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Zagg buys battery phone case maker Mophie for $100 million
In what appears to be a coming-together of a phone accessory empire, Zagg has just announced that it's buying Mophie for at least $100 million, with perhaps more to be awarded later on depending on Mophie's sales figures. Zagg is a mobile accessory company that makes all kinds of devices from keyboards to cases, while Mophie is best known as the maker behind the popular phone battery case, as seen in the image above. Mophie first gained popularity as the battery case of choice for iPhones, and then slowly expanded its line to include battery cases for certain Android flagships plus standalone battery packs.
Apple Stores to carry third-party accessories in custom boxes
Apple is well-known for being very particular about its packaging... and it apparently cares about other companies' packaging, too. According to 9to5Mac, the tech giant is telling retail staff that it will soon sell third-party accessories in boxes co-designed by Apple... and possibly only in those boxes. Yes, that familiar minimalist look would soon spread to just about everything in the store. The move would ostensibly help you find what you're looking for and make sure that it works with your devices. Many of the familiar brands in Apple stores are reportedly on board with the idea, including Incase, Mophie and Logitech.
Mophie's latest iPhone battery case is waterproof, too
Mophie's cases are a popular choice for adding some extra minutes to your mobile device's battery life. While the company already had both charging and storage options for the iPhone 6, it how offers protection from water damage, too. The H2PRO accessory not only packs in an additional 2,750 mAh battery, but it's waterproof as well. An IP-68 rated Otterbox-esque design also protects the handset from dirt and drops with easy access to those side-mounted controls and a mute switch. Worried about Touch ID? Mophie's scratch-resistant membrane that covers the screen will still allow you to leverage that feature. What's more, priority-charging tech makes sure your phone charges before the case when plugging in is unavoidable. If you're itchin' to snag one, the Mophie H2PRO is available for pre-order now for $130 and it's schedule to ship later this month. Unfortunately, there's no word on an iPhone 6 Plus option just yet.
Mophie's 'Space' battery cases bring more storage to iPhone 6, iPad Mini
Last year Mophie, a company best known for its mobile battery offerings, stepped into slightly new territory by releasing a battery-toting iPhone case with external storage dubbed the "Space Pack." Now, as if on cue, Mophie is unveiling new entries in the Space Pack line for the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and iPad Mini. And, not to be forgotten, there's also a new standalone battery pack called the "Spacestation." They all look very similar to Mophie's existing battery solutions, but they include anywhere from 32GB to 128 GB of flash storage, which could be useful for anyone stuck with a paltry 16GB iPhone or iPad Mini. But, as is typical for Mophie, that convenience won't come cheap. The iPhone Space Packs and the Spacestation start at $150 for 32GB of storage, and jump up to $200 for 64GB and $300 for 128GB. The iPad Mini pack, meanwhile, runs from $200 to $400.
Mophie announces Juice Pack battery case for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus
Mophie is finally bringing its Juice Pack battery cases to iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users. Today the company launched pre-orders for the latest editions of the popular cases with prices starting at US$99.95. That price is good for either the Juice Pack Air for the iPhone 6 or the Juice Pack for the iPhone 6. iPhone 6 users can also splurge on the $119.95 Juice Pack Plus, which offers 20 percent more battery life than the Juice Pack Air, along with a shock absorbing shell. Of the three cases, the Juice Pack for iPhone 6 Plus offers the least amount of extra charge, promising an extra 14.5 hours of talk time. Given that the iPhone 6 Plus' battery already provides 24 hours of talk time, that's roughly only 60 percent more battery life. Still, the iPhone 6 Plus has a considerably more powerful battery than the iPhone 6, so another 14.5 hours may be all the extra juice you need. Take a look at their offerings for yourself right here on Mophie's website. No hard release date has been announced, but hopefully pre-orders will be shipping soon.
Mophie introduces new battery cases for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus
It was only a matter of time before Mophie made one of its popular battery cases for the latest iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Today, at CES 2015, that time has come. Long known for its line of battery "juice packs" for Apple handsets, Mophie has announced not one, not two, but three different battery cases for the latest iPhones. The Juice Pack Air for the iPhone 6 packs in more than 100 percent of additional battery; the Juice Pack Plus promises more than 120 percent, but is slightly thicker; and last but not least is the phablet-sized Juice Pack for the iPhone 6 Plus, which Mophie tells us is the thinnest battery case it's ever made. It does, however, only offer 60 percent of extra battery power.
