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All posts tagged "power"


Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Wireless Charging for Upcoming WMG Devices

Posted by Jerry Raia in "Smartphone Talk" @ 02:00 PM

http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archive...mg_devices.html

"It is reported that Wireless Mobile Group (WMG) will integrate Slaspower’s wireless charging technology in the batteries of its smartphones. We can only hope that other vendors will adopt this or some thing similar that would make wireless charging more popular. Right now, it is unfortunately a small niche."

Seems like a good idea doesn't it? You just put the device on top of a base of some kind and it charges, no wires. So when you travel you have to bring this base, and the power cord, with you. Perhaps the only thing you are being spared is plugging a cord into the phone to charge it. Oh well.


Monday, January 29, 2007

J.D. Power Announces US Carrier Customer Service Rankings

Posted by Mike Temporale in "NEWS" @ 12:15 PM

http://www.mobileburn.com/news.jsp?Id=3072&source=SIDEBARHOME

"Study results show that customers who interact with a customer service representative on the phone report better experiences than those contacting the carrier through an automated system. Contacting the carrier via the Internet or email was rated least favorable by customers."

No surprise here. Who enjoys talking with those automated systems and email support can be painfully slow. Once again, T-Mobile ranked highest when it came to customer care - I can't tell you how many T-Mo customers tell me how much they like their carrier. And to underscore just how important customer care is, J.D. Power found that half of all wireless users have needed to contact customer care within the last year. So it just makes sense to treat the customer nicely. :)


Saturday, January 6, 2007

Get Ready to Throw Out Those Power Adapters, Cables and Connectors; Wireless Power is Here

Posted by Kris Kumar in "OFF-TOPIC" @ 02:45 PM

http://news.com.com/Wireless+power+gets+recharged/2100-1041_3-6147684.html

"At the Consumer Electronics Show next week, two companies--Arizona-based start-up WildCharge and Michigan-based Fulton Innovation--will demonstrate what are expected to be very different ways to give gadgets juice, sans wires. The concept isn't new, and some of the same challenges--such as cost and size--that have prevented the technology from winning over manufacturers still remain. But executives at the companies, who won't say how much their recharging devices will cost, hope the sheer amount of mobile gadgets today could portend a different outcome."

User submitted image
Image credit: Splashpower.

Every time we add a new gadget to our ever growing collection, we add a new power adapter to our collection. Every evening when we come home from work, we wish we didn't have have to untangle those power adapter cables and look for an empty outlet to charge our gadgets for the next day. Looks like our wish is soon going to be full-filled, provided the mobile gadget manufacturers adopt the wireless charging concept. Personally, I am not sure if the mobile manufacturers would be interested in letting go of the revenue stream associated with the power accessories. CNET is talking about two companies, WildCharge and Fulton Innovation, that will be demonstrating their products at the CES 2007.


Saturday, November 25, 2006

Mobile Power Options from Pocket PC Techs

Posted by Jerry Raia in "SITES & RESOURCES" @ 07:00 AM

http://www.twoinchview.com/109-mobile-power-options-from-pocket-pc-techs

"If there�s one thing that every Windows Mobile device owner wishes they could forget about its battery life. It doesn�t matter if you use your device for productivity, gaming, music, video, or email � everything takes power. Who wants to think about recharging their devices? There�s nothing exciting about that � the fun comes in using them! Sadly, battery life still isn�t at the point where a single charge will last weeks, so until that happens we need to have strategies in place for getting as much use out of our Windows Mobile Smartphones and Pocket PCs as possible."

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If you are looking for power management accessories you might be interested in Jason's article over on Two Inch View. I know making batteries last as long as possible is critical for some of you. There are some interesting little gadgets out there to help you do that. Head on over and take a look.


Thursday, August 17, 2006

Power to the Pocket PC

Posted by Mike Temporale in "ARTICLE" @ 06:30 AM

http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2006/08/16/702833.aspx

"if you don�t have apps that use the CPU when they shouldn�t, then suspending is actually worse for your battery life than not suspending. Check out the �Mike, what are you smoking?� section of this entry if you�re interested in why. The extremely short description, though, is that waking up and suspending again on a PocketPC takes a lot more time (and power) than doing the equivalent on a Smartphone. This is no big deal if you�re just turning the device on occasionally to check your calendar. But, in today�s highly connected world of devices that frequently download new mail and get SMSes, etc, the Smartphone model starts to really win out."

