For all the ways we use our mobile devices, there are just as many ways for the battery to die and ruin our day. That’s why we’ve gathered the leaders of the battery pack, with options for toughness, multiple devices, even solar power, check below to find a portable energy source for every situation and need.
Want a free iPad Air 2? Yeah, we thought so. [Deals]
Apple’s iPad Air 2 represents the peak of sleek and powerful tablets, basically the only way to improve it would be to remove the price tag. Well, consider it improved: With just your email address, you’ll be entered to win a free iPad Air 2, and you even get to choose the color. Take a moment to let the words ‘free’ and ‘iPad’ sink in, but don’t take too long — the chance to enter is only up for a limited time at Cult of Mac Deals.
Best power deals of the week: Cut more than 50% off a USB battery, dual-port car charger and more [Deals]
Time to seize the power without getting overcharged. These amazing deals cover all the tools you’ll need to keep your devices juiced wherever you go, from external batteries to USB charging hubs, lightning cables and more.
The juice you need: last chance to get 80% off the intelligent 3-port car charger [Deals]
Like our mobile devices, cars have been getting faster and smarter, so it makes sense that the connection between the two should do the same. When charging on the go, it’s a safe bet that you’ll want to be at full power by the time you get where you’re going, without frying the battery in the process. The MPOW 3-Port Intelligent Car Charger has you covered, and for just a few more hours you can get it for a price that’ll keep your wallet charged too.
Save 40% on the ZeroLemon SolarJuice battery pack and charge two devices simultaneously [Deals]
We have a long wish list when we’re shopping for backup power banks: a long battery life, a fast charge, multiple ports, and portable enough to take anywhere. The ZeroLemon SolarJuice 10000mAh battery pack checks off every item on that wish list and plenty more. Get it for $29.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.
How to hack the new MacBook’s power chime onto the MacBook Air and Pro
You know how the iPhone and iPad plays a little chime when you plug it in? The new MacBook also does that. But sadly, the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro remain completely silent when they connect to juice — which can make it hard to tell when you’ve accidentally knocked the MagSafe loose.
If you’ve got a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air, though, it’s easy to hack in the new MacBook’s power-charging sound. Here’s how.
Water way to charge your iPhone: Seoul installs hydroelectric charging points
While we don’t yet know what kind of battery life the iPhone 6 is going to have, it’s always good to have a way of charging your smartphone when you’re out and about.
With that in mind, the city of Seoul in South Korea has announced that it is building a series of outdoor recharging ports along manmade stream, the Cheonggyecheon, in the city’s downtown region. Rather than drawing from the city’s regular power grid, the chargers will instead draw their current from various hydroelectric turbines which are embedded in the stream itself.
Quick! Charge Your iPhone Or iPad Faster [iOS Tips]
You know those times when you are just about to head out of the house, and you grab your iPhone, only to notice that you’ve got hardly any juice left? Yeah, me too.
When you need a quick charge on your iPhone or iPad, there’s a chimp-simple way to get it charged faster than usual, and it’s available with a quick tap or two.
The PowerPot X Stove Charges Your iPhone or iPad While Heating Your Coffee [Kickstarter]
There are really only two obvious solutions for backpackers to keep electronics charged out in the boonies.
There’s the more conventional route of using a solar-powered battery, like the Joos Orange, or Solio’s line of chargers. Or there’s the less common alternative of using one of an increasing number of stoves that can charge gadgets while heating dinner or water for coffee.
The upcoming newest member of the latter group, the PowerPot X (that “X” is a 10, btw), can even charge an iPad.
Meet The Bulky, Stay-At-Home iPort Charge Case And Stand For iPad Mini [Review]
The holy grail of mobile devices like the iPad mini, in my opinion, is a bulk-free, cable-less charging system that can position Apple’s diminutive tablet in various ways.
Category: iPad stands
Works With: iPad mini
Price: $99.95
The iPort Charge Case tries to make this dream come true, but it doesn’t quite hit the mark. While the iPort stand can indeed hold my iPad mini in both portrait and landscape orientation at a wide range of viewing angles, the need to place my gorgeously designed device into a bulky plastic case sort of kills the whole idea of “mini.”
The iPort Charge Case and Stand does indeed have some very valid uses in and around the home, but ultimately, due to the way it changes the use experience of the iPad mini, it isn’t quite the world-changer it hopes to be.
Aviiq’s Mini Charging Station: Travel Has Never ‘Felt’ Better
I just found out that Aviiq’s sweet portable charging station comes in a mini version, and it’s made of felt. As someone who loves felted wool so much that I have both iPad bags and slippers in the magical material, I’m stoked about this tiny portable power package.
Wavy Cable Wrangling Universal Dock, Hand-Carved From Plywood
If you have a router (no, not that kind of router), a chunk of plywood and some mad craft skillz, then you could make your own Undulating Contours charging station. If you are missing any one of those, then, it’d be better to spend the $24 on the real thing, hand-hewn in Louisiana.
Orée’s Wireless Charging Case Is Made From Wood and Leather
What is it with wooden gadgets? Cases I can understand – cases have been fashioned from wood since cases were invented, but it seems like a poor material choice for most high-tech purposes.
Then again, it looks gorgeous, just like this wireless charging sleeve from Orée.
Anker’s New Astro 3 Battery Can Fully Charge an iPad for Just Fifty Bucks
That’s right, $50 nabs you the Anker Astro 3, an external battery with three USB ports and 12,000 mAh, which is — in theory — enough juice to completely charge any iPad.
