It’s a well known fact that the iPhone 3G really sucks when it comes to battery life. That is something which is quite common for most full featured smartphones (I won’t get into a debate here about whether the iPhone is a smartphone or not). This battery life problem is not just limited to smartphones – PDAs with hi-resolution screens suffer the same problems.

There are a number of “common sense” tips to improve battery life. The main ones have to do with turning off features when you are not using them. Although screen brightness may not be regarded as a feature, it has a major impact on battery life - turn it down. Wi-Fi can really drain some devices – if you are not using it, turn it off. Then there is 3G on the 3G iPhone. The recommendation is to turn it off the iPhone is simply in standby mode, or you are not online.

One of the solutions with other smartphones is to get an extended battery for your device. Unfortunately you can’t just replace the standard iPhone battery with an extended battery. A number of third party vendors have come out with various battery extenders. One of the smallest is the Kensington Mini Battery Pack and Charger for iPhone and iPod. The advantage is that it can also be used for iPods.