Gold: The secret shame of my late night iPhone order
If you were one of the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, all staying up late last night to pre-order an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, you probably noticed that the roll-out didn't proceed as smoothly as it might have, especially at the US store. With store-down notices going on significantly beyond the 12AM Pacific launch time, it was a mad scramble trying to get an early-shipped device. Outages were so bad that some people started hearing imaginary Mandarin audio tracks floating through their heads. I quickly found out, as did many others, that the iOS-based Apple store app offered the best chance for a pre-order. I hopped in, fully intending to pick up a mid-range 64 GB Space Gray iPhone 6 Plus unit. This is what I call the "accountant's special", as it offers the best mix of subdued coloring and storage value. Apparently, nearly every one else in the Internets hoped to pick up exactly that model since it showed "not available" from the moment I finally got past the AT&T upgrade screen. In fact, the only model I could order with a quick ship date was the 128GB Gold. I'm not terribly against the whole 128GB storage as I can basically put every bit of data I own on my phone along with the gross domestic data product of several small countries but the gold color, well, I'd like to think that I have, er, had, standards. Ever since the gold iPhone 5s debuted, its taste level has been subject to debate. Caught between "shameful bling" and "understated elegance", there fewer people who can figuratively carry it off than people who literally carry it in their purse or pocket. I know for sure that I'm not one of them. Sure, I'm trying to make the best of things -- I'm calling it "Fawkes" after the phoenix in Harry Potter, although I was tempted with "Deputy Parrish" for the ambiguously phoenix-y character on Teen Wolf -- but to me, gold color has always been something that happens to other people. People who live in Florida. Who have fabulous houses. Who drive nice cars and drink champagne. People to whom "lamé" is a metallic fabric and not an MP3 encoder. Steve Sande tells me that he's about to sell his gold iPhone 5s to Gazelle, adding "I've hidden it in a Mophie case for a year". What do you think of the gold iPhone? Cast your vote in this poll and then drop a comment about how your pre-order went. What model and color did you go for? And when do you expect it to arrive or be ready for pickup? %Poll-89389%
Daily Update for January 8, 2014
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get some of the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the player at the top of the page. The Daily Update has been moved to a new podcast host in the past few days. Current listeners should delete the old podcast subscription and subscribe to the new feed in the iTunes Store here.
Mophie's Space Pack boosts both battery life and storage, requires a special iOS app (hands-on)
As a smartphone power user, one of the devices that intrigued this editor the most at CES was not a huge TV or a sleek sports car, but actually the Mophie Space Pack. It's an iPhone case that marries both a backup battery and additional storage -- a first of its kind, according to Mophie. The concept strikes us as an attractive one, especially to iPhone owners who are stuck with both a sealed-in battery and without the benefit of external memory. As it comes in both 16GB and 32GB versions, the Space Pack could also potentially double or triple your existing capacity. During a brief hands-on with the case, we can say that it looks very similar to the current Juice Pack Air -- indeed, it's almost indiscernible as far as look and feel goes. The only difference seems to be a silver brushed button on the back instead of a simple plastic one. If you're expecting the Space Pack to merge seamlessly with your existing iPhone storage to be one giant hard drive, you're sadly mistaken. The Space Pack really acts more like an external USB stick to which you can offload files. This is why Mophie requires you to use a special iOS app called Space, not only to manage that additional storage, but to access it at all. Unfortunately, this means that iPhone apps like the Camera Roll and iTunes are not integrated with that extra capacity -- after you transfer over those files, they're only accessible through the Space app. As such, Mophie has recommended that most first-time users simply dump their entire Camera Roll or iTunes library into the Space Pack so that they can empty out their iPhone's capacity and start "fresh."
Mophie brightens up the Juice Pack Helium with a rainbow of colors
Any Mophie Juice Pack Helium for iPhone 5 users out there wish that you had been able to get one in a color other than metallic silver or black? Those two boring colors were all you could buy since February, when the Juice Pack Helium was first released, but now you can add some class and color to your iPhone 5 as well as some extra battery life. Mophie today announced the Juice Pack Helium Spectrum Collection (US$79.95) with five jewel-tone cases. The colors, which all look fabulous, include blue, green, pink, purple and (PRODUCT) RED. The internals remain the same, with a 1,500 mAh lithium-polymer battery providing up to six more hours of talk time to your iPhone 5.
