Coming soon: A solar-powered case for the iPhone 3G
Wed Aug 6, 2008 1:05PM EDT
See Comments (6)
The combination iPhone case/battery pack promises to give your dying iPhone 3G a quick boost, provided you've got a clear sky and a little patience.
Spotted by the bloggers at Gearlog, the stitched-leather iPhone 3G Solar Case (available in either black or white) comes with a snap-on flap for easy touchscreen access, a solar panel woven into the back, and a 1,500mAh battery that's good for a full charge of the power-hungry handset.
According to Gearlog, the Solar Case can get your depleted iPhone running again—barely—after three hours of solar charging, or a solid 10 hours for a full charge. That's a pretty long wait, although if you're on, say, a two-week trek in the wilderness, it's better than nothing. The case also comes with a mini-USB port, good for charging via a nearby laptop.
Besides the newly released Mophie Juice Pack for the iPhone 3G, this is the only iPhone case/battery combo I've seen on the market (any others, folks?)—surprising, given the new iPhone's notoriously short battery life.
The Apple iPhone 3G Solar Case will be "available soon," according to online retailer MobileFun, for £27.95 (or about US$55).
Related:
iPhone Gets Solar Power [Gearlog]
Top iPhone 3G battery-boosting tips [Yahoo! Tech]
Top 5 Posts
More About iPhone
Comments on Coming soon: A solar-powered case for the iPhone 3G
Post a Comment
Join in the discussion. Here you'll see the comments in the order they were posted.
-
2 Posted by kyu-hur@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:55PM EDT Report Abuse
This is pretty cool. It might have a few problems but I think it's a resonable price for what it can do.
-
3 Posted by rugbyscc@btopenworld.com on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:55PM EDT Report Abuse
you don't need to leave it in direct sunlight to charge your phone! It has a built in battery that charges using the solar panel. I've had one of these on trial for the last week or so and it charges the internal battery while its been sat on my desk and i'm nowhere near a window! once the battery in the case is full it gives one full charge to your iphone, but i've found that with it on, it tops up the iphone 3g battery as i'm using it and haven't run low on battery since i started using it!
-
4 Posted by kristin_r_snyder on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:53PM EDT Report Abuse
Wow! Fantastic! Only this wouldn't be necessary if Apple actually produced a phone that allowed you to have a back-up battery - especially since the 3G network usage eats up battery life.
-
5 Posted by istoops on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:25PM EDT Report Abuse
Why do you persist with the short battery life comments? I charge my phone overnight, and I use it all day. It runs on the battery from roughly 7-8am until about 9pm, give or take. I leave 3G on, Push email, usually bluetooth, not usually wireless. This is as good or better peformance than any of the Windows mobile phones I used gave me, and certainly acceptable, and not what I would call short.
Sponsored Links
My Tech
Please enable your browser's cookies to activate the My Tech column.
Also on Yahoo! Tech
| Computers | Home Office | Wi-Fi & Networking | Phones & PDAs | Cameras & Camcorders | TV & Home Theater | Portable Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 Posted by magpagbst on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:03PM EDT Report Abuse
. . . lol . . . can't wait to hear the complaints and threatened class-action lawsuits of people who decided to leave their iphone in this case on their dashboards to recharge in the sun . . . only to return to find that the plastic white back has melted and contorted beyond recognition due to extended and excessive heat exposure . . .