BatteryLife
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Daily Mac app: Battery Health monitors your Mac's battery
With all the talk of battery life of iPhones and iPads it's easy to forget that your laptop battery needs some attention every so often. My laptop battery is pretty old, and it doesn't last as long as it used to. No surprise there, but I'd like to easily quantify its condition. That's where a free app in the Mac app store comes in called Battery Health. This little utility will reveal your current charge level, the capacity of your battery (it loses capacity as it ages), the number of times it has been charged and more. You can get some of this information from a System Report when you select About this Mac from under the Apple Menu, but I like this utility better. There are some other free utilities that get you the same information, and some paid ones, but Battery Health does the trick for me. If you are wondering about the state of your battery, and you should, give Battery Health a try. Some posters note that the app appears to be derived from another free open source app, CoconutBattery, and they do have some similar features. Download them both and put each to your personal tests. If you check the gallery you can see the info the app gives you. %Gallery-151913%
Nokia's Lumia 800 firmware update juices handsets, banishes battery issues
Still holding out on Nokia to squash any lingering battery bugs lurking inside your Lumia 800's beautiful shell? For some of you, today's your lucky day, as Espoo's just released a fresh batch of bits, which bring "significant improvements in battery performance and power management." We've seen version 1600.2487.8107 make the rounds once before, but previously when it was a Vodafone-branded variant -- which you may recall WPCentral discovered was responsible for an impressive 3x improvement (!) in battery life. Enhancements to audio are present in the build as well, with the company tweaking bass for "better voice quality" and your music enjoyment. Those ready to update should peep the Zune desktop software, although Nokia cautions not everyone will will get updated today, as coordinating across multiple carriers in different markets is like "herding sheep," resulting in a multi-stage rollout in the coming four weeks. More details, including a video on how to update, await at the source.
New iPad can be used as Verizon LTE hotspot for over 24 hours
Anandtech took a closer look at the new iPad's 42.5 Wh battery and discovered the battery is fantastic for those using the device as a mobile hotspot. In a series of tests, they ran the Verizon WiFi+4G iPad from a full charge down to zero with the screen off. Total time was an impressive 25.3 hours on a single charge. Overall, the battery performs as expected. The retina-equipped iPad has a run time that's slightly less than the iPad 2, and you'll get an hour less juice on LTE than WiFi. [Via The Verge]
New iPad battery has 70% more capacity
With 4G LTE connectivity, a Retina display, and a powerful Apple A5X system-on-a-chip under the hood, the new iPad needs a lot of power. According to a post at ZDNet, the source of all that energy is a whopping 11,666 mAh battery -- 70% greater capacity than the battery in the iPad 2. What's amazing about this news is that Apple increased the battery capacity without drastically increasing either the size or the weight of the batteries. As ZDNet notes, this "suggests that Apple has managed to increase significantly the power density of the Li-ion cells that it uses." If that's true, it means that the next-generation iPhone (no way am I going to refer to it as the iPhone 5 after what Apple pulled on Wednesday...) could presumably have much better battery life than the iPhone 4S with little or no increase in weight or size, assuming that the device uses the same Retina display and adds 4G LTE. Hats off to Apple's battery labs and to the manufacturers of this nice little power plant. I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see the little gray slabs of energy in iFixit's upcoming iPad (Early 2012) teardown.
Nokia Lumia 800 update reportedly triples battery life
Earlier this week in Refresh Roundup, we wrote of a Vodafone-branded update for the Lumia 800 with a designation of 1600.2487.8107.12070. Among the enhancements, the new software version was said to provide longer battery life -- a welcome improvement, no doubt -- but we could've never guessed the significance of the gain. The folks at WPCentral recently forced the update onto their own phones and, get this, they assert the new software has nearly tripled(!) their battery life. While our heads are still spinning at the assertion, they claim the improvements are in part due to better management of the screen's brightness and cite an approximate discharge of 70mA when idle. Meanwhile, reports in the forums of xda-developers claim that battery drain is in the neighborhood of 80mA and 90mA when idle -- not quite as stunning, but still a huge improvement in comparison to the approximate 150mA discharge with the previous version. While your mileage may vary, this latest update could prove to be a true godsend for Lumia 800 owners.