Mophie Juice Pack for Galaxy S 4 now shipping, brings an extra 2,300mAh battery for $99
Galaxy S 4 users already benefit from solid battery life, but if your Life Companion has become more of a compulsion, you're probably in need of a power solution that can go the distance. Naturally, one option is to swap out batteries, but a new charging case from Mophie could be a simpler route. The Juice Pack -- also available for the HTC One and iPhone 5 -- wraps around the phone and connects via micro-USB, adding an additional 2,300mAh cell to the 2,600mAh battery within the GS4. The Mophie Juice Pack is available now for $99, and is currently offered in black or white (with pink and red versions to follow). As an unfortunate consequence, the extra bulk prevents NFC functionality, but it could be a minor sacrifice if your phone's battery life regularly comes up short.
IRL: Mophie Juice Pack Plus for iPhone 5 and testing Solavei's MVNO
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. Welcome back, and happy Monday. After a week of getting hands-on with all manner of laptops, we thought we'd spare you our thoughts on Ultrabooks this time around. Tablets, too. Fortunately, we've got lots of other stuff to wax on about, from a battery-packing iPhone case to Solavei's new MVNO, which piggybacks on T-Mobile. Head on past the break to read more.
Mophie Juice Pack Plus for iPhone 5 hands-on, plus a giveaway
Finally we've received the third in the Mophie Juice Pack trilogy. First, it was the slender and lightweight Juice Pack Helium (US$79.95). Next, it was the classic Juice Pack Air ($99.95). Now Mophie has filled out the Juice Pack family with the ultra-big-capacity Juice Pack Plus for iPhone 5 ($119.95). Design Like the two other Juice Packs, the Juice Pack Plus has a two-piece design; an upper sleeve containing the battery that your iPhone 5 slides into, and a bottom portion that contains speaker channels, the charging connector, and a set of LEDs to tell you how much juice is in the pack. As you'd expect from a battery case with a 2,100 mAh capacity (compared to 1,400 mAh for the Helium and 1,700 mAh for the Air), the Plus is thicker than the other kids in the family. The Helium is .59 inches thick, the Air is .63 inches thick, and the Plus a full .70 inches thick. Surprising, the Plus is no heavier than the Air -- both weigh in at 2.68 ounces. One difference with the Juice Pack Plus and Air from the Helium is the addition of an outer rubberized band around the perimeter of the pack to provide extra drop protection. The Juice Pack Plus comes in black, white, and (PRODUCT)RED red. Charging is done through an included USB to micro-USB cable. Functionality The iPhone 5's internal battery has a capacity of 1,440 mAh, so a Juice Pack Helium won't even top one off. Not so with the Juice Pack Plus, which will give you a full charge and then almost 46 percent of a second charge. That's a lot of battery life -- up to 12 more hours of Internet surfing on a Wi-Fi network. As with all Mophie products, the fit and finish of the Juice Pack Plus is excellent. As with the previous models of Juice Pack for iPhone 5, my only complaint is that the company didn't build in a pass-through for the headphone jack. Instead, you can either push the standard Apple headphone connector deep into the "pipe" to connect, or use the included dangly adapter cable. The latter choice seems like a design afterthought. Conclusion The Juice Pack Plus has the highest capacity of any of Mophie's Juice Pack series for the iPhone 5, and with no extra weight penalty over the Juice Pack Air, it's definitely worth considering if you have the need for hours of extra battery capacity. Pros Extremely well built, with a fit and finish that is second to none 2,100 mAh capacity will recharge an iPhone 5 almost one-and-a-half times Easy to install and remove without tools Design and tested to not interfere with phone reception (PRODUCT)RED model is available Cons Adds weight and bulk to the iPhone 5, as do all extended battery cases Who is it for? iPhone 5 users who need protection and power in a single, well-designed case Giveaway We're giving away one brand new black Mophie Juice Pack Plus for the iPhone valued at US$119.95 to a lucky TUAW reader. Here are the rules for the giveaway: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter, fill out the form below completely and click or tap the Submit button. The entry must be made before June 10, 2013 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. One winner will be selected and will receive a black Mophie Juice Pack Plus valued at $119.95 Click Here for complete Official Rules. Loading...
