Cygnett offers a half-dozen cases for iPad 2

Apple may have made a big deal Wednesday out of its new Smart Cover protection for the iPad 2, but companies like Australia's Cygnett are betting that customers will still want a range of options for encasing and displaying the new tablet.

The accessory maker on Wednesday followed Apple's debut of the new device with an announcement of its own new line of six new compatible cases. At the top of the price pyramid, at $80 each, are Cygnett's Armor and Windsor lines. Both are book-style carrying cases that offer three different angles of landscape viewing, though the Windsor comes in leather.

Three different cases occupy the middle of price range from Cygnett, at $70 apiece: the Glam, a “patent leather-style folio;” the Lavish, a somewhat bulkier and more businesslike offering; and Lavish Earth, which is the same thing but in brown.

At the bottom of the price pyramid is the $40 SecondSkin Ink, a flexible silicone case that protects the iPad “without adding bulk.”

Melbourne-based Cygnett said the cases would be available for shipping when the iPad 2 launches in Australia on March 25.