Nokia clarifies battery update on Lumia 800, promises audio / camera fixes soon
Nokia already came clean about the Lumia 800 battery bug, but evidently that just wasn't enough to appease the masses. A community manager in the outfit's own forums has just responded to pages upon pages of comments regarding the most recent update, partly to (re)set the record straight regarding the battery, and partly to address more fixes that are just around the bend. The latest update (1600.2483.8106.11500) was meant to "enhance standby time as well as to bring an improvement to the issue reported by some customers in December," and according to Nokia, said update does indeed address those problems. However, folks that still have concerns regarding audio and camera settings aren't being ignored; those quirks will be worked out in "a series of future updates." Eager to learn more? The full reply is embedded just after the break.
Motorola planning 24-hour Droid RAZR Maxx longevity event for February 6th?
Motorola's own website has pointed to a January 26th launch for the long-awaited Droid RAZR Maxx, but it looks like February 6th is the date to really pay attention to. With battery life becoming an even more serious concern due to the proliferation of life-sucking 4G networks, it's become obvious that companies are finally placing those longevity statistics atop their priority list. Samsung itself has already promised to significantly improve battery life in its phones during 2012, and we're now hearing from a trusted source that Moto will be streaming a pretty unorthodox event in order to put its own RAZR Maxx to the test. We're told to expect a 24-hour marathon event, streamed out to the gaping masses, where the aforesaid handset will be powered on and presumably used for a full day -- it's like a David Blaine trick, but for phones. Might as well pencil in 2/6 if you're eager to see if this might actually meet your long-term demands.[Thanks, Anonymous]
Samsung commits to improve smartphone battery life in 2012
Sure, we all love having the latest and greatest smartphone from the likes of Samsung, but the power consumption driven by larger displays, LTE, and more use is making it increasingly harder to get through the day. Samsung's vice president of product innovation, Kevin Packingham, said in an interview with CNET that Korea's darling has set the lofty goal that smartphones coming out this year last an entire day under average to moderately heavy use. Samsung's plans include beefing up batteries, but it also intends to look at improving energy efficiency by tweaking the various radios -- LTE, WiFi -- to make them a little less greedy. Motorola has already seemingly caught this wave with the RAZR MAXX -- a slightly chubbier Motorola RAZR -- which is essentially the same set as the RAZR but with enough juice so you can use it instead of spending your day looking for an outlet to charge it. Unfortunately, things could get sticky as the definition of "moderately heavy use" is a pretty tough thing to pin down. Would you put up with a huskier phone to get you through the day or is a slim set more important? Feel free to chime in with your comments below.
SpareOne cellphone claims 15-year battery life, we go hands-on
Xpal Power (owners partners of Energizer and PowerSkin) has leveraged its battery-tech know-how into the SpareOne, a cellphone that can maintain its charge for up to 15 years on just a single AA battery. It's designed to be used for sponsorship, hotel use and (most importantly) emergencies, to throw into your trunk and forget about until you need to contact roadside assistance. Now at CES we've had a chance to get our mitts on the device to see what it's like in the flesh plastic. If you're just a little bit curious, why not join us for a short trip?
SpareOne: a cellphone that can run for 15 years
If your car's broken down, nursing your smartphone's short battery life can be a real nightmare when waiting for rescue. Of course, that might not be much of a problem if Xpal Power (the company behind Energizer and PowerSkin) has anything to do with it. It's developed the SpareOne, a super-cheap phone that runs from a single AA Battery and will reputedly maintain its charge for up to fifteen years. The dual-band GSM phone is designed for emergencies, transmitting its location alongside its call ID, or as a loaner phone for big corporate events. You'll get an Energizer AA battery and a microSIM in the bundle which will set you back $49.99 when it arrives at some point this quarter. At that price, we can imagine throwing a few in the trunk for breakdowns, when we're doing our Bear Grylls routine, or during the Robopocalypse.
Thoughts on an LTE iPhone
A lot of Apple fans are sure that the next iPhone will support the true 4G LTE networks now being deployed by major cellular carriers. Apple has repeatedly said that the iPhone will get LTE when battery life is not an issue, but the Houston Chronicle's Dwight Silverman notes that if the 4G Android devices hitting the market are any indication, that could be a while. How bad is that battery life? Bad enough that in Engadget's testing of the device, they noted "Using Google Navigation with LTE enabled? The battery drained so fast our in-car charger couldn't keep up, leaving us unsure of which exit to take off the 101." Other LTE devices also seem to have similar issues, so it's not just the Galaxy Nexus to blame. Sure, the speeds that LTE networks provide are tempting. Silverman's own testing in the Houston, Texas area shows broadband-like download speeds in the range of 30 - 45 Mbps (Megabits per second), while uploads are commonly in the 15-16 Mbps range. But when streaming a Netflix movie draws down the battery by 50 percent in 30 minutes, it's obvious that those speeds come at a price. Silverman notes that he's "not optimistic" that Apple could get iPhone 4 / 4S-like battery life, even with newer-generation chipsets and an operating system tuned for battery longevity. He also hopes "that any LTE phone Apple offers will come with a setting that turns it off and allows users to drop back to 3G when battery life is more important than raw speed." What do you think? Would you be willing to trade battery life for raw speed? Leave your comments below.
