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9to5Toys Last Call: 12” MacBook (2016) $1,199, iPhone 6/s Battery Case $24, 2-Pack MFi Lightning Cables $7, more

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Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS:

Last Call Updates:

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Spigen Apple Watch 42mm Cases in two styles: $5 Prime shipped (Reg. up to $15)

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Apple MacBook 12-Inch Laptop (Newest Version) with Retina Display Rose Gold: $1,199 shipped ($100 off, tax in NY)

Apple 11-inch MacBook Air 1.6GHz/4GB/128GB (latest version) for $700 shipped (Reg. $899)

Apple 12-inch MacBook (Early 2015) 1.1GHz/8GB/256GB $930 shipped (Orig. $1,299)

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Charge your iPhone 6/s on-the-go w/ this RAVPower 3000mAh 2A MFi Battery Case for $24 Prime shipped (Reg. $36)

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Smartphone Accessories: 2-pack RAVPower MFi Lightning Cables $7, 12000mAh Car Jump Starter $43more

Anker 3-ft reinforced Lightning cable (multiple colors): $8 Prime shipped (Reg. $10)

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App Store Free App of the Week: Camera Plus w/ AirSnap goes free for the first time in months (Reg. $2)

Grand Theft Auto iOS Sale: Liberty City Stories $3, China Town Wars $3, San Andreas $4, more

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Best Buy’s latest Apple sale takes $100 off iPad mini 4, up to $100 off Apple Watch & $25 off Apple TV

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

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Games/Apps: Brave Guardians TD Free, Star Walk 2 $1, Hitman Absolution $10, iOS freebies, more

MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

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Take to the skies w/ DJI’s Phantom 3 Standard Quadcopter for $399 (Reg. $499), Professional $779 (Reg. $999)

NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:

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Straight out of Chicago, this mid-century modern Bluetooth stereo cabinet is beautiful

9to5Toys Last Call: Free App of the Week, Mophie iPhone 6/s battery case $75, Samsung 4K 55″ UHDTV $700, more

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Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS:

Last Call Updates:

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iPhone 6s cases from $1, iPad Air 2 Slim Case w/ Keyboard $12, more

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App Store Free App of the Week: Cut the Rope 2 goes free for the first time ($1 value)

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Mophie’s iPhone 6/s Juice Pack Air is smarter than Apple’s Smart Battery Case at $75 (Reg. $100)

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Smart 4K 60Hz UHDTVs: Samsung 55-inch $700 (Reg. $900+)more

Best Buy’s latest Apple sale is your best chance to score iPad, Mac, & Watch deals before Christmas: iPad Air 2 $125 off, iPad Air $100 off, iPad mini 4 $100 off, much more!

Best Buy makes a splash with the lowest Apple Watch prices ever, deals start at just $249

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$100 iTunes Physical Gift Card for $80 w/ free shipping (20% off)

Giveaway: SanDisk USB flash drives for iPhone, iPad, and Android mobile devices

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

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Home Designer 3D for iOS/Mac goes free for the first time, GOLD version $1 (Reg. up to $10)

MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

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Save 25% on any book from Amazon — Humans of New York: Stories $12 Prime shipped (Reg. $16)

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Affinity Photo is Apple’s Mac App of the Year, download it now for $40 (Reg. $50)

The Room puzzle-mystery game for iOS goes free for the first time in two years (Reg. $1), more

Algoriddim’s djay 2 for iPhone is now available for free (Reg. $3)

NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:

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De’Longhi launches new PrimaDonna Elite coffeemaker w/ iOS connectivity

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Top 10 holiday movies you can stream right now on Netflix

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Skip the holiday blues with these practical stocking stuffers

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Justin’s Holiday Gift Guide: speakers, Lightning mics, storage, pocket synths & more to up your home recording set-up

