Macally is promising a new product for your iPhone or iPod (coming soon!) that combines an emergency battery pack, data cable, and flash drive all in one.
Called PowerLink, the device will power your iPhone or iPod if the built-in battery dies, though Macally doesn't specify for how long. You can also connect one end to your iPhone/iPod, and the other to your computer, and the device will work like a short, rigid data cable. Thirdly, PowerLink contains a 2GB everyday flash drive.
While not the most attractive thing in the world, it is functional, and could get you out of a jam on a back-country road with a dead iPhone battery. Sure, there are plenty of other battery pack options for iPhone and iPod, but none with with all the extras.
Macally hasn't announced a release date yet, but the product will be available for $50.
[Via Productdose.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-09-2008 @ 3:51PM
Brian Burns said...
This is kind of cool. I'm anxious to see how long the battery life is.
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7-09-2008 @ 4:00PM
Fritz Laurel said...
I agree, this does seem kinda cool. If you're going to carry around a flash drive anyway, might as well have one that has some extra functionality.
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7-09-2008 @ 4:10PM
CL said...
Given the size of this thing, I say the battery life is probably under 10 mins, but still a very cool idea (and a good price too).
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7-09-2008 @ 4:34PM
Lee said...
This only looks good until you give it some thought. If your USB port is not at just the right height, or it is situated vertically, then this is an EPIC FAIL as a sync cable. As a battery pack, it all depends on how long it lasts. As a 2GB flash drive.... um, your getting this because you have an iPod or iPhone, right? In addition, it looks to be twice the size of an ordinary flash drive. I think I'll skip this one.
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7-09-2008 @ 5:21PM
BJ Nemeth said...
The iPhone doesn't offer disk mode, so it can't serve as a flash drive. I haven't read anything to indicate that this will change with the iPhone 2.0 software either.
7-09-2008 @ 4:38PM
Thanh said...
The Kensington mini battery pack looks much better and probably has better juice than that for the same price...
http://us.kensington.com/html/15462.html
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7-09-2008 @ 4:41PM
Thanh said...
also the usb throughput connection seems pretty pointless and whats the point of the 2GB flash drive when you're carrying an ipod/iphone
7-09-2008 @ 6:41PM
Andre said...
Neat device, depending on the battery life I'll certainly look at getting one.
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