But thanks to the folks at Mophie, iPhone users can once again carry on into the latter half of the day with the new iPhone 4 compatible Mophie Juice Pack Air.

Packed inside the thin case is a 1500mAh battery giving iPhone 4 users several more hours of legitimate, usable runtime — not just standby time. If I had an iPhone 4, I’d have a Juice Pack Air. The only thing that may cause apprehension for some is the $80 price tag. Yeah, it’s a lot for a relatively tiny external battery. But you have to look at the other side of the coin — the case is small and looks great on the phone. Such goals aren’t the easiest of things when it comes to external batteries.

What do the iPhone 4 readers out there think? Check out the Juice Pack Air on Mophie’s site.

Source:
Ubergizmo

As many of us have experienced over the years, getting that extra $5-$10 of an accessory doesn’t always lead to “value”. You know how it is — you get what you pay for. In Apple’s case, their accessories tend to be higher priced. But part of that is because Apple requires a 20-25% royalty on any products that are “officially licensed” with Apple’s seal of approval. Naturally, that cost gets passed along to consumers.

Regardless of how many companies are found guilty in this initial lawsuit, Apple’s gadgets are a hot ticket item world wide, with knock-off companies and accessory companies alike churning out new products faster than you can blink an eye.

It just goes to show that Apple’s own motto — “Our way or the high way” — is practiced in everything they do. Though in this case, they at least have some consumer interests at heart. No one wants a shoddy case…

PhoneArena > AppleInsider > Bloomberg

[Product Page: ThumbsUp UK]

OhGizmo > NerdApproved

iPhone docks and cases are a dime a dozen. It takes an increasing amount of creativity and uniqueness to even get me to notice a “new” case/dock these days. The iRetrophone Dock is one such dock.

Hand-made out of resin and styled to look like an old relic communications device from the golden years, the iRetrophone Dock also provides some functionality to go with it’s (good?) ancient looks — docking and syncing. Sure, the features are bottom barrel basic. But in a design as trendy as this, does it matter?

The only sticking point I would have trouble getting over is the $195 price tag. I totally support local/hand-made goods and all. But $195 for a pretty simple iPhone dock?

[Product Page: Etsy]

Gizmodo > Retro to Go

Calling all accessory hounds and gadget geeks: Proporta is giving away money! Well, not exactly actual dollar bills. They are giving it away in the form of discounts for Gadgetsteria readers. For the next few weeks, any and all purchases made through Proporta with the coupon code of “STERIA15″ being entered at checkout will allow you to walk away 15% richer than you would have been otherwise. So go ahead, spend a little.

Follow the link immediately below or click on the banner further down on the sidebar. Happy shopping.

Proporta

If you’re an iPhone user, you’ve no doubt run into a frantically flashing battery meter at least once or twice. With all the features (and hardware) packed under the iPhone 3G/S’s hood, it certainly takes it’s toll. Countless add-on batteries and battery cases have flooded the market since the inception of the iPhone. Some are better than others. How does the latest contender, the MiLi Power Skin fair?

Featuring a thin molded case, the MiLi Power Skin stuffs a 1,200mAh battery inside which theoretically should double your iPhone battery life. In my personal experience with an Incase Power Slider with it’s even larger 1,330mAh battery never lasted “2x as long”. But never judge a book by it’s cover or in this case, a case…by it’s claims and specs.

I don’t have a MiLi Power Skin on hand to test, but judging by the looks (2-tone color combos use black, white, blue, green, orange, and silver), 1,200mAh battery, and rock solid, Apple approved warranty, the MiLi Power Skin seems like it would be worth your time.

Any iPhone users feeling interested?

CrunchGear

One of the immediate issues that early adopters of the iPad realized from day 1 was that charging over standard USB ports was proving hit and miss and that their iPads either weren’t charging, or not charging fast enough in the case of heavy use while plugged in to some computers. The problem lies with the fact that the iPad simply draws too much power for your common USB port to handle. If you find yourself in this position, Scosche has just the thing for you.

The company is releasing a dual port USB charger titled the reVIVE II featuring a standard 1 amp (for iPhone) USB port and a second, beefier 2.1 amp (for iPad) USB port thereby eliminating your iPad charging woes when not near a wall outlet.

Users concerned about mixing and matching the lower/higher powered ports and their gadgets have nothing to worry about. An iPad plugged into the 1 amp port will simply charge slower and any other normal gadget plugged into the higher powered 2.1 amp port will still charge at their standard rate.

Look for this dual port, iPad happiness to drop this summer for $44.99. Anyone biting?

