Click the links to see more details and the Amazon ratings on these items – both are getting rave reviews!

So how do you get the whole bundle? Simple.

How to enter:

1. Leave a comment below telling us the number one reason why you’d love to win these accessories.
2. For an extra bonus entry, share a link to any Women With Droids post on Twitter. (Don’t forget to leave a comment and let us know about your tweet!)

We’ll do the drawing from eligible entry comments the day after we get 10 unique entrants.

To be eligible, you must follow the entry rules above and must not have won a WomenWithDroids.com giveaway in the last year. Anyone in the world may enter, but if you live outside of the United States, we may ask you to help with the extra shipping costs to mail the accessories to your location.

DietPoint has approached us to offer WomenWithDroids readers a special giveaway!

According to the publishers, DietPoint app (formerly Diet2Go) has the largest number of diet plans to choose from: 140 plans in 15 categories, complete with meal reminders and grocery lists. There is also a social aspect of the app via forum discussions. Downloaded by over 1 million users on multiple mobile operating systems, DietPoint is designed to help users live a more healthy lifestyle and lose weight.

The free version of DietPoint comes with basic features and 55 of the diet plans. To unlock remaining diet plans (such as low cholesterol or zone) and other premium features (such as diet plan exporting), a Premium purchase is required. The Premium app is also ad-free.

DietPoint is available in the Android Market and has a rating of 4.2 stars.

The makers of DietPoint would like to give five of our readers permanent Premium membership of the app, worth $11.99 each! All you have to do is commit to trying it out (no long-term commitment required, use it as little or as much as you feel like), then write a short review of the app and describe your experiences with it in about a month. We will publish your 5 user reviews here on the blog as an update to this post.

To enter to win a Premium version of DietPoint, leave a comment below explaining why you want to try DietPoint and committing to trying it in July and letting us know what you think. I will choose 2 comments that I like the most, and also 3 random commenters, to win a premium copy of the app once we get enough entries. Good luck!

This is part 2 of our DecalGirl giveaway on Women With Droids! DecalGirl has given us 10 skins for 10 different Android devices, and we’re giving them away over 2 posts!

DecalGirl has a ton of attractive removable vinyl skins for many different models of phones, tablets, laptops, and media & gaming devices, and the prices are reasonable – most phone skins are only $7.99. The skins help protect your devices while also making them unique and fun! Additionally, the skins are manufactured here in the USA.

A great feature of DecalGirl skins is that the skins each come with a code to download a matching wallpaper/background for your device, so the screen can match the design, too! I think that’s so neat.

Without further ado, here are the five skins we’re giving away this time:

Wicked for the Samsung Epic

Fall for HTC Droid Incredible

Pink Plaid for the Motorola Droid

Peacock Sky for the HTC EVO 4G

Radiosity for the Samsung Galaxy Tab

How to enter:

1. Follow @droidwomen on Twitter or Subscribe to our RSS Feed
2. Go to DecalGirl.com and pick your favorite skin design
3. Leave a comment below telling us:
   • you are following or subscribed
   • what your favorite design is
   • your phone model (so we can pick one winner for each skin above)

That’s it! We’ll end the giveaway on Friday, February 18, at midnight EST, but we may extend the entry period if there aren’t more than 3 entries for each skin. Good luck!

Get a bonus entry by posting a link to this giveaway on Twitter or Facebook. Try the sharing buttons below! Don’t forget to comment so we know you did it!

If you don’t like the design we’re giving away for your phone, if you want a skin for another device, or if you just can’t wait for the giveaway results, you can shop for your own skin using the banner link below and get 10% off with coupon code DECAL10!

Thanks to DecalGirl for sponsoring this giveaway! Good luck to all entrants!

To be eligible, you must follow the entry rules above and must not have won a WomenWithDroids.com giveaway in the last year. Anyone in the world may enter, but if you live outside of the United States, we may ask you to help with the extra shipping costs to mail the skin to your location.

I’m excited to announce that DecalGirl is sponsoring a giveaway here on Women With Droids! We are giving away 10 DecalGirl skins, spread over 2 posts, for 10 different Android devices!

DecalGirl has a ton of attractive removable vinyl skins for many different models of phones, tablets, laptops, and media & gaming devices, and the prices are reasonable – most phone skins are only $7.99. The skins help protect your devices while also making them unique and fun! Additionally, the skins are manufactured here in the USA.

A great feature of DecalGirl skins is that the skins each come with a code to download a matching wallpaper/background for your device, so the screen can match the design, too! I think that’s so neat.

