Hasta La Ideas

Technological progress means the lens on my iPhone 4 is superior for shooting video than the lens on my aging Canon G9. During my recent Autodesk University coverage, I was unable to get the G9 to adequately focus on some close-up shots I wanted, and the only reason I didn’t shoot the entire conference with my iPhone is that I didn’t want to run the battery down.

Yesterday InCase launched a killer product to give an iPhone extra juice.

You’ve probably seen the Mophie Juice Pack Air, a snap-on battery that chunks your iPhone out, but InCase’s is super slim. Called the Snap Battery Case, rather than adding bulk on the back, like the Mophie, InCase adds virtually nothing to the front-to-back depth of the phone and instead tacks it on the bottom, under the dock connection. The left-to-right width of the case is nearly identical to the phone itself, so the overall effect is like a slightly longer iPhone. Seen in person, you can’t believe how freaking thin the thing is.

Charge indicators on the back let you know how much juice is left, and road warriors and Chatty Cathies alike will dig the extra 40% of power–that’s three more hours of yapping, 16 more hours of audio playback and a staggering 120 hours of extra standby. Even better, bulk is not the only area where InCase is trying to undercut the Mophie–at about 60 bucks retail, the SBC is $30 cheaper.

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