Scosche

Press Release

Scosche Announces revive II — Dual USB Chargers Feature iPad-optimized USB power port

Chargers feature dual USB ports to power iPad and another USB powered device at home or in the car

Innovative chargers join iPad accessory line that already includes kickBACK case and stand and five earphone models

Oxnard, CA, – April 07, 2010 – Scosche Industries, an award-winning innovator of iPod, iPhone and now iPad accessories, is proud to announce two new additions to its quickly expanding iPad accessory line – reVIVE II Dual USB Chargers for home and car. Each of the two reVIVE II chargers features a 2.1 Amp (iPad) and 1 Amp (iPhone or any other USB powered devices) port so iPad users can power their new iPad and another handheld device simultaneously from one wall outlet or car power port. According to Pew Researche’s Internet and the American Life the average consumer owns between 3 and 4 gadgets, which makes the additional USB port on both reVIVE II models a welcome addition for most consumers.

“The new chargers and kickBACK P1 case are just the tip of the iceberg for our iPad accessory line,” said Kas Alves, executive vice president of Scosche Industries. “We will be announcing several industry first products via our Twitter and Facebook pages in the coming weeks, so become a follower and fan today so you don’t miss anything.”

Should users confuse the two USB ports the iPad will charge slower in the 1A port and other devices will simply charge at the same rate in the 2.1A port – no devices would be damaged by mistakenly plugging the wrong device into the wrong port and the ports are clearly labeled to help avoid any confusion.

The reVIVE II chargers will retail for $24.99 (car) and $29.99 (home) and are available now for pre-order on scosche.com and in shipping late spring.

The two chargers join the much-anticipated kickBACK P1 for iPad, which will be available for preorder on Scosche.com for $44.99 and shipping early summer. The shatterproof polycarbonate and rubber hybrid case provides superior protection for Apple’s new iPad tablet. The case’s patent pending locking kickstand enables both vertical and horizontal viewing and has a low angle setting for the optimal typing position.

Scosche’s IDR655m, IDR355m, IDR355md and HP155m earphones with tapLINE II controls are also all iPad compatible and available now at www.scosche.com.

For additional information or images please contact PR representative Mark Olson at 305 -576-1171, or markolson@maxborgesagency.com.

About Scosche Industries:

Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2010, Scosche Industries is an award-winning innovator of iPhone, iPod & iPad accessories. Scosche is founded on its commitment to quality, value and customer service. With over 70 patents and countless industry awards it is easy to see that Scosche is consistently at the forefront of technology and innovation. Scosche Industries is the parent company of several distinct brands including: Scosche, REALM, EFX, BlueFusion and Accumat. Founded in 1980, Scosche is still 100% family owned and operated with over 120 great people along side them. For more information visit our website at www.scosche.com or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Essentially, the LOL Keyboard is nothing more than a keyboard with popular super short hand messages routed to function keys — areas that would normally hold, chat, email, internet keys and the like are now filled with L8R, LOL, THX, and more. Need the full list of shortcuts?

• ASAP, BRB, BTW, CYA, FYI, HOAS, HRU, IMO, LOL, THX, TTYL

Besides the handy function keys, the keyboard can also be switched to and from QWERTY mode and alphabetical mode at the push of a button. I’m sure the teens of the world are all giggly giggly goo right now. Parents? Modern convenience or the ultimate downfall of man and beginning spiral into extinction?

Consumerist > Kotaku

Bobble heads they are not. Light they do not shine. These seemingly clever gadgets appear to at first be another geeky lamp. Upon closer inspection however, you’ll quickly notice they are in fact speakers. What’s different from normal Star Wars themed gimmicky gadgets is that these actually look really well done. That is of course based on physical looks alone.

How do they actually sound? That is another story — one that I cannot answer unfortunately. And without a spec sheet to run through speaker specs, I’m going to have to advise holding off for now. That is of course if you can contain yourself and keep that credit card in your wallet. Otherwise, by all means take the plunge and let us know how it goes.

Any Star Wars fans getting excited, or is it too gimmicky for ya?

[Product Page: Funko]

Nerd Approved > Fanboy

Think sound quality are the only things people care about when purchasing headphones and in this case, ear buds? Well, it shouldn’t be any surprise that the answer to that question is actually a pretty loud and resounding “No”. Hell, if it where, half of Japan’s headphone business would be wiped out. Their at times odd fascination with the more “creative” side of headphone design has created some of the more elaborate designs I’ve seen in simple sonic devices. At the same time, that design and creativity has come at the expense of sound quality. I’m sorry if I’m bursting your bubble, but a pair of headphones that when worn look as if a miniature samurai sword is being rammed through your skull just won’t able to compete (sonically speaking of course) with even a low-end set of Shure, Etymotic, or Westone headphones.

