As much as I love all the bells-and-whistles of my shiny new iPhone 3GS, I have to say that there’s still never enough battery life to get through the entire day of usage — on my terms. I always find myself having to turn off some feature, reduce the frequency of e-mail updates, or download one less app over a 3G connection in order to not run out of juice about 3/4 of the way through the day. So when I saw this compact solar recharger for the 3GS, I thought this would definitely be a gadget I’d want to keep in my bag.
This Emergency iPhone Solar Charger
from Senyx (appx. $22 USD) snaps neatly onto the bottom of your 3G or 3GS and lets you recharge using sunlight. While I’ve seen many multi-gadget solar chargers before, the thing that’s unique about this one is that it’s so compact and designed specifically for the iPhone. So there’s no extra cables or wires required for use. It just connects right into the dock connector and you’re ready to go. And for those of you who have a white iPhone, there’s a version for you guys
too.
The snap-on solar panel also has a small 800mAh battery pack built in to give you a little extra emergency power if you pre-charge it with your USB cable. While I certainly wouldn’t rely on this thing as my primary source of iPhone power, it looks like it would be great in a pinch, or if you’re ever stuck out in the woods with no other way to recharge.
