Mobile music lovers know all too well a portable player is only as good as its battery life. But many who purchased the iPhone or iPod touch have voiced their concerns over the device's relatively weak battery life. If you love your iPhone or iPod touch but doubt you have enough juice to make it through an extended remix of Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," take heed to the following tips to maximize your battery life -- without having to buy one of those snap-on battery packs.

Keep in mind many of these tips apply to other MP3 players and cell phones as well.

1.    Dim the brightness on your iPhone or iPod touch using the slider, as the brighter you keep your screen the faster it'll eat away at your battery.

2.    Built-in radio technology, such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, can be draining on the battery when in use, so if you don't need it, turn it off in the Settings options. That said, iPhone users who like to surf the Net might extend the battery's life by using Wi-Fi instead of EDGE.

3.    Disable push mail on your iPhone if you don't need it. Go to Settings, then       Mail, Advanced and then set Use Push Mail to Off.

4.    Using the equalizer (EQ) settings for your music can decrease battery life, so turn this option to Off (Settings > iPod > EQ), if you can.

5.    Don't leave your iPod touch or iPhone in the heat, such as in a car on a hot day, which could compromise the battery life for your iPod (and its overall longevity).

6.    Always download the latest software upgrades for the iPod touch or iPhone, as Apple engineers try to find new ways to extend battery life.

7.    Load up your iPod with compressed songs (e.g. AAC or MP3 files) as opposed to larger or uncompressed songs (including WAV or AIFF files).

8.    Make sure you lock the touch screen before putting your iPod touch or iPhone away into your pocket, purse or backpack, as you may inadvertently drain the device of its power by hitting the Play button.

Want your beloved iPod to play dozens of free games or better-quality music files, such as “lossless” FLAC files? What about changing the look of your iPod interface? You can do this -- and for free -- with clever open-source software called Rockbox. Here’s how to do it:

1. Visit Rockbox and download the free open-source software and manual. Rockbox works with first through fifth generation (video) iPods, iPod minis and first generation iPod nanos. For video iPods, you’ll need to download the free fonts package, too.
2. Connect your iPod to your computer. Because you need your iPod recognized as an external hard drive, open iTunes and check off where it says to enable disk use. Now close iTunes.
3. Extract the Rockbox zip file to the iPod. You should now see a file called .rockbox on your iPod drive (e.g. F:, viewed in Windows Explorer). Unzip the fonts folder onto the .rockbox folder, too. But you also need something called a “bootloader,” so the iPod knows how to run this new software. The Rockbox manual tells you where to snag it online. With the iPod still plugged into your PC, run the bootloader software.
4. Disconnect the iPod, reboot it and you’ll see the Rockbox theme. You can change the theme if you don’t like the way the interface looks, or better yet, download new ones from Rockbox themes. Click “initialize” under Database to access all of the music you already have on your iPod.
5. Customize your “new” iPod by installing fun and free third-party plug-ins to your iPod, such as great games (Texas Hold ‘Em, Duck Hunt, a Bejeweled clone) and some handy utilities, too (word processor, paint program). Or drag and drop new music files onto the iPod to play them -- including increasingly popular audio formats like Ogg Vorbis and FLAC files.

Oh, and if you want the original iPod interface, don’t worry as it’s still here. Simply reboot the iPod by holding down Select and Menu; when you see the Apple logo, set the hold switch to On.

Web surfers preferring to find real people talking about a particular subject -- as opposed to info provided by companies, online stores or news sites -- might find value in a new search engine called Twing.

Twing is a specialized search engine created as a quick and easy way to search and discover opinions, conversations and communities that match your interests. It also features its own blogs and forums.

"Online forums are an established medium people have been using to communicate since the early days of the Internet, even predating the Web," says Kevin Shea, general manager for Twing, in a company release. "Our goal is to help Internet users participate in discussions, ask questions, get answers and offer advice by providing a resource that organizes this category of online content and uncovers the discussions that interest them."

Currently in beta, Twing says these online forums have been growing year after year, with recent estimates of U.S. users alone exceeding 50 million. The search engine uses proprietary software and algorithms to find relevant online communities and forums. Users can register for free to participate in forums and personalization options.