News in from British gadget manufacturer, Proporta. They’ve just released a new range of truly eco friendly mobile accessories focused around the iPad and other smartphones. All accessories are made from sustainable bamboo, recycled leather and hessian. I like it! Apparently bamboo was chosen due to it’s 28000 psi tensile strength which is apparently 20% stronger than steel.

They’re not just paying lip service to ‘eco’. Here’s founder Guy Monson:

“In early 2008, we decided that we wanted to do more than simply pay money to offset carbon emissions and rename products “green”. Ever since then we’ve been conducting extensive research on how we can run our business in a more sustainable manner – looking at every aspect, from the drawing board to the manufacturing and supply chain. Proporta Smart is the culmination of this and we hope we shall be able to adapt some of the best features from the range into the rest of our products”.

The iPad case — the one that I think I need — is £34.95. The smartphone case is £29.95 and works with an array of iPods, iPhones, BlackBerries and the HTC Desire.

You can order from Proporta.com.

However, right now the question is what mobile tech should I take to use and test?  On the list so far:

• Truphone and Rebtel for cheap international calling
• A local China Mobile SIM possibly with some mobile data
• A SIMable chip so I can swap SIMs into any phones I like
• iPhone for music and a simple Mandarin language course
• Some offline maps with Olympic venue POI such as Garmin’s
• An N82 for pictures
• Several Proporta backup batteries
• A netbook for mobile blogging (which one?)
• The Macbook Air for proper computing
• A decent gadget bag – something that doesn’t scream ‘laptop’!
• Some high quality headphones for the flights – perhaps Entymotics?

Any other recommendations / options?  Have you been to China and what was useful / rubbish?