mophie's iPhone 3G Juice Pack ships today, not a moment too soon

C'mon, what iPhone 3G user who actually takes full advantage of that 3G radio hasn't been disappointed with battery life at one point or another? And be honest, you're also disappointed with the downright naff battery extenders floating around out there. Granted, mophie's iPhone 3G Juice Pack isn't the most elegant thing in the entire world, but the "sled" design sure beats adding an unwanted appendage onto your handset. The device -- which is shipping today to those who pre-ordered early -- will reportedly provide up to 350 additional hours of standby, up to 6 hours of 3G talk time (or 12 hours on 2G), another 6 hours of web surfing and a 458% boost in overall happiness. Hell, you'd pay $99.95 just for the latter, now wouldn't you?

[Squid7085 @ Oct 15th 2008 12:53AM]

Mini-USB = Fail. Why not give it a Dock Connector? I know license fees and such, but if I want an "Extra Juice" pack, I want to use the same charger to charge it and the phone, heck, charge them at the same time.

[Pretol @ Oct 15th 2008 1:38AM]

Or you can think of it as:

You can charge your iPhone anywhere. At work, at your friends house, at your mama's house, etc.

Everyone has a mini-USB cable (it comes with some gadget in your life). So instead of having a proprietary USB cable, you get a uniform standard. I don't know how you can be offended by it. EVERYONE has a mini-USB cable somewhere.

[Ayman @ Nov 3rd 2008 3:07PM]

you're looking at it the wrong way

Detachable Battery ( for a Mac)

More Rugged

[c-dub @ Oct 15th 2008 12:53AM]

Hell Id pay $99.95 for cut/paste...I can always hook it up to the laptop to charge

[Ben @ Oct 15th 2008 1:18AM]

get over the copy and paste, you crying on engadget is not going to make a difference, if copy and paste is going to come it will come with a future firmware release such as firmware 2.2. Seriously does every single post about the iPhone3G need to have someone go "wah wah i want copy and paste wah wah". gees.

This battery pack is COMPLETELY different to copy and paste so lets put copy and paste to the side aye?

As for the battery pack well my thoughts is its good for some places maybe in a car on on a train but i wouldn't want to be carrying that around too much though lol.

[Valicore @ Oct 15th 2008 2:30AM]

I don't really like the iPhone because of it's proprietary software base and non-removable battery, but Ben is right: if copy and paste is a big enough issue for you to pull it out of your ass everytime someone says 'iPhone', then get a WinMo phone or save up for the G1. The iPhone 3G has been out for quite a while, and people are still bitching about it without changing their phones or doing anything productive that might address the issue. I don't think that Steve Jobs is surfing Engadget posts about iPhone accessories, and even if he was, your comment isn't going to make him see the light. Right a letter to Apple or complain at a store or do something productive with your displeasure. This copy and paste thing is getting as bad as "FIRST!11!1"...

[Valicore @ Oct 15th 2008 2:32AM]

P.S. It's pretty lame to low rank someone because they bring up a valid point.

[erezg @ Oct 15th 2008 1:00AM]

I thought that this charges both the "Extra Juice" pack AND the iphone itself through the mini-usb at the same time. I know it syncs with iTunes through it! Steep price, but quite handy.

[kerry @ Oct 15th 2008 1:18AM]

Does this remind anyone else of the old iPaq PC card sleds?

[Tim @ Oct 15th 2008 9:25AM]

Yep - I still have a PCMCIA sled, a CF card sled etc. in my box of iPaq goodies. Good ol' PocketPC.

[tp @ Nov 17th 2008 8:20PM]

I still have an old iPaq extended battery pack - this is exactly the same thing.

[Dustin Hess @ Oct 15th 2008 1:19AM]

Now if they have one for the ipod touch, I would be in love

[Jon @ Oct 15th 2008 1:30AM]

To thee I award the Douche Bag of the Day award.

http://www.mophie.com/products/juice-pack-ipod-touch

good lord, did you really have to post how you would really like one for the touch instead of actually finding out if what you want exists?

[joe @ Oct 15th 2008 1:33AM]

Actually, since 2.1, I'm pretty happy with battery life. I can go a couple days between charges, so while it's not as good as my old phone (RAZR), it's more than acceptale for a smart phone.

[CraigJ @ Oct 15th 2008 1:34AM]

I know that Steve loves thin, hell, he embodies thin, but if they had just made the iPhone 2mm thicker they could have increased the size of the lithium-polymer battery by about 50%. I'd gladly trade a couple of millimeters for 50% more run time.

[swmarc @ Oct 15th 2008 6:06PM]

Those batteries are pretty dense imaging how heavy your phone would be...

[CJ @ Oct 15th 2008 5:19AM]

No, STEVE is embodied by cancer.

Thing is just a side-effect.

[CraigJ @ Oct 15th 2008 6:21PM]

A lot lighter than it would be with one of these things strapped to it.

[Jay Delacruz @ Oct 15th 2008 1:37AM]

Its added heft brings me back to my qualcomm days. FWIW mine last just fine even when out i'm out and about all day.

[Guy @ Oct 15th 2008 1:40AM]

Awesome, I've been waiting for this.

Will be nice when I go on trips.

[Mitch @ Oct 15th 2008 1:42AM]

http://shop.brando.com.hk/prod_detail.php?prod_id=02802

[Michael @ Oct 15th 2008 2:07AM]

I actually could use this device.. i have a 12 hour work shift and i do heavy browsing and IMing on my iphone 3g.... im always carrying my charger....

however they can kiss my ass for $100

ill keep the charger in my pocket... thankfully apple made the 3g's charger smaller... ill just have to bring that everywhere i go

[Jonathan @ Oct 15th 2008 2:14AM]

We did a review of the orginal Mophie Juice Pack http://thetechlunch.wordpress.com/2008/10/04/first-tech-review/

Its a great Product!!!

