Mili PowerSpring 4 doubles the battery life of your iPhone 4

By Thomas Ricker
From: http://www.engadget.com/

There's a big difference between the iPhone 4 and Galaxy S. No, not iOS vs. Android 2.1 or even Retina vs. Super AMOLED. We're talking batteries: one is removable and one isn't -- guess which is which? This perennial iPhone "feature" has spawned as entire industry of device-specific accessories that sate the need for more juice while simultaneously killing the form (and aesthetic) of an otherwise pocketable gadget. But hey, it's your only choice when you're either too busy (CES) or unable (intercontinental flights) to tether yourself to a power socket. And guess what? Those curvy battery packs that hugged your iPhone 3G/3GS won't work with the boxy iPhone 4. So, here's the latest, and one of the first iPhone 4 cases with an extended battery pack to ship. The Mili PowerSpring 4 starts shipping today for £54.99 (or $85 on Amazon). It claims to be the world's thinnest iPhone 4 battery pack to double your battery life thanks to a 1600mAh capacity Li-Pol battery. That makes this roadwarrior necessity just a bit less evil.

Mili, Amazon

An Exhaustive Guide to Saving Your Smartphone's Battery

By Kevin Purdy (Edit, to draft, Slurp)

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Modern phones come loaded with bright screens, fun games and apps, and connections for 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. Not coincidentally, they're constantly out of juice. Here's some of the best collected wisdom about saving your web-connected phone's battery life.

Photo by [177].

Note: I've tweaked a few sections, added in submissions from commenters, and removed a woefully misguided idea about dark-themed backgrounds since this post was originally published. Thanks for the help and (occasionally) gentle hand slaps.

Universal battery tips

They're different in a lot of ways, but all smartphones can be made to be more frugal with their limited power reserves if you're willing to follow a few simple rules of thumb.

• Keep it cool and out of pocket: If you're outside, don't leave your phone facing the direct sunlight. If you can pull it off without looking like a hyper-aggressive real estate agent, belt-clip your phone, or generally keep it out of your pocket and away from close quarters with your body heat.
• Switch off 3G when it's unnecessary: It's faster than EDGE or GRPS and can deliver both voice and data in a continuous stream to your phone. It also uses up quite a bit more power. When you've got good coverage and plan to mostly talk, or just get occasional email updates, you don't need such wide wireless pipes. Switch to EDGE/2G usage in your settings, preferably with a widget or shortcut.
• Switch off any unneeded service: Goes without saying for anyone who's learned the hard way. Having your phone constantly look for new Bluetooth devices, Wi-Fi hotspots, GPS positions, and Exchange server emails that don't arrive at 4 a.m. will definitely kill your battery. Find the most convenient way your phone offers to turn these things off, or automate their use, and act on it.
• Be frugal with background applications and notifications: It feels like living in the future when new emails, Twitter messages, Facebook updates, calendar appointments, and other minutiae are delivered minute-by-minute to your phone. Your battery lives in the present, though, and could use a break from your hyper-awareness. If you've got a phone that can keep multiple applications "open" for quicker access (Android, Pre, Windows Mobile), don't feel obligated to keep them present.
• Fiddle with screen time-outs and brightness: Tweak how long your screen stays lit after a quick time check, modify how bright it must stay during the daylight, and you'll likely pull a bit more use time from your handset.
• Use mobile site versions: Find and bookmark the mobile versions of the sites you always visit (often found at m.sitename.com, mobile.sitename.com, or, occasionally, sitename.com/m), and keep tools like the Google Mobilizer and Bing Mobile handy; they'll automatically pare down a page to its basic elements, and save your phone from having to burn its battery pulling down giant banner ads. Using Google mobile search on some phones also presents an "Options" menu next to each result, which provides a "mobile" link for any page.

Photo by sarchi.

BlackBerry

If you're rocking a BlackBerry, chances are that disconnecting your network to save on battery life isn't an option. Instead, you might try a few of these tips. Photo by liewcf.

• RIM's official tips: To summarize: Close your browser with the ESC key when you're done surfing, use shortcuts instead of Java-based menus, get crazy with the extensive settings, and use the Desktop Manager (now available for PCs and Mac OS X) to load media, rather than have your phone resize and compress it all.
• Radio Saver and AutoStandby: Radio Saver turns off your phone's cell reception when coverage is spotty or non-existent, saving you from the dreaded drain of roaming for signal. AutoStandby, when it's on, drops your BlackBerry into a deeper standby state, rather than just sleep, if you'd rather get a bit more time from your phone than be constantly pinged. They're $2.99 each, which isn't cheap for a utility, but might be worth the coffee change if you're low on battery life or working on the edge of service.
• BBlight: This simple little app allows you to have your screen's backlight automatically turn off after a set period of time. Here's the direct over-the-air link. Thanks atomicrabbit!
• The Boy Genius basics: Straight from the BlackBerry-toting, news-breaking blogger behind the Boy Genius Report, the basics on keeping your phone alive:

  Turn down brightness of the screen, turn the LED off, turn Bluetooth off, Wi-Fi off (when not needed).

