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First look: Exogear ExoLife battery case for iPhone 4
One of the more eagerly anticipated accessories for just about any new phone is an extended-life battery case. One of the first out of the gate for the new iPhone 4 is the Exogear ExoLife rechargeable battery case (US$89.95). It's only available for pre-order at this time, but is expected to start shipping on July 30. The ExoLife has several features that should make iPhone 4 owners clamor for it -- a 1500-mAh Lithium-ion polymer battery that should be able to recharge the phone once, a hard polycarbonate shell to keep your baby from getting scratched and dented, a regular USB 2.0 to micro-USB cable for charging and syncing, and something called ExoClear technology to help you avoid the dreaded Grip of Death. The ExoLife also has a feature to turn off the battery when it's not being used, as well as a thin blue LED battery meter on the back. As you can see in the photo above, the case is relatively sleek as battery cases go, and looks pretty nice to me, although your personal preference may vary, of course. Exogear plans on having the black model seen above shipping by July 30th, and a white model will follow by September 30th. The ExoLife will be perfect for running TrailGuru on my iPhone 4 when I'm doing long hikes or bike rides, so I'll be anxious to see one soon.
HTC EVO 4G shows up in Sprint inventory, shots of the accessories surface
Need something to wash that Kin marketing out of your mouth? How about some new tidbits on the superphone to end all superphones? For whatever reason, the HTC EVO 4G has showed up in Sprint's inventory, a couple months early by all accounts. It's carrying a completely reasonable $5,555 pricetag, and the appropriate HTC A9292 model number. If that doesn't quite satiate your EVO 4G thirst, LeakDroid has managed to get shots of those EVO 4G accessories we've been hearing about, including a home dock, extended battery case, colored silicon sleeves, and a car dock. Hit up the source link for the shots. [Thanks to an anonymous tipster for the inventory screen]
Seidio's 3200mAh battery for Nexus One: the results are in
So we topped off the charge on our Seidio 3200mAh battery for the Nexus One shortly after we posted our hands-on and started the long (and we do mean long) process of letting it discharge. Basically, we got right around 30:15 (that's 30 hours, 15 minutes) of what we would consider to be normal use coming off a full charge from a wall outlet -- we had to connect it to our PC a couple times to pull screen shots which automatically starts charging, but it was only connected for perhaps 20 minutes total. Breaking it down, that included about 7:30 of solid, uninterrupted standby while we got some shut-eye and roughly 45 minutes of intense Tower Raiders game play, all on a relatively weak T-Mobile 3G connection. Blueooth, WiFi, and Google Sync were all enabled for the entire time. Granted, we don't do a ton of voice calling, but the display is the real killer on the Nexus One -- and rest assured, we had it on plenty. By comparison, we typically get around 11 hours on the Nexus One's standard 1400mAh pack with the same usage pattern, so the 30:15 figure falls actually outdoes the 2.3x capacity boost the Seidio cell should offer by a bit. Obviously, your results will vary depending on how you use your phone, but regardless, we can definitely verify that you'll see significantly more life out of a charge using this kit than you will with the phone's OEM battery and we think you'd be able to eke a full day's use out of it no matter how hard you pushed it -- it's really just a question of whether you can tolerate the $70 asking price and the huge soft-touch hump.
HTC HD2 extended battery gets its close-up, lower price
We've already seen a render of the kickstand-equipped HTC HD2 extended battery, but renders don't power cellphones, so we're particularly glad that CoolSmartPhone has now come through and provided some actual pictures of the actual device. What's more, it looks like the price has now dropped to £35 excluding VAT (or about $55, down from $85 before), although the promised ship date has apparently been pushed back another month to March. Hit up the link below for a closer look, and a comparison shot with the standard battery.
HTC HD2 extended battery with kickstand up for pre-order in the UK
British electronics e-tailer Clove has started listing a new £53 ($86) HD2 accessory that should be of interest to everyone who owns or plans on owning the device. We always thought that generous 4.3-inch screen could do with some backside support, and indeed the new kickstand-equipped extended battery will provide just that. You'll also get a nice energy bump, as the new accessory is set to double the 1,230mAh capacity of the default juice pack. Deliveries are expected by Clove in February, meaning it shouldn't be too long before this official appendage makes its global debut -- let's just hope other nations don't have to suffer as much wallet damage as the UK.
