mophie's Juice Pack Air: world's thinnest iPhone 3G battery / case
By Darren Murph 
posted Feb 11th 2009 6:34PM
posted Feb 11th 2009 6:34PM
Mophie Unveils Juice Pack Air - The World's Thinnest 'Works with iPhone' External Battery/Protective Case
Ultra-thin, light-weight juice pack air virtually doubles iPhone 3G battery life and offers the full protection of a hard-shell case in a low-profile design
Los Angeles, CA – February 11th, 2009 – mStation | mophie announces juice pack air, the world's thinnest apple-certified external battery for iPhone 3G. The rechargeable 1200 mAH lithium polymer battery housed in an ultra-thin case virtually doubles the amount of time you have to rock, talk, surf, and send. Juice pack air will be available to consumers world-wide this spring at Apple stores and mophie.com for $79.95 in Black, White, and Purple. http://www.mophie.com/products/juice-pack-air
Juice pack air features an innovative "standby mode" that allows users to control when they want to take advantage of additional battery support versus simply using it as a protective case. The integrated 4 LED charge status indicates how much juice is remaining in the external battery. Unique pass-through design allows users to simultaneously charge their juice pack air and sync their iPhone 3G with iTunes with the included USB cable.
"The juice pack air is a simple yet elegant battery boosting solution for iPhone 3G power users" says Ross Howe, Sales and Product Development Director for mStation | mophie. "Advanced features like standby mode and ultra-thin design make juice pack air the ideal option for both extended battery support and protection."
Additional Battery Time Provided by juice pack air
| Standby Time: | Up to 270 hours |
| Talk Time: | Up to 4.5 hours (3G) Up to 9 hours (2G) |
| Internet Use: | Up to 4.5 hours (3G) Up to 5.4 Hours (Wi-Fi) |
| Audio Playback: | Up to 20 hours |
| Video Playback: | Up to 6 hours |
The mophie juice pack air will be available at Apple stores and mophie.com this spring with an MSRP of $79.95. For more information, please visit www.mophie.com
About mStation | mophie
mStation is consistently praised for its ability to create quality products with cool Industrial Design. mStation recently acquired mophie, an iPod accessory company with a wide array of award-winning cases. Their products can be found in Apple Stores and major retailers worldwide.
kinky
Is it rubberized/soft touch? It better be...
What most dont realize or forget is ,iphone has largest smart phone touch screen,of allll times.3.5" Other iphone clones/wannabees dont measure up,thats sad iphone was announced 2 years ago n every major cell manufacturer has failed miserably in creating iphonekiller..,.,so its easy to see where all this hate towards apple/iphone n fanboys comes from.
@philosopher
Easy there, quick draw. I think you posted your knee-jerk Apple defense before anyone actually made a negative comment. You might want to lay off your trendy coffee for a bit.
that comment was so win
@ philosopher
What you seem to forget is that the iPhone does not have the "largest smart phone touch screen,of allll times". The HTC Touch HD does (Currently, I think). I have both an iPhone and Touch HD and at 3.8 inches that is larger than the 3.5" screen the iphone offers...
And as n_shakuras said, your comment has nothing to do with this article...
Very nice.
Purple ?!?
yes purple, I know some of you engadgeters don't know this but....there exist this member of the opposite sex called females.
they have vaginas. and they like the color purple.
^ and pink =]
my gf looooveess pink stuff =]
@kaikai
so does my gf. It's almost crazy how much her face lights up when she finds out something she wants is available in pink.
As for the juice pack- I'd love me one, but 80usd is a tad pricey.
@duffiecochran
My girlfriend wouldn't ruin the look of her iPhonewith a little bit of purple, though asked did say she might if they were pink.
You know the simply fact that people even need these and that they sell well, tells you something about apple.
I love the apple attacks.
Guess what, there isn't a single other phone on the market as compact as the iphone that does everything the iphone does. NOT ONE.
all this "tells me about" is that battery technology hasn't reached the point yet where portable devices can last long periods of time on high speed data networks without being recharged.
@Normgary
Are you F**kin' kidding me? I could name MANY. Most obvious: My almost 2 year old HTC Touch CDMA (Vogue)...it's smaller than the iPhone and does way way more. plus it was free on a contract.
I can't believe some people still argue that the iPhone is more feature-packed than other phones. The iPhone has sleekness and sexiness at both the hardware and software level, yes, but by no means is it any more (mostly less actually) feature-rich than any other phone in the category.