New Mophie Juice Pack Plus gives your iPhone 5 extra oomph
Today, iPhone 5 users have another way to keep their phone charged up for those times when the battery is getting sucked dry. Mophie, which previously brought us the Juice Pack Helium and Juice Pack Air for iPhone 5, today announced the Juice Pack Plus (US$119.95). The case comes in hues of black, white and PRODUCT(RED), and differs from its siblings in thickness, weight, and capacity. The battery in the Plus is a whopping 2,100 mAh, while the Air has 1,700 mAh of extra power and the Helium provides 1,500 mAh. Weight for the Plus and Air is 2.68 oz., while the Helium weighs in at a svelte 2.44 oz. The Plus is 0.70 inch thick, the Air is 0.63 inch thick and the Helium is just 0.59 inch thick. The battery of the Juice Pack Plus is enough to give your iPhone 5 120 percent of a charge -- enough to top it off completely once and then have enough juice left over to make some emergency calls. Mophie says that the black model will ship within one or two days; the white model ships next week on May 22nd, and the special PRODUCT(RED) model will be available on May 31st. We hope to have a full review of the Juice Pack Plus soon.
Mophie Juice Pack for the HTC One now available
If you picked up an HTC One and found that its battery isn't quite cutting it, Mophie may have a solution for your dilemma. The accessory maker is now offering its popular extended battery line for HTC's crown jewel. In addition to its slim protective casing, the freshly minted Juice Pack keeps the party going with an embedded 2,500mAh backup cell. Mophie claims that its added pick me up can increase the One's battery life by two-fold, placing its performance on a par with the marathon-ready RAZR MAXX HD. Available in two colors to match whichever hue you're sporting, the $100 Juice Pack is a surprisingly attractive backup plan for HTC's aluminum marvel.
IRL: Bing Translator, ioSafe N2 and the Mophie Juice Pack Air
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. Yes, again with the mobile battery packs. (We're power users, okay?) In this week's roundup, Joe ditches his Elecom charger for the Mophie Air, and tells you everything you may wanted to know (and maybe a few things you didn't). Rounding things out, Darren kicks the tires on ioSafe's durable, "disaster-proof" NAS box, while Dan uses Bing Translator to avoid offending the lovely people of Germany.
IRL: Scanner Pro, Mophie Juice Pack Helium and the Native Union Pop Phone
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. It's safe to say we're a little picky around here: Darren's trying out yet another scanner app, and Edgar has settled on a smartphone battery pack (because everyone knows we can't agree on which is the best one). And Philip's been playing with a retro-styled "handset" because, well, why not?
Review: Mophie Juice Pack Helium for iPhone 5
During the time that I owned my iPhone 4 and 4S, those phones spent most of their lives in a Mophie Juice Pack Air. That battery pack got me through some of those scary situations where I had spent a couple of hours geocaching, making calls and sending texts, only to find that I was down to 5 percent of charge capacity and was nowhere near a power outlet. So when the iPhone 5 came out last fall, my first thought for a case was a Mophie product. It took a few months, but now the Mophie Juice Pack Helium (US$79.95) is available to protect and power the iPhone 5. Design Like the Juice Pack Air, the Helium is a wraparound case that cradles your iPhone. There's a Lightning connector in the bottom of the case that plugs into the appropriate port on the iPhone 5, and the case has openings in all of the right places for the various switches and the camera. The bottom half-inch or so of the case features two forward-facing speaker ports that facilitate listening to phone calls or music. The case is charged through an included USB to micro-USB cable; in most situations, Helium users will just use the iPhone 5 AC adapter and plug in this charging cable instead of the Apple-supplied cable. On the back of the case are the traditional white LEDs to indicate charge level when a small button is depressed. There's also a lock button on the back -- this can be set to standby (red indicator) or "On" (green indicator). Mophie recommends charging the Helium and iPhone, placing the Helium in standby mode, and then using the iPhone's battery until you need the Helium's extra capacity. One flip of the lock button to "On" gives you access to an extra 1500 mAh of capacity, which is about 80 percent of built-in capacity of the iPhone 5. %Gallery-179261% There are two case colors at launch -- dark metallic and silver metallic -- but if history is any indication then there may be other colors available at a later date. The casing is made of the same soft-feel material that other Mophie cases have used, which seems to hold up to the abuses of daily life rather well. The case comes with an audio jack pass-through cable, but it isn't necessary to use it if you have a standard pair of Apple earbuds. It appears that the pass-through cable is only needed if your cable end has a larger diameter than the port in the bottom