iPhone Battery Extender

For $99 I ordered the Juice Pack battery for my iPhone, an interesting way to extend your Web surfing and e-mail activities. It's made by Mophie, and comes in a neat little cardboard bubble pack with all sorts of stickers on it, including one that declares it was "Designed in California"--where have I heard that before? The device looks like a hard plastic, half slip-case for the iPhone. You simply insert the iPhone into the case and it mates with a plug at the bottom. In turn, you can then plug the battery into the charger. The interesting part is how it specifically works. It doesn't really act as a battery. Instead, it acts as a battery charger. Apparently the iPhone only knows that a power source is plugged in, and begins to use that power to recharge its own battery. It's not programmed to realize it can use power directly from both sources. In any event, you don't get a longer battery status icon on the iPhone screen. You just get the same icon, but never quite moving off the "full" setting. It adds a few ounces to the iPhone, it's a little larger, and the rubbery finish on the device seems to have worn off a little in spots. But otherwise, it seems like the perfect solution for extra iPhone life. Check out Mophie here.