batteries

Buyers of Samsung's 4G LTE Galaxy Nexus smartphone can now score a free extended-life battery with the usual two-year contract.

The free battery bundle consists of the i515 2100 mAh battery and a special cover for added protection. This package normally sells for $49.99 directly from Samsung and runs anywhere from $30 to $40 from various online retailers.… Read more

A report from DisplayMate Technologies yesterday noted that Apple's latest iPad is not fully charged when it shows that it's 100 percent juiced up, and today the creator of that report says the problem is due to bad math.

In a note sent to CNET and other media outlets this morning, DisplayMate President Ray Soneira said the iPad's behavior here can be attributed to the calculations that go into determining how far along the recharging process is based on battery health and other factors:

The charge indicator on all mobile devices is based on a mathematical model … Read more

Apple's new iPad has been receiving much high praise for its Retina Display, the showcase feature during its unveiling earlier this month, but the inclusion of a 4G LTE-capable option has prompted quite a few discussions over whether Apple's new iPhone will be 4G-ready.

According to Krishna Sagar, a tipster writing to iDownload Blog, Apple is definitely working on a 4G LTE iPhone, and iOS 5.1 has the code to prove it.

Using iFile on a jailbroken iPhone 4 (running iOS 5.1, of course) Sagar was able to find code strings indicating 4G connectivity actions during … Read more

By doubling the number of LEDs in the new iPad, Apple cut somewhat into battery life--particularly when used at full brightness--something you won't find on Apple's tech spec page.

Though the new iPad's battery is 1.7 times larger than the iPad 2's, all of those extra LEDs still take a toll on battery life at full brightness--as Raymond Soneira, president of DisplayMate Technologies, told CNET in a phone interview yesterday.

"The [power consumption of the] LEDs is 2.5X compared to the iPad 2, and the battery is 1.7X [larger]...so what happens … Read more

Reported heat issues with new iPad are most likely due to a combination of more backlights and more power needed to drive the backlights, an expert told CNET. This follows a CNET report attributing extra heat to the new iPad's A5X chip, also.

Apple has doubled the number of LEDs in the new iPad to achieve the same brightness as the iPad 2, driving up power requirements and therefore heat, Raymond Soneira, president of DisplayMate Technologies, said in a phone interview today.

"The LED power at maximum brightness is 2.5 times that of the iPad 2," … Read more

Anyone got a charger? If you're tearing your hair out at your phone running out of juice all the time, it could be that your favorite apps are to blame. New research suggests that up to 75 percent of free Android apps' battery use is spent on advertisements and other hidden tasks.

New Scientist reports the findings from Indiana's Purdue University, where curious boffins built special software to analyze apps' power demands.

For example, the research reveals (PDF) that smash hit Angry Birds, among others, spends just a fifth of the power it uses on actually playing the fowl-flinging game. Instead, nearly half of the energy used by the app goes toward checking where you are using GPS and downloading adverts over 3G that are specific to your location.

Read more of "Free Android apps waste 75 per cent of power on adverts" at Crave UK. … Read more

Heat has come up as an issue with previous generations of iPads. So, that's not news. But the new iPad may have, in select cases, its own unique heat problems.

User forum postings (here and here) and a report seem to point to heat as an issue for select users.

The problem area--based on forum links above--seems to be a hot-spot in the corner of the unit.

In the worst case, the iPad shuts down and a message pops up, saying "the iPad needs to cool down," according to a Next Web report (link above).

That seems … Read more

Over the last couple of days I've run CNET's tablet battery drain test on both the new iPad and the iPad 2. The iPad 2's battery life hadn't been tested since iOS 4.3, so while my focus was on evaluating the new iPad's battery, this was also an opportunity to see if iOS 5.1 brought any battery life improvements over 4.3.

The results The results speak for themselves, but if you need further explanation, continue reading after the chart. … Read more

iPhone owners are the happiest among smartphone customers, but mobile users in general share the same major beef: battery life.

For the seventh consecutive time, Apple was tops among smartphone makers with a satisfaction score of 839 out of 1,000, according to results from J.D. Power's latest survey, which is done every six months. The company did well in all of the factors measured by the survey--performance, ease of operation, features, and physical design. But owners were most satisfied with the iPhone's features and ease of operation.

HTC took second place with a score of 798, … Read more