of the Helium. One final note: while previous Juice Packs have just had a side-mounted micro-USB port for charging, the port is on the bottom of the Juice Pack Helium and has two rather sizable flat metal pieces near the port. I'm not sure why this design change has occurred, but it makes me speculate that Mophie is either going to come out with a charging dock for the Helium and other future battery packs, or perhaps work with accessory manufacturers on products that accommodate charging a Helium just by dropping it into a dock. Functionality As with its predecessors, the Helium is a cinch to install. You simply pull the case apart, slide the Lightning connector into the port on the iPhone 5, then slide the rest of the case down from the top of the phone until it mates up with the bottom. It only takes a few seconds to remove the case if you want to use something like an Olloclip for taking closeup or fisheye photos. Charge time is estimated at between two and three hours. The Helium is designed to charge both itself and the iPhone 5 simultaneously. The Helium, despite being advertised as 13 percent thinner than any other case produced by Mophie, still adds bulk and weight to the iPhone 5. With the Helium installed, the iPhone 5 / case combo weighs in at 6.4 ounces. A "naked" iPhone 5 weighs just 4 ounces. The thickness of the case is .59 inches (15 millimeters), while that unclothed iPhone 5 is only 7.6 millimeters thick. Basically, the Helium is going to almost double the thickness of your iPhone 5. It's a trade-off: you can either have a thin iPhone 5 or an iPhone 5 with a lot more battery capacity. You can't have both. Frankly, I'm one of those people who loves the peace of mind that comes with having a fully charged iPhone and Juice Pack every morning. I know for certain that regardless of what I do with my iPhone throughout the day, I'm going to have plenty of power left in case of an emergency. For me, the penalty of adding 60 percent more weight and doubling the thickness of my iPhone 5 is worth it. For others, having an slender iPhone 5 might be the big thing, in which case an external battery pack is going to be a more intelligent decision. Conclusion Mophie has once again hit the ball out of the park with the Juice Pack Helium. The company was a pioneer in battery cases for iPhones and has done six years of research and development in this field. That work shows in the clean lines of the Juice Pack Helium and the efficient manner in which it keeps your iPhone 5 protected and powered. Pros Well-constructed by a leader in the iPhone battery case market Juice Pack Helium is easy to install and remove Case offers good protection while providing up to 80% more battery capacity than a standalone iPhone 5 Dark metallic and silver metallic colors nicely compliment the design of the iPhone 5 Competitively priced with the other early entrants in the iPhone 5 battery case market Case is designed and tested to not interfere with phone reception Cons Adds weight and bulk to the iPhone 5, as do all battery cases Who is it for? iPhone 5 users who put their phones through a lot of work in a regular day and need protection and power in a well-built and reasonably-priced case
Mophie ships Juice Pack Helium, gives iPhone 5 a 6-hour shot in the arm
Although Mophie isn't the first to have an iPhone 5 battery case, there's no doubt that some have been waiting for the company's take -- and it might justify the patience. The just-launched Juice Pack Helium slides a 1,500mAh secondary battery on to the back of Apple's flagship in a protective frame that's 13 percent thinner than earlier Mophie cases, but still promises a hefty amount of extra runtime. Mophie estimates another six hours of cellular calling and data (seven on WiFi), or about enough to push through an all-nighter or a long airport layover. Color-coordinating black and silver versions of the Helium are shipping from the 14th onwards for about $80. That's lot for something so model-specific, but it's possibly the sleekest way to extend an iPhone 5's charge. [Thanks, Nik]
I bought a fake Mophie Juice Pack (so you don't have to)
I find it wryly amusing that the first phone I ever owned with a sealed-in, non-swappable battery -- the iPhone, of course -- was also the first phone with a battery life so short as to warrant the ability to swap the battery. Hence the commercial popularity of battery cases like the various Mophie products. These are particularly handy when travelling, as the need for a phone when navigating foreign climes is greater and access to charging points is less frequent. That's why, in December 2011, I ordered two Mophie Juice Pack Plus battery cases for the iPhone 4 handsets my wife and I were about to take on a vacation to America. The Mophie models have plenty of fans amongst the TUAW staff, and had received a good review from Macworld's Lex Friedman too, so it seemed like a safe bet. However, unknown to me, the cases were fake, and could potentially have been very dangerous (fortunately, they weren't). I've written the story up to let you know what you should be looking out for and help you to avoid repeating the mistakes I made. %Gallery-176498% The