If you own an iPhone 3G as I have for several months, then you're probably used to a daily battery charging routine. I usually charge my iPhone every morning and sometimes again during the day.

I also travel a lot and like to listen to music while flying, so I often get off the plane with a dead iPhone battery and can't check email or find where I'm at using Google Maps/GPS.

That all has changed after receiving a treasured Father's Day gift from my son, that's tripled the amount of time I can use my iPhone in between charges.

Sure, Apple provides several tips for conserving power and extending iPhone battery life, but they all follow a similar approach that basically involves NOT using important features like Wi-Fi, 3G wireless network speed, GPS location services, etc.

Basically all the features that drew me to the iPhone in the first place, and convinced me to trade in my Blackberry for one, are the ones Apple recommends I stop using in order to extend battery life. No thanks - I'm not about to turn them all off just to add a few minutes to an already short battery life. I would have stuck with my Blackberry if that was the end of the story. Fortunately it wasn't.

The gift I received from my son was a Tekkeon MP1800 lithium-ion rechargeable battery pack that gives me 2 1/2 iPhone charges, so I can stay powered up even when I don't have an outlet nearby.