Power Gear

Thanks to Our Meeting with MiPow, CES 2013 Is off to a Great Start!

It is not uncommon for CES to take some time to ramp up. In the past few years, surprises have been rare and products that grabbed our attention have been few and far between. That isn’t the case this year since, just minutes after checking into the Gear Diary suite here at the MGM Signature in Las Vegas, we had the chance to sit down with Brian Holmes, VP and General Manager of MiPow. We walked away impressed. Not familiar with MiPow? You will be, since the four-year old company is making its US debut here at CES 2013. We,…

News & Features

Mobile Fun Samsung Galaxy S III Extended Battery Kit

If you have a smartphone other than one of the Droid Maxx devices, chances are you wish it had better battery life. And as they get more and more powerful we do more and more – so any gains in power efficiency are lost by greater usage! There are battery cases available that fully cover your device and change the appearance and certain enhance the size and weight. But what MobileFun is offering is a replacement battery that adds nearly 50% to your battery capacity (from 2100mAh to 3000mAh) yet only increases the thickness by attaching directly as a replacement…

Reviews

Ibattz Mojo Hi5 Powerbank Case Review

My first reaction when I received the ibattz mojo Hi5 Powerbank Case was underwhelming. Here you have a plastic shell that you slap on your phone like most cases, and a separate battery pack that clips onto the plastic shell that needs to be plugged into your iPhone with a lightning cable. Here’s the rub: You have to provide your own lightning cable, plus, you have to carry said lightning cable around with you if you plan on using the battery pack to charge your phone. The fault here can not lie solely on ibattz, however. A lot of the…

Reviews

Kanex DoubleUp Dual USB Charger Review

Two years ago, I left for CES carrying my iPhone and a Samsung Galaxy Tab. I thought I was packing efficiently because instead of bringing each device’s USB wall charger, I brought a single wall charger that had dual USB ports. So of course it was on that trip, when I needed my gear the most, that I found out that just because a charger plugs into the wall and has two USB ports, it won’t necessarily be powerful enough to charge even one of your devices — especially when one of them is a tablet. To add insult to…

Reviews

Belkin Charge + Sync Dock with Audio Port for iPhone 5 Review

Belkin was quick from the gate in offering accessories for the iPhone 5. As you know, the iPhone 5 didn’t just get a longer screen, but it also got a new dock connector and a relocated 3.5 mm headphone jack. As a result, accessories designed to work with the dock connector of the iPhone in its earlier iterations no longer functioned unless you added an adapter. Belkin quickly released a number of cables, and now they have released a dock for the iPhone 5 and the iPod touch. The company was kind enough to send one for review, so let’s…

Reviews

ZAGGsparq 6000 Portable Power Station Review

CES 2013 is coming up fast, which means we are already thinking about the gear that will help us best cover the show. This year I expect Judie’s and my iPad minis will play a big role. I’ll also be using my Canon T3i to grab better photos and video than I have previously. And Carly, Carly will be getting her first taste of the gadget-craziness that is the Consumer Electronics Show. Each year Judie and I have talked through what gear would best help us keep our gadgets charged and, each year, we have found ourselves running on vapors…

Vehicles & Gear

Volvo Testing New Fast Charging System for EVs

Those of you disappointed with how long it takes to recharge your new electric or plug-in vehicle, relief may be right around the corner. The Volvo Car Corporation has announced it is testing a new “fast-charger” for electric cars that will significantly cut recharging times to a stunning 1.5 hours, some six times faster than units currently in use in EVs on the road today. The new charger is going to be installed and tested on a number of Volvo C30 electrics and utilizes a three-phase outlet with 32A to charge fully in the 90 minutes or deliver 80 km…

Outdoors

My Hurricane Sandy Survival Gear

I started this post prior to losing power Monday night. In the middle of writing it, the power went out … and it stayed out until late Thursday night. We had no heat or electric; because we are on a well and septic system, we had no water. We had no internet and no phones either, since I had insisted we get rid of our landline a few years ago (Oops!). We, however, were among the lucky ones. We had no property damage, and the two trees that came down fell as perfectly as if I had actually planned the…

News & Features

Goal Zero’s Two New Solar Recharging Kits Shine at Outdoor Retailer

It seems like the recent coverage of “preppers” has brought alternative power sources into the mainstream. I have been extremely interested in solar power lately, but not because of some impending zombie apocalypse. With the upcoming hurricane season approaching, most gulf coast residents at least think of their plans if a storm does arrive. While I am usually far enough inland to be able to ride out these storms, one major concern is electricity. Solar power with batteries can allow my family some comforts and even save some food if we are without power for a few days. I also…

News & Features

Protect Your Precious Gear With Satechi Slim Surge Protector

Our family keeps our gear charged thanks to a dedicated area on the kitchen counter. We sometimes have multiple USB chargers plugged in at the same time with a web of charging cables and a stack of devices fueling up for the day. As our dependence on these electronic gadgets continues to grow, protecting them while charging is more important than ever. The last thing we need is to have a bolt of lightning fry all of them at one time. Of course, most surge protectors are huge boxes and may not fit the space you have. Satechi has developed…

Editorials

Mophie and Customer Service “Done Right”

