With every generation of smartphone — soon with quad-core superphones — comes bigger screens, faster GPUs and speedier network connections.  This quite often results in shorter battery life. Not to mention all the googling, random fact checking, and tweets we’re punching out, battery life is a huge issue.

With a bag full of mobile battery packs and solar chargers we set out to find the most reliable solution to keep your smartphones and other gadgets topped up for when you run out of juice on the go.

Scosche solBAT II
I’ve always loved the idea of solar chargers. Whether you’re on the road or at home, they can reduce your inner techie’s footprint by using nothing but the sun to keep your electronics humming along. Just leave ‘em in the sun and plug in whenever you need the juice.

It sounds flawless in theory.

In practice, though, unfortunately the solBAT II has a long way to go before it will ever be a part of this utopian ideal. The $30 solBAT’s specs sound alright: A 1500mA li-ion battery, full USB port with 5v/500mA output; a solar panel on the reverse with a suction cup cradle for easy window mounting. Indicator lights. Nothing wrong there.

So why is this not the best charger to toss into your bag to keep your mp3 player or smartphone alive for those extended mountain-trail treks? The problem is that the charger needs to be in direct sunlight for four to five days! Yes, four to five days, before you’ll have a full charge. If the solBAT II is your choice for backpacking emergencies, you might be roughing it in the woods for a business week before you can charge your cell and call for help. Considering most smartphones need to be charged daily, this doesn’t exactly match up with the schedule.

Scosche recommends charging the battery using the included USB cable for the first use. After doing so, the solBAT II only charged my iPhone 4 to 32% before dying completely. If I had waited five days for that charge, I would have been less enthusiastic about giving this backup battery a second chance.

For the second attempt, it’s been sitting in my kitchen window for two days and shows no charge on the indicator. I can’t justify giving the Scosche solBAT II more than a 3/10 for most uses. Unless you’re only taking it along to refuel non-essential, low-drain devices on the road or forgo the solar panel entirely, or you live in Africa or Arizona, it’s simply not going to cut it.

IOGEAR GearPower GMP1001B
Despite the lack of solar charger, this little beast was far more impressive by comparison. At only $20 on Amazon, the GearPower’s price is right. With 2000mAh, it has more capacity than the solBAT II. Only slightly larger than a business card and 78mm (0.37 inches) thick, its tiny form factor has probably one of the best size-to-function ratios out there — perfect for keeping in your pack or purse for emergencies. The large, single button and four blue LED lights quickly let you know how much charge you’ve still got on the battery.

Depending on your phone or device’s own battery capacity, IOGEAR says the GearPower will deliver up to two full charges. In practice, it did fully charge the iPhone 4 slightly more than 1.6 times over.

The only downside of IOGEAR’s answer to the backup battery is that, of all the portable chargers we’ve tested, this is the only one without a full-size USB — likely because it’s too thin for a port that size. This means you won’t be able to use your iPod’s USB cable to charge, but rather will have to sift through the handful of adapters to find one that fits.

But, considering this is the only point really standing against the GearPower, I’d give it a solid 9/10 for price, portability and reliability.

Duracell PowerSouce Mini
An impressive little thing. With a 3Ah li-ion battery, two USB outputs and colour-coded charge indicator, it stands out above the other two as a more heavy-duty backup. It’s original selling price was $60, but it’s selling on Amazon for $25 at the moment, putting it in line with the other two.

What makes this one different, though, is its ability to charge two devices at once using the swing-out mini-USB arm for one and the full USB port for the other.

Despite being released in 2008, the PowerSource Mini is defending its place as a very portable, very reliable backup.

In testing, it charged an LG Shine Plus in no time, followed by, again, the iPhone 4 — and has a bit of extra power left over. It’s a bit bulkier than the solBAT II and the GearPower, but not by much at 6.7 x 2.4 x 8.2 cm (2.6 x 0.95 x 3.25 inches), meaning it still won’t take up too much space or add too much weight in your jacket pocket or bag.

Overall, the Duracell PowerSource Mini has earned a 8/10 in our books. It does its job, and it does it well.

Zagg Sparq 2.0
This one’s a heavyweight. The price is far more — $100 on the Zagg website or $56.63 with free shipping on Amazon — but you definitely get what you pay for. It’s also a lot bigger, at 3.5 x 3.5 x 1 inches, putting it at roughly the same size as a MacBook charger — something I’ve never had to make room for before tossing into my bag.

From what I can tell, though, they haven’t wasted any of that extra space or price.

The Sparq holds an astounding 6,000 mAh in its lithium polymer battery, which can be accessed via the “optimized” or “regular” USB ports. The optimized port, says Zagg, is “optimized for smartphones and devices capable of taking an optimized charge,” meaning it works at the same rate as the iPad charger as opposed to a standard computer USB. What’s more, it holds enough energy on one charge to refill most smartphones four times over. That’s enough to keep two phones running for a weekend-long road trip. Plus, with the extra capacity, it’s not only good for mp3 players and cell phones, but larger devices such as your PSP or PlayBook.

As with the solBAT II and the GearPower, it has four indicator lights and a single button to let you know how much power you have saved.

On one charge, it managed to fill the iPhone 4 twice, topped up a BlackBerry Torch from half and got up to 23 per cent on an iPad 2 before dying, earning the Sparq 2.0 a 10/10 for reliability, relative portability, efficiency and value for the price.

Just Mobile Gum Plus
One of the more “stylish” portable battery packs for your mobile needs.  The Gum Plus from Just Mobile is for those looking for something more aesthetically pleasing and in line with the way Apple devices look.  It will match your MacBook Air, and charge your iPod, iPhone, iPad and other USB-powered devices too.  This beast has 5200 mAh of power charge and charged our iPhone to about 80% in a little over one hour.