If you can put aside the frivolous pursuit for sound quality however, a headphone company based out of Japan — Solid Alliance — has (4) nifty novelty headphones that may just tickle your inner geek. The four designs include: an apple with an arrow through it, a mushroom, a small ear, and the now infamous samurai sword.

The clever design and conversation starter will set you back about ¥2000 if you live in the land of the rising sun or roughly $20 USD if you happen to reside back here in the States. Hooked?

TiPB

Tired of having to constantly replace batteries in all of your wireless devices? I know I am. Throwing away cash and time on batteries is no one’s chosen task in life. Wireless computer accessory makers routinely tout their devices and products life-span on a single set of batteries. In regards to wireless mice and keyboards, a solid 10-18 months isn’t out of the norm. I generally don’t have any complaints either. A solid year seems good enough, right?

Not to Logitech. Announced today, the Wireless Desktop MK710 by Logitech is the world’s first 3-year life span wireless keyboard and mouse combo. The new ultra low battery consumption is made possible by a more refined RF adapter which is exponentially more frugal with it’s transmissions than past versions. One of the battery saving techniques used by the MK710′s RF chip is that it dynamically shuts down the wireless signal when not needed — much more often than it’s predecessors. Resume time waiting for everything to reconnect after the signal is severed is said to be almost non-existent.

Sounds pretty interesting wouldn’t you say? I wouldn’t mind picking up a MK710 myself. Price wise, it’s a mid to lower high-end product, priced solidly at $100. There’s cheaper options out there if you so choose, but it’s also far from the most expensive keyboard and mouse combo I’ve seen. Think an MK710 is in your future? Get yours in Europe starting this month and the US come April.

Electronista

If you’re lucky enough to have a g/f or wife who shares your incredible addiction to all things gadget, count your blessings. Really. A combination of female, gadget lover, and you lover is a rarity of epic proportions. So what exactly do you get the gadget girl of your dreams? A heart-shaped iPod dock of course.

Brought to you by Maxell, the Heart-shaped dock includes a built in speaker and is compatible with no tonly the traditional iPod, but the iPhone and iPod Touch as well. The final cherry on top is the bundled heart-shaped adapter that aids in landscape viewing. And if you’re not ready to puke yet — the packaging itself is full of pink hues and yes, more hearts.

And here’s where I break your heart. The Heart-Shaped iPod dock is a Japan-only exclusive for now. Pricing is non-existent as is any mention of availability outside of Japan. If this is on your list of potential Valentines Day gifts, you best get a move on making some Japanese friends fast.

Geeky-Gadgets > GizmoDiva

iPhone users regardless of race, age, sex, etc. all have one thing in common — their batteries could be better. iPhone batteries that is. Don’t get me wrong, the iPhone does a great job of squeezing out the most juice possible with what it’s given. But if you’ve ever seen a tear down or spec sheet of the iPhone/3G/3GS, you’ll know “what it’s given” isn’t that much — 1400mAh for the original iPhone and 1150mAh for the 3G/3GS. The 3rd party accessory market is full of battery extenders and chargers so that anyone should be able to find one to suit their needs. Though such accessories often cost upwards of $50-$100! That’s way too much for a piece of plastic surrounding some electrically friendly compounds. Thankfully Monoprice is here to save the day.

If you’re tired of selling limbs on the black market or have already run out of limbs to sell, Monoprice’s new 2200mAh battery extender for the iPhone and iPod Touch is just what the doctor ordered. It won’t win any beauty contest but hey, for $15 why not?

• Purchase the 2200mAh from Monoprice for $15

TechChee > Gear Live

Ya, the fact that this is even funny is sad. When your typical smartphone case is getting contention from Mr. Sandwhich’s humble abode you know 3rd party manufacturers need to step it up.

Droid Forums

There really isn’t anything hi-tech behind the Lightscoop. All you do is attach it to your camera’s hot shoe and enjoy. The ‘Scoop redirects light upwards, bouncing it off the tops of walls and ceilings which ends up giving the immediate surroundings more of a glow instead of spotlight appearance. I don’t have one to try, but the concept seems plausible. If you’re having doubts about the effectiveness, a simple test can be done with a flashlight. Go into a dark room and point the flashlight around at a horizontal angle. Next, shine it at the ceiling and see how the room grows brighter.

Heck, at $35, you might as well give it a try. It’s by far one of the cheapest photography accessories you’ll ever find.

• Purchase the Lightscoop from Amazon

Specialized Lightscoop instructions for a few popular camera brands inside..

Instructions for Lightscoop:

Craziest Gadgets > Gear Diary