 

iPhone 6s Smart Battery Case teardown takes us beneath the bump

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It’s not too surprising that Apple’s new iPhone 6s Smart Case isn’t made to be easily opened for repairs. To get inside for its usual teardown routine, iFixit had to peel off the soft lining of the case by heating up the adhesive. It then had to remove three proprietary Apple screws to remove a metal reinforcement plate and get at the battery itself. So while you likely won’t be able to repair your new Smart Case without destroying it, we do get a look inside of the new product thanks to iFixit’s willingness to do so…
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Patent issues suggested as explaining bulging design of Apple’s Smart Battery Case

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A lot of us have been wondering how it was that Apple’s design team went off the rails when designing the new iPhone Smart Battery Case. Nilay Patel at The Verge, has now put forward one possible explanation: Apple had to find a way to avoid infringing the patents of the market leader in battery cases, Mophie …


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Apple releases $99 iPhone 6s Smart Battery Case, Apple’s first official battery pack iPhone case

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Out of the blue, Apple has today launched their first battery case, the Apple iPhone 6s Smart Battery Case for $99. The case comes in Charcoal Gray or White and is compatible with iPhone 6s or iPhone 6. The case is like the Apple Silicone Case, with the addition of a back bump for a battery. Third-party iPhone battery cases have existed for a long time, this is the first version of the product from Apple itself.

The integrated battery will increase iPhone talk time up to 25 hours and Internet use up to 18 hours on LTE (an increase of 8 hours). The battery of the Smart Case is displayed in the iOS UI, thanks to the integration between software and hardware.

The battery case includes a passthrough so you can still plug in other Lightning accessories whilst the case is in use. The product is available to pickup in Apple Stores today with delivery as early as Thursday.


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Review: Mophie’s Juice Pack H2Pro is a truly waterproof iPhone 6 case with 110% extra battery life

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I’ve written a pretty comprehensive guide to the best iPhone 6 battery cases, but up until this point, truly waterproof iPhone 6 battery cases have been rare. LifeProof’s Frē Power was first shown in January at CES, and Mophie’s Juice Pack H2Pro ($130) was announced in May, but only made it into stores after the iPhone 6s was announced.

Both of these cases promise military-spec drop protection, but they have different strengths: the power experts at Mophie promise better battery life, while the drop and waterproofing experts at Lifeproof promise better protection. H2Pro has a 2,750mAh battery versus Fre Power’s 2,600mAh battery, and Fre Power guarantees 2 meters of drop or water submersion survival, versus H2Pro’s 1.2 meter protection. Here’s what I found when testing the H2Pro…


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Review: Prong’s iPhone 6 PWR Case adds folding wall blades + a 100% recharge to 4.7″ iPhones

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I’ve tested lots of iPhone battery cases since 2007, and quite a few great iPhone 6 battery cases over the past year. It’s extremely rare to find a battery case with integrated wall plugs that recharge both the battery and iPhone, but a company named Prong is now on its second-generation version of exactly that product. Prong’s first iPhone cases had no batteries, but included wall plugs so you could recharge wherever you found a standard wall outlet. Then it took the next logical step and added a spare battery for iPhone 5/5s users.

After a very lengthy pre-order process, Prong is about to release PWR Case for iPhone 6 ($100), a bigger and more powerful version of its earlier iPhone 5/5s case. PWR is atypical in several ways, starting with the aforementioned fold-out wall prongs, but also that it includes a detachable case, and is offered in a fully transparent version that may appeal to techies…


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Review: Dyconn’s i6 Power Case packs a 3,200 mAh battery and features wireless charging (Video)

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There are absolutely no shortage of battery case offerings for iPhone 6. Even though we’ve covered the best iPhone battery cases here, it’s sometimes overwhelming sorting through them all. The real winners are the ones with maximum battery capacity and some extra features to spice things up. Recently, I came across Dyconn’s i6 Power Case and was pleasantly surprised to find that it fits most of what I was looking for, but is it enough? Well, not only does this case pack a 3,200 mAh battery inside, it also features wireless charging. It’s not a must-have feature, but I sure do appreciate the convenience…


