These fancy, $100 bags are part of the ScanFast for Her Collection, Mobile Edge’s line of lady-minded laptop bags. (I guess generic, dark-colored bags are too aggressive and masculine for women. Wait, what?) As with other Mobile Edge bags, these are Transportation Security Administration’s Checkpoint Friendly. That means, theoretically, that you’re not required to remove your laptop from the bag while you go through security. In my experience, however, the guys asking you to remove your laptop from your bag haven’t heard of such a program—all laptops out of your bags now or we’ll send you to Guantanamo. The joke’s on them: it’ll be closed soon enough!

What is it about airports that bring out the worst in humanity? Is it waiting in long, arbitrary lines?  Is it being forced to reveal to everyone the holes in your socks?  Is it the $100 beers at the airport bar?  I try pretty hard to be a “good citizen” when I travel: my carry-on luggage doesn’t exceed the maximum dimensions permitted by the airline; I make sure I put all of my metal objects through the x-ray machine; and I try to make sure I can whip out my laptop to send through the x-ray machine separately from the bag in which I carry it.

Travelon has recently released its own line of TSA-approved Checkpoint Friendly laptop bags, designed to make it easier to get through the security screening without having to unpack your entire kit.  I admit that when I received my review models I exclaimed “WTF?”.  At first glance, it doesn’t look like these things will actually save any time.  But for you, dear reader, I put myself through the indignities of airport security to provide an accurate review of these bags.

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I don’t have too much of a problem sliding my laptop out of my bag whenever I travel, but to be honest every second that’s taken out of that whole security situation is one more second I could be sitting at the gate playing SNES, so I might invest in one of these special bags. But what makes them so special exactly?
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The latest TSA security protocol allows laptop-touting travelers to keep their junk in their bag, but only pre-approved ones. Case Logic’s first batch offers up both a laptop case and sleeve options. Personally, if you already have a well-loved case, I would pick up the sleeve and all you would have to do is pull out the sleeve and not reveal your MacBook Pro to thieving eyes. Whatever you choose, Case Logic has ‘em available on its website starting at $19. 

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Starting just last week if you have a TSA-approved laptop bag, you can slide that puppy* (*please to not x-ray the puppy) right on through their scanning machines. Of course that means a whole bunch new products to choose from.

Travelon has created six new bags ready to start hitting the shelves in September. Ya got yourself a backpack version, a wheely thing and a briefcase style. For the lady in your life, why not surprise her with a brand new Ladies Brief. It has faux croco trim. You know you want it. C’mon we’re talking faux croco trim here!

Please step forward one at a time, here, to check out their other models.

As you know, the Transportation Safety Administration has decided to allow laptop-carrying airline passengers keep their laptops in specially approved bags at security checkpoints. It’s actually the most revolutionary decision in United States bureaucracy history. To that end, the TSA has finally posted details on its Web site how all this is going to work.

That handy graphic shows the type of bags that are and aren’t permitted. This is all to make it so that TSOs, or Transportation Security Officers, can inspect the laptop while it’s in the specially approved bag.

The program starts today, August 16.

By far, the best sentence from the TSA’s Web site: “TSOs know what the inside of a computer should look like, and can recognize irregularities.” Yeah, can they?

Imagine if you will: you’re walking through a checkpointcustoms and if you’re like me, your passport picture makes you look like the Unabomber, so you get “randomly” selected for “secondary screening.” And they say, “Sir, turn on your laptop, we’re going to snoop through all your files and search for anything we feel, as practically untrained off-the-street power-tripping badge-wavers, is possibly a danger to Freedom.” And you say, “What the hell? Aren’t you limited to checking if something is physically dangerous or whatever?” And they say (pdf):

“Officers may detain documents and electronic devices, or copies thereof, for a reasonable period of time to perform a thorough border search. The search may take place on-site or at an off-site location.”

And they confiscate your laptop, detain you for a couple hours, and check if you have any un-American porn. Doesn’t that sound like fun? Encrypting and displacing all your data is beginning to look less and less paranoid. [via El Reg]

Targus announced today a new line of laptop cases designed to speed travelers through airport security. The first installment is the Zip-Thru 15.4″ Corporate Traveler Laptop Case that speeds up the process by eliminating the need for removing your laptop from its case. Anybody who’s ever done that has surely felt some degree of separation anxiety as they have seen their laptop go unprotected into the screening machine.

Targus worked in conjunction with TSA personnel to assure that the cases measure up to their needs. The screeners need to get the ability to get a clear view of the laptop as it goes through the machine. The case opens down the middle, separating the laptop from whatever other accessories you may be carrying.