Here it goes again. Apple products have their merits and their shortcomings, if you don't like it, then you don't have to shout it out as if it's cool not to like them. I think Apple fanboyism used to be acceptable or even somewhat cool before people like iEye, CLAK and Flashpoint ruined it. I use a PC, an iPod and a Nokia and I like what I use. Sure there could be improvements to all of them but they work damn well for me and so I stick with it.
Reason > Militancy
@ normgarry:
What exactly does the iPhone do that no other phone can?
There are plenty of smart phones in a smaller form factor that are as feature rich as an iPhone. I will say that many of them suffer the same issue of terrible battery life.
@schmitty
You're kidding, right? iPhone vs HTC Vogue?!
CPU: iPhone, 620MHz. Vogue, 400MHz.
GPU: iPhone, yes. Vogue, no.
WiFi: iPhone, yes. Vogue, no.
Headphone jack: iPhone, yes. Vogue, no.
GPS: iPhone, yes. Vogue, no.
Usable Memory: iPhone, 7.4GB - 15.4GB. Vogue, ~150MB.
Screen: iPhone, 320x480. Vogue, 320x240.
The only thing I can see the Vogue has on the iPhone is a micro SD slot.
I know Apple haters like to exaggerate... but at least have SOME ground to stand on. Choose an HTC Touch Pro or something.
A bubble level. I'd like to see another phone try that.
@timbemo
WRONG-
CPU: Speed difference matters only if you utilize it fully.
GPU: Vogue has integrated GPU that is not utilized. This only makes things pretty, not better.
WiFi: What do you think 3G and EVDO is for?
Headphone jack: Vogue is not a music device, but yes, I cried about no headphone jack too :(
GPS: Uhh.....Vogue does have GPS....(wtf?)
Usable Memory: Read below~
Screen: Yes screen is bigger...
The only thing I can see the Vogue has on the iPhone is a micro SD slot: This is called usable memory, moron.
When it all comes down to it, Apple fanboys suck and Apple haters suck. I don't like nor hate Apple. I just don't like them claiming they invented paper and sliced bread.
Bubble level? My phone has a fucking nailgun!
@normgarry
HTC Touch Diamond.
and timbemo get you're facts straight. the iphone's processor is underclocked to 412 MHz, making it essentially no faster than that of the vogue.
crap.
*your
idk can other phones play online multiplayer games, or listen to a song and know what it is, or have tabs with their internet surfing apps, have apps were you can see were you cool friends (you know the one with iPhone 3gs) are in real time, can you use them as a guitar tuner to tune your guitar in pretty much EVERY TUNING POSSIBLE, and does your phone have multiple home pages (which to me makes it an instant buy). not much of a fan of anything, but despite what you say iPhone is still technically #1 in sales, most common domestic hand held device. but you are allowed your opinions, but just wanted to let you know their getting old.
Consider it a removable battery with a case. Now what does that tell you?
@SLOkeyone
CPU: There are plenty of apps that utilize the CPU to the fullest on both the iPhone and WinMobile devices. Windows Mobile's own UI chokes half the time! That's a terrible argument. And @maveric -- it may be downclocked, but it's also two ARM architecture generations later, so it's a more efficient processor at 412MHz than the Vogue's running at 412MHz. When are we going to learn than MHz != speed anymore.
GPU: The GPU not being utilized makes it useless. If there are no drivers and it can't be used then its essentially nonexistant. And the GPU is used to make a smooth UI, something the Touch lacks greatly.
WiFi: Saying it has 3G/EVDO is a joke of an argument. If it had been the other way around, MS fanboys would be all over the iPhone for not having WiFi. Try downloading a 150MB app over 3G and you'll understand why WiFi is important.
GPS: The Vogue doesn't have a GPS. http://www.htc.com/www/product/touch/specification.html
princecloud - any windows mobile phone can do any of those things. all you have to do is find the right programs/skins.
timbemo - then why didn't you say that in the first place instead of trying to be misleading? i don't really care about the vogue, but the touch diamond does have a faster processor than the iphone.
@Normgary...
How come the iPhone is pretty much the only phone i see battery packs, screen protectors, case protectors, handgloves, .... accessoires for?
I can make a device very thin and pretty too... but at what costs?
Exactly..all those things can be done with software that is often free for windows mobile devices with much more choice.
The Vogue DOES have GPS, many carriers just disable it's full functionality at first. However, there are plenty of updates that enable it. Here in Canada, it is now official and both CDMA carriers here have fully-functional GPA ont eh vogue. I have used TomTom and Garmin full turn-by-turn GPS on my vogue and use it with googlemaps regularly.
like I said, my really old phone can do pretty much everything the iPhone can, plus more (the newer ones, like diamond, HTC Touch Pro, etc can do way more), so please don't say the iPhone has more features, it doesn't.
