The Glif is a tripod mount / stand for the iPhone we have covered on MacStories quite a few times in the past months. Several accessories are announced and released every day; none of them goes from idea to the market in 5 months. None of them comes from an idea of two guys with no marketing, retail or manufacturing experience.

The Glif quickly jumped from cool Kickstarter project to Internet all-star thanks to the dozens of blogs and publications that thought the accessory was cool and deserved to be noticed by people in order to be manufactured and then sold. The creators have now posted an interesting “behind the scenes” article with all the details, pictures and videos of the Glif, from idea to actual product.

From the beginning, it was clear that simplicity was going to be a key tenet of our design. Not just for philosophical reasons, but to keep the design focused, and quite frankly, achievable. We knew that any complication to the manufacturing (moving parts, assembly, etc.) would make the project less likely to succeed.

After a round of sketching, we arrived at the general shape rather quickly: something that affixes to the corner of the phone and runs along the long edge, with a tripod screw roughly centered on that edge. One key component of our early design was a small peg located inside the shoe of the Glif, meant to be inserted into the headphone jack for extra stability. We were both in love with this feature, but in an example of killing your darlings, realized the design was better served (and more versatile) without it.

In case you haven’t considered a Glif yet, go check out the website here. This neat accessory with double functionality can be yours for just $20.

It looks like a snake, and when I first saw it I have to admit I thought it looked weird. But after looking at some products shots and thinking about the possible implementations of the Vyne, I can see it being used in some specific situations. Like hands-free, portable video calling. The creators of the accessory say the Vyne is “constructed of a flexible elastomer neck and plastic clip” that “allows users to easily watch movies, slideshows, and video calls in a variety of configurations”.

The Vyne, indeed, can be wrapped around your neck while you’re busy cooking in the kitchen and still you want to talk with your wife via FaceTime. Or perhaps you want to check on recipe how-tos on Youtube without touching the screen with your fingers.

It looks different, but I believe it can be quite handy. The Vyne is just a concept, but would you buy one?  [via TNW]

Well, sort of. This very particular dock for the iPhone has indeed the shape of a diamond, but it can also take colors from the iPhone’s screen and bring them to a 3D ambience light experience. You’ll have to use together with an app, although no further details have been provided on the product’s website.

I can you hear you say “But Ticci, what does it do?”. I don’t know, but it’s cool. And the name Black Diamond? I bet Steve Jobs already has one. In a super secret testing lab. With a white iPhone. And an iPad 3 prototype. [Yantouch via Slashgear]

On iOS, a device becomes the app it’s currently running. Are you using a calculator app? The iPhone looks like a digital calculator then. A GPS map? A TV remote? Full-screen apps can turn an iOS device into, well, anything. What about hardware accessories, though? Can a rather simple accessory like a case turn an iPhone into something else?

The Skateboard Series for iPhone 4 is a new case available on Etsy made out of laser-cut grip tape and actual wood. It looks like a mini-skateboard, only it’s an iPhone and it doesn’t have wheels. Build quality looks impressive, too.

When combined with a wood grain vinyl edge wrap this design actually gives your iPhone 4 the illusion of being a skateboard, all you need now are the wheels. The only advice we can give you is not to slide this phone against your grandma’s table because this material is very rough.

Whether or not you think the grip tape on the back of the device could make it a little harder to get it out of your pockets, this mod can be yours for only $20. Available now on Etsy. [via Reddit]