I love to take naps in hammocks, but that’s not why I think the iHammock is cool. The designer didn’t like the loud sound his iPhone made when vibrating on his desk so he thought to put it on something soft and elevated, like a hammock.

Its cocktail like-umbrella isn’t just to protect iPhone sunburn, it would work as a solar battery charger. That would jack the price up on this baby if it ever comes to market, but I’d be willing to pay for my phone to get a little R&R. [Petitinvention via iPhone Savior]

From Gizmodo: iPhone. Please read the complete article and let us know what you think below.

From iLounge | All Things iPod, iPhone, iTunes and beyond. Please read the complete article and let us know what you think below.

Instructables user Honus’s DIY MightyMintyBoost tutorial is a bit involved, but the outcome—a USB charger that feeds off the power of the sun—is fantastic. In fact, Honus improves on the MintyBoost in many ways, foregoing the low-capacity AA batteries for a higher capacity, rechargeable lithium polymer battery and throwing in the solar cell to handle the recharging. This DIY is a bit advanced (soldering lies ahead), but the result is impressive.

From Lifehacker: iPhone. Please read the complete article and let us know what you think below.

I came to this conclusion after a series of tests I performed, beginning with checking the baseline. No sound, no Wi-Fi, minimum brightness, and minimum enjoyment. How long does it last at the very most? 4 hours and 20 minutes of constant, solid gameplay is the most you can expect if you don’t plan to be in the sunlight, hear the game, or be on the Internet.

Much has been made recently about the iPhone and iPod Touch being full-on gaming devices, able to stand comparison with the Nintendo DSes and PSPs of the world. With that in mind, EIC forum member fury has done a pretty comprehensive set of battery tests on the Touch, via continuous game play, and captured them all in a series of videos.

The videos are well done and have good soundtracks - and cover various scenarios from a ‘baseline’ as described in the quote above, with several key items turned off to maximize battery life, through to ‘the mother of all battery tests’ with everything turned on and maxed out.

Head over HERE to see all the videos and fury’s blog post describing his process, and offering some conclusions on the Touch as a serious gaming device.

From Just Another iPhone Blog. Please read the complete article and let us know what you think below.

Solar Arcadia has released its Solar Charger Case for both first generation and 3G iPhones. By the help of the new case one can charge the iPhone while out in the sun.

The Solar Charger features include LED indicators for the charging and discharging state, and a reverse-current protection-circuit, integrated to prevent iPhone batteries from being discharged. Using a lithium ion polymer battery; the case offers a max output of 5V, and a charge of 6V. Material for the casing is made from sheepskin.

Solar chargers can also work with the iPod touch, but block the headphone jack on the bottom.

Available from the company’s website, solar cases are priced at $45.

References:
http://www.solararcadia.com/collections/iphone-solar-chargers/products/iphone-solar-charger-03

From Apple iPhone Blog. Please read the complete article and let us know what you think below.

Atif Shamim, a PhD student at Carleton University in Canada, has stumbled on what appears to be a breakthrough in the energy efficiency of mobile devices. He created a module that replaces all of the wires connecting a phone’s electrical circuits and the antennae, making them communicate wirelessly. What’s so fascinating about this is that it makes the device’s efficiency 12 times over, drastically improving battery life.

From iPhone Alley - RSS. Please read the complete article and let us know what you think below.

From iLounge | All Things iPod, iPhone, iTunes and beyond. Please read the complete article and let us know what you think below.

From iLounge | All Things iPod, iPhone, iTunes and beyond. Please read the complete article and let us know what you think below.