I think it’s a pretty safe to assume that many iPhone users have found themselves in a precarious situation of being out and about somewhere miles away from home – or any usable power source – only to answer a phone call or send that all-important text message and watch their phone power down as the battery sinks past that horrible 1% mark. It’s a horrible but an oh-so-familiar feeling, and unfortunately one that comes as part and parcel of owning a portable but power hungry device like the iPhone.
If the iPhone that you own happens to be running any variant of iOS 5, then it’s pretty much guaranteed that you’ve suffered from this affliction. As you would expect, plenty of products already exist on the accessories market that try and alleviate the issue by allowing a case that is essentially a battery pack to be plugged into the device to act as a secondary power source, most popular of it being from Mophie. The battery packs are great little inventions, and although they add a little extra bulk to the device, it’s a small price to pay to get an extra few hours or more usage out of the iPhone.
Although the additional usage is great, any purchased battery pack comes with its downsides. First of all: the cost. The good ones that last a decent amount of time do end up carrying a pretty hefty price tag, you are essentially paying for a product that also comes with its limitations. Additionally. the cases that contain a battery pack are just additional batteries and therefore suffer from the exact same problem which the iPhone does – if you aren’t near a power source, it will ultimately run out.
Until we learn to find a compact power source that never runs out or can be renewed easily, then a case with a battery pack and included solar cells that charge the device using the power of the sun will have to do. The new buzz word seems to be renewable, and considering the iPhone is at the forefront of technology, it makes sense that the accessories are as well. For those who pretty much need battery life all the time, for $79 you can pick up the Monster Watts case that not only gives an additional battery kick, but also takes the power of the sun and transforms it to usable energy to power the iPhone. Colorful, stylish, relatively low priced for what is and extremely useful product, what more could you need from an accessory?
(via CultOfMac)
You can follow us on Twitter, add us to your circle on Google+ or like our Facebook page to keep yourself updated on all the latest from Microsoft, Google, Apple and the web.