tale of the fake In hindsight, I should have guessed right away, but I'd never heard of fake battery packs before so it simply didn't occur to me. I've heard plenty of stories of other types of accessories being riddled with fakes -- notably, Sandisk SD cards are a common target, and I once bought a 2 GB "Sandisk" SD card that turned out to be rebranded 512 MB fake. (There's an excellent in-depth look at fake SD cards by famous hacker-activist Andrew Huang.) But fake battery packs was a new experience for me at the time. It wasn't the packaging that should have tipped me off. I examined that very closely after uncovering the true nature of the counterfeits and it was absolutely perfect; high quality glossy cardboard, well printed, with a flap on the front held closed with magnets -- impressively elaborate. I suppose that when the counterfeits are sold in a retail setting, consumers can examine the packaging, and thus will be tipped off if the packaging isn't perfect. It wasn't anything about the transaction, either. These pseudoMophie cases came from Amazon Marketplace, from a "Fulfilled by Amazon" seller, so the order was packed by an Amazon staff member. I paid £34.99 each for the cases. Now, that's cheap -- around half the price of the Apple Store -- but it wasn't too-good-to-be-true cheap; as I recall, there were several other sellers in the £35-40 range, and the cases were around the £40-45 mark from most online sellers. At the time of writing, Amazon stock is £39.99. No, what should have clued me off was the poor fit the cases made with my phone. If you haven't seen one up close, the Mophie battery cases consist of one large piece you slide the phone into from the top, then a smaller piece that clips over the top and holds the phone in place. This part sits on the phone's power switch, with a small plastic pass-through button so you can turn the phone on and off. The top part on my two cases made quite loose contact with the main part of the case, meaning it rocked back and forth a little. Not much, but just enough to cause the occasional spurious power button press. With the case on, a few times a day I would pull my phone out of my pocket, press (usually without looking first) the Home button to wake it from sleep, and find myself taking a screenshot of my lock screen instead as the battery case was simultaneously pushing on the power button. I wasn't particularly impressed. Other than that, the cases worked fine... at first. After we came back from our vacation, we took them off our phones and didn't use them for a few months. Then I had to travel for work, so I got them back out, only to find they'd both Gone A Bit Strange (technical term there). One of them had developed a loosely fitting USB jack, and I had to fiddle with the cord when plugging it in before it would charge up. The other one wouldn't charge the phone correctly, as if it was flat, even though its own little indicator lights claimed it was fully charged. Plus, I noticed, both of them had somehow accumulated noticeable cosmetic damage, despite being very lightly used. Mophie cases have a kind of soft-touch rubberised coating over a hard plastic shell, and on my pseudoMophies, that coating had worn off in a number of places. I still didn't think "fake!" though. I just assumed they weren't very good, and tossed them back in a drawer until I eventually got around to emailing a warranty claim to Mophie, several months later. In fact, I remember glancing over the one-star Amazon product reviews and seeing people complaining about all the problems I had -- poorly fitting cases, problems getting the case to charge up, problems getting the case to connect to the phone, excessive cosmetic wear -- and assuming that Mophie's quality control had gone downhill since the glowing reviews were written. Looking back now, a small number of these reviews mention that they were dealing with counterfeits; but at the time, no-one had said anything like that. One seller even pinned the blame on the iPhone 4S being different from the iPhone 4, which I find rather suspicious. Eventually, my irritation at being sold what I thought was a couple of lemons overcame my reflexive procrastination, and I contacted Mophie customer support. I did the usual dance of filling in my product serial number and describing my problems, but then had an unusual request come back: "In order to move forward with your replacement, we need to gather some information. First we need a copy of your receipt. Please reply to this email with a scanned copy. If you purchased your item through our website, we can look your order up internally. If you have not already submitted your mophie (sic) order number, please reply to this email with the number. "We also need a clear picture showing the product label and serial number on the inside of the product." (Emphasis mine.) Slightly baffled -- I'd already provided the serial numbers, so why did Mophie need these pictures? -- I complied, only to receive a terse message back: "Judging by the serial number, and the label itself, you have two counterfeit devices. As such, we cannot offer you a replacement and urge you to seek a refund through the seller