Gizmodo: iv

Fastmac iV iPhone Charger and Backup Battery Lightning Review

Jason Chen — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 19:00:00 EST

The Gadget: FastMac's iV iPhone charger/battery pack, which has a 3100mAh capacity, a USB port, a flashlight and the ability to actually dock into standard iPhone ports.

The Price: $79 for 2G, $99 for 3G

The Verdict: We've seen plenty of case-like backup batteries for the iPhone 3G the past few months, but Fastmac's iV could be the best in its class due to all the its features.

Its 3100mAh battery can charge the phone about five times from 20% capacity to 80% capacity, and in absolute terms, it's the most amount of juice in any backup battery iPhone case out there now. The USB port, at the bottom, allows you to charge an extra device on the road (maybe your Bluetooth headset) at the same time as the iPhone.

The iV's flashlight is bright, as in you really shouldn't look at it straight on. It's not bright enough to illuminate an entire room, but you can definitely find your keys with it. And the fact that the bottom actually fits into iPod/iPhone docks is an added bonus.

Our biggest complaint is the iV's size. In order to house a battery, USB charging, a flashlight and also somewhat envelop the iPhone, Fastmac didn't have much room to condense it down. It's more than twice as thick as an iPhone, and is slightly taller. You probably don't want to leave this docked all the time, but only take it out for a refresh charge when your iPhone's battery is running low.

Despite the $99 price, we still think this is the best all-around charger pack for the iPhone. If you're running out of juice often from a lot of usage, or if you just forget to charge your phone every night, the iV could be a fantastic crutch. [FastMac]

FastMac iV Triples the Battery Life of the iPhone 3G

Sean Fallon — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 10:40:00 EST

FastMac has unveiled their second generation iV battery pack for the iPhone 3G, and it promises to deliver up to 24 hours of talk time, 750 hours (31 days) of standby, 20+ hours of video and almost 72 hours of audio playback time. Depending on your settings, we are talking triple or even quadruple the available power here. It looks a little bulkier than Mophie's Juice Pack, but the extra battery life and added touches like a built-in LED flash/flashlight and a second USB port to charge additional gadgets definitely makes it the more attractive option on paper (a hands-on will be coming up shortly to put this to the test). Plus, it is priced less than the Juice Pack at $80. Update: The iV uses a 3100 mAh battery.

[FastMac]

Poseidon Mk IV Discovery Oxygen Tank Recycles Your Exhaust, Lets You Dive Stealthily

Jason Chen — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 14:32:27 EDT

Diving is fun until your oxygen tank runs out and you die, but this Poseidon Mk IV Discovery tank actually extends the time you can be underwater by recycling your carbon dioxide exhaust and turning it into breathable oxygen. The tank works its magic with its C02 scrubbers and oxygen cells, which is powered by a lithium-ion battery. And because it takes in the air you breathe out, you'll be able to dive stealthily without your bubbles alerting people to your presence. Community pool, watch out! [Poseidon via Pop Sci via DVice via Geekologie]

Hands-on With FastMac's iV iPhone Battery Pack

Jason Chen — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 13:55:48 EST

The Gadget: iV iPhone case and battery, which adds 4x as much battery time to the iPhone while not adding too much more bulk.
The Verdict: The rubberized plastic feels nice, the LED flash/flashlight on the back is good for finding your keys or taking low-light pictures and it clips neatly onto your belt if you're one of those belt dudes. There's also a USB port on the back for charging another device while your iPhone is being charged/docked. $79. [Fastmac]

SanDisk Extreme IV CompactFlash

Jason Chen — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 21:32:07 EDT

Professional and semi-professional photographers are like a Top Gun-era Tom Cruise—cocky and in The Need, The Need For Speed. That's why SanDisk's Extreme IV CompactFlash cars are touted as the "fastest cards in the world" at a read/write speed of 40MB/sec. Very speedy compared to the no-name brands the weekend point-and-shoot crowd prefer.

To allow quick reads for dumping pics into the computer, something the crappy 53-in-1 card readers fail at, SanDisk is releasing its Extreme FireWire reader at the same time. Firewire 800 connections will be able to hit the 40MB/sec, and the Firewire 400s will make do at 20MB/s.

The cards will cost around $200, $400, and $700 dollars for the 2GB, 4GB and 8GB cards, respectively. – Jason Chen

Press Release [SanDisk via Trusted Reviews]