Researchers put smartphones on a power diet, drastically improve battery life
Nokia's Asha handsets already use browser compression to reduce data costs and power consumption for customers in the developing world, but the company's Finnish neighbours over at Aalto University have taken a totally different approach. By using a network proxy to squash traffic into bursts rather than a constant bit rate, and by forcing a smartphone's modem into idle mode between each burst, the researchers claim they can cut 3G power consumption by 74 percent. Now, we're fortunate enough to be surrounded by power outlets over here, but even we could use some of that.
Nokia promises software updates to fix Lumia 800 battery woes
We experienced occasional battery and charging problems when reviewing the Lumia 800, and it looks like others have had issues too. In fact, it's become a sufficiently (un)popular topic on Nokia's support forums to encourage the company to post up a reply, confirming that two software fixes are in the works. The first will target power efficiency and arrive in early December, while the second will follow in January and hopefully improve charging. Only a minority of users are affected, we're told, so it's lucky for them that they're vocal.
Poll: Have you noticed battery improvements after updating to iOS 5.0.1?
Yesterday, Apple pushed out iOS 5.0.1, just about four weeks after releasing iOS 5 to the masses. Among the reported fixes: battery life improvements, following a confirmed bug in the initial release. We're hearing reports that battery life remains an issue for some iPhone 4S owners, however, and that it's been reduced even further for others. We want to hear about your experience, though, so let us know what's up in the poll below, and jump past the break to join other iPhone owners in the comments.%Poll-70860%
iOS 5.0.1 upgrade may not fix your battery woes (Updated)
iOS 5.0.1 seems a bit of a mixed bag for users, and that's probably a charitable description. Apple support boards are filling up with page after page of reports from users that their iPhone battery life is worse than it was before. Some users say their battery life was fine until the upgrade. Others say it is far worse, and a few are seeing some improvement. Since one of the main features of the update was to fix battery life bugs, it's hard to call this update anything but a failure. Even if the reports are hallucinatory, the PR is very, very bad. Think 'antennagate'. Here's a sample of some of the comments: "Was running iOS 5.0 yesterday and had great battery life on my iPhone 4.... Update with OTA last night to iOS 5.0.1 and now just sitting at work and not surfing it is down to 55%. It has only been off the charger for 2 1/2 hours.... I haven't even talked on it today. Wow Apple... what a fix!" "After installing iOS 5 in my iPhone 4s I noticed that my battery was drying 1% for every 1Min 36Sec. I believe every 1hr 20 Min i will hzave to charge my mobile. And there is no option to downgrade to 5.0. Irritating." "Yes have the same problem. Was looking forward to having normal battery life on my new phone, but the new 5.0.1 update actually made it worse. I'm about to throw away my iPhone and go back to a blackberry... At least the blackberry held its charge for 2 full days." In my own experience my battery life dropped dramatically when I installed iOS 5 on an iPhone 4 last month. When I upgraded to the iPhone 4S there wasn't any improvement, and the battery life was certainly behind the performance I had experienced before iOS 5 appeared. One bright spot was when I applied the 5.0.1 update from an airport via their WiFi. What an improvement over tethering to a computer -- the whole process took about 12 minutes. Of course all the battery life experiences are anecdotal, and it may be that we're all using the new features so heavily that we're driving battery performance down. Of course, that won't explain why phones just sitting by themselves overnight are draining faster the before iOS 5 or iOS 5.0.1 appeared. It's pretty obvious there is some fire under all this smoke. Apple hasn't commented on any of this new furor so far, but I wouldn't be surprised to see iOS 5.0.2 coming to an iPhone near you soon. [Editor's note: I'm seeing improved battery life, but it's clear there is something at work here and it'll probably take Apple a bit longer to figure out why some iPhones (mine is an iPhone 4) are draining faster and some are not. - Victor Agreda, Jr.] Update: Apple confirmed to All Things D that the battery drain issues may persist for some.