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Review: Mophie’s Juice Packs for iPhone 6 + 6 Plus are polished battery cases at premium prices

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Unless you pick the matte black versions, which look like most of the other iPhone 6 and 6 Plus battery cases I’ve tested, you’ll quickly be wowed by how premium Mophie’s newest Juice Packs feel in your hand. Glossy white plastic Apple accessories may have become passe years ago, but Mophie somehow got the look and feel just right — better, even, than the “unapologetically plastic” iPhone 5c.

The reason for that luxe feel? Mophie needs it, as the new Juice Pack Plus for iPhone 6 ($120) and Juice Pack for iPhone 6 Plus ($100) are currently the most expensive battery cases currently available for their respective iPhones. Though the company has never been shy about charging more for top quality cases, this year’s Juice Packs are hitting shelves well after numerous solid and aggressively priced competitors.

Below, I’ll discuss how Mophie’s price to performance equations actually play out for these Juice Packs, and whether they’re worth buying in light of other options…


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Review: Incipio’s offGRID Shine expands iPhone 6 battery cases with an optional Dock for charging

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Apple’s lack of interest in releasing official iPhone 6 docks has created an opportunity for third-party product developers, notably including HiRise maker Twelve South and battery case maker Mophie, which is rolling out iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus versions of its Juice Pack Dock. Incipio has decided to join the pack with its own options: the offGRID Dock ($40) and several new offGRID battery cases, starting with offGRID Shine ($90, available online for $81). The pitch: pay a little more than the excellent offGRID Express (review) and you get a fancier case with support for dockable recharging. Later, you can purchase the dock separately if you want it.

Is the premium worth it? That depends on your personal needs, but if you want an iPhone 6 dock, you’ll find that the offGRID system is more aggressively priced than Mophie’s alternatives. Read on for the details.


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Review: PowerSkin’s Spare gives iPhone 6 users a modest 2200mAh of extra battery case juice

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Since late last year, the best iPhone 6 battery cases have generally included two things that iPhone 6 users now take for granted: enough spare power for at least one complete recharge, plus adequate coverage for the iPhone’s top, bottom, and back, if not its sides. PowerSkin has gone in a somewhat different direction with Spare for iPhone 6 ($80), a battery sled that caters to iPhone users who want less of everything. With a small 2200mAh cell inside, it’s the lowest-capacity battery case I’ve seen for the iPhone 6, and also offers the least body coverage, but sells for about the same price as more capacious and protective rivals.

Lightweight and marginally easier to pack in some bags than some rival battery cases, Spare is here for users who want a partial iPhone 6 recharge and anti-drop protection, but no anti-scratch safety. It’s offered in silver, gold, or space gray, currently ranging from $70-$72 based on your color preference. PowerSkin claims that it will deliver a 100% iPhone 6 recharge, but our testing found otherwise…

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Review: Anker’s Ultra Slim Battery Case for iPhone 6 offers a surprising mix of thinness, power, and low pricing

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I’ve learned over the years that there’s no such thing as an Apple accessory that’s perfect for every user. A design optimized for budget-conscious users will often turn off people who are ready to spend more for something fancier, and vice-versa. The best a company can do is to design, execute, and price products well for a particular segment of the population. Anker specializes in this — it focuses on creating very good to great accessories for value-focused users.

Its new Ultra Slim Battery Case for iPhone 6 ($40-$60 on Amazon) is another example of that formula. Unfancy but more polished than similarly budget-priced rivals such as uNu’s DX-6, it’s not the most powerful or beautiful iPhone 6 battery case I’ve tested, but it does precisely what most users want: it more than doubles the iPhone 6’s power, doesn’t add much bulk to the device, and costs very little relative to most battery cases. Anker’s regular $60 price tag would be competitive for an Apple-certified case on its own, but it frequently sells for only $40, the best overall value I’ve seen for iPhone 6 users, hands-down.


