Apologies for half the podcast going missing. No excuse other than it got eaten mid upload.

iOS 5.0.1 and battery issues

iTunes Match Live

Icon and Shortcut Crazy – Link to Control Panel and Applications using URL access codes.

Customize your own icons using Icon Project

Add shortcuts to your homescreen using QR codes

Use Siri to access control panel options by using contacts

Google vs. Siri

On the Verge – Matias Duarte, Windows Phone 7 giveaways (trade your crappy phone for a HTC Titan), new Photography tech

Brian Williams interviews Annie Liebovitz  but reminds us that it’s all about editing

The Nest – tablet stand  not The Nest thermostat

LapGuard

E13tron Hybrid Case

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http://www.mediafly.com/Podcasts/Feeds/ConvertCast

Tonight’s guest, Alli’s Mom – former broadcast journalist, Sheila Small (not on Twitter).

How does the non technically minded person move from a Palm to an Evo.
(Dad thinks the Evo screen is too sensitive.)

Likes and dislikes
Used to like documents and memos on Palm
Like: web browsing, calendars and Google sync, large screen – awesome!, camera
Dislike: virtual keyboard, no quick/easy way to enter notes, predictive text, battery

Customization

Social media integration – synergy

Want your app reviewed on JAGS? Send a promo code to edward@justanothergeeksite.com.

Give-away one license for 1Password for Mac or PC. DM Jerry on Twitter with the name of our first guest on Convertcast?

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Apple Mystique – What is it? Why is it important to marketing of Apple products? Has it been tarnished with initial iPhone 4 problems? Has it!

Consumer Reports:
We reached this conclusion after testing all three of our iPhone 4s (purchased at three separate retailers in the New York area) in the controlled environment of CU’s radio frequency (RF) isolation chamber. In this room, which is impervious to outside radio signals, our test engineers connected the phones to our base-station emulator, a device that simulates carrier cell towers. We also tested several other AT&T phones the same way, including the iPhone 3G S and the Palm Pre. None of those phones had the signal-loss problems of the iPhone 4.
A piece of duct-tape placed over the offending area can prevent the problem, according to them, and they repeat that a case can likely prevent it as well (though they haven’t tested any in the lab yet).

The signal problem is the reason that we did not cite the iPhone 4 as a “recommended” model, even though its score in our other tests placed it atop the latest Ratings of smart phones that were released today.

iPhone 4 – Hardware and Software (round table experience thus far). Liking? Disliking? Rants, Raves, and opinions.

iOS – Today mobile devices…Tomorrow….. (Ahem Apple TV)

Does google rule the world? More importantly, do they want to? google execs: we have no strategy to compete with Apple because they are going a different route? Uh, yeah right!
Google has its corporate fingers in more pies than Apple. Google is harvesting information, Apple is selling.

Openess with Android? If the platform is so open and free why then are carriers able to ‘take away’ native Os features? Isn’t that strange? Google Has already zapped apps.

iPhone + Blackberry = WhatsApp
iPhone + Android/Symbian = Fring
iPhone+Blackberry+Android=pMessenger
************
Will we see more cross platform apps? Hopefully Apple’s Facetime API’s adoption will make cross platform more accessible. It would make decision making even harder if you don’t have to get something just because that’s what your friend has.
Fring made a great start, but what happened with them removing Skype barely 24 hours after the world figured out you could “FaceTime” on it?

Microsoft – how the mighty have fallen! Who’s running the mobile ship? With Apple and Google, you can clearly identify who is responsible for driving the mobile dream. Can M$ live with being so far behind? They have before (desktop browser, console gaming), do they have the drive and vision to come back? Was the Kin a nail in their mobile coffin? Is Windows Phone 7 too little too late? And seriously…has anyone ever seen someone with a Zune? (Donny haz Zune!)

The Love of Tech Podcast
twitter.com/TheLoveofTech
www.TheLoveofTech.com

Jordan Patterson -
twitter.com/JordanPatterson
twitter.com/TheCheapGeek
www.TheCheapGeek.com

Donny Benfield-
twitter.com/DonnyBenfield
www.Attention2Tech.com

Shawn Roberts-
twitter.com/ShawnJRoberts
www.ShawnJRoberts.com

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Special guest Tim Scalzo, Senior Systems Engineer for Enerdel.

A brief history of the battery

Why don’t we have thinner batteries with more capacity?

Miscellaneous questions:

What is the recommended charging method for iPhone 4? 1) Regardless of available charge % – charge phone daily? or 2) only charge phone when under 20%?

