UNCENSORED MEDIA

The iPhone is a capable portable media player, but you can enhance your listening or viewing pleasure even more with these add-ons.

Bring your movies and TV shows to the little screen, with audio amplified by DLO’s Portable Speakers for iPhone.

Sound On. Just as the Chill Pill mini speakers mentioned earlier keep you and your MacBook rocking, DLO’s Portable Speakers for iPhone ($49.99) let you amplify your music or the soundtrack of your stored videos in your hotel room, borrowed office, or other indoor space. The pieces of this compact speaker dock snap together to form a 6-inch pod powered by the included AC adapter or four AAA alkalines. For watching video, the stand accommodates the iPhone in landscape orientation--or portrait if you’re just listening to music.

Get FM radio and an alarm clock in your iPhone speaker dock: Altec Lansing’s inMotion M600 makes it happen.

Altec Lansing’s inMotion M600 ($149.95) is not quite as compact as DLO’s offering, but as portable speaker docks go, it’s got features to spare, including an FM radio, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, capable remote, and alarm clock functions. And it only weighs 2.1 pounds.

Hold, Please. We used to scoff at our friends who complained about aching hands from holding their iPhones at the best viewing angle for watching videos or playing games during long plane or train trips. But we’ve got to admit, they have a point. Special arms, clamps, and stands that fit the iPhone and/or iPod touch have come to the rescue, and can be used on the go or at your desk, depending on your needs.

The flexible, gooseneck design of the iFlyz stand lets you watch video on your iPhone or iPod touch in-flight--without causing a hand cramp.

For frequent air travel or marathon train rides, the iFlyz ($29.95) is an adjustable gooseneck clamp that attaches on one end to the seatback tray (in locked or down position) and sticks on the other end with a suction cup to the back of your iPhone or iPod touch.

The Xtand turns your iPhone into a what looks like a mini iMac and allows you to turn the phone 360 degrees.

If you rely on your iPhone to provide evening video entertainment in your hotel room, think about packing the Just Mobile Xtand for iPhone ($39.99), a solid aluminum stand whose design mimics the base of the aluminum iMacs and Apple Cinema Displays. It holds your iPhone vertically or horizontally and allows for 360-degree rotation, staying solidly on the surface in front of you thanks to nonslip feet.

The iBend is one of those simple but brilliant inventions you wish you’d thought of yourself: a thin piece of bendable vinyl with notches that hold your iPhone horizontally at a good viewing angle.

For a stand that’s truly portable--and affordable--check out the iBend ($4.99 for two), a piece of flexible but strong vinyl so thin you can store it in your iPhone’s case between the back of the phone and the case material. Remove an iBend from the case, remove the case, curve the iBend into shape, and pop your iPhone into the slots in the front. Now the iPhone show can begin.

iPOD POWER AID

The trouble with electronic gadgets is just that--they require electricity to stay running. Here are the best ways to keep your iPod or iPhone juiced to the gills when you’re on the move, even if there’s no AC outlet handy.

Got sunshine? If so, you can charge your iPhone with the solar- and wind-powered HYmini.

Stay off the Grid. Our recent green tech guide offered a number of alt-energy options for recharging your iPod and iPhone, including the miniWIZ HYmini ($49.99), a combination solar charger/miniature wind turbine that charges 5V gadgets using the power of the sun or wind (when attached to a bicycle).

The fuel-cell technology Medis uses in its 24-7 Power Pack is easy to use and easy on the earth.

Meanwhile, the Medis 24-7 Power Pack ($29.99), is a fuel-cell-powered charger with enough juice to charge an iPod or iPhone several times--after which you send the emptied cartridge back for a refill from Medis for $24.99.

The powermonkey eXplorer’s silly name belies its serious purpose: to charge your gadgets with solar power.

If your travels take you where the sun shines, consider a solar gadget charger. Our two current faves are the Powertraveller powermonkey eXplorer (£64, about $93 at press time) and the Solio Magnesium Edition ($169.95), both of which can charge an iPhone and other portable gadgets with nothing more than power derived from the sun’s rays.

Snap On. As any iPhone 3G owner knows, enabling the phone’s 3G access means faster mobile Web surfing and clearer voice calls. The downside, however, is the toll that using 3G exacts on your iPhone’s battery life. Add-on battery packs snap on to the back like a supercharged case, plugging in to the phone’s dock connector.

We love a stylish iPhone case, that can also extend battery life, like the Incase Power Slider.

Our favorite snap-on iPhone battery is the Incase Power Slider ($79.95). It snaps on like Incase’s Slider case and offers about 120 percent of the battery life of the iPhone 3G on its own. The Power Slider’s caselike design keeps your phone protected while extending its charge life. The Mophie JuicePack for iPhone 3G ($99.95) has a similar but slightly bulkier design--which is why we prefer the Power Slider when push comes to shove. But Mophie tells us they have a slimmed-down version of the JuicePack due out soon, which we can’t wait to try.

If only we had paid better attention in high school science class, we might have been able to rig an alkaline battery pack like the Griffin TuneJuice ourselves.

Plug In. Though we prefer the more mobile design of add-on batteries like the Power Slider and JuicePack, other portable batteries work by plugging in to the phone’s dock-connector port. The Griffin TuneJuice for iPhone ($29.99) essentially encases four AAA batteries so you can attach the pack to your iPhone or iPod to extend its battery life. The CallPod Fueltank ($69.95) has a similar design but uses a rechargeable lithium-ion battery and lets you juice two devices at once, say, your iPhone and a Bluetooth headset. Finally, the 3GJuice DeLuxe ($53.95) is a nub that plugs in to the dock connector but doesn’t introduce the hassle of a cord, keeping your gear bag as streamlined as possible. Griffin’s brand-new PowerJolt Reserve ($39.99) uses a similar form factor as the 3GJuice DeLuxe but offers a unique twist--it’s rechargeable from a vehicle’s cigarette lighter. We keep Griffin’s original iPhone car charger, the PowerJolt SE ($19.99), in our glove box since you never know when you’ll need a bump.

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