Like I said, sexiness and sleekness it has, plus a decidedly nice screen (which you pay for with larger size), but it does not have a lot of features when compared to other modern smartphones.
International or US of A only?
Didn't realise there was a press statement.
My blackberry has a similar and thinner case/ battery, where is its article?
Oh, wait, I'm at engadget, everytime they mention iPhone, they get $$$.
Yes, if you mean clicks by $$$
Real reason is because the battery life on a Blackberry doesn't suck as much as the iPhone 3G.
Why so bitter? What good does sarcasm do for you?
Ker-ching!
More "I've never used 3g, cause I live in backward America and I don't understand why the iPhone uses so much battery compared to my CDMA phone with a 1/4 the screen and no wifi"
Well the iPhone is my 4th 3g handset and it lasts as long as the rest of them (a day) doing tons more stuff all the time.
Mind you your old CDMA blackberry forwards texts and probably even can save them as drafts, or even send to one click groups. One day maybe my iPhone will, one day...
(no I haven't jailbroken, yes I know I could mms etc if I did)
Will this one have a real iPod cable connector? One of the great things about having an iPhone is the fact that I can charge it virtually anywhere and plug it right into a huge selection of accessories due to its standardized port. If it doesn't have support for it, I hope the cable isn't too short.
reckon this will fit the old iphone, I see no reason why it shouldn't. I wish I had the money to upgrade, but it's over $700 on pay as you go over here and there un-scammable like they were the first time.
There is already one out for the 1st gen but I don't know if there is availability outside the US.
It won't. Don't waste your time. The original iPhone doesn't have a curved back and is thicker at the ends.
No pre-order love? I could use a discount in this economy. Love the design, though - hated the way the top was exposed on the original Juice Packs.
It'd be sweet if one of these would have a built in bluetooth adapter to support A2DP, among the other missing bluetooth profiles.
I love my iPhone. I'm not saying it's the best for everyone, but I tried the BB Bold (no touchscreen) and the Touch Pro (zooming in and out with the dial was not smooth, you could not specify where to zoom, slow loading new programs, really difficult to tap links with finger, must use stylus for most tasks, no headphone jack) and they just weren't for me. I loved the Touch Pro's keyboard, and for me the iPhone's software keyboard was a negative, but I've actually gotten used to it and can type just about as fast as with a physical keyboard.
iPhone gives me an interface that never requires a stylus and for me that's a big deal, even bigger than having A2DP bluetooth or a physical keyboard that many other headsets offer.
This should fit the 2nd Gen touch since its a little smaller then the Iphone 3G. I dont know how loose it would be though.
Damn you guys are so stupid fighting over cell phones. Losers, get a life.
Damn, you are so stupid for making fun of guys fighting over cell phones. Loser, get a life.
i dont get it. What's all this about an iPhone?
I might pick one up when they hit the apple stores
I still have $20 left on my iphone gift card...something like this might be handy! Even though i abuse my 3G a lot I dont seem to run it down too badly, but having one of these in case i take a long flight or something is a good thing
I have this model - and it is acceptable but not a great investment in my opinion. I have basically stopped using it unless I need to recharge on the go. So, for 100 bucks, you may consider saving your money and getting a car charger for 15 bucks, and carry around the usb cord for some computer recharging. It is nice to have the mini-USB, but I honestly haven't even used the one feature I thought would be a welcome change to their proprietary connector (A2DP would be a welcome feature and I would consider buying the new model if that ever happens, but hopefully bluetooth is days away from a good Cydia release allowing such bluetooth profiles). Oh well... also, with this attached to my phone the weight feels double, as does the size. Also, the phone still won't last a day with ActiveSYNC and some occasional gaming - but it does what it promises, gives your iPhone the needed juice for travelers, heavy users and those wanting to buy expensive gadgets (I fall under all three categories, so I am satisfied with the product, but not excited...)
Did you ever check out the incase power slider? If so, how would you compare the two?
I've been waiting for this! Slim because it's li-po, protective, boosts 3G time, charges through the same iphone port, and looks like it'll probably fit a car adapter with a classic insert. I'm happy. I can't wait to get one as soon as I read some reviews.
I also liked the one with the special lens for the iphone, but this'll do. Be great if they had standard tops and you could mix and match.
Now if only they would combine one of these with a Griffin Clarifi, I would be all set. And then I could ebay my current Mophie. It really does come in handy A LOT!
http://www.shokk.com/blog/articles/2009/01/03/mophie-juicepack-iphone-3g-charger/
The iphone has most phones beat with its pretty sleek UI. I'm sure most wouldn't disagree on this realization. If the iphone was running a Win Mobile or any other Os besides its own it wouldn't be as desirable/fanboy protected as it is now.
