Advice for batteries not always included
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday March 16, 2010
A few tips will keep your mobile device alive, writes Eric A. Taub. If you're a recent convert to smartphones, you're probably still discovering all the amazing things your BlackBerry, Android phone or iPhone can do. But one thing you most likely found out right away: The more you do, the shorter your phone's battery lasts.While a standard mobile phone's charge can go three days or more, many smartphone owners are dismayed to learn that their new toy requires charging every 24 hours, or even more often. Whether you're using a laptop or a smartphone, the devices can be tweaked to get the most out of its lithium-ion batteries.Dim itThe brighter your screen, the more juice you're using. If you're in a dimly lit room, turn down your brightness. If you have an auto-dimming feature on your device that detects the light in a room, use it. The same advice holds for sound; if you use your smartphone or laptop to play music, lower the volume.If you have a BlackBerry, the company's own holster will turn off the screen when you insert the phone.Stop searchingIt is great that you can use Bluetooth technology to connect your smartphone to a headset or use Wi-Fi to speed up the downloading of email messages. But when you're not using that headset or you're not near a Wi-Fi hotspot, turn off those features.Portable devices don't know there isn't any Wi-Fi or a Bluetooth headset and continue to search for them, using unnecessary power.Similarly, put your phone to sleep when it is in standby. On an iPhone, do so through the Settings icon. On a BlackBerry, use the Manage Connections icon.Skip a generationYour smartphone is also continually looking for a mobile phone signal. If you're in a weak signal area, your phone must work even harder to find one, decreasing battery life. If you know there is no coverage in your area, turn off your device's mobile capabilities.If your GSM 3G network is not available or the signal is weak, the battery will drain faster looking for one.Consider turning off the phone's 3G network; it will make web access slower but won't affect the quality of phone calls.Check mail manuallyMobile smartphones can check for email messages and instant messages automatically. Or they can be set to "push" notifications as soon as they arrive in your server's mailbox. Both strategies can be power hogs.To increase your battery life, turn off push and increase the interval between when the phone checks for messages. Or better, set up your phone to check for messages manually.Turn off everythingThe simplest way to cut power to a minimum is to put your smartphone into "airplane mode". You turn your BlackBerry or iPhone into a music player and personal organiser and you won't be able to receive email messages or make or receive phone calls but you will stretch your battery."In airplane mode and running just the alarm clock, your iPhone battery will last up to a week," says Kyle Wiens, the co-founder of ifixit.com, an online iPhone and Mac laptop repair company.Disable the animationsThe hotter your laptop feels, the more battery power it is using. And one of the biggest users of power is Flash animation, the technology behind many online videos and animated ads.To improve battery life, disable Flash when not using wall power. BashFlash and ClicktoFlash for Macs and Flashblock for PC are programs that will automatically restrict Flash.Get an app to aid youA number of applications can help monitor battery life and shut off functions that cut down on a mobile device's effective power.Battery Go! and myBatteryLife tell iPhone owners how much charge they have left and how that power translates into minutes of talk time, music, video and web surfing.NB BattStat alerts BlackBerry owners to the amount of battery charge remaining, as well as the battery's temperature. (Hot batteries lose power more quickly.) The device can be set to vibrate or sound when a predetermined low battery level is reached.Radio Saver will monitor your BlackBerry's mobile coverage and shut off the device's mobile circuitry when you are out of range of a signal.Best BatterySaver allows owners of mobile phones using the Symbian operating system (including models from Nokia and Sony Ericsson) to create battery-saving profiles. For example, certain features can be turned on automatically when the phone is connected to a wall plug or Bluetooth can be disconnected automatically when the battery charge drops below a certain level.For laptops, programs such as Battery Health Monitor (Mac) and Laptop Battery Power Monitor (PC) keep track of battery charge and estimate how many more times you'll be able to recharge your battery.Realise the end will comeLithium-ion batteries cannot be overcharged; a device's circuitry cuts off the power when they are full.However, manufacturers still recommend that a laptop not be continually connected to power once the battery is at its capacity. If a laptop won't be used for several months, it should be stored with the battery in a 50 per cent charge state.All batteries can be fully charged and discharged for a fixed number of cycles; lithium ion batteries typically last between 300 and 500 cycles.Information on the number of cycles can be obtained at manufacturers' websites. Another good source of battery information can be found at batteryuniversity.com.
© 2010 Sydney Morning Herald
