life

The standard battery icon on your Android can be a little misleading. The icons for 90% and 80% battery may look the same, just like 15% and 5%. If you want a more detailed meter for your device's charge, check out ChargeBar for Android. This app puts a small bar along top or bottom of your screen that indicates the percentage charge of your device. It's easy to use and customize, read on to learn about it.

Step 1: Download and install ChargeBarChargeBar - MIUI Battery Bar.

Step 2: Run the app and examine … Read more

One of the advantages the physical version of your Sunday newspaper has over the digital edition is the inclusion of all those weekly sales fliers. The ones I look forward to are from Best Buy, Staples, and other tech-heavy stores, with all the latest sales and new products. However, beyond the color photos and bold-face prices, the actual details about the products on display can be hard to decipher. … Read more

Astronomers are finding lots of exoplanets that are orbiting stars like the sun, significantly raising the odds that we will find a similar world. But if we do, the chance that the surface of that planet will look like ours is very small, thanks to an unlikely culprit: plants.

We all know how Earth's landscape came about, right? Oceans and land masses formed, mountains rose, and precipitation washed over its surface; rivers weathered bare rock to create soil and plants took root. Well, new research indicates that the last stage of this scenario is not right. Vascular plants--those with … Read more

LAS VEGAS--We've all been there: halfway through the work day, the battery indicator on your smartphone switches to red, and you find yourself nervously looking for a power outlet.

Samsung Electronics hopes to alleviate the battery issue a bit--at least for most customers. The company has set a goal that smartphones coming out this year can last all day under average to moderately heavy use, according to Kevin Packingham, vice president of product innovation at Samsung.

"When you wake up to when you go to bed, we don't want you feeling anxiety about your battery life," … Read more

At CES, scientific-equipment giant Life Technologies unveiled a DNA sequencer designed to decode an entire human genome in a day for $1,000 by the end of 2012.

The Ion Proton Sequencer, priced at $149,000, isn't your typical hot commodity on the show floor. But the benchtop sequencer costs far less than its bulkier, slower predecessors (typically in the $500,000 to $750,000 range), and the $1,000 price tag--once costs fall to that level--could put personal gene sequencing directly into the hands of the masses.

"This is such an amazing moment in history," said … Read more

Battery life on iOS 5 has been a big letdown for both iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S users alike. As Apple continues to work on a solution, there is a quick and easy way to help increase your battery life. … Read more

When you sign a new wireless contract and pay $200 for the latest smartphone, you expect that device to last at least until the end of your two-year contract. Right?

Unfortunately that's not the case for many smartphone subscribers. If your device has issues within the first year, consider yourself lucky since the repair is likely covered under the manufacturer warranty. But if it craps out 13 months into your contract, you may be screwed. Ask Maggie offers some advice for how to protect yourself. And in a second question, there's some advice for keeping an older iPhone … Read more

If the Kindle Fire has become your closest companion, the last thing you want is for it to die on you.

With apps, books, the Web, and music running in the background, you might find that your tablet's battery life doesn't last as long as you expected. As ZDNET points out, "the Kindle Fire consumes battery like, well, an Android tablet."

You'll be lucky if you get the estimated 8 hours Amazon promises.

To fix your battery woes, you could carry around the charger (no, thanks!) or use some of these battery-saving tricks:

What's the most important measure of any laptop? Some might say the processor speed, or the size and weight, but at the end of the day, it's got to be battery life.

After all, these are mobile devices, designed to be used in coffee shops, airport lounges, and college libraries (even big laptops get carted around occasionally), so being able to spend the maximum amount of time possible away from a wall outlet is important.

During 2011, the CNET Labs team tested more than 100 laptops, from 11-inch ultraportables to monster 18-inch gaming rigs. Despite the wide range … Read more