Charger Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

MintyBoost unlocks the secret of Apple's chargers

by Mike Schramm (Aug 3rd, 2010)

The folks at Minty Boost have unveiled a rather interesting Apple secret: just how the company charges its devices. In the video on the next page, you can see the whole process reverse-engineered. It's rather technical, but as long as you make sure all the wires go where they need to go (you need to ...

First look: Exogear ExoLife battery case for iPhone 4

by Steven Sande (Jul 12th, 2010)

One of the more eagerly anticipated accessories for just about any new phone is an extended-life battery case. One of the first out of the gate for the new iPhone 4 is the Exogear ExoLife rechargeable battery case (US$89.95). It's only available for pre-order at this time, but is expected to start ...

Driver updates for charging iPad on PCs

by Mike Schramm (May 31st, 2010)

If you're one of the many iPad customers having issues with charging, there may be relief in sight. A few popular PC motherboard manufacturers have released new drivers for their mobos that supposedly enable (or help with) iPad charging. If you have an ASUS, Gigabyte, or MSI motherboard, you can ...

U-Socket makes u-wait until October

by Michael Rose (May 25th, 2010)

Back at Macworld 2010, one of the surprisingly popular hardware items on the show floor was a simple electrical outlet. FastMac's U-Socket caught the attention of showgoers with a perfect gimmick: a pair of USB charging ports alongside the 15-amp standard AC receptacles. Clear genius -- and, at a ...

Quickertek selling solar panel for iPad

by Mike Schramm (May 17th, 2010)

Back at Macworld, I checked out a company on the show floor that made solar (photovoltaic) panels. I was hoping to see a panel for sale ready to charge the iPhone, because an easy-to-use panel at a reasonable price would have probably had me opening my wallet on the spot. Unfortunately, they only ...

Redeye mini puts ThinkFlood's IR transmitter in a smaller, cheaper package

by Mike Schramm (Mar 3rd, 2010)

ThinkFlood released the Redeye in December of last year, which is a little unit that hooks up to your iPhone and, working with a separate app, turns Apple's handheld into universal IR remote. Our own Brett Terpstra liked the device, but said the unit was a little costly and could probably use a few ...

Macworld 2010: HyperMac brings some style to the battery backup market

by David Winograd (Feb 12th, 2010)

We're still on the lookout for battery backup options to power recharge your iPhone, iPod touch or just about any USB mobile device. The market just got a bit larger with the introduction of the HyperMac line of batteries at Macworld. Hypermac is also showing its backup batteries for the MacBook ...

ION iType brings a full-size keyboard to the iPhone

by Mike Schramm (Jan 8th, 2010)

So far, only the jailbreakers have been able to pair up a Bluetooth keyboard with their iPhone, but ION is working on a hardware solution -- they're showing off what's basically a dock at CES that has a full-size keyboard connected to it. Very interesting. Of course, it makes the iPhone a lot ...

Road Tested: Newer Technology NuPower Charge & Sync +

by Steven Sande (Dec 2nd, 2009)

If there's something that is almost as common as fart apps, it's iPhone external battery packs. TUAW has done reviews and giveaways of a number of these units including the Richard|Solo 1800 and the Mophie Juice Pack Air. One thing that a lot of these boxes have in common is that they all require an ...

Offshore iPhone/iPod USB power adapters: Caveat Emptor

by David Winograd (Oct 14th, 2009)

When I opened my iPhone 3GS, I was surprised to find that the power adapter was nothing but a little 2-prong AC plug (I live in the US) that allowed you to plug in the standard USB to 30-pin connector to charge the phone. I wanted to get a spare; checking online told me that the Apple Store ...

X-Power1 Rechargeable iPhone/iPod charging cable: Everything you know is wrong

by David Winograd (Jul 29th, 2009)

Sometimes, when I see something new, I have to smack myself in the head and think: "Why didn't I think of that?" Remember the old V8 Juice commercials? I just heard about one of these and It's the X-Power1 USB Rechargeable Battery Backup Cable from Xmultiple. It looks like a USB charging cable ...

Road Tested: Dexim Dual Dock Charger

by Steven Sande (Jul 8th, 2009)

Living in a multiple iPhone and iPod household is both fun and annoying. It's fun to talk about cool apps and play multi-user games, but it's annoying trying to find a place to plug in our iPhones and iPods. Right now we have two iPhone 3GS's, an original iPhone being used as a game device, and an ...

16 hours of battery life for the MacBook Air

by Steven Sande (Apr 13th, 2009)

I have a MacBook Air. Although I can get about 5 hours of mobile use out of it by dimming the screen, turning off all wireless, and only running one app at a time, there are times I'd love to be able to stay unplugged for much longer. I could always get a solar charger, but that won't work well when ...

RichardSolo show discounts still in effect

by Michael Rose (Jan 13th, 2009)

If you were wandering the halls of Macworld Expo last week, you might have seen a familiar face -- no, not the everpresent TUAW video crews, but the gadget-loving visage of Richard Thalheimer, founder of The Sharper Image and current head honcho of RichardSolo. The RS booth was a brief walk away ...

TUAW Review: Richard | Solo Smart Backup Battery for iPhone / iPod

by Steven Sande (Aug 11th, 2008)

If there's anything I've learned about the iPhone 3G since July 11th, it's that the battery life is horrible. If I'm just texting and making the occasional call, I can survive for a day, but if I try to play games or use 3G I know it's going to go to the dreaded red battery icon quickly. That's ...