Mike Calligaro continues his posts on the what drains your battery power. His last article was all about power drain on the Smartphone and if you haven't already read it, I recommend you do. This time the article is on the Pocket PC. I know, we don't talk to much about the Pocket PC around here. (It's covered in detail on our sister site, Pocket PC Thoughts ;) ) But, Mike's post highlights a number of differences between the Pocket PC and the Smartphone and I think you'll find it just as interesting as his other writings.

Tags: pocket, power

Tuesday, August 8, 2006

Power to the Smartphone

Posted by Kris Kumar in "ARTICLE" @ 03:10 AM

http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2006/08/04/689069.aspx

"There's been a fair amount of interest in an offhand comment I made recently about saving a lot of standby time by making an LED blink less frequently. So let's spend some time talking about what burns power on your Smartphone. Hopefully this will give you an understanding of where that battery power went and maybe help you figure out how to squeeze a little more life out of your devices. ... Every phone is different. Any numbers I give for a "typical" phone might be wildly different on your phone. Hardware changes all the time, and so do these numbers. So don't hold me to them. But, a "typical" WM Smartphone has around a 1000 mAh battery. And, when in standby (backlight off, screen off, cpu doing very little, phone only listening for incoming calls), the typical device burns around 5 mA. Doing the math, you'll see that the typical device should run for 200 hours on standby."

User submitted image

Mike Calligaro over at the Windows Mobile Team Blog has written another informative article, this time it's about the power consumption on our Smartphones. Mike is talking about the factors that can decrease the battery life by increasing the power consumption. I didn't know that those blinking LEDs can affect the battery life, in fact I am one of those people who misses them if the phone doesn't have them, like the Moto Q for example. After reading the article I am ready to carry the "Down with LEDs" placards; anyone wants to join me? :lol:

Tags: power, smartphone

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Airports Plan Free Re-Charge Stations for Power Hungry Devices

Posted by Mike Temporale in "OFF-TOPIC" @ 06:00 PM

http://www.suntimes.com/output/tech/cst-nws-power19.html

"Last month, 40,000 air travelers coughed up a daily fee of $6.95 for the right to access the Internet at O'Hare and Midway airports. But what good is wireless Internet access if passengers have no place to recharge their dying BlackBerries, PDAs and laptop computers? Newly appointed Chicago Aviation Commissioner Nuria Fernandez has been asking herself that question after strolling through passenger terminals, only to find desperate travelers sitting on the floor hogging electrical outlets reserved for maintenance equipment. "People are recharging in the various sockets available through the janitorial services. . . . We have maintenance outlets throughout the airport used mainly for vacuuming and cleaning. But those are the only outlets available. So we have travelers sitting on the floor, plugging in and recharging," Fernandez said."

During my last travels, I was one of those people hanging around the electrical outlets. Luckily, I was able to sit on a nearby seat and not the floor. Anyway, it's nice to see that people are paying attention to these details, and what's better is that the re-charge stations are going to be free. I was concerned that it would be a terminal where you have to swipe your credit card before the outlet is "activated". Thankfully, that's not the case. :D


Sunday, February 26, 2006

Altoids USB Charger - For All Your USB Power Needs

Posted by Mike Temporale in "HARDWARE" @ 07:30 AM

http://www.aarondunlap.com/blog/1130885615

"There's a small tradition for people like me with my (mental) faculties to go about building their own slick iPod accessories. Other people have designed battery-powered chargers for their iPods, from Altoid tins, and I wanted in on the action. But the problem with these designs is that they use Firewire ports to power their iPods, which renders them pretty much only for charging their iPods, whereas USB can power iPods, cell phones, air conditioners, little robot guys, rubber duckie lights, personal cooling fans, air purifiers, Christmas trees, and essentially anything that requires 5 volts or less. So I figured I'd make a battery-powered USB charger that I could use to power my cell phone or my iPod in a grind."

User submitted image

Pay no attention to that Treo-thingie on the left hand side. All that matters is the Altoids can on the right and the fact that it can provide power to your favourite USB devices - your Windows Mobile Smartphone :D If you're always wondering where that next charge is going to come from, you'll be interested in this handy gadget. ;)

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  • Source: Rocco Augusto


Wednesday, February 8, 2006

Geekzone Review Socket Mobile Power Pack

Posted by Mike Temporale in "ARTICLE" @ 11:00 AM

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?ContentId=5732

"Tired of carrying multiple chargers, one for each different device (the Pocket PC, the Smartphone, the iPod, the Portable Media Center, the Bluetooth stereo headphones, the Bluetooth stereo adapter, the rechargeable Bluetooth GPS, and more)? I was too. Until I found that Socket's Mobile Power Pack was actually available in New Zealand. I bought one of these for my own use (plus a couple to give to some geek friends) and immediately reaped the benefits. The idea is simple: a super 5 volt rechargeable Lithium Ion battery, with 7,200 mAh capacity (output is 5 volts @ 1.8 Amps) � and a USB Type A plug."