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Prong’s PWR case for iPhone 6 provides the easiest way to juice up (Video)

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There are a ton of power accessories on the market for iPhone that it’s almost difficult to tell them apart. They all fit a ton of battery power in a case, but they are all pretty much the same, except for one.

Prong has recently launched a new Indiegogo campaign for its new PWR case for iPhone 6. Not only does this case have a built-in battery pack, it also features a power supply as well. This means you could get away with never using a cable again to charge up your iPhone…


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Opinion: Should Apple improve iPhone battery life, or just battery cases?

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As this photo of the original Mophie Juice Pack and Tylt’s Energi for iPhone 6 shows, iPhone battery cases haven’t changed much over the years. They’ve existed for almost as long as iPhones, and remained ubiquitous due to Apple’s continued focus on thinness over longevity. That hasn’t been great for consumers: as 9to5’s Seth Weintraub put it, people are more impacted by their phones’ battery life than an extra 2mm of thinness.

It took until 2014 for Apple to offer one iPhone model — the iPhone 6 Plus — with all-day battery life, though you have to be willing to accept a much larger footprint to get that. By comparison, the smaller and reportedly more popular iPhone 6 improved only around 7% upon the iPhone 5s in run time, so the typical iPhone user isn’t seeing much of an improvement over prior models.

With a variety of alternatives at Apple’s disposal, including some major chip improvements that are just around the corner, we wanted to pose two questions to our readership. Should Apple take a break from slimming down iPhones to focus on improving battery life? Or should it instead focus its efforts on making battery cases better? Read on for our thoughts, and share yours in the comments section below…


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Review: Lenmar’s Maven Battery Case for iPhone 6 streamlines a familiar design, offers 112% extra power

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Featured in our guide to the best Apple device batteries, the one-of-a-kind MacBook external battery pack ChugPlug demonstrated that Lenmar knows how to make unique accessories. By comparison, Lenmar’s new Maven Battery Case for iPhone 6 ($100) isn’t quite as distinctive. It’s basically a softer-curved and more powerful version of the company’s iPhone 5/5s battery case Meridian, which makes it extremely similar to numerous rival iPhone 6 battery cases I’ve tested from other companies.

But with four color options, the ability to refuel itself at 2-Amp speeds, and better button openings than certain lower-priced competitors, the 3,000mAh Maven does have some merits. Here’s a more detailed look at what makes this case blend in and stand out…


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Review: iBattz’ Refuel Invictus battery case lets you swap 3200mAh cells for 127% iPhone 6 charges

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Like most things, the title of “best iPhone 6 battery case” is subject to change whenever something new and great shows up to challenge existing options, and as the iPhone 6 is still young, we’re expecting a lot of jockeying for position over the next few months. The latest real contender comes from iBattz, maker of some of the best iPhone battery cases I’ve tested. Refuel Invictus for iPhone 6 ($100, aka Mojo Refuel Invictus) is the first iPhone 6 case to include a great feature from some earlier iPhone 4/4S and 5/5s cases: removable, replaceable batteries.

Using solely the items in its own box, Refuel Invictus delivered the largest recharge I’ve seen yet for the iPhone 6: 127%, or a full recharge plus an additional 27%. That might be enough to justify the asking price for some people. But you can also add a second battery and external USB charger for $25-$30 more. If you’ve been hunting for a slim battery case that can keep your iPhone running endlessly, this might be the most cost-effective way to do it.


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The Best iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6 Plus + iPhone 6s Plus Battery Cases

It’s a great time to buy an iPhone 6 battery case. Last year, there were zero Apple-certified options, but today, there are a handful of good to great choices at various price points. They may look similar to each other in the picture above, but the sea of black shells masks some important differences in iPhone protection, battery recharging capabilities, and pricing. We now have two top picks for the iPhone 6, as well as two completely different top picks for the iPhone 6 Plus. Note that the iPhone 6 versions typically work with the newer iPhone 6s, and the iPhone 6 Plus versions work with the iPhone 6s Plus; both of the “s” models have slightly smaller batteries than their predecessors.

