The Mophie Juice Pack Air is basically a lighter and more compact model of the extended battery solution of Mophie. The external battery is available for $79.95 USD with the following features:

- Ultra-thin, light-weight low-profile design
- Virtually doubles the amount of time you have to rock, talk, surf, and send
- “Standby Mode” allows you to turn battery boosting on/off
- Integrated 4 LED charge status indicator
- Available in Black, White, and Purple

As you can see, this is an elegant battery solution for your iPhone as it actually becomes part of your iPhone.

[photo c/o Breen Halley from Mophie PR]

One of the trends for 2009 is the shift of manufacturing companies from hardware centricity to software. One of those big names is Nokia. They’ve made huge waves with Share on Ovi and now are launching the Sports Tracker Beta that comes with the repackaged Nokia N79.

It works more or less like how Nokia+ works - you run with your phone. Phone calculates distance and it uploads this data online. Data can now be synced and shared with friends to compare runs.

Nokia Sports Tracker is a GPS-based activity tracker that runs on Nokia smartphones. Information such as speed, distance and time are automatically stored in your training diary, and on this site you can store and share your workouts and routes.

Almost all Series 60 phones from Nokia are supported. Check it out for the download.

[Photo c/o Nokia Press]

I’ve always meant to write about this but I keep on forgetting as it seems to trivial. But in truth, it isn’t. A long time ago I wrote a piece about the “pink” in gadgets. And the recent unveiling of Apple’s colors of the rainbow + pink marketing campaign for the iPod brings to light how much detail Apple puts to color.

I’ve never seen mobile phones exhibit such vibrant colors. And yeah, even gadgets in general.

Many years ago a cult bag brand called Timbuk2 was founded. It’s core selling points were durability, practical use, and was made fit for messengers, hence the messenger bag design is what they’re most known for. But other than that, you’d notice that unlike their competing brand, Crumpler, Timbuk2 doesn’t go for the flashy, bright colors that their competitor stresses. The thesis behind the color reservation was so that their bags don’t stand out too much, subjecting it more to theft. Crumpler, and I’m sure other manufacturers see it another way and want to flaunt their bags.

There is no right or wrong with color schemes. My question now is why don’t cellphones have such daring color choices? Big companies like Nokia segregate their phone brands for the enterprise and “fun” markets and yet in the “fun” line we don’t see a lot of “fun” colors. Motorola tried this before with their RAZR line, but none of the colors really stood out. The new iPod colors are vivid. They are bright and eye catching. Hold one in arms and immediately, people will look. They stand out like a hot cover model on the front page of a magazine amidst other so-so covers on the rack.

I think it’s only a matter of time when we’ll start seeing bolder colors. The market seems to demand it with the kids finally growing up and wanting colorful choices out of the box, and we — we’re just getting older.

Well TatSkinz can make this dream come true, without the mess of you having to coat your beloved device with paint. TatSkinz is running a Skinz Design Contest for all artists out there! If you think your design is good enough to be printed in everyone’s iPods or iPhone, then by all means, this is a great way to be discovered!

(Don’t forget our other TatSkinz contest running - it’s easy to join and win two sets of Skinz!)

Here are the complete details of the contest:

1. Roll out your design
2. Send it our way parlor@tatskinz.com
3. We will look at it pronto, if it’s ridiculous…you win. Simple as that.

What do you WIN?
TatSkinz Gear of course…

- 5 of your spankin’ NEW TatSkinz for any device we stock
- You pick 3 more of any other design you dig
- $25 iTunes Gift Card
- TatSkinz T-Shirt for your bod
- 10 TatSkinz Temp Tattoos
- Lastly you will be a BIG STAR! Well maybe small star. Your name will be displayed underneath your design on each product page.

Design Requirements

- Submit original artwork only!
- Designs should be no smaller than 5″ x 5″
- Artwork should be either a native Adobe Illustrator (.ai) file or a Photoshop (.psd) file no smaller than 300 dpi
- All artwork should be submitted in CMYK
- Please do not create any knock outs or white areas for device screens or anything else, we will take care of that.

It’s contest time once again! We’re giving away two sets of TatSkinz this time around. So these sets of Skinz are compatible with your iPod or iPhone. The creators of the BodyGuardz protective film took an artistic step forward and now have artistic expression tattooed onto the film.

TatSkinz are custom skins, featuring one-of-a-kind designs from original artists, are miraculously thin (devices still fit in docks) and yet semi-protective. They are reusable and easily adjustable, leaving no sticky residue.

TatSkinz are unique in that they are a thin, repositionable sticker featuring original artists’ designs. The skins will feature a tough, dependable protection also found in NLU Products’ flagship line of products, ScreenGuardz, but with a stylistic twist that lets users express themselves.

WE ARE GIVING AWAY TWO (2) SETS OF TATSKINZ worth USD $14.95 each

Compatible models:
iPhone, iPod Classic, iPod 5G (video), iPod nano 3G, iPod Touch, and of course the new iPhone 3G.

CONTEST RULES:

1. Leave a comment to enter the raffle. Your comment must answer the question “What is my artistic inspiration?”. We will be using Luck of the Draw to choose our winner. You can enter the raffle as many times as you want as long as you leave different answers to the question, “What is my artistic inspiration?”. Please leave a valid email address so we can contact you if you win!