VAIO X spotted in champagne, propped up by extended battery, ripped apart
While the price might be the most notable -- and welcome -- aspect of Sony's VAIO X showing tonight, we were also privy to our first look of the laptop in champagne, the incredibly odd extended battery, which actually creates a bit of a gap between itself and the rear of the laptop, and even Sony's own little teardown of the components. We'd be a bit more grumpy about that big "14 hour" wedge, given that the regular battery only gets about 3 hours of quoted battery life, but since Sony is selling the laptop with both of them in the box, we can't complain too much. %Gallery-74988% %Gallery-75003%
Santech LV1 is low voltage and low fat, but not low price
Santech might not be the most familiar name around here, but the company has a bit of history in the mobile field, and its latest 13.3-inch effort definitely merits a second look. Coming in under that magical mental barrier of an inch in thickness and sporting an Intel CULV processor, it's slinky and (just) powerful enough to be called an ultraportable. Add in a claimed 12 hours of battery life, and the LV1 would seem like a viable competitor to Acer's Timeline series, but it falters on pricing, which -- once you add the 8-cell battery to the base unit of a SU3500 1.4GHz CPU, 2GB RAM and 160GB HDD -- is €701 ($1,003) after taxes, or €100 more than an almost identical Aspire 3810T from Acer. [Via Notebook Italia]
Amzer issues embarrassingly gigantic Palm Pre extended batteries
Look at that. Just look at that. Do you have the slightest idea what that is? No, it's not a wired optical mouse. It's not a smartphone from circa 1985. It's a Palm Pre with a battery that just might last until you're six feet under if you choose not to chat much. After one-upping Seidio's 1,350mAh battery with a 1,400mAh version, the company has now hit back with a new duo that redefines your vision of "bulging." Both the 2,800mAh and 3,800mAh cells ship with (and thus require) new backplates to contain the extra girth, and neither of them support Palm's Touchstone charger. PreThinking is currently testing 'em out, but considering that it just might be 2015 before they're able to report any results, they've hosted up a litany of product shots for the time being. Head on down to the read link if you're looking for laughs.
Engadget's recession antidote: win a mophie Juice Pack Air for iPhone 3G!
This whole global economic crisis, and its resulting massive loss of jobs got us thinking. We here at Engadget didn't want to stand helplessly by, announcing every new round of misery without giving anything back -- so we decided to take the opportunity to spread a little positivity. We'll be handing out a new gadget every day (except for weekends) to lucky readers until we run out of stuff or companies stop sending things. Today we've got two of mophie's Juice Pack Air units, which promise to provide lots of extra iPhone 3G runtime while doubling as a case. Read the rules below (no skimming -- we're omniscient and can tell when you've skimmed) and get commenting! Hooray for free stuff!Major thanks to mophie for providing the gear!The rules: Leave a comment below. Any comment will do, but if you want to share your proposal for "fixing" the world economy, that'd be sweet too. You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you'll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.) If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you'll be fine. Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don't make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad. Winner will be chosen randomly. Two winners will receive one (1) mophie Juice Pack Air iPhone 3G case / battery extender in Black. Approximate retail value is $79.95. If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen. Entries can be submitted until Wednesday, May 27th, at 11:59PM ET. Good luck! Full rules can be found here.
Sony apparently puts PSP Extended Life Battery Kit back on sale
What a wild ride this thing has had. Originally announced back in November of 2007, the PSP Extended Life Battery Kit promised to provide right around 20 percent more battery life in exchange for $45 and an additional bulge. Then, Sony seemingly canned the thing abruptly in August of 2008. Just a month later, Sony's US director of hardware marketing John Koller confessed that the PSP-3000's new screen would eat away more severely at the battery, but that an extended cell would solve the quandary for a few of your hard-earned dollars. Now, it seems he's finally making good on that proclamation, with the PlayStation Portable Extended Life Battery Kit back on the outfit's website for $44.99. At least one user over at the official PlayStation forums has already received one, but at the moment, SonyStyle is showing the item as backordered. Might as well get in line, yeah?[Via PlayStation Forums, thanks Eric]
mophie Juice Pack Air hands-on and impressions
mophie's Juice Pack Air -- better known as the planet's thinnest iPhone 3G extended battery and case -- doesn't officially go on sale until Tuesday, but we've been toying with one over the weekend in order to share with you whether or not it's a solid buy. We have to say, our early impressions are pretty positive, and if you're hankering to know more, follow us past the break for a few more details.
mophie's Juice Pack Air: world's thinnest iPhone 3G battery / case
mophie's iPhone 3G Juice Pack received universal praise, and while the additional baggage bothered some, most users just appreciated being able to utilize 3G for more than 47 seconds without needing an AC outlet. Not one to rest on its laurels, the company has today introduced the new and improved version: Juice Pack Air. Contrary to popular belief, this actually isn't intended for Apple's MacBook Air (now there's an idea to capitalize on, mophie), but instead, it's the planet's thinnest external iPhone 3G battery / case. The device houses a rechargeable 1,200mAh battery that "virtually doubles the amount of time you have to rock, talk, surf, and send messages." Eager consumers can pre-order theirs now in black, purple or white, while patient souls can mellow out until they hit mophie's website and Apple stores everywhere this Spring. Full release is after the jump.
