Most 3'rd party iPhone or iPod gadgets always have denominations which begin with an “i”. Well, it looks like Panasonic broke the ice and decided to call its (iPhone) mobile phone charger the “Panasonic Pocket Power”. This is a simple portable charger, designed to transfer the energy from two regular AA batteries into an iPhone's battery.

It took Sony a long time to tramp on its principles and build an iPod docking station. This is how stuff works with rival corporations. They really don't want to admit the the rival company's product is much more successful than their own brand. For Panasonic, to build an iPhone charger is to accept that the iPhone is successful.

Anyway, the charger is also compatible with the iPod Touch and with other plug compatible iPods. For $36.45 a piece you can't really go wrong. The one advantage this little guys has over other chargers is the fact that it uses regular batteries (which can be found almost anywhere) to charge your device. USB power storage devices require an USB port. Solar chargers are in need of sun rays, so you can forget about them at night. AC chargers require a power outlet to get the energy, so again, no luck.

But by using the Panasonic charger, you can always buy a 2 or 4 pack of AAs and let them charge the device for a couple of hours. There's no need to have any of the special conditions mentioned above, related to other types of chargers.

Of course, there might be some strategic thinking at work here as well. Beside of its active involvement in the consumer electronics market, Panasonic is also one of the world's best-known manufacturers and retailers of alkaline and rechargeable batteries. So, by creating a product of this type, Panasonic is actually cross-promoting its entire line of batteries, probably hoping to move even more units out of the shelves.

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