Silver is always better.

Sure, this one is good looking, it even has LED lights that match the older generation MacBook built-in battery indicators.  It has both a regular USB port and a mini-usb for charging it up on your wall. At $80 though it’s a bit pricey.  But we still like it because its solid aluminum design means durability, which earns it a 9/10 not only for being stylish, but for packing a powerful punch.

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It’s inventions like this that make me so proud to be a Canadian. Maksim Skorobogatiy and his colleagues at the Polytechnic School of Montreal have come up with a way that has flat, flexible batteries built right into garment fabric.

This is quite different from what we already see in some other clothing. Those t-shirts with the flashing LEDs have a battery pack sewn onto them. Vests with solar panels have batteries laid over top (or underneath) them. What these Canadian scientists have been able to create is a flexible fabric where the batteries are actually integrated in the fabric itself.

In order to build their battery, they sandwich a solid polyethylene oxide electrolyte between a lithium iron phosphate cathode and lithium titanate anode. All of these are thermoplastic materials, which can be stretched under mild heating.

It’s fully wearable and fully flexible without using any liquid electrolytes. The trouble is that the artificial leather-like material is not yet waterproof or washable. When it is, they expect to see all sorts of application, from portable debrillating to medical monitoring.  I wonder if that liquipel technology would help?

Photo Top: Tron [ Source: PDF Link ]

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You know, I thought I was pretty good about the mobile lifestyle. Yes, I use a desktop as my primary computer, but thanks to services like Google Docs and Dropbox, I can pack up my laptop and work from just about anywhere with Internet access. The Yill, by Werner Aisslinger of Younicos, takes this concept to a new level.

The white wheel of a contraption isn’t some fancy luggage for you to take to the airport. Instead, the Yill is a “self-contained energy storage unit.” Thanks to its lithium-titanium battery, you can effectively have loads of power with you anywhere you go. When it runs out, you can top it back up with a standard wall charger or via renewable sources like solar cells.

Yes, you’ll still need to pack your laptop. Yes, you’ll likely still need to bring along a tetherable smartphone, MiFi device, or Internet stick. But hey, at least you’ll have up to 300 watts of electricity at your disposal. The alternative, of course, is to just bring a couple of extra batteries for your phone and laptop rather than lug around a luggage-sized contraption.

Or, you know, take a little time off until you find a suitable wall outlet.

[Giz via Design Boom]

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The Amp is a small square solar pack, meant for a mobile portable in your hands solution.  The Fuse is a bit larger, will strap on to an existing backpack and give you the same amount of power as the Switch, which is the same size as the Fuse, just adds a bit more storage space.

Specifications

• Two high-efficiency solar panels that together generate up to 4 Watts of power
• 3,000 mAh, 11 Watt-hour Lithium Polymer battery with integrated USB port
• 9 common adapters for easy connection to most phones and other handheld electronics
• USB Charging Cable for devices and Charging Cable for Voltaic Battery
• Switchable solar output Voltage between 6 and 12 Volts, providing ability to charge DSLR camera, video camera and other devices with 7.4 Volt batteries directly from solar power.

Voltaic Systems

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Technocel has just unveiled a new portable charger and micro-SD card reader for almost any device that uses a micro USB port. The Sprint Battery Boost is a little dongle that can fit on to your keychain, backpack, or purse, giving you access to a quick 1 hour of extra talk time just when you need it most.

Packed inside is a 600 mAh lithium-ion battery which is recharged via USB. You can also slip in a micro SD card turning it into a card reader. A carabineer Clip makes it quick and easy to carry around, while the retractable USB connector makes it compatible with any computer for recharging. It’s only $30, and sold by Sprint.

“Battery Boost consolidates mobile power and media storage into one convenient all-in-one device. Perfect for a quick recharge or sharing your latest pictures, movies, and songs, this is one product that you’ll truly never want to leave home without” says Rami Rostami, CEO and founder of Technocel.

[Technocel]

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Arctic C1 Solar USB Charger

Arctic cooling today unveiled their latest device to keep us powered up and ready to go, the Arctic C1 Mobile USB Charger with Solar Panel. It’s a USB powered unit that packs solar energy in to a 4400 mWh lithium-ion rechargeable battery which can also be charged via your notebook’s USB port by reversing the included cable.

The whole thing measures only 4.3 x 1.7 x 0.4-inches, weighs 52g, and ships with adapters for Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, and Motorola phones.  The neat thing about it is that it does have a USB port, so you can use your regular USB charging cable from your iPhone or iPod to power your gadgets and not worry about any adapters at all.

It will sell for a mere $24.60 USD, but no word on when it will be available just yet.

The post Arctic C1 mobile USB solar charger is so hot it’s cool appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Rather than sitting flush with the back of the Palm Pre, these extended batteries from Amzer offer way more juice and stick out like a sore thumb from the back of the phone. Keeping in mind that the stock battery is good for 1150 mAh, these extended batteries can go as far as 3800 mAh.

Alternatively, the Amzer batteries for the Palm Pre also come in smaller 1400 or 2800 mAh capacities. The three batteries retail for $129.95, $89.95, or $49.95, based on the capacity that you desire. That’s not incredibly cheap, but you’re getting a lot of battery power. You will need a special back plate to house this thing though.

Personally, I think it may be a better idea to carry around one of those portable battery packs that can output the electrical juice through a standard USB port. I have one here that packs 3400 mAh and it’s more than enough to give my cell phone an extra charge on the road.

Source: jk

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