I had a bad purchase experience recently that came to a conclusion this week. I purchased a Mophie Juice Pack Plus from a vendor on Amazon. I noticed that the build quality wasn’t quite as nicely done as other Mophie units I had, but I figured it was just a manufacturing variation or maybe it was just that this was a different model than the others I had. I didn’t think all that much about it. After a few weeks, the USB connector started to act up. I couldn’t get the cable to stay in and charge. Very annoying. Finally, it…

Gear Bits

Gnome Canterwick Beautifully Repurposes Leather-Bound Classics as iPhone Charger Docks

Books have been hollowed out since the beginning of time to hide things, whether it be to disguise and hold adult beverages, money, guns or other “treasures” inside. But here’s a novel idea, rather than hollow out the book to hide something, why not display the book while it is being used to charge your mobile device? Many of your favorite books are here, repurposed to be a clever charging dock that holds your device and hides its cable. Gnome Canterwick says that customization requests for upgrades including “plug location, longer cords, wall adapters, etc.” are welcome. This new…

Gear Bits

Why Do We Lose Power So Easily?

Ever lose power when the sky is blue? That happened to me this week at both my place of work and my home. While at home the answer was not clear, at work it was totally apparent. There is a pole in front of our building that has not once, not twice but at least 3 times since we moved in the building had at least one of the three wires break. For those who don’t know how power works in your home or business, it typically has 2 or 3 phases. Each phase requires a wire. In the case…

Reviews

Belkin Portable Power Pack 1000 Cell Phone Charger Review

One of the biggest problems with our ever-growing love of smartphones … is that everything we do with them seems to consume more and more battery. As a result we are always struggling with the battery life of our smartphones. As a result we keep chargers in our offices, our cars, and so on. But what about when you are on the go and don’t have access to a wall plug – or are in an airport where everyone is huddled around the few remaining outlets? Belkin seeks to solve this with the Portable Power Pack 1000 – let’s see…

Events

First Look at the myCharge Portable Power Bank 6000

Things are winding down at CES 2012, which was nice for Francis and me, as we were able to walk around more freely due to less traffic and spend more quality time with some vendors. Luckily for us, we were able to stop by and visit our friends from myCharge and PowerBag. We have reviewed the PowerBag Messenger and PowerBag Backpack in the past, and Dan mentioned how useful a PowerBag can be. They also have a great brand called myCharge, which is a set of portable batteries for recharging mobile devices, including iOS and Android devices. The team at…

Events, News & Features

SolarKindle Cover Lets You Charge Your Kindle without an Outlet!

Ordinarily, I am skeptical of “solar-powered chargers”, as they seem more gimmick than useful gear, but a solar-powered Kindle charger is a stroke of genius! Kindles don’t require charging more often than once a month or so, meaning finding sunlight to charge isn’t an inconvenience. Plus a Kindle is one of the few devices that might get used regularly on the beach, or camping, or other places where outlets aren’t available, but sunlight is free and plentiful! The specifications on the SolarKindle cover sound very impressive! From the press release: Makes Unplugged E-Reading Come True The first practical solar gadget…

Reviews

Tekkeon TekCharge MP1580 review

We’ve seen and reviewed a lot of different external backup batteries for mobile devices. Many of them will be coming to CES next month in the hopes that, for once, we won’t be scrambling to recharge our gear. One of the batteries that will be coming along is the Tekkeon TekCharge MP1580 but calling it an external battery is actually not quite accurate. No, the MP1580 can be thought of as a rechargeable battery charger that can double as an external battery. That means it serves a double function when you are on the go. Priced at under $25 it…

News & Features

Mophie and Rocketfish (Best Buy) Issue External Battery Pack Recalls

Two recalls just crossed my inbox; these may be products that you all own, so please check: The first item is the Mophie iPod Touch Rechargeable External Battery Case (shown above); it’s being recalled due to a burn hazard. If you have one of these, check to see if your serial number has the first five alphanumeric characters of TR113 through TR120. Cases that fall in between those numbers are affected by the recall. WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should…

Reviews

Yoobao Power Bank 4400mAh External Battery Review

We recently looked at the Yoobao Power Bank battery. It’s a beast and has a huge capacity that can keep your device or devices going all day long. That Power Bank isn’t the only capacity that the company is offering, however. They also offered this smaller 4400 mA hour battery, and while it is smaller, it has the same great features. In fact, when the power in my home went out again the other day, this battery stepped in and saved the day. Let’s take a look at it.

Reviews, Travel

Yoobao Power Bank 11,200 mAh Battery Review

Welcome to another edition of “What’s Coming to CES 2012.” In our last episodes, we visited with two PowerBags (I’ll carry the messenger, and Kevin will carry the backpack) and a Mission Workshop Sanction waterproof rucksack that Francis will bring along for the ride. The PowerBags will give us a total of 12,000mAh of device-charging goodness. That’s good… but it is not good enough. Thankfully, we’ll have a few additional external batteries with us. One example is this 11,200 mAh battery from Yoobao. Despite its relatively small size and weight, it is a beast in the energy department. And the lovely…

Reviews

Mili Power Pack — iPhone 4 Gear Review

The best part about the iPhone is that you can do practically everything with it. Watch movies, listen to music, send emails, tweet, surf the web, and of course play “Angry Birds”. All this great stuff, though, can do a number on your battery. If you want to really stretch your battery life you need an external battery pack, and that’s where the Mili Power Pack comes in! Does it boost your battery, and is it worth the considerable bulk? Read on to find out! Here’s what the Mili promises: Innovative design: Mili Power Pack 4 is a rechargeable battery…

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