Apple confirms iOS 5 bugs causing battery drain, promises a fix 'in a few weeks'
Anecdotal reports have been pouring in since iOS 5 landed that battery life had suddenly dropped off on some people's iPhones. A full 15-percent of you who responded to our poll reported suffering from the issue. Now Apple has officially confirmed that several bugs are negatively affecting battery life. In a statement given to All Things D the Cupertino company acknowledged the problem and said it would "release a software update to address those [bugs] in a few weeks." In recent days the complaints in both the Apple forums and our own tips box have reached a deafening volume but, sadly, Apple isn't offering any temporary work arounds or advice for those constantly attached to a charger. So there you go folks -- Apple is working on it. You're the patient type, right? Update: Well, iOS 5.0.1 Beta, which includes the aforementioned bug fixes, just landed for devs. So Apple isn't just working on it, they've fixed it... theoretically. Lets hope this test run is a bit shorter than expected.
ARM unveils Cortex-A7 processor, 'big.LITTLE' computing
Fancy a glimpse of the future? That little psychedelic beauty on the right is ARM's brand new Cortex-A7 processor. Its spec sheet might not seem so colorful at first glance, because it doesn't really do things any faster than existing high-end smartphone processors. However, this UK-based chip designer isn't known for bumping its gums, so it pays to look a little deeper. For a start, the Cortex-A7 is built using a 28nm process that makes it five times smaller and more efficient than the current-gen Cortex-A8. It's also cheap enough to power sub-$100 handsets, so we could be pulling GSII-like tricks on budget phones within a couple of years. Is that it? Nope, there's more: perhaps the most important feature of the A7 is that it can be combined with much higher-power cores like the Cortex-A15 side-by-side on the same chip. This allows a super-phone or tablet to switch between two totally different processing units depending on how much power is needed at the time. ARM calls this "Big.LITTLE" computing," and a similar concept is already in use on NVIDIA's Tegra 3 (aka Kal-El) SoC, which we'll see imminently in the next Asus Transformer. However, the Tegra 3 uses five identical Cortex-A9 cores, whereas a device that mix-and-matches the A15 and A7 could potentially deliver higher highs and lower lows, giving you speed when you need it and amazing battery life when you don't. How cute is that? Full PR after the break.
AT&T's Ralph de la Vega: LTE phones to be leaner, retain charge longer
Could this turn out to be a wireless case of the tortoise and the hare? According to Ralph de la Vega, that answer is a resounding yes. In his keynote address at CTIA, the AT&T Mobility CEO announced plans to bring a line of thinner, less power-intensive smartphones to its recently launched, true 4G network. How's that possible? Utilizing a technology described as "circuit switch fallback," phones running on the operator's network will make use of a single radio to ride along the LTE waves, and default to a "circuit switch-based 3G" signal when out of range. If these claims pan out, it'd give the slow-to-market, second place operator a leg up on industry rivals Verizon and Sprint, which incorporate separately powered 3G / 4G radios in their next-gen handsets. We'll know whether or not to call de la Vega's bluff later this year when the first batch of LTE phones are destined for consumer release. Until then, it's just executive grandstanding at its best. Handsets or it didn't happen, Ralph.
Shogun Bros. updates Chameleon X-1 mouse / gamepad, tosses it up for pre-order
Perfection is an undeniably lofty goal, but that's exactly what Shogun Bros. is striving for, with a freshly announced update to its Chameleon X-1 gaming mouse. Available in three different colors, the company's "Perfect Version" of its gamepad / mouse boasts an enhanced rubberized coating for better grip, a new layout for remote control operation and, perhaps best of all, extended battery life. Other than that, it's essentially the same device we saw way back in December, with a 5-stage adjustable 1600dpi optical sensor, a full slate of 16 buttons and force feedback support. Shogun Bros. won't be releasing this perfected peripheral until October 1st, but you can pre-order one now at Amazon, for $60. Hit up the source link to make the purchase, or slice past the break for a very succinct press release.
Sony PlayStation Vita battery life: as little as three hours on a charge
We've had plenty of QT with the Vita on the floor at TGS, but battery life is hard to judge when you can't take the device away with you. Back at our earlier hands-on in June we were told that longevity should be on a par with first-gen PSPs, which were all rated at 4-6 hours and -- with the PSP-1000 -- achieved around 3.5-5.5 hours in real-world tests. Now though, Sony says the Vita has just enough juice for 3-5 hours' gaming. We need to play this thing to death before we can be sure, but this does sound like a potential 15-25% drop in minimum play time. Do we care at this point? Not particularly. We're too busy salivating over this.