as soon as possible." At this point I became rather concerned. Poorly made lithium-ion batteries can be quite dangerous, and while there's plenty of no-name battery cells that are perfectly safe the fact I'd been stuffing a blatantly counterfeit product in my trouser pocket was rather worrying. Angry now, I emailed my Amazon seller, but after 48 hours I still hadn't heard anything. I followed up with Amazon itself, and it almost immediately agreed a refund and issued me an RMA to return the cases, saying:- "This order was purchased from 'REDACTED' and was 'Fulfilled by Amazon'. As we dispatched this item to you directly from an Amazon.co.uk fulfilment centre on behalf of this seller, we can process the return of this item, in exchange for a full refund." (I have redacted the seller's name as I have no way of knowing if the seller was knowingly selling counterfeits, or itself a victim of an unscrupulous supplier. I have attempted to contact the seller directly for comment, but the details I have are too generic to let me find them, and Amazon would not pass along a message from me. The seller's Amazon Marketplace account appears to be defunct now, although feedback on its profile page indicates it was still trading as recently as November 2012.) Lessons learnt So, how could I have prevented this sorry story from happening in the first place? I contacted Mophie and Amazon UK's press office for comment on this case and to ask them that question directly. I asked what advice they would give consumers when shopping. Ross Howe, Vice president of Marketing for Mophie, said "mophie takes counterfeits very seriously. In order to try and combat this problem, we have developed a page that solely address this issue, offering purchasing tips to the consumer. Additionally, our internal legal team works to monitor the selling of mophie products by unauthorized retailers, taking appropriate action if it is determined counterfeit items are being sold." Howe went on to offer consumers the following advice: Purchase at mophie.com or one of its authorized partners. The authorized partners page provides a breakout of all approved retailers globally. Customers should avoid the 'too good to be true' deals of eBay and the Amazon Marketplace. Even the stores that are "fulfilled by Amazon" are known to sell low-quality knockoffs. Sign up for the brand newsletter to receive the latest information on new products and sales. Suzi van der Mark replied on behalf of Amazon, and of course was keen to stress that buyers are protected (contrary to Mophie's stance of pushing you to its retail partners): "Amazon.co.uk does not allow the sale of counterfeit items on its Marketplace platform. Any seller found doing so will be subject to action from Amazon including removal of their account. Occurrences of counterfeit products on Amazon.co.uk Marketplace are rare and we have an established process in place which enables third parties including rights holders to provide us with notice of counterfeit product. We respond rapidly to any such notice. Every customer who orders on Amazon.co.uk is covered by our A-Z guarantee and if they do receive counterfeit goods from a Marketplace seller we will provide a refund. For more information on our A-Z Guarantee please visit this link." The old adage that "a price that's too good to be true means it probably isn't" applies, of course, as Howe says. But of course a clever seller of counterfeits can easily overcome that by simply pricing their goods just below the genuine ones, which was the case with my purchase. If I'd registered the cases with Mophie as soon as I'd received them, I might have been alerted if the serial numbers hadn't matched up. However, I'm guessing the counterfeiters can use real serial numbers (perhaps duplicated from genuine products), as otherwise my initial attempt to request product support would have failed. Other Amazon commenters mentioned that they had successfully registered their counterfeit case with Mophie, which supports this hypothesis. The bottom line is that I'm not sure there's anything I could have done upfront to avoid being taken in by this, except perhaps paying top dollar from the Apple store. I was lucky that Amazon stood by me and refunded my money promptly, or I would have been out the cost of the goods. In future, when using "market" style reseller services like eBay or Amazon Marketplate, I'm going to pay rather closer attention to retailer terms & conditions, as well as its reputation for aftersales customer care. Notably, Amazon (at least in my case) offered considerably more protection that eBay offers, in substance if not in policy. Many people have written about the difficulties of getting a refund for a counterfeit eBay purchase; stories abound of people having a rough time from Paypal's dispute resolution system. Probably most famously, Paypal forced a buyer to destroy an antique violin worth $2500 that may or may not have been fake. The seller was out the $2500 and the violin at the end of the transaction. Still, it could be worse. Counterfeit products aren't just a headache for consumers, either. At least I didn't buy a job lot of fake military grade processors...