Windows Phone Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

"Tired of running out of juice when you're on the run? The Tekkeon TekCharge MP1800 is a rechargeable portable battery pack that supplies power to phones, MP3 players, Bluetooth headsets, and other mobile devices. The charger comes with seven adapter tips for use with most kinds of mobile phones, but you can also use the USB cable that came with your iPod, Zune, or other device. In other words, it's almost universally compatible, provided that your gizmo can be charged via USB."

I think I'm going to order one of these as is should cover my iPod, Zune, and phone. The normal price is $44.95, but right now Amazon has them for $28.99 $39.27 (they hiked the price!). [Affiliate] Unfortunately there is a couple of week backlog on their supply, so it will be a bit before I can share my thoughts. Anyone out there already have one of these?

Virtually no electronic device I own has battery life that impresses me, so the hunt for new ways to keep them powered is never-ending. The ECOSOL Powerstick, with it's small size and simple operation, intrigued me so I requested one for review. I wanted to test the Powerstick in a worst-case scenario, so I completely drained the battery on my HTC Touch Diamond. I then charged the Powerstick fully, and connected the Touch Diamond using the included miniUSB cable. About two hours later, I noticed that the charging circle on the Touch Diamond wasn't pulsing any more - sure enough, the Powerstick was completely drained. The Diamond showed 60% power - which is about right given that the Powerstick battery is 750 mAh and the Touch Diamond has a 900 mAh battery. There's always a bit of efficiency lost when one battery charges another, so I'd guess that the Powerstick would only fully charge a battery that's 700 mAh or less in size. Read more...

Despite PC Pro's slamming, the HTC Touch Diamond continues to move forward. First, there's good news for our US readers: the FCC has given the CDMA version two thumbs up, so now it's just a matter of the carriers announcing when and where you'll be able to hand over the dollar bills. In other news, those of you who already have the device may be interested in more juice, because, you know, that 900mAh battery included in the box isn't exactly anything to write home about. Our affiliate hardware store (Expansys) has a 1340mAh version (cover included) available for pre-order, so if you value uptime over girth, be sure to take a look.