User submitted image

Got a lot of gadgets? Sick of carrying all the power cables around? Check out the Socket Mobile Power Pack review from Geekzone. It could be just what you're looking for. I know a number of you already have one of these all-in-one power packs, let us know how you're getting by with them. Was it worth the investment?


Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Intel to Improve Power Consumption for Mobile Phones

Posted by Mike Temporale in "NEWS" @ 08:15 AM

http://www.pcworld.com/resource/article/0,aid,122609,pg,1,RSS,RSS,00.asp

"Intel expects to announce on Tuesday plans to build chips for handhelds and mobile phones on a separate version of its future manufacturing technology that greatly minimizes transistor current leakage, according to the company's manufacturing chief. Intel is getting ready to introduce its first chips built on its 65-nanometer process technology, which is a generational advance over the company's current chip-making blueprint. While the company has made strides in reducing the problem of power leakage with its upcoming generation of PC and server processors, a more aggressive approach is needed to produce future chips for battery-operated devices, said Mark Bohr, a senior fellow and director of Intel's process architecture and implementation."

User submitted image

Transistors used in Intel's chips can leak power in the form of heat. In some cases, this can happen even when the device is not turned on. While this isn't a problem specific to Intel's chips or designs, they plan on addressing this issue to help extend battery life and improve the overall performance of their chips. I'm sure it will be a number of years before we see anything from this effort in our phones, but it's nice to see that everyone is taking a serious look at power consumption and working to find new ways of extending the life of a battery powered device.


Monday, September 19, 2005

Pocket XM Radio puts the Power Of Satellite Radio in Your Smartphone

Posted by Mike Temporale in "SOFTWARE" @ 12:30 PM

http://www.smartphone.net/smartphonethoughts/software_detail.asp?id=1664

User submitted image

If you're a satellite radio fan, then you'll be happy to see this new Smartphone application. Pocket XM Radio gives you access to unlimited XM Radio from your Smartphone without the need to buy a receiver. You can listen to 100% commercial free music and even create a favourite list. A valid XM radio account is required to use this software past the trial period. You can download a trial version or purchase a copy from our affiliate store for $14.95. If you download it, be sure to let us know about your experiences with it. :D

UPDATE: I made a mistake above, there is no trial version. :( Sorry everyone.

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  • Source: mbranscum / stevew


Friday, August 12, 2005

Mike Calligaro Talks About Managing Power Consumption the Hard Way

Posted by Mike Temporale in "ARTICLE" @ 10:45 AM

http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2005/08/11/450591.aspx

"The previous techniques were to not burn CPU cycles (i.e. animate something) if your app wasn't in the foreground, and to only animate for so long after your app received input. But what if your code is hosted in some other app and you don't really know if you're in the foreground? And what if you don't really ever receive input? Wouldn't it be nice if there was some component in the system that kept track of all of this? And wouldn't it be even better if that component could tell us when it's time for us to clamp down and stop burning cycles? In fact, that component does exist, and it can tell you what's going on in the system. The component is Power Manager and it has a mechanism for signaling you whenever a System Power State transition happens."

Mike Calligaro continues his blog postings about power consumption in the Windows Mobile world. While this article is focused on developers, I think a lot of good information in it for all of us. It might help you think twice about installing some hacked up homescreen plugin. ;)


Tuesday, May 31, 2005

New Touchpad Sensor for Cellphone Requires no Power

Posted by Mike Temporale in "NEWS" @ 07:00 AM

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/tech/200505/kt2005053020260011790.htm

"Atrua Technologies, the U.S.-based high-tech venture, may change the rules of the cell phone game with its new-concept input device using intelligent touch control. In a recent interview with The Korea Times, Atrua vice president Carl Temme predicted premium phones will adopt Atrua Wing, the firm�s touch control device, starting next year. Atrua Wing detects and converts finger movements of users into responsive control capabilities, thus enabling fingerprint recognition or improving the usability of mobile phones through easy mastery of games and other applications. ...Atrua Wing is composed of a touch control sensor and embedded software and the tiny product does not need power since the electricity generated by finger motion is strong enough to operate it."

