batteries

Hello Friends lockscreen app not only displays your friends, but the weather and battery in latest update

Rich Edmonds 6 years ago 15

Hello Friends is a useful and popular app for Windows Phone that enables consumers to add photos of contact stored on the device to the lockscreen and create the same mosaic effect that's utilised on the People Hub Live Tile. As well as being available for Windows Phone 8 (with the added lockscreen support), Hello Friends is also downloadable for Windows Phone 7 hardware, but lacks...

Cloud-focused GPS chip by Microsoft Research slashes smartphone battery consumption

Rich Edmonds 6 years ago 49

Anyone who makes use of GPS functionality on a smartphone understands the impact such connectivity has on the limited battery supply that's packed inside the device. Unfortunately, we're not quite at the stage where 10,000mAh batteries are utilised, so Microsoft Research has been working on a cloud-powered GPS chip that will reportedly slash battery consumption on smartphones. As well...

What’s your battery level? Just ask your Windows Phone.

Daniel Rubino 6 years ago 55

If it’s one thing people with smartphones like to know it’s the battery level. Double so if you’re the OCD type. Windows Phone 8 makes knowing such information a smidgen easier by displaying it under Settings without having to tap into the menu, but people still want more options. The new (and oddly named) Windows Phone 8 app Battery Monitor with Voice Control just hit the Store and as...

Skype and the constant syncing problem on Windows Phone 8

Daniel Rubino 6 years ago 58

Ever since Windows Phone 8 came out people have rightly wanted Skype. And so they got it, albeit a preview edition which in our vernacular reads ‘beta’ and beta it is. Previously we’ve passed on a few tips for people who have had battery issues and we can absolutely confirm one of them now: Skype. No, it doesn’t occur often in fact this was our first time with the problem ever since...

Nokia Lumia 920 Windows Phone experiencing battery life issues? [Poll]

George Ponder 6 years ago 218

There's a discussion going on over at the Windows Phone Central forums that has us a little concerned about the Lumia 920's battery performance. Some are seeing their batteries being sucked dry in a few hours while some aren't seeing any issues. Our Dan Rubino refers to his 920's battery life as fantastic and I would have agreed up until today when my 920 barely made it six hours on a...

Keep up on your power with Battery Level for Windows Phone 8

Daniel Rubino 6 years ago 110

Here's an app that should excite some of you new Windows Phone 8 owners out there: Battery Level for WP8 by Alex Golesh. The first of its kind, as far as we know, the app allows you to constantly keep abreast of your battery life on your WP8 device with a simple Live Tile. Just pin the app to your Start screen and choose one of three sizes (small, medium and doublewide) to suit your...

AT&T Nokia Lumia 920 gets slight battery and talk time downgrade

Daniel Rubino 6 years ago 134

When the Nokia Lumia 920 specifications hit last month, the rather large battery (2000mAh) was touted as one of the main features, resulting in supposed “all day use”. That’s especially important for consumers on such a powerhouse of a phone since it has all of those bells and whistles on board. The AT&T version has recently been posted on Nokia’s site and it has some updated...

Nokia rolling out Lumia 800 firmware update early, includes battery improvements

Rich Edmonds 7 years ago 42

It appears as though Nokia Germany are rolling out the 12070 update that addresses battery life issues and will prove to be a must-have for Lumia 800 owners. We previously looked at Singapore rolling out the Lumia 800 12070 update, and later confirmed that it tripled the battery life of our handset. As well as the juice improvements, bass has been improved and camera white balance has...

Experiencing battery drain issues? The cause could be free apps

Rich Edmonds 7 years ago 15

Abhinav Pathak, a computer scientist at Purdue University, Indiana, and colleagues have concluded that free smartphone apps with in-app advertising may lead to the battery being drained at a faster rate, compared to paid apps. What's interesting (and slightly alarming) is the team discovered through testing that Angry Birds, Free Chess and NYTimes only used 10 - 30 percent of the...

Nokia Lumia 800 firmware update detailed, not fixing everything?

Rich Edmonds 7 years ago 10

An article has been published over at Nokia Conversations detailing the 1600.2483.8106.11500 firmware update for the Lumia 800, which is in the process of rolling out. The update is being pushed out gradually using Zune software and contains two benefits; battery performance (making use of the capacity too) and WiFi connectivity improvements. This is update number two of two that were...