That is about a perfect solution for battery life that I've seen so far. Now if they could just come out with an even more long-lasting version for the thinner iPod Touch, I'm sold. That would be a must have item for an iPod Touch gamer or video watcher. This is one excellent idea. Keep up the good work, mophie.
Apple could have so easily built the iPhone just a teeny bit thicker and gotten an easy eight hours battery usage from it and it would have trumped the battery time of other handsets with removable batteries.
What most dont realize or forget is ,iphone has largest smart phone touch screen,of allll times.3.5" Other iphone clones/wannabees dont measure up,thats sad iphone was announced 2 years ago n every major cell manufacturer has failed miserably in creating iphonekiller..,.,so its easy to see where all this hate towards apple/iphone n fanboys comes from
@ philosopher
I own both the HTC Touch HD and an iphone (recently acquired). Your statement about the iphone's screen being the largest is not true the HD's is 3.8" wide (compared to iphone's 3.5"). The HD does EVERTYTHING does AND MORE. The iphone 3G doesn't even handle turn by turn GPS navigation (I'm referring to running tomtom and the like). Unlike the iphone it can also handle numerous apps running at the same time in the background. Its internet browser is also capable of handling multiple tabs at the same time. Like the iphone it runs U-tube. Now on the HD running all these applications I am able to get a full day and a half (sometimes 2days) of battery life. The iphone on the other hand (bear in mind it doesn't run the turn by turn navigation) manages only a day (if I'm lucky) of battery life.
What the iphone has going for it is the fact that its interface is quite literally THE BEST out there. I'm no IT guru so forgive my lack of technical jargon. I do think that the iphone's OS is way ahead of the WM6.1 currently running on the HTC touch HD. The iphone also is unbeaten in the range of ENJOYABLE games available (emphasis on the word enjoyable) So the simple answer to this argument is this: If you're a power user requiring lots of functionality as well as the battery autonomy, the HD (or any similar WM based phone) is your best bet. If on the other hand, you're more into gaming/entertainment and do not require the extreme functionality, then the hassle free and frankly quite sexy iphone is for you.
I've had my eye on this for a while now (no idea why Engadget was so slow on the uptake), and I will buy one. I want to be able to have WiFi and location services and 3G running all the time and don't want to have to find a wall plug every 5 hours under heavy use. If it's rubberized/grippy, even better. I despise the 3G casing - too slippery in sweaty hands - and I like the weight of the 1st Gen iPhone. Double the battery life, a little more heft in the device, and a firmer grip? Sold. Even if it *does* come in purple.
/my 2¢
I actually get 1 1/2-2 days out of a charge on my iPhone with pretty heavy use.
The trick is just to turn "push" off and go to a 30 minute "fetch" for email. With that tweak alone, you can pretty much double your battery life.
That said, this is a great gadget! Having it be more form-fitting is a huge plus. I doubt it will dock, but I wonder if it will fit in my holster.
The phone was big enough, I guess.
Field Runners totally destroys my battery life.
I'm gonna just go and preorder this. its godly
Anyone know the exact weight of this Mophie Juice Pack Air?
Until I can use my ipod cable to recharge the thing, i dont want one. It fucks everything up. New standard? No thanks.
Got myself the iphone 3G last month. Im an apple fan and wont talk abt the design and UI etc. Its obvious they're fantastic.
But Battery really sucks...I dont understand why
With
* 3G Off
* Push Mail to manual
* Brightness to 20% (With Auto Brightness feature Off)
* Wifi, Blue Tooth Off
* 2.21 Upgrade
My iphone is draining within 1and 1/2 to 2 days, with less than 5 hours of usage (as shown in usage page)
Out of this 5 hours maybe talk time will be 3 hrs max (2g) and little of surfing (edge). rest is simply fiddling around , sms, etc.
Just discovered from the Box that the manufacturing date is Aug 2008...so that means the product was lying at the shop for nearly 6 months. Could that be the reason that the battery is spoilt?
I have also installed Free Memory Application..Is this the culprit.
Pretty dissapointed with Apple ...with all the features whats the point if you cant use them coz of terrible battery performance...
I feel uneasy when the battery goes down so fast...
Isn't iPWR better? Both iPWR and Mophie have 1800mAh in capacity, but iPWR has much smaller size, they are all Apple certified though, here is the company making iPWR: www.wirelessinput.com
Don't bother. Order mine. I requested overnight delivery. 4 days later, still hasn't shipped. If it doesn't ship Monday I am canceling the order.
Oh yeah. They had NO PROBLEM depositing my money without sending the product.