The Atrua Wing is a small sensor that replaces the joystick/joypad on your mobile device. It acts in much the same way as a touchpad on todays laptops, only much smaller and requires no power - other than your finger. You can see a Flash based mock up/marketing promo of this on the Atrua website. I wonder how long it will be before we see something like this on a Smartphone.

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  • Source: Textually.org


Thursday, January 13, 2005

JAVOedge Introduces Mobile Power Kit

Posted by Mike Temporale in "HARDWARE" @ 11:00 AM

http://www.javoedge.com/simtrix/productMtce/productDetail.do?state=init&productId=455&productRef=PMPK-61119-01&category=BUNDLE_MOB

"Remember the last time you traveled with all your electronic power cords to charge your digital camera, cellular phone, and PDA? It was a headache carrying all your power cords which takes up much of your luggage space, right? JAVOedge is glad to introduce the Mobile Power Kit. This kit is your complete charging solution for all your mobile devices. The Mobile Power Kit comes with adapters which are designed to help consolidate all your electronic power cords into one charging adapter. Essentially, it saves you plenty of traveling space, and bye-bye to headaches when matching the different kinds of power cords for each model. The Mobile Power Kit is an excellent tool to be used when driving, at the office, and on business/family trips."

User submitted image


Tuesday, December 14, 2004

The Power of Tech Enthusiast Sites

Posted by Jason Dunn in "NEWS" @ 12:00 PM

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB110298326599699100-H9jeoNhlal3o5ysZ4KHcaiFm4,00.html

"Mr. Brome and cybersleuths like him are at the center of a teeming world of online cellphone gossip that is taking on an influential role in the $100 billion industry. The sites have emerged over the past couple of years, riding the global boom in the gadgets as their position in popular culture grows. With names like engadget.com and mobiletracker.net, the sites draw users capable of spending hours debating everything from a certain cellphone's battery life to the location of its volume button. The sites used to draw protests and legal threats from companies unhappy at seeing their secret product plans publicly aired. Now, cellphone makers are starting to court them, as their popularity surges to several hundred thousand users a month for some sites."

The article focuses mostly on the phone sites, but it does mention yours truly:

"Jason Dunn, who started a site devoted to palm-sized personal computers several years ago from his Calgary home, regularly gets invited to Microsoft Corp.'s campus in Redmond, Wash."

Damn, no link! ;-) At any rate, tech enthusiast sites are certainly a powerful force in the marketplace - I know that I look to my fellow enthusiast sites for reviews and opinions on things before I buy a product, and I don't have very much trust in PC World, C|NET, or any other mainstream tech news site. Where do you fall? Survey time!

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  • Source: Peter Rojas


Friday, October 8, 2004

DeveloperOne Updates Power Tasks & Power Calendar

Posted by Mike Temporale in "SOFTWARE" @ 06:45 AM

http://www.developerone.com

DeveloperOne has been busy updating their Smartphone software offerings. Both Power Tasks and Power Calendar have a new version out, and an updated version of CodeWallet Pro is coming in the next couple weeks. It looks like the upgrades are free for existing customers!

User submitted image
User submitted image

"Featuring all-new compact, yet powerful editors to speed the creation of new calendar items! New pop-up date selector makes it easy to select dates for tasks or appointments. No need to key-in dates anymore or guess what the date is three weeks from now!

Improvements also include enhancements to the way you can add contact information, Email items, better support for setting more types of recurring items and more!

Our Power Text feature makes it debut in Power Calendar! Power Text gives you the most powerful way to quickly insert text, phrases, date/time stamps, contact information, into any appointment or task field. With just a few presses of the action button, you can create a new appointment with a contact name, phone number and subject line! Even use Power Text to help you track time you've spent with a client on the phone and much more!"


Thursday, October 7, 2004

J.D. Power Wireless Retail Sales Satisfaction Survey

Posted by Kris Kumar in "NEWS" @ 04:00 PM

http://www.jdpower.com/news/releases/pressrelease.asp?ID=2004147

"This inaugural study provides a detailed assessment of customers who had a wireless retail sales buying experience within the past six months. The study measures overall customer satisfaction performance of the major wireless carrier-branded stores based on four factors (listed in order of importance): sales staff (44%); price/promotion (28%); store display (14%); and store facility (14%).

"T-Mobile ranks highest with an overall retail satisfaction index score of 109 and performs significantly above the industry average in all four factors, with particularly high ratings in sales staff. Nextel, AT&T Wireless and Verizon Wireless also perform above the industry average, with index scores of 103, 102 and 101, respectively."