  Also, keep it in a holster, since it will "sleep" (when inside it)

  No silver bullets there, but sound advice—especially on the holster bit.

iPhones

Apple's game-changing, full-web-browsing phone has had its battery life detractors from the get-go. Luckily, some have put their efforts into fixing that. Photo by Mat Honan.

• Apple's official tips: To summarize: Don't get it too hot or too cool, turn off unnecessary services, "lock" it frequently, and let the battery run completely down, and then charge to 100 percent, at least once a month.
• Gizmodo's suggestions: To summarize: Change from Push to Fetch email, turn off contacts and calendar sync if you're not a CEO, cancel scanning for new Wi-Fi networks, and avoid games with vibration and 3D graphics (except in seriously long airport lines).
• Toggle networks with SBSettings jailbreak app: By default, the iPhone's on/off switches are tucked inside the settings, and the phone can only automate screen brightness. With SBSettings installed on a jailbroken phone (from the BigBoss repository), you can not toggle all your data connections on and off from a flip-down widget, and fine-tune other battery-grabbing aspects of your phone. See and read more about SBSettings at The Apple Blog. Thanks j_rich!
• Use the battery percentage indicator: The standard battery indicator can leave you guessing as to how healthy your iPhone actually is, and sometimes misreports its state entirely. If you've got a iPhone 3GS, or a jailbroken iPhone, you can enable a numeric percentage read on your lock screen by heading to Settings, General, and then Usage to toggle "Battery Percentage" to On.
• Use Prowl, GPush, or very light Push for Gmail: We first showed you how to use Prowl and Growl to push Gmail to your iPhone, and it remains a more battery-efficient means of getting important email notifications, particularly while your main work computer is running. We also detailed a work-around with GPush that works at any time—when it works, period. Since then, Gmail has added official push support for instant email notifications, but it also makes manual email fetching more reliable, so users can set it to an hourly or manual interval to save on battery use. Thanks drjonze and wbullockiii!

Android

The current crop of Android phones have almost universally crummy battery life. Luckily, the system's open platform has given app developers lots of leeway to squeeze every drop out of them. Photo by sugree.

• Automate your phone rules: When you're asleep, you want important calls to come through, but you don't need to check your email every hour. When you're at work, your screen doesn't need to be so bright, and you've already got net access. Using an app like Locale , you can make turning on and off your phone's most power-hungry features automatic, based on time of day, location, battery status, and other factors.
• Learn to love APNdroid: It's more severe, but APNdroid is also the most sincere battery saver out there. Click its app icon, and your EDGE/3G cell networks are turned off, while your basic call connection remains in place. That's better than Airplane Mode, which totally renders you inaccessible, and, used wisely, you'll definitely notice the difference when you start charging every other day. Better still, it seems a Locale plug-in is in the works, so turning off your wireless access when it's not needed could become a no-brainer.
• Keep the power widget handy: When your Android 1.6 (a.k.a. Donut) update arrives, you'll have a new widget available, "Power Control," that puts some important on/off switches—Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, auto-sync, and screen brightness—all on one horizontal strip. Keep it someplace handy on your home screen, and power down when you're at your most casual.
• See what's eating your juice: Also new in Android 1.6: A percentage Battery Use chart you can access under About Phone in your Settings. It shows what's been pulling in power since the last time you charged your phone, which can help remind you of background apps and other power drains.

Windows Mobile

Older than almost all its siblings, but Windows Mobile has grown to incorporate all the same battery-killing background powers as its brethren. Photo by Titanus.

• WMExperts' tips: To summarize: Avoid Wi-Fi whenever possible, dial down your email checking, and dig into your settings to modify screen time-outs and vibration frequency.
• WMLongLife: Basically, this independent app switches your phone from 3G service down to 2G when it's in standby mode, so background data grabs and non-essential pings drain less battery. The developer also states it has a beneficial impact on, erm, other functions.