Without further ado, here are the five skins we’re giving away first:

Winter Sparkle for the LG Ally

Tweet Dark for the Droid X

Her Abstraction for the Motorola Cliq

Dark Rosewood for the Samsung Captivate

Van Gogh Blossoming Almond Tree for the Motorola Droid 2

1. Follow @droidwomen on Twitter or Subscribe to our RSS Feed
2. Go to DecalGirl.com and pick your favorite skin design
3. Leave a comment below telling us:
   • you are following or subscribed
   • what your favorite design is
   • your phone model (so we can pick one winner for each skin above)

That’s it! We’ll end the giveaway on Friday, January 28, at midnight EST, but we may extend the entry period if there aren’t more than 3 entries for each skin. Good luck! Update: As of 1/29/2011, the LG Ally, Samsung Captivate, and Motorola Cliq skins are still up for grabs! I’ll pick winners next Wednesday 2/1, or whenever each gets 3 entries, whichever comes sooner. Tell your friends! (Or enter to win one of these for them!)subscribe to our RSS feed or follow us on twitter so you don’t miss it!

If you don’t like the design we’re giving away for your phone, if you want a skin for another device, or if you just can’t wait for the giveaway results, you can shop for your own skin using the banner link below and get 10% off with coupon code DECAL10!

Thanks to DecalGirl for sponsoring this giveaway! Good luck to all entrants!

To be eligible, you must follow the entry rules above and must not have won a WomenWithDroids.com giveaway in the last year. Anyone in the world may enter, but if you live outside of the United States, we may ask you to help with the extra shipping costs to mail the skin to your location.

Etsy seller Jessica Nelson has offered up a cool holiday gift for us to give to a lucky WomenWithDroids reader – a $15 gift certificate to use in her Etsy shop, “Jessie’s Crocheted Goodies“!

One great thing about this gift certificate is that it’s digital and can be emailed immediately, so if you are selected when we do the giveaway on Christmas Eve, you can print it out and give it to someone for Christmas if that’s what you want to do with it! Of course, it also makes an excellent self-gift.

Jessie has lots of crocheted goodies that would be perfect for any Android lover, and she can customize a design to fit your phone – just ask! Check out these adorable & protective device cozies:

Cupcake case for Nook or Android Tablet!

You can keep this cozy on!

Snowman! Lift up the hat to access your phone!

Here’s how to win the $15 gift certificate:

1. Either subscribe to our RSS feed (using the “Subscribe” link at the top of the site) or follow us on Twitter @droidwomen.
2. Visit http://www.etsy.com/shop/jmnelson419 store.
3. Post a comment below telling us whether you subscribed to RSS or followed on Twitter, and say something you liked about Jessie’s Crocheted Goodies!

Bonus: After you’ve done the steps above to enter, you can get a bonus entry to increase your chances of winning by following Jessica at @jessiecrochets. Reply to your own comment here so we know you did it!

Enter by December 24 to be eligible. The giveaway is whenever I have a chance to log on that afternoon/evening, so if I haven’t selected a winner yet, you can still enter!

Past winners of WomenWithDroids 2010 giveaways are not eligible. If you’re outside the US, please contact Jessica through her etsy page to ask if shipping is available to your country before entering.

OK, so this giveaway is WAY overdue, and I didn’t post any content on the blog this week like I was supposed to due to brain-overload from work, so I owe you guys… will an AWESOME giveaway make up for it? >(:] )=

This is the 3rd and final giveaway I promised to celebrate being over 500 twitter followers (at 642 now – Wow, thanks!!) and the winner will get their choice of anything in the Droidette Shop! You can get a Droidette Sleeve, a Droidette Bubble mini-pillow, or any Droidette T-Shirt from CafePress!

Ladies, you know you want to be all decked out in Droidette style! Guys, you’re welcome to enter, too. If you don’t want the item for yourself, it would make a great gift for the wonderful Droidette in your life.

So here’s what you have to do for a chance at winning a piece of our coveted Droidette gear.

1. Refer someone to our blog or twitter – get them to follow us on twitter or subscribe to our RSS feed (link above). You can bribe them by telling them once they follow, they can refer someone and enter the contest, too!
2. Post about it as a comment here.

That’s it! Get us a new follower and you’re entered! I’ll tell you what. You’ll get one entry for every follower you refer that follows us, so don’t stop at one! What are you waiting for? Start telling your friends about Women With Droids now!

