By Ian Chiu
The iPhone 3G may be as powerful as a netbook or a Sega Dreamcast, but that doesn’t help improve the device’s battery life. For those who are displeased with this fact, there are already plenty of battery extenders which may alleviate the problem as long as you remember to bring them with you. It does seem somewhat inconvenient to carry an extra accessory around, so Mophie has made Juice Pack Air – an add-on battery pack that doubles duty as an iPhone case.
Encased in the Juice Pack Air is a 1,200mAh Li-polymer battery that is rechargeable through its micro-USB jack – the de facto interface for cellphone charging. The Juice Pack Air does add bulk to the phone, but the tradeoff is worth the additional 5.4 hours of Wi-Fi, 4.5 hours 3G data transfer and an equal amount of talk time. Everything USB recently reviewed the battery extender case hybrid, and found it to be a lifesaver for serious iPhone 3G and 3GS users alike. It can take a 20% remaining iPhone 3G back up to nearly 100% in one short hour. The reviewer was impressed by the build quality as well as the glossy finish which is only about as scratch resistant as the curved back of iPhone 3G. He did however point out the Juice Pack Air’s inability to power the iPhone without recharging it. This means your iPhone 3G couldn’t draw on the Juice Pack Air’s external power directly to save some of its internal battery charging cycles.
[ Mophie Juice Pack Air Battery Extender for iPhone Review @ Everything USB ]
By Shane McGlaun
HTC makes some of the most desirable smartphones on the market. In fact, it was the company that made the first Android-powered smartphone to hit the U.S. market — the T-mobile G1. HTC had an event this week where it introduced its Hero smartphone and now it has unveiled another phone bound for the States.
Verizon Wireless will be getting the HTC Ozone smartphone. The easy to use smartphone has a bargain price of $49.99 after a $70 mail-in rebate and new contract. Features of the phone include a QWERTY keyboard and multiple connectivity options.
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By Shane McGlaun
I hate to have to plug my iPhone in to charge. My wife keeps my office as dark as a cave to shave five cents off our electric bill so I usually can’t see where to plug my iPhone in. After over a year of use the charge port is rather lose as well. I really want an iPhone with something like the Pre Touchstone charger.
Today I got my wish with a new product form WildCharge for the iPhone that allows Pre-like charging by just sitting the iPhone down. The good news is that the charge system works on any iPhone from the original to the new 3GS.
The WildCharge Skin is a durable form fitting case that can protect the iPhone from drops and has a little part on the inside that plugs into the charge port of the phone. Then all you need to do is sit the phone on the WildCharger Pad to get power to your phone. The skin is available for $34.99 and a kit with the skin and the charge pad is about $80. The only downside I can see is that it appears you have to remove the case to synchronize your phone.
[ WildCharge ]
By Shane McGlaun
Live traffic services have been available on a variety of different portable navigation devices for a while. Using these services drivers can find where traffic jams are happening and get alternate routes to avoid the jams.
Tele Atlas has announced its new HD Traffic service that uses new methods of gathering real time traffic information for subscribers. Traffic data provided by the service uses information from GPS measurements submitted anonymously from other user’s navigation devices and mobile phones, road sensors, and journalistic data.
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By Shane McGlaun
I am still rocking the original iPhone so I don’t get that snazzy GPS location feature. Sure, I can find my general location with the phone using cellular towers, but have often wished for a full GPS device when I was on the road.
Navigon has announced a new application coming to America for the iPhone 3G and 3G S soon called MobileNavigator. The app is only compatible with devices running the 3.0 OS update. The app stores a full map database on the iPhone and offers turn-by-turn routing.
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By Shane McGlaun
Getting in shape isn’t always a chore. Well for me it’s pretty much a chore, but at least we can use some of our gadgets to help get the job done. One of the best gadgets for getting fit is the iPhone; there are tons of apps that you can use for all sorts of health needs.
The latest get fit app for the iPhone comes from Men’s Health. The app is called Men’s Health Workouts and it sells for $1.99 with 18 exclusive workouts included and over 125 different exercises. The exercises are compiled from some of the world’s top strength and fitness coaches, athletes, and fitness experts.
Each workout offered in the app provides step-by-step instructions, photos, and logging functions along with a one of a kind circuit-training interface. The program is also OS 3.0 compatible and offers new groups of workouts that can be purchased directly from within the app itself.
[ Men's Health ]
By Shane McGlaun
A few weeks back I bought a new car. I figured my kids were old enough that they only need booster seats, so I would go ahead and get the convertible Mustang GT with a 5-speed. The problem is that you can’t drive the car and talk on the phone in traffic and most of the Bluetooth headsets I have tried don’t work with the top down at highway speeds.
Motorola has announced a new Bluetooth headset called the Endeavor HX1 that promises to allow the user to talk and be heard in even the most extreme environment. I think the top down at 70mph on the highway is pretty extreme as far as wind noise goes.
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By Shane McGlaun
Despite the swine flu, there are still lots of people who have to travel internationally for business or even for fun. I can understand, I wouldn’t let some pork disease keep me from working or going on that vacation to Italy.
An even bigger problem for travelers than swine flu is the fact that most of our mobile phones won’t work in other countries. National Geographic has teamed up with a company called Cellular Abroad to offer a new travel phone called the Duet. The phone can be pared with a pre-paid international SIM card from National Geographic or another international SIM the user already has.
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By Shane McGlaun
I’m not a particularly heavy texter myself, but my wife is. I am here to tell you that when the wife or significant other likes to text, you will be answering lots of them and becoming much more of a texter than you might want. You may as well get a decent texting phone and make it easier on yourself.
Verizon Wireless has announced a new text optimized mobile phone from Motorola called the Rival. The device is a boxy slider design that has a full QWERTY keyboard. The handset comes in silver or purple colors and has a touch dial-pad (whatever that is). Messages are organized by contact and displayed in a chat format.
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