Palm Pre

Everybody who digs the Palm Pre mentions its "deck of cards" multi-tasking and Sprint's seriously speedy data networks. Yeah, you guessed it—both require a little power precaution.

• Treonauts' battery tips: To summarize: Turn it off (or into airplane mode) when in very weak coverage, and follow the same kind of auto-check and background app recommendations made earlier in this post.
• Battery Saver: This homebrew app is only really useful if there are parts of the day where another phone provides you with emergency contact—like at home, if you have an alternate line. If that's the case, though, turning your phone to airplane mode at pre-set parts of the day gives you the advantage of a quick power-on or contact check, while also saving on battery life.

How to make your iPhone battery last for days

Away from power? Here's the ultimate guide to saving juice

By Dan Grabham

As the iPhone is so fully featured, there are a myriad of ways to save power

Recently, when standing in a field at Glastonbury, the idea came to us – was it really possible to make your iPhone battery last for several days? Well yes it is, as long as you completely strip down the power-sucking features and follow a few simple tips. Keep an eye on how long your iPhone typically lasts by going to Settings > General > Usage.

And, although this is not completely a power-saving tip, before you leave it's always best to make sure you have the latest software installed: Apple is always working on little fixes to improve your iPhone's power savings.

1. Keep it cool
Seriously. Don't put your phone in the sun. Don't leave it in a hot pocket. Battery life is lowered by heat and you should store your iPhone in temperatures less than 35 degrees centigrade – below 95F. As close to room temperature as possible is best for use.

2. Don't use power-sucking apps you don't need to
Minimise your app use, especially if it's a game, stuff that sucks data (hello, Facebook) or uses GPS. Not only does some of the fun stuff suck power, it can also stop the auto-lock coming on.

3. Turn off 3G
So there we were, in our field, with little data coverage (thanks O2). So what did we do? Turn off data, that's what. If you haven't got it, there's no point in wasting juice looking for it. Settings > General > Network and slide Enable 3G to Off.

4. No to EQ
Who'd have thunk, but equalising your iPod playback can drain your battery pack. Settings > iPod > EQ is where to turn it off.

5. Don't fetch
Set the common apps to only fetch data when you want them to. Set Mail, Contacts and Calendars to only fetch data Manually. BE WARNED - if you have MobileMe, it's dangerous to set the auto-check to Manual, since the much-vaunted Find My iPhone won't work.

6. Don't make long calls
Or don't make any calls. Sounds like the stupid filler tip, but if you do make calls (and you probably do, as that's almost certainly what you're conserving battery for), just keep 'em short.

7. Lock it up
iPhone not in use? Make sure you lock the screen and set the auto-lock to a minute in case you leave it unlocked.

8. Don't use the GPS
Minimise use of it (such as in Maps or turn-by-turn sat-nav) and disable it: Settings > General > Location Services. If you're lost, ignore this advice.

9. Turn it off when you don't need it
Sleeping? With all your mates anyway? Then turn your phone off. Bit pointless if it's for 10 minutes, but if it's hours, it will add up.

10. Disable Wi-Fi
Nowhere near a wireless network? Go to Settings and slide Wi-Fi- to off. However, if you are going to be doing a fair amount of data browsing and you are near a wireless network, it will be better for your battery to use this than the thirsty cellular signal.

11. Turn off Bluetooth
Likewise, make sure Bluetooth is off. And keep it there unless you use accessories: Settings > General > Bluetooth and slide Bluetooth to Off.

12. Push off
Not many apps use push notifications, but in the future this will have more of an effect on your iPhone's battery life as more start to. Settings > Notifications and slide Notifications to Off – only visible if you have relevant apps installed. Apple says this won't stop the apps receiving data when the app is actually open though, so be careful, unless you've disabled data in other ways. Equally you need to turn off push mail (MobileMe, Microsoft Exchange). Go to Settings Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data and slide Push to Off.

13. Turn it down
Refrain from employing the speaker for music playback and turn down the volume - louder playback can make a difference, even with the headphones. Set the phone to silent on the side.

14. Dim your screen
Turn off auto-brightness and whack the brightness down as low as possible. Especially effective for many of us, as it's the supreme brightness that's one of the things that makes the iPhone screen look terrific, so it's usually very bright as a default.

15. Go airplane
If you've got very little coverage, you can't make calls anyway. If you're going to be in a coverage lowspot for a little while, turn on Airplane Mode. It makes a serious difference, since your handset won't be continuously searching for a network signal. This is one of the biggest drains of battery life on any handset.

So that's it. Still not convinced? Then buy one of these. And if your battery really is dying, then one of these might be the answer.