Nokia running Lumia 800 'battery fix' update [Updated]

Rich Edmonds 7 years ago 21

Nokia announced at the end of last year that two updates would be hitting the Lumia 800 to fix a number of issues that were present. We've already received the first firmware update, but it's time for those who suffer from 800s that aren't using the battery capacity in its entirety to receive some love. Operators in France have started to push out the second update, so we should see...

Mugen Power selling 3600mAh extended HTC Titan battery

Rich Edmonds 7 years ago 14

We know what you're thinking; "What?!". We were thinking the exact same thing. Mugen Power is selling an extended HTC Titan battery that has a whopping capacity of 3600mAh. To put this into perspective (as the above chart does so gracefully), the stock battery which comes with the handset is 1600mAh which has decent performance as is.  Should you require that extra juice, or spend...

Battery meter with Live Tile is a life saver [Homebrew]

Daniel Rubino 7 years ago 25

We've seen some homebrew solutions for adding a battery meter on the today screen before, but now with Mango, devs have a lot more options to choose from, including local updates. Over at XDA, member singularity0821 has come up with a new battery meter called Mango Battery Status and it just hit version 3.3. What makes this app much nicer than the previous noble attempt is it has a...

Latest Microsoft patent suggests interchangable accessories

Rich Edmonds 7 years ago 20

I'm not really sure what to make of this, it's as though Microsoft plans to not only provide you with a powerful, simplistic handset, but to throw in some Nintendo Wii Remote-type accessories as well if this patent is anything to go by. Should this indeed turn out to be the case, that all future Windows Phone handsets will have a slide-out accessory expansion slot, then it could open up...

Qmadix BoostPac - Review

George Ponder 8 years ago 1

While Windows Phones have noticeably improved power management to get the most of your battery, every now and again you might need a boost of power. You could use a car charger or carry around an extra wall charger/USB cord but what about the times you don't have a charging source? Enter the Qmadix BoostPac. This little one inch square cube is a 1000mah Lithium Ion battery that will...

Help Extend WP7 battery life [How To]

Rich Edmonds 8 years ago 24

Smartphones have always had the label of "battery eaters" when compared to a regular mobile phone. A good number of years back, a Nokia 3210 would last for an entire year (although we still believe they were secretly powered by miniature nuclear reactors). Windows Phone 7 is not exempt from this battery life issue for majority of owners, but there are ways to tackle the problem and...

WPCentral Tip: Check the battery percentage on the Samsung Focus

Daniel Rubino 8 years ago 1

Although the little battery meter on all Windows Phone 7 devices gives you a rough idea of remaining juice, if it's one thing Windows Mobile users of past want it's 1% battery readings (we're a finicky bunch, aren't we?) Luckily on the Samsung Focus there is a way to find out the exact battery level. While not the easiest method, it's far from hard either. As I demonstrate in the video...

Android & mystery battery drains: things we won't miss with Windows Phone 7

Daniel Rubino 8 years ago 34

   [Okay, we're doing it. We're call out Android a bit here to serve as example of why their model can be bad for users.] Editorial: There's no doubt that Android is kicking butt these days, having ousted RIM for the #1 spot in the U.S. and racing to overpass the iPhone like nobody's business. But it's not all perfect. Recently, the official Facebook app received a big makeover on...

Review: HTC Extended Battery and Cover

George Ponder 9 years ago 6

  You can never have too much power.  As Windows Phones become more versatile, the need for power becomes more critical and sometimes the stock battery isn't enough. We use our Windows Phones to surf the internet, text, email, watch videos, listen to music, play games on, and in between those activities we make a few calls.  While power management has improved greatly with Windows...

Battery Issues with Verizon Touch Pro2 6.5 Update

Phil Nickinson 9 years ago 20

We’re hearing rumblings of people randomly experiencing excessive battery drain after upgrading their Verizon Touch Pro2 to the official 6.5 ROM. Depending on whom you believe the problems could be attributed to the automatic weather updates or the new radio ROM. While this isn’t affecting everyone, there are enough reports of people having issues that this is worth discussing....