Why the in theory disclaimer? Because although the Astro 3’s 12,000 mAh capacity exceeds the 11,560 mAh capacity of the battery in the two latest iPads (the iPad 2’s battery is about half that of its successors), there’s always some energy loss when transferring energy from one battery to another.
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The Griffin PowerDock 5, A Gadget Gas Station For Technophiles
Why does Steppenwolf’s “Born to be Wild” buzz through my head when I look at the Griffin PowerDock 5? Because the five-port docking station reminds me of one of those old roadside gas stations out on the desert highway.
Get all five of your motors running.
Goal Zero And AT&T Install Solar Charging Stations In New York
I play the street life
Because there’s no place I can go
Street life
It’s the only life I know
Street life
And there’s a thousand cards to play
Street life
Until you play your life away
So go the lyrics to Randy Crawford’s fantastic Street Life, which is not — as far as I know — the official song of AT&T and Goal Zero’s new “collabo” Street Charge.
Street Charge is a new scheme which will see AT&T deploying solar charging stations throughout New York City.
Curly Charging Cables For Your Lightning Devices
Cables: I love what they do – keeping my beloved gadgets juiced and full of delicious data – but — unlike a playful kitten — I hate their tangled mess. Perhaps the perfect charger cable is here at last though: It’s the curly phone-style Lightning cable from Japanese company Sanwa.
Mophie Helium: Finally, A Great Charging Case For The iPhone 5 [Review]
Amen! A charging case designed for the iPhone 5. Mophie’s new Juice Pack Helium ($79) is one of the first of its kind that work with longer iDevice, so if you find your i5’s often running in the red battery zone by noon each day, read on for the full review. This sleek and slim charging case might just be exactly what you need.
Magnetyze Cordless Charger Now in Car and Travel Versions
You know about Magnetyze, right? It’s a system that lets you charge an iPhone 4/S or Galaxy S3 without the need for a cord. Pop your iPhone into the provided case, then drop the case on the magnetic charging base and your iPhone will charge (and sync) — it works kind of like the MagSafe power adapter on a MacBook. It’s really cool on the S3, because the Magnetyze case replaces the S3’s original back, so there’s almost zero extra bulk. Neat.
Tylt’s Energi Battery Case for iPhone 5 and Galaxy S3 is The One I Want Most at CES [CES 2013]
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – I always pack two cases when I’m about to embark on heavy travel with my iPhone: a battery case and my trusty Incipio Feather Ultralight case. I realize toting extra juice is a necessity I have to live with, but I haven’t yet found a serious battery case with dimensions I can live with — I simply hate the bulkiness. This means I’m often stuck balancing my need for my juice with my want for less bulk by constantly swapping cases, and frankly, it’s a pain in the ass.
iOS 6.0.2 Is Killing iPhone 5, iPad Mini Battery Life
Apple released its iOS 6.0.2 update over-the-air to select devices earlier this week, promising a fix for a frustrating bug that could impact Wi-Fi performance. However, the update comes with a nasty problem of its own. There are reports that it has greatly reduced battery life on the iPhone 5 and the iPad mini — even when the devices go unused for long periods of time.
How Super Algorithms Will Make Future iPhones & iPads Charge Twice As Fast
Plug in your iPhone or iPad and charge it up, and you’ll notice that while the first 80% or so will go by pretty fast, they actually kind of suck at charging up that last 20%, taking a lot more time to do so than it feels like they should.
There’s a reason for this. Charging batteries up to “full” is a complicated process. There’s no real way to tell if a battery is completely “full” so all you can do is measure the voltage, which (and this is a vast simplification) tells you how much resistance is being met when you try to put more electricity into the battery.
That’s why it takes so long for an iPhone to charge that last 20%. It charges full blast until it measures a certain voltage, then goes into what’s called “trickle mode” to slowly allow small sips of electricity into the battery until it thinks, based upon some software calculations, that the battery is more or less full. But a new algotihm could make the time it takes to charge your iPhone or iPad go by a lot faster.
iPhone Case Cleverly Carries Charging Cable [Kickstarter]
It used to be that if your phone ran out of juice, you could just pop into the nearest bar or cafe and ask “Do you have a Nokia charger?”, and the waitron would hand you one of the needle-tipped jacks from some cupboard or drawer.
Now, things have moved on. Battery life is measured in hours, not days, and Nokia is going the way of RIM and if a bar has an iPhone charger, it’s likely the bartender is using it to charge his own iPhone.
What you need is a charger that is always with you. What you need is the Case:Lynk.
ECOXPOWER Bike Hub Generator Charges Your iPhone As You Ride
If you want to power your bike’s lights and charge your iPhone as you pedal, you should have specced a dynamo hub when you got the wheels built. But either you were too cheap (like me) or couldn’t see the point. Don’t worry! There’s hope for both of us in the form or the ECOXPOWER generator, an aftermarket power and lighting system for your bike.
Stackable Batteries Can Even Charge The New iPad
IPad 3. Hired: Retina screen, speedy 4G internet, lots of lovely RAM. Fired: Weight. Heat. Girth. Retired: That damn battery.
Yes, if the iPad 3 were to be leaping over a fence to escape its doom, and Paris were to fire an arrow to stop it, the arrow would hit the iPad 3 in its battery charger, not its heel (sorry about the extended and twisted Greek adventure story there). Sure, the battery lasts long enough, but it takes forever to charge the thing.
Happily, Exogear’s stackable battery packs are here to help.