This is kind of a new thing for Eggplante: gadget reviews. But we like getting our hands on as much tech as we can, so it does actually fit right in with what we do. So I present to you our inaugural tech review: the Pritect Sensor Cover for Kinect.
Okay, okay, that actually sounds kind of lame. And truthfully, there’s not much behind this thing, except that it’s awesome. Let me start from the beginning.
The Pritect is made by Catalyst Components Inc., based in the good ol’ US of A. What it is is a sleek plastic slipcover of sorts for your Kinect. It serves a couple of purposes, mainly to protect your privacy from FBI and CIA prying eyes, if you believe in that stuff, but also to keep the lenses clean as well as cover up that light that stays on while you’re watching a scary movie in pitch black. Well, almost pitch black.
I wasn’t expecting to really care about this thing all that much, actually. It’s a condom for your Kinect, really. But that’s the thing. Condoms equate to sex, and truthfully, the Pritect makes your Kinect look sexier than it ever has been. It’s got the same signature angular design and soft foam pads on the inside to protect any plastic-on-plastic action from going on. And best of all, it doesn’t cover the microphone, so you can still have perfectly adequate voice conversations or yell “XBOX! PLAY HALO!” at your console because you’re too lazy to jab the A button.
The Pritect also did something that I didn’t expect – it helped me imagine the future. Now bear with me on this one since it’s kind of a stretch, but the Pritect cover helps me envision a future version of Kinect that is just a black sensor bar with no visible lenses at all. Of course, the lenses would still be there, but beneath one-way tinted plastic of sorts. Kind of how the light on your MacBook Pro’s webcam isn’t actually there until it’s on. Which is pretty awesome.
And it’s good to see a company that takes their mere fifteen dollar peripheral and still gives it a nice box and presentation for the customer. The box itself actually has the angular design language going on and it’s those little touches that reflect quality, so good on you Catalyst Components.
Either way, the Pritect does what it says, and everything that it says, and it does them all as it says. I’m not sure you can fault a product that does all those things, so the Pritect for Kinect is a solid buy if you’re afraid of prying eyes, want to keep your $150 investment clean and dust-free, or just plain want a sexier looking Kinect.
