[Galaxy S III Accessories] bcbigb:
Extended battery case research and ideas for DBA.

@SSHGuru: Here's my answer to this question leading to a question about and ideas for future cases from DBA:

I just got my 32GB for $399 + $10 shipping on eBay (they currently sell for $500-530 at auction currently)... line up a bunch of auctions in a single-sale group with Gixen or another sniper and put the amount you want to pay in there... I took a risk on a seller with a lower rating (~87% -- some folks complained he had pulled low-selling auctions, though other reviews countered that) and ended up with the phone and the accessories listed below. The phone was the key part... the accessories were a phenomenal bonus. I figured he needed a ratings boost, I was protected by my CC and eBay buyer protection, and finally that no one would touch his listing due to the low rating -> bingo!

Other stuff in the box, not listed in the auction:

- basic hard case (selling it)

- a slew of VZW screen protectors (selling them too, bought your new-cut JLG ones)

- Sandisk Ultra Class 10 MicroSDXC card (definitely wanted this)

- Hyperion 4200mah battery (which I so wanted, but had already bought by the time I got the phone etc. in the mail)

- TPU case for the extended battery (definitely appears to be the Yesoo... cut a little off on the mics and the power button is much harder to press))

So... all this crowing about my good fortune has actually led me to my big question for you: I like the multi-part, dynamic look of many of your cases, like the thin grip. Do you have any plans to make a case and/or cover that will support at least the major extended battery mfgs? (I'm thinking specifically of QCell and Hyperion, as Seidio has its own set of accessories for its batteries and they aren't 4000mah+ anyways)

I'm hot off the press on this as I've spent probably tens of hours looking through case options including hard mods and finding obscure cases from all over as well as cases that, through raw luck, happen to fit some of these batteries as well.

Currently, all of the cases out there (like Hyperion's TPU Honeycomb case, the Yesoo TPU case, the Qcell case (links at end)) are either not well-cut or obscure the buttons in such a way that they're much more difficult to find or press. Also, all the cases for extended batteries are TPU/soft cases as far as I have seen which may be part of the fit problem. Since the extended batteries are reportedly (and anecdotally) quite popular, and no one is terribly happy with their current cases, it may be a great spot for DBA to walk in and dominate with a well-engineered hard case.

I know it seems crazy to try to support a lot of different batteries, but QCell and Hyperion apparently use the same cover and there are reports that the Seidio ext. battery case for the GS3 works on almost all the major batteries out there. To keep it simple, however, I think just supporting the 4000mah+ batteries (definitely Hyperion and QCell but possibly Anker or Mugen too) will yield a good result as they're reported to be nearly, if not exactly the same size *and* the smaller ones are almost all made by mfgs who already have cover/case combos for them whereas the big guys only come with covers.

While I'm at it, I'd really love to see the engineering done to make a new cover for them (matched to the case) that doesn't waste the space by curving around the batteries but instead is closer to a form-fit for the phone (see the Incredible Seidio Ext. Battery case below). You could also use this space to build a version with a kickstand that is supported by linkages in the indentations above and below the battery if you did this form-fit approach.

Sorry... had to obscure the links as my lurking for so long on XDA has cost me the ability to post URLs :)

Link 1: Seidio ext. battery case for OG Droid Inc-> <Amazon>/dp/B003SNIRAG (form fit... almost looks like an alien pyramid from XCom)

Link 2: Hyperion TPU case -> <Amazon>/dp/B008MMZUZS

Link 3: Yesoo TPU case -> <Amazon>/dp/B008UOJ0SG

Link 4: QCell case -> <Amazon>/dp/B006V3TUSI

Ok... I think that's enough for now... hopefully my brief editing pass didn't miss anything and this post is cohesive and useful. Please let me know what you think.