Which battery case should you buy? The most recent update to this piece on October 6, 2015 added another new option! Read on for all the details…


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Review: BuQu Tech’s PowerArmour battery case modestly protects but 109% recharges an iPhone 6

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Officially licensed iPhone 6 battery cases are becoming increasingly common, and we’ve seen a bunch of them over the past month from a collection of major manufacturers. The latest to arrive is BuQu Tech’s PowerArmour ($80), which we’re only briefly reviewing because it’s a somewhat uninspired option compared with others we’ve tested.


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Review: OtterBox’s Resurgence Power Case ruggedizes and doubles the iPhone 6’s battery

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The OtterBox name is synonymous with ruggedized iPhone cases, but not with battery cases — something the company worked to change with the iPhone 4/4S Defender iON Series, and the iPhone 5/5s Resurgence Power Case. iON aimed to thoroughly protect an iPhone while automating the recharge process, while Resurgence reduced the automation and protection to make daily use easier. At CES this month, OtterBox launched a new version called the Resurgence Power Case for iPhone 6 ($100), and it’s been redesigned with a collection of small but welcome tweaks.

Whether you’ll prefer Resurgence to Incipio’s excellent offGRID Express (review) depends on what you’re looking for — ruggedization or raw power for the dollar. Like many companies, OtterBox is promising to double the iPhone 6’s battery, but it also has some currently unique benefits to offer. Read on for what makes OtterBox’s latest battery case special.


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Review: uNu’s DX-6 battery case more than doubles the iPhone 6’s power, with Apple certification (Video)

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I’m always up for reconsidering the “best accessory” in a given category when something new arrives, and after every year’s CES, the “best iPhone battery case” tends to change thanks to new arrivals. But even though many new options were shown at CES this month, none impressed us enough to take the crown away from Incipio’s $80 offGRID Express (review).

uNu’s new DX-6 ($80 MSRP, street price $70) is the latest to arrive for testing, and despite the company’s strength with multi-device USB battery packs, its iPhone 6 battery case doesn’t stand out in any way except pricing. The pitch is simple: if you want an inexpensive, Apple-certified 3000mAh battery case, DX-6 is your option. But you’ll give up some frills to get it …


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Pepcom highlights: Yantouch’s Daisy lamp, Zolt’s MagSafe charger, Brookstone’s Bluetooth signal splitter + more

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A MagSafe charger smaller than Apple’s but made by a third-party? Ruggedized rubber hard drives from a company known for Mac-matching aluminum enclosures? Synchronized stereo speakers with color-shifting mood lights for your bedroom? Yes, the annual pre-CES Pepcom event took place in Las Vegas last night, and these were just a few of the products we spotted on the floor. Read on for more details…


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OtterBox unveils durable, 2600mAh Resurgence power case for iPhone 6

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OtterBox has today revealed its Resurgence power case for the iPhone 6 at CES 2015. The company made its first foray into the iPhone power case market with the Resurgence for iPhone 5/5s, so it only seems fitting for the company to continue iterating on the case. OtterBox touts that the Resurgence for iPhone 6 doubles the battery life of the smartphone, while also offering military grade drop protection.


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Zagg announces iPhone 6 Speaker Case w/ detachable Bluetooth speaker & backup battery, more

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Zagg, the company behind many of our favorite Bluetooth keyboards and cases, today announced its latest creation, the ZAGG Speaker Case for iPhone 6 with detachable Bluetooth speaker. Not only that, but the case also packs in an 1800mAh backup battery, which the company says will get you approximately “8 hours of additional talk time, and can be shared with a friend.”
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