User submitted image

T-Mobile must be running out of shelf space to display all the awards it has been winning lately. There is one more award that T-Mobile can win, the "Smartphone Lovers Satisfaction Survey"; for that T-Mobile must quickly launch the SDA. ;-)

The study finds the following key retail wireless sales transaction patterns:
� The average wireless retail sales transaction takes approximately one hour to complete from the time the customer enters the store to the time final paperwork is completed and the cell phone is received.
� Forty-three percent of customers report that they first decided which service carrier to choose during the initial sales process. This compares to 29 percent who said price, 11 percent for type/brand of cell phone and 7 percent for store location.

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  • Source: MobileTracker


Sunday, September 12, 2004

J.D. Power Survey: Carriers May Be Finally Catching Up With Customer Expectations

Posted by Kris Kumar in "OFF-TOPIC" @ 01:00 PM

http://www.jdpa.com/studies_jdpower/pressrelease3.asp?ss=tps&ID=2004099

"Overall satisfaction performance with wireless service providers has increased 5 percent over 2003, the first time a significant increase has been achieved on a year-to-year basis in three years, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2004 U.S. Wireless Regional Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) Study released today.

"Since the study was launched in 1995, overall wireless satisfaction performance has fluctuated in a downward trend based on a number of industry changes such as competitive expansion, mergers and key regulatory programs. These forces have made it difficult for carriers to meet customer expectations as wireless service gained mass appeal. Carriers may be finally catching up with customer expectations, particularly in areas where the industry as been concentrating most of its financial resources. For example, the call quality area receives the largest reported increase in satisfaction ratings over 2003 (increasing 7%), with coverage attributes such as "making calls outside local calling area" and "geographic size of local calling area" experiencing the biggest positive changes. Satisfaction with the cost of service has also risen significantly, mainly based on a strong increase in "fairness in roaming charges."


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The key highlights of this study are:
� Overall wireless household penetration is 59%
� Overall satisfaction performance with carriers increased 5% over 2003
� T-Mobile ranked highest in all six regions
� Verizon Wireless also ranks highest in a tie in four regions
� Users report spending $55 per month on wireless service
� Only 60% of the total minutes in a typical service plan are used
� Wireless subscribers report receiving an average of 19 voice mail and 13 text messages per month 8O

You can check out the performance of each carrier on a region by region basis over here.


Saturday, August 21, 2004

J.D. Power Call Quality Performance Survey Results

Posted by Kris Kumar in "NEWS" @ 06:35 AM

http://money.cnn.com/2004/08/19/technology/personaltech/cell_quality/index.htm

"AT&T Wireless scored below average in every region of the country in the latest J.D. Power and Associates Wireless Call Quality Performance Study."

Main results of the study:
Northeast Region: Sprint PCS & Verizon Wireless are tied
Mid-Atlantic Region: Verizon Wireless
Southeast Region: T-Mobile
North Central Region: Nextel Communications
Southwest Region: T-Mobile
West Region: Sprint PCS
� T-Mobile is ranked higher than Verizon Wireless in four out of six regions :?
� Cingular is ranked below average in all regions except the West

I live in the Northeast region and my observations agree with the findings of this survey. Do you agree with the survey?

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  • Source: aristoBrat


Monday, July 26, 2004

GeekZone Reviews Power Task By DeveloperOne

Posted by Mike Temporale in "ARTICLE" @ 05:15 AM

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=3058

"DeveloperOne Power Tasks uses the same Tasks database but improves on the usability front, creating a great solution for to-do and task list management. And because it uses the Tasks database, current tasks already in the Smartphone are automatically shown, and the ActiveSync synchronisation remains the same. In short low impact in migrating from one program to another.For a start the user interface makes it very easy to enter tasks. This is sure an incentive to use this management helper even more. If you don't have any tasks in your Smartphone yet a screen with basic instructions will be shown. To add your first task or to-do item simply move the joystick up. This will move the cursor to the description field. Each time you move the joystick up it'll cycle through pre-define text, like "Meet with", "Call", "Lunch with", "Schedule", "Visit", "Buy". Simply select one of these and add your own text to the end of the field."

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DeveloperOne has a reputation for creating excellent software for both the Pocket PC and Smartphone platforms. If you haven't heard of them before, I recommend you check them out. If you've been looking at Power Tasks, GeekZone has done a stand up job once again. It's a great review that will help make that purchasing decision even easier. :D


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