Source: http://infotech.indiatimes.com/quickiearticleshow/5714867.cms
Indiatimes Infotech If you're a recent convert to smartphones, you're probably still discovering all the amazing things that your new 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 cellphone's charge can easily go three days or more, many smartphone owners are dismayed to learn that their new mobile 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 lithiumion batteries. Reconsider your network All things being equal, the CDMA mobile standard uses more power than a GSM network. If battery life is critical, you might want to consider GSM as long as its coverage meets your needs. Dim your phone's display The brighter your screen, the more juice you're using. If you're in a dimly lit room, turn down your LCD screen's brightness. If your device has an autodimming feature that detects the light in a room, use it. Similarly, if you use your smartphone or laptop to play music, lower the volume. Stop searching It 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 not near a Wi-Fi hot spot, turn off those features on the phone or laptop. The reason is that portable devices will continue to look for Wi-Fi or a Bluetooth headset, using power. Check mail manually Mobile smartphones can check for e-mail 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 new messages. Or better, set up your phone to check for messages manually. Turn off everything The 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 organizer, and you won't be able to receive e-mail 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," said Kyle Wiens, cofounder of ifixit.com, an online iPhone and Mac laptop repair company. Disable the animations The 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 There are a number of applications that can help monitor battery life and shut off various 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 cellular 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 automatically turned on when the phone is connected to a wall plug, or Bluetooth can be automatically disconnected when the battery charge drops below a certain level. Realise the end will come The older generation of nickel cadmium batteries suffered from memory issues; if you didn't fully charge and discharge one, it would hold a progressively smaller amount of juice. Today's lithium-ion batteries don't suffer from memory loss, so it is safe to top off a battery. No matter how well you husband your battery's resources, there comes a time when you'll need to send your battery to its final resting place. Like most things nearing the end of their life, your battery will stay awake less and sleep more. "If your battery lasts only an hour after you've charged it," said Anthony Magnabosco, owner of Milliamp.com, a battery replacement company, "you know its time is up." To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