2. The contest is valid from today, Monday September 1 2008 to 11:59 PM of Sunday September 7 2008.

3. We will be raffling off two TatSkinz. Winners will be able to choose between the following models: iPhone, iPod Classic, iPod 5G (video), iPod nano 3G, iPod Touch, and of course the new iPhone 3G.

4. This contest is open to everybody around the world!

If you’re running an iPhone or an iPod touch with unlimited data browsing rates, the offer to download an unlimited number of songs via the iTunes Store is surely tempting. For $129 more, I’d be able to maximize the convenience of syncing my iPhone with iTunes and MobileMe with free and unlimited music downloads from the store. Here are the rumored provisions from the forums:

iTunes Unlimited
-256 Kbps music; highest quality digital music subscription service ever
-50% of U.S. store available for iTunes Unlimited at launch, U.S.-only launch
-Available through iTunes or retail box a la MobileMe, funds applied through iTunes gift cards cannot be used towards subscription purchase
-$129.99 stand-alone or $179.99 with MobileMe, current MobileMe subscribers can add iTunes Unlimited for $99.99
-One-year subscription period
-Current a la carte options unchanged
-When signed in to subscription account, “Buy” is “Get”
-“Download and Play throughout iTunes Unlimited Subscription” or “Buy and Keep”
-“Buy and Keep” option available for downloaded subscription songs, purchased version replaces subscription version
- Late October launch with iTunes 7.8

Quoted are the predictions - speculations mostly for this service. I think that if Apple were to launch something like this, now would be an ideal time to do so for the following reasons:

1. The $129.00 service can be a value added ace for people who have been thinking of buying an iPhone, but still have not succumbed to the hype.

2. They should do it because Microsoft’s Zune store is doing it, at a yearly fee with unlimited downloads (the Zune Pass allows you to grab your XBOX Live friend’s entire playlist as well - so cool!). With Amazon offering DRM free music, Microsoft offering a superior Zune Pass product, Apple needs to reinvent the 0.99 cents per song very soon!

Aaaand our winners!

Congratulations to the following people who won from last week’s contest.

Our grand prize winner is Michelle Rosborough! Congratulations Michelle, you won yourself a Mophie Juice Pack.

For our four BodyGuardz skins, we are still confirming the reception of the emails so hopefully I’ll have them listed soon. Check back here for updates!

Thank you all for participating. I will be contacting each one of you individually to get your details for prize delivery.

Okay, this week we’re giving out around $160.00 worth of prizes. I have four items up for grabs and they are all accessories for Apple products.

Our First Prize: Mophie Juice Pack for iPhone (valued at USD $99.95)

Your iPhone is more than just a phone. But it’s crap when it runs out of juice right? The Mophie Juice Pack is a practical and elegant way to add that extra charge to your iPhone. Exactly how much charge? Well read here:

This is the first Apple certified ”Works With iPhone” attached battery in the world!

The Juice Pack is a rechargeable lithium polymer battery in the form of a non-slip, soft grip case. It extends the time that you can use your iPhone in these ways (additional hours):

* Standby Time – Up to 250 hours
* Audio Playback – Up to 24 hours
* Talk Time – Up to 8 hours
* Video Playback – Up to 7 hours
* Internet Use – Up to 6 hours

From those stats, it looks like it turns your iPhone into an iPod battery And I’m giving this away!!!!

Our Second Prize: Three BodyGuardz iPod skins valued between USD $14.95 to 24.95 each

These are really cool for protecting your delicate little iPods. And here’s how we’re going to do it. I’m raffling off three iPod skins so whoever the winners are, they need to tell me which type of iPod skin they prefer whether it be a Touch, Classic, or a nano and indicate what generation it is. A good guide would be to look here. I don’t think they support iPod shuffles. Like those things need protective skins.

LU Products’ fashion forward BodyGuardz skin is made from the same scratch resistant material that protects the front of your car from abrasive materials. Paper-thin and transparent, BodyGuardz skins won’t detract from the natural sleekness and style of one’s iPod, yet will protect it from wear, tear, and scratching.

These things have won iLounge Awards as well.

CONTEST RULES

1. Contest will run from the 26th of May to the 30rd of May 2008, ending at 23:59 EST.

2. To qualify, all you need to do is leave a comment with a valid email address and location (indicate if you are from North America), answering the question, “What’s the best way to jazz up your gadget?”

3. You can leave more than one comment to increase the chances of winning BUT you can’t repeat your answer to the question “What’s the best way to jazz up your gadget?”

4. Each entry entitles you to a raffle. I will enter all ballots into a raffle and choose the lucky winners. The winners will be announced on the 1st of June, the Monday after the contest closes. There will be four winners.

5. The Mophie Battery Pack is extended only to residents within North America. If your name is picked and you aren’t from North America, you will be entitled to the other prize. The first raffle is the battery pack followed by the skins. First win, first served

So yeah, this is a blog all about cellphones. So why are we talking about the iPod touch? I managed to try one today at a media event and all I can say is that one needs to take a step back and think about where the iPod touch falls in comparison to the iPhone and the rest of the iPod line.

The iPod touch is a tad slimmer than the iPhone. It doesn’t allow you to download files via the web browser, and the Starbucks WiFi store partnership only applies to countries where Starbucks chooses to participate. With the iPhone coming to Asia in 2008, it may seem that the four month wait may not actually justify buying the iPod touch - especially since you can already get refurbished iPhones for a fraction of the price - US$250.00. Hella cheap. The iPod touch is a great show off device but with the many things Apple may have in store for us in the coming year, I’d hold on to my wallet.