But wait, that’s not all! (in infomercial voice) If someone has *already* followed us in the past because of you, we’ll count that, too, as a thank-you for helping us grow. We’ll trust you, just tell us in the comments!

And as if this contest couldn’t get any better, we’ll also give you one more chance to win with a Bonus Entry: Once you’ve entered and posted about getting us a new follower (or followers), you can enter once more by spreading the word about this contest on twitter, facebook, or your blog. Just tell us in the comments where you posted about it!

We’ll pick one entry by using a random number generator and announce the winner here and on twitter at @droidwomen and contact the winner using the email address used to post the comment. People outside the U.S. are welcome to enter for the free swag, too, but you may need to pay any additional shipping charges we incur to get the item to your country.

Also, don’t forget that if you have any questions about Android, you can Ask the Droid Women and we’ll answer here on the blog!

We started this series of 3 giveaways to celebrate finally exceeding 500 @droidwomen followers on Twitter, but we’re already up to 554 followers! Wow, thanks everyone! This time our prize is from another etsy seller you’ve seen on Women With Droids before, RainyDaye.

This second giveaway is for a hand-knit case by Rainydaye. Her Etsy store is filled with unique colorful hand-knit sleeves for electronics, coffee cups, and arms!

The winner of this giveaway gets to choose from any “cozy” from RainyDaye’s Etsy Shop valued at $14 or under! There are plenty to choose from! Here are a few examples:

Gingerbread

In Love Lavender

Sea Green

Don’t they look cute and cozy? Just in time for cold weather, too!

Here’s how to enter to win a RainyDaye phone case:

1. Either subscribe to our RSS feed (using the “Subscribe” link at the top of the site) or follow us on Twitter @droidwomen.
2. Visit http://www.etsy.com/shop/Rainydaye store.
3. Post a comment below telling us whether you subscribed to RSS or followed on Twitter, and tell us what your favorite item is in RainyDaye’s store!

That’s it! Post your comment by by 11:59pm EST on Tuesday, October 12 [extended one day from 10/11] to get a chance to win this giveaway. Good luck!

There are 2 ways to get bonus entries!

#1: If you’re on Twitter or Facebook, you can get an extra entry in the contest by mentioning this giveaway and linking to this post. (Try the “t” or “f” logos below!) Don’t forget to tell us so we can give you your bonus entry!

#2: Read one of our past blog articles and comment on it – you can use the category links above to find one on a Droid topic you’re interested in!

“Fine Print”: You get one entry for following the instructions above and commenting on this post, one entry for helping us spread the word on Twitter or Facebook, and one entry for commenting on another post. You can only win one of the 500-follower celebration giveaways. Readers outside the U.S. may enter to win the case, but you may need to cover the cost of shipping it to your location.

To celebrate finally exceeding 500 @droidwomen followers on Twitter (yay! thanks, everyone!), we are going to be doing a few giveaways over the next week or so, starting with a case in the fabric of your choice from Tha Meow Designs.

Tha Meow Designs is an Etsy shop filled with padded cases (in keyring, wristlet, sock, and neckstrap varieties) for electronics, including new Kindle/Nook covers, in a very cool variety of fabric patterns.

The winner of this giveaway gets to choose from any case/sleeve from Tha Meow Designs valued at $25.99 or under! There are lots to choose from! Here are a few examples:

Summer Floral

Black-Gray Suiting

Midnight Kisses

Here’s how to enter to win a Tha Meow Designs phone case:

1. Either subscribe to our RSS feed (using the “Subscribe” link at the top of the site) or follow us on Twitter @droidwomen.
2. Visit http://www.etsy.com/shop/thameowdesigns store.
3. Post a comment below telling us whether you subscribed to RSS or followed on Twitter, and tell us what your favorite item is in Tha Meow Designs’ store!

That’s it! Post your comment by by 11:59pm EST on Saturday, October 2 to get a chance to win this giveaway. Good luck!

There are 2 ways to get bonus entries!

#1: If you’re on Twitter or Facebook, you can get an extra entry in the contest by mentioning this giveaway and linking to this post. (Try the “t” or “f” logos below!) Don’t forget to tell us so we can give you your bonus entry!

#2: Read one of our past blog articles and comment on it – you can use the category links above to find one on a Droid topic you’re interested in!

“Fine Print”: You get one entry for following the instructions above and commenting on this post, one entry for helping us spread the word on Twitter or Facebook, and one entry for commenting on another post. You can only win one of the 500-follower celebration giveaways. Readers outside the U.S. may enter to win the case, but you may need to cover the cost of shipping it to your location.