With the ability to keep your laptop securely protected in its case, you’ll be more protected from lost or damaged laptops, resulting in a less stressful travel experience. Assuming of course, that you don’t have to argue with the TSA guys about it.

In response to the announcement made by the TSA earlier in the year that would allow travelers to keep their laptops in bags while going through security; a couple gear companies have put forth “Checkpoint Friendly” bags and that latest comes from Mobile Edge. The ScanFast collection meets the criteria laid out by the TSA and will be available late summer. No word on pricing.

Here are some actual product shots of the TSA-friendly MobileEdge cases that we covered about a week ago. I’m still not 100% convinced that TSA bags, in general, can live up to the promise of substantially increasing airport security lines. It’ll only take one screening agent to throw a fit when someone hasn’t removed their laptop, only to find out that it was in a TSA-approved bag all along. Plus, how long does it take you to remove your laptop for the security line? It takes me under ten seconds. I basically unzip my bag, pull out my notebook, and place it in a tray.

Still, perhaps all those ten seconds increments will add up over time. These MobileEdge bags will be available later this summer and I’m guessing they’ll be pretty high-quality, yet not too expensive. Full press release after the jump…

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Just got word last night that Mobile Edge, fine purveyor of notebook-friendly bags and backpacks, has created three new cases that meet all TSA requirements for checkpoint-friendliness. The company is currently testing the bags at the Ontario Airport in California and will make final changes before going into full production soon.

We’ve got the three designs here. Actual photos of the products should be coming our way tomorrow. Hit the jump to take a peek at the other two bags.

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More news on the approaching possibility of keeping your laptop in a case while breezing through airport security. Along with bag-maker Skooba Design’s “beautiful prototypes, patents and trademarks pending,” they also posted a photo of a new security-friendly laptop case prototype for the new line, and they expect to have models available in time for the back to school/fall/holiday season.

The Transportation Security Administration says it has been working with luggage manufactures to create checkpoint friendly bags, which will allow travelers to keep laptops in their cases while slogging through security lines. TSA chief Kip Hawley told USA Today, that they should be in a position in a couple of months to allow people with the ‘right’ kinds of bags to leave electronics in them for scanning.

As shown, the new cases will unfold and when placed flat on the X-ray belt, screeners should be able to see the laptop inside as easily as when it was in a security bin all by itself.

While Skooba CEO Michael Hess, thinks security friendly bags, “could be huge,” I’m guessing it’ll take a bit longer than anyone hopes for this hot new development to have much an impact on security line wait times.

Skooba also has this flashy (if grainy) promotional video.
skooba\'s promotional video

The Transportation Security Administration has reportedlybeen working with luggage manufacturers to create checkpoint safe laptop cases. No longer will you have to take your laptop our of your case, while you remove your shoes, jacket, any metal, lighters, and chapstick from your pockets, as well as all the water, shampoo and aftershave from your carry-on. Wow, thanks TSA, that’s gonna be a big help in those long, harried lines.

Pathfinder Luggage and Targus say they are working to get the new “checkpoint friendly” on the market by the fall. The TSA is scheluded to begin testing more than a half-dozen of the new cases at at three airports: Dulles, outside Washington; Austin-Bergstrom in Texas; and Ontario, near Los Angeles.

Body scanners that can “see” underneath clothing will be installed in 10 of the country’s biggest airports within the next few weeks. Airline passengers in cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. can look forward to scenes like the kind depicted in this photo here. How they’ll be used:

The scanners bounce harmless “millimeter waves” off passengers who are selected to stand inside a portal with arms raised after clearing the metal detector. A TSA screener in a nearby room views the black-and-white image and looks for objects on a screen that are shaded differently from the body. Finding a suspicious object, a screener radios a colleague at the checkpoint to search the passenger.

Reminds you a little of City 17, right?

Eh, what are you gonna do? I know I feel 100 percent safer with the TSA on my side. You know, the same organization that couldn’t tell the difference between a bomb and a MacBook Air?

via Drudge Report

Anyone that’s traveled with their laptop knows what a pain in the ass security is because you’re required to take out your laptop when going through the x-ray machine. I despise it and I travel quite often and it’s slowly becoming the bane of my existence. Maybe I’m being dramatic, but I think we can all agree that it’s an annoying process.

Targus and Skooba, among others, have heard our plight and they’re looking to cash-in. Both companies are currently working on prototype “checkpoint-friendly” cases that the TSA is currently testing. No word on when these bags will hit the market, but you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be waiting for one.