Now here’s a little story for you. Once while waiting on a connecting flight from Atlanta to Oklahoma, I used my Apple iPhone to keep myself entertained for a bit. If you’ve played any iPhone game for an extended period of time, you know that it will drain your battery faster than just using it as a telephone. My plane arrives, I depart, I land in Oklahoma a few hours later, grab a rental car, plug in my car charger only to discover that the power socket (aka cigarette lighter) didn’t work. What’s worse, my iPhone had a depleted battery and was going to die.

I had packed up my HardCE iPower Case battery [ review here ], which at 2300mAh is about two times bigger than the internal Apple iPhone battery, charged and had enough juice to last me through my day with heavy usage, go back to the Hertz rental agency and get a car that worked just fine.

Story aside, HardCE [ site here ] has released an update to their iPower Case to now include solar cells too. Did I mention that while in Oklahoma, I turned about 4 shades darker… in the first hour!? A solar panel can slowly replenish the charge that’s being used and it’s a trend that finally is taking root in a lot of gadgets that require charges.

• for iPhone & iPhone3G/3GS
• Stylus/Camera Flash/Expand battery/Leather case 4 in 1
• Genuine leather
• 2300mAh Li-Polymer battery inside
• Removable cover
• Smart Power Control
• USB function
• With CE & FCC Certification
• Size: 125mm×63.5mm×22.5mm
• Packing Size: 175mm×110mm×35mm
• Net Weight: 98g

Comes in two flavors, iPower Basic with Solar Panel and the iPower Plus with Solar Panel that includes an usable stylus that simulates finger input and a LED light that doubles as a flash or flashlight and in a range of colors… including Orange.

[ HardCE ] [ Related: RTL Review HardCE iPower Case ]