Product review – Kensington Mini battery pack and charger for iPod and iPhone

by Scott Carmichael on

Today’s product review will take a quick look at a kind of product that has suddenly become quite popular.

Many owners of the new iPhone 3G have been rudely awakened by its poor battery life. In some cases, the phone won’t even last till the end of the afternoon. Since an outlet and charger are not always available, Kensington have developed a portable power source to help get you through the day.

The Kensington “mini battery pack and charger for iPod and iPhone” is a 1.5oz/42g pocket battery pack with an iPod dock connector.

The battery pack contains a Lithium-Polymer battery with enough capacity to fully recharge most iPod and iPhone models. On most devices, you’ll add up to 30 hours of music playback or 6 hours of video. On the iPhone, you’ll add up to 3 hours of talk time.

The battery pack can be charged using your computer or any other power source with a USB connector, including the AC adapter included with some iPods.

Using the battery pack couldn’t be easier, you simply plug it into the bottom of your device, and let it charge. On the front of the battery pack are 4 lights. Three of these lights show the charging status of the iPod or iPhone, and one turns on when the battery pack itself is being charged. One of the other big advantages of the Kensington battery pack is that you can charge your phone using USB, which means you can leave the Apple charging cable at home (of course, you can’t synchronize your device through the battery pack).

Included in the package is a handy retractable USB cable and a plastic cover to protect the dock connector when you are not using it. The only minor complaint I have is that the battery pack adds close to 2 inches to the total length of your iPod when it is plugged in. An alternative product is the Kensington ultra portable battery pack, which I reviewed last week. Of course, with that product you will lose some of the convenience of having such a light battery pack, and you will need to carry your iPod charging cable.

The Kensington “mini battery pack and charger for iPod and iPhone” costs $49.95 ($47 from Amazon).

Take your gadgets on your next diving trip

by Scott Carmichael on

Our friends over at Engadget have posted about a new product that could revolutionize the way we use, and travel with our gadgets. The product is called “Golden Shellback” and is a new way of coating any kind of device, and making it waterproof.

The product is a development of the Northeast Maritime Institute in Fairhaven, MA.

Applying Golden Shellback involves placing the item in a vacuum and coating it with what they call a “vacuum deposited film”.

In videos released by the institute, you can clearly see them pour water on a laptop, a Blackberry and even an iPod touch.

The coating even adds the ability to repel oils, hazardous materials, dirt, dust and sand from your prized possession.

Imagine a world where you can bring your MP3 player along on your next trip, and not worry about using it in the rain, or on the beach. Or, next time someone spills a can of soda on your laptop duing some heavy turbulance, simply rinse it off and get back to work.

The Northeast Maritime Institute has a site dedicated to Golden Shellback (and if you want to know where the name comes from, you can read this Wikipedia article).

Daily deal: Duracell portable USB battery pack

by Scott Carmichael on

Today’s daily deal is for the Duracell DR7000LI portable USB battery pack. If you read my review yesterday of the Kensington ultra portable battery pack, you’ll understand the convenience of carrying backup power on your trip.

The Duracell DR7000LI has an internal Lithium-Ion battery pack with a 1000mAh capacity. This is slightly lower than the Kensington I reviewed, but still perfectly sufficient for charging an iPod or your mobile phone several times.

The DR7000LI does not include an AC adapter, so in order to charge it, you’ll need to hook it up to your PC, or purchase a separate AC charger with a USB port.

Included in the package is a USB to mini-USB cable for connecting the battery pack to your Blackberry or other device with a mini-USB connector. For charging your iPod, iPhone or other product, you’ll need to bring the appropriate USB cable which is usually included with your device. There are no buttons on the battery pack, so it’s simply a matter of plug and charge.

Next time you find yourself stuck at the airport with a dead mobile phone, or halfway over the ocean with an empty iPod battery, simply grab your portable power pack and you’ll be making phone calls or watching a movie before you know it.

It’s on sale today for just $19.99 over at Amazon.com which is a $10 savings over the normal price. Add an additional $5.01 to reach the threshold Amazon free super saver shipping.

Daily Deal – 25 Targus travel products for under $25 each

by Scott Carmichael on

Welcome to my fist Deal Of The Day!

My deal today comes from Targus and it is not one product, but 25 different products. To celebrate their 25th anniversary, Targus is offering some of their most popular items for under $25 each.

You’ll find some pretty nice notebook bags, backpacks, a portable wireless mouse and a nifty voice recording remote control with laser pointer. Shipping on most products is a reasonable $7 and most Targus products come with a limited lifetime warranty.

Some of the highlights are the deluxe ladies tote which retails on Amazon for $81.88 and the Flare 15.4″ backpack which retails for $59.03. But the best deal (in my opinion) is their mobile essentials kit for the iPod and other MP3 players; this carrying bag comes with a car and wall charger for your mobile player, speakers, a battery backup charger and a headphone splitter.

The deals can be found here (source: Fatwallet.com).

(Hotel) room filling sound from a portable speaker

by Scott Carmichael on

For my first review here on Gadling, I’m going to show off one of my personal favorites. The Altec Lansing Orbit-MP3 is a 5 ounce (144 grams) portable speaker and it is powered by 3 AAA batteries. It can connect to any device with a standard headphone jack, including the iPod, iPhone and many Blackberry smartphones.

The sound coming out of this thing can only be described as “astounding”. When you play your tunes at full volume, you’ll be staring at the little speaker wondering how on earth it’s able to produce such loud music without sounding like a tin can.

When you set your player to “max”, it really is loud enough to fill a large room, or even keep a group of people entertained outdoors. The speaker can be placed flat on a table or upright, thanks to a small flat spot on the side that prevents it from rolling around. If you take it to the beach, you can even put the speaker along with your music player inside a Ziploc bag to help keep the sand out.

The speaker itself is the epitome of simplicity; there is only one button (on/off) and no volume control (volume is set on your device). The audio cord is 9 inches long, so your device will always be close to the speaker. Battery life is fantastic, Altec Lansing quote 24 hours of continuous use, and in my experience it really does last that long. Batteries are the only way to power the speaker as it does not have a power jack, so be sure to carry a spare set of AAA’s.

There are several minor issues; The unit does not have a power indicator light, so the only way to tell whether it’s on, is to check the markings on the side of the switch. You’ll also notice that it’s a single speaker, which means you don’t get full stereo audio, but the speaker mixes the left and right channels, so in reality you won’t really notice a thing. And finally, the battery compartment is pretty hard to open, it’ll take a couple of attempts to find the easiest way to remove the back cover to swap out the batteries. Other than those minor quirks, it’s a brilliant way to listen to music when you are on the road, it’s small and light enough to add to any carry on bag.

The Altec Lansing Orbit-MP3 costs $29.95 (MSRP) and you can find it at your local Bestbuy or at Amazon.com for just $24.94 (price at time of posting).