More Power for Your IPhone Or IPod

The beautiful modular design of the PowerDuo Reserve battery and docking stations means iPhone or iPod users can put the wall charger in their home, the car charger in their vehicle, and the Reserve Battery can be charged by both docking units.

By Keith Shaw
Thu, June 04, 2009

Network World — The scoop: PowerDuo Reserve, by Griffin Technology, about $60.

What it is: This device includes three components – the PowerBock Reserve Battery, a wall charging docking station and a car charger docking station. The Reserve Battery, which connects to the two docking stations magnetically, can give iPhone and iPod owners additional battery juice when they need it by snapping onto the bottom of the portable device through Apple's Universal Connector. When fully charged, the Reserve Battery offers up to 24 hours of music, 6 hours of video, 1.5 hours of Web access and up to two hours of talk time (for iPhone). A button on the Reserve Battery lets you know how much juice is in it when pressed.

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Why it's cool: The beautiful modular design of the battery and docking stations means users can put the wall charger in their home, the car charger in their vehicle, and the Reserve Battery can be charged by both docking units. The docking units also include a USB charging port, so you can recharge your iPhone/iPod simultaneously while you're recharging the Reserve Battery. Griffin has thought of everything by combining two types of device chargers along with a portable reserve battery. This will be the only charging system you'll ever need for your iPod or iPhone (and if Griffin sells additional Reserve Batteries separately, even better!).

Some caveats: One nitpick, but minor. I would have loved it if Griffin also included a USB charging cable for the iPod/iPhone along with the system, I had to go dig around for my cable to try that feature.

Grade: 5 stars.~~

The scoop: iPWR backup battery for iPhone and iPod, by iPWR, about $60.

What it is: A backup battery that snaps onto an iPhone or iPod to provide additional battery life for these portable devices. The company says the battery provides up to 40 hours of battery life for music, up to 10 hours for video, and up to 7 hours of talk time. The battery includes and on/off switch that saves battery life when it's not recharging the iPod/iPhone, and a mini-USB cable is provided to recharge the iPWR battery.

Why it's cool: This is another nice backup battery to have in your arsenal if you're an iPod or iPhone user. The battery snaps onto the iPod/iPhone very easily, and I liked having the on/off switch. The additional capacity of the battery is also appealing. The choice of a black battery or white battery to match your device's color is a nice extra touch, too.

Some caveats: There's no pass-through charging capability – the location of the mini-USB port is next to the universal connector port, it would have been nice to be able to recharge the battery and the iPod at the same time via the included USB cable. Also, if you forget to turn the on/off switch off, the device remains powered and you end up draining the battery anyway.

Grade: 3.5 stars

Shaw can be reached at kshaw@nww.com. Follow him on Twitter.

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