Jonathan

[wuzy @ Oct 15th 2008 2:22AM]

Ha, this is about the best solution they can come up with for iPhone when other smartphones with removable battery can be replaced using 3rd party extended battery. Which is a MUCH better solution. At least the bulge is part of the device and not an ugly looking sled, totally defeating the purpose of it's slimness.

[Sam Clark @ Oct 15th 2008 2:25AM]

350 HOURS OF STANDBY?! WTF?!

[TareX @ Oct 15th 2008 2:35AM]

iPhone user's mind:

"Phone with acceptable battery life that makes me do more stuff better
vs
Phone that looks cool and thin so my friends can go wow"

Yeah I don't think it's gonna sell.

[Conor Kirkpatrick @ Oct 15th 2008 9:14AM]

Am I the only one that *uses* my iphone? Is everybody else really just showing it off?

[brian @ Oct 15th 2008 10:54AM]

looks like it'll offer some drop protection! I've dropped my iphone too many times :( the glass is cracked all the way in the lower right corner where it doesn't matter. For $100 I'd expect a belt case big enough to carry this beast as well since my current case damn sure won't hold it.

[Muhammad @ Oct 15th 2008 2:37AM]

dude that thing is massive, instylegadgets.com has much smaller ones, they even have one that boosts the speaker of the phone and gives the phone a flash for the camera. Pretty legit!

[Greg @ Oct 15th 2008 6:27AM]

I don't even recall using cut/copy & paste on my winmo phone ever. I haven't needed to do it on my iphone 3g but I can see where it'd be useful at times. Screeching about it isn't going to help matters either because i'm sure they take your complaints very seriously. :D

[Brotha Darcness @ Oct 15th 2008 11:54AM]

Or I could just buy a BlackBerry and pay about $25.00 at the very most for an extra battery and go about my day.

Are you serious, $99.00 for a bulky extra? A device like this should come shipped with all Iphones considering the inconvience all of these Iphone users are about experience very soon when the batteries need to be simutaeously lifecycled. Its going to be a logistical nightmare for Apple and the consumers who purchased one will literally be out of touch considering their Iphone will go on a round trip without them just to get a fresh battery. By the way, that will cost you as well!

When will the pocket rape stop?

[THJ @ Oct 16th 2008 1:46PM]

Or you can sell your iPhone 3G for 350$ when the next version comes out, and let them worry about EOL battery issues.

[ssoltero @ Oct 15th 2008 3:11PM]

Hmm, looks useful, but not for me.

Since I charge it daily, the only time I have battery issues is when I start gaming on my iPhone.

Pretty much any game I run takes my battery down to 20% in less than 90 minutes. But if I'm gaming that long on my iPhone, I'm usually on my couch so I can plug in.

[shfawaz @ Oct 15th 2008 8:28PM]

Anyone else wonder why Engadget says this ships today but the website says October 31? Pretty Lame if you ask me.

[Chuck Smith @ Oct 16th 2008 7:37AM]

Because they're shipping today to those who have pre-ordered quite a while ago. If you pre-order now, they ship to you on Oct 31.

[iPhone @ Oct 16th 2008 10:33AM]

http://www.iphone-prix.com

[roach @ Oct 16th 2008 9:04PM]

We know now how iPhone would had looked if Steve Job hadn't skimp on the battery...aesthetic over functionality is Apple's motto!

[kevin @ Oct 20th 2008 6:30PM]

I wish Engadget could get their facts straight. I pre-ordered my September 2nd. Here's the email I just received from Mophie...
---------------------------------------------------------------
We apologize, but there has been a slight delay in shipping your product. We know this is a much needed accessory for any serious iPhone user – with that in mind; we have made every effort to bring you this product as quickly as possible without sacrificing quality or performance. Part of our dedication to quality is to only introduce products to the market that are “Works with iPhone” certified by Apple. Unfortunately, part of this process is extensive testing at Apple certified facilities, which have queues that are often hard to predict.

I can assure you that your product is allocated and ready to ship as soon as final certification is received from Apple.

Current estimated ship date is: October 31st, 2008.

[dizzy @ Oct 21st 2008 1:03AM]

I ordered mine in late August and still nothing!

[Aksotar @ Nov 27th 2008 6:22PM]

I too ordered a 3G juice pack and waited (while paying interest) for it..
after I ordered I received an email from Mophie saying that an employee had mixed up a bunch of customer information...
I IMMEDIATELY emailed Mophie and asked just what was compromised... 2 months later and I have received no reply...
the juice pack arrived, minimal information in the box, the led lights seem to blink with no order or purpose after charging.. after a week I could feel something sliding around inside the case (most likely the battery)... the life is much shorter now too...
I again called and also emailed Mophie and just like the last time... no reply from customer service..
I have emailed and called and left messages and have had ZERO luck in them replying...
I am now lodging a complaint with VISA and I hope their vendor account is pulled because of this piss poor behavior...
this is a nice product design and maybe I just got a lemon, but because of the demonstrated lousy customer service I now regret doing buisness with them and will not recommend them and their product to any Iphone users...

[dan @ Dec 22nd 2008 6:05PM]

This is a nice battery pack and all but at that price come on, that's pretty darn expensive! I found a similar charger online for $30!

http://www.inspiretech.com/p-451-iphone-3g-battery-pack.aspx