Seidio's oversized G1 battery is bursting with juice and joy
We're not particularly fond of over-sized battery covers in general; your average smartphone is chubby enough. That said, some handsets need more help than others in the longevity department and, given that we found the G1's battery life to be about a third that of the iPhone's in our review, it certainly falls in the "more help" camp. Seidio's Innocell 2600mAh replacement does the trick, offering more than twice the oomph of the stock 1150mAh cell, but it also resulting in a considerable bump in the chubbiness of a phone that wasn't particularly slender to begin with. Suffice it to say if you're still bummed about the G1's chin rubbing you the wrong way in your pocket this won't be the upgrade for you, but if your little Android stays constantly tethered to your laptop just to keep kicking, this might be $55 well spent. [Via CrunchGear]
Seidio adds 400mAh to your G1 without a new cover
We've been hearing intermittent reports that T-Mobile may or may not be sending new, better batteries for owners of juice-deprived G1s in the field, but in the meantime, Seidio has a solution of its own. This 1400mAh battery is rated a full 400mAh higher than the OEM unit, presumably giving you an extra hour or two of Android-powered bliss between charges -- and even better, it fits in the same space with no replacement cover needed. $42.95 sounds steep, but then again, it's hard to put a price on talk time.
mophie's iPhone 3G Juice Pack unboxed and tested: high marks all around
Curious to know if your Benjamin will be well spent on mophie's iPhone 3G Juice Pack? TestFreaks is out to make sure you have an accurate answer to that, and judging by their report after two solid weeks of usage, the response is an emphatic "yes." Not only was the device sleek enough to not be incredibly cumbersome, but it actually performed as advertised. Reviewers were able to get their iPhone 3G from near-death to fully charged (twice!) on a single mophie charge, leading them to conclude that it "basically doubles the run time of the iPhone 3G" in a worse case scenario. Granted, even they couldn't overlook the particularly large price tag, but if you've been running bone dry with any level of frequency, we suspect the asking price won't matter nearly as much.[Thanks, Kristofer]
Seidio goes chunky in the name of Bold battery life
If you've got to choose between endurance and beauty, we can think of plenty of good folks who'd gladly take the endurance card without a moment's hesitation, and for those people Seidio offers this... thing. Discreet, it's not, but what the Seidio Innocell lacks in fashion it should make up for in sheet capability, stuffing 3500mAh of lithium ion juice into a soft-touch shell that extends 5 to 6mm beyond the Bold's standard back -- some 2000mAh beyond what the standard pack is going to give you. Seidio claims it'll ship the week of November 28, and pricing is currently set at $65; we're still waiting for our promised fuel cell revolution, but we guess this'll have to do in the meanwhile.[Via BlackBerryNews]
Willcom D4 Ver.L comes with extra longevous battery
Not quite sure what happened of late, but extra long lasting batteries are all the rage now. With netbook manufacturers offering up extended cells left and right, it's only fair that Sharp toss out a Willcom D4 with a super longevous battery, too. The Willcom D4 Ver.L (L stands for Long, loony) reportedly arrives with a lovely CE-BL58 extended battery as a standard accessory, and while the resource-demanding Office application isn't included, that helps keep the price at ¥97,700 ($901). A fair trade for the hardcore traveler, we suppose.[Via Pocketables]
PSP-3000 battery life diminished by new screen, Sony suggests buying a bigger battery
According to a GameSpot interview with Sony's US director of hardware marketing John Koller, that new PSP-3000 screen may look a bit better... but it's going to cost you about 20 minutes of battery life. Luckily for you gamers with endless pockets out there, Koller assures that minor wrinkle will be offset because, "We're going to have the extended life battery that's still available for consumers, so we're still going to get the eight-to-ten hours out of that battery." So just to make that clear, the regular battery life will be diminished, but you can buy a new, larger battery from Sony to extend your gaming time. Got that? Good. Watch him say it for real in the video after the break.[Via T3]
iPhone 3G extended battery options
Fellow propeller-head and all-around nice guy Joel Evans over at Geek.com let me know that they had published a short post about a couple of iPhone 3G extended battery options. Since the 3G has a tendency to suck battery power like a vacuum powered by a Pratt & Whitney PW-4000 jet engine, several vendors have come out with plug-in battery extenders to make sure your App Store browsing isn't cut short by a lack of juice.I've got one more to add to the list -- the RichardSolo Backup Battery for iPhone / iPod (pictured at right). If you are using your iPhone 3G as much as I am, you either need one of these extended batteries or have a really long extension cord.
HTC Touch Diamond gets extended battery, bigger butt
The Touch Diamond's controversial rear-end styling not bold enough for you? Well, that's an easy fix, mate -- just make it stick out a little bit more. HTC has now detailed an extended battery kit for the Touch Diamond which includes a 1340mAh pack (up from 900mAh out of the box) and a larger battery cover to help you contain all that go-juice. Looks like it's still on pre-order at this point, but once it pops, it'll run £40.95 (about $81).[Via MoDaCo, thanks Ward]