–TiPb forum

I have a question. How many times and how often should you power cycle your battery to get peak performance? If you follow my shots of usage they have gotten better after each cycle. After the first one I have run then the same way brightness 40% notifications on for most apps 3g off when not needed push set to manually and wifi at night. I have to try to run the battery out its great!

–TiPb forum

From Jerry: How is hardware surpassing battery technology?

Questions From Twitter

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episode 25

Jerry is away so Chris Oldroyd, the Once and Future voice of Mobile Tech Addicts, fills in

Add the ConvertCast Twibbon to your Twitter avatar!

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]]> http://justanothergeeksite.com/2010/01/no-ces-for-us/feed/ 1 http://justanothergeeksite.com/2009/06/richard-solo-1800-smart-backup-battery/ http://justanothergeeksite.com/2009/06/richard-solo-1800-smart-backup-battery/#comments Sun, 14 Jun 2009 19:58:53 +0000 Alli Flowers http://justanothergeeksite.com/wordpress/2009/06/richard-solo-1800-smart-backup-battery/

One of the complaints I hear frequently about the iPhone is its lousy battery life. To be honest, the battery hasn’t seemed that bad coming from a Treo 800w and its miniscule battery. However, there are circumstances that will test the strongest battery, and I recently met with just such an event!

Every year when school lets out, I go off with the AJROTC to north Alabama for a week or two. Cell coverage is lousy where we go, and Verizon is the only carrier that has any 3G coverage at all. To compound an already bad situation, the National Guard recently renovated the buildings we use, and the new siding works great at keeping out cell signals. So our phones spend the day working as hard as they can at catching and holding a signal which really eats up battery life.

The first day of camp I let my iPhone play its little game of capture the service signal. And when I returned to my barracks after dinner, I had about 20% remaining on what had been a full charge at the start of the day. For the next two days, I plugged my iPhone into the RichardSolo 1800 Smart Backup Battery just for a few minutes every 2-3 hours. At the end of the day, my iPhone was still way about 50%, and it took five days without recharging before the 1800 finally complained and wanted a charge of its own.

There are several really nice features about the RichardSolo 1800 Smart Backup Battery. The feature I like the best is that because it attaches via a power cord, and not a direct connection, you can use it regardless of the case you use. Of course, with every RichardSolo backup battery, you get their awesome custom case – but it’s nice to know that you can charge in any case from any manufacturer.

The cord that attaches your iPhone to the RS battery is almost 20” long. It is almost too long, but it gives you plenty of flexibility as to where to place your iPhone and charger when charging. The charger itself, is smaller than an iPhone, and weighs almost nothing. I can easily toss the cord, the charger, and my iPhone into a side pocket of my purse.

As you can see from this photo, there is a blue light on the RS battery that comes on when your iPhone is plugged in. You only have to plug it in to start the charging process, and you can use it while charging or just let it charge – your choice. I have this totally irrational fear that my battery will run out while I’m in the middle of a phone call, so I tend to plug in for calls. (And if I’m not using a bluetooth headset, that 20” cord doesn’t seem quite so long when I’m on the phone!) In any case, the RS battery will continue to top of your device for around 90 minutes even after the battery indicator shows full. It doesn’t take long to charge.

When the battery level on the RS battery gets to about 10%, you’ll see a red light warning. When there is nothing plugged in, all lights are off to save power.

While you don’t have to turn the RS battery on to start charging, you will notice a small on/off switch on the back.

This switch (literally) turns on the lights. On the front you’ll see two fingerprint sized buttons. One operates a flashlight (which came in very handy at camp!), and the other operates a laser pointer. While I’m sure I will get a lot of use from the laser pointer when school resumes in the fall, I’m having an awful lot of fun with it now playing with my cats.

The RichardSolo 1800 Smart Backup Battery itself, can be charged in any of 3 ways. Plug it into the retractable usb cord that comes in the box, and charge it from the usb port on your computer, or the usb charging ports that are popping up at airports worldwide. The initial charge when the battery is brand new takes about 4-5 hours. Depending on how low the battery has gotten, subsequent charges can be accomplished in far less time. While charging, you will see a blinking green light, and this light turns to a solid green when fully charged.

Also included in the box are a usb wall charger and a usb car charger. RichardSolo has left almost no possibility overlooked. I do feel compelled to point out that there is no usb airline adaptor in the box. Then again, one full charge should be enough to keep you listening to music, watching movies, and playing games on all but the very longest of flights.

RichardSolo also has this battery in a cordless version. In other words, the battery connects directly to the device. I prefer the flexibility of having the cord.

If you hurry, you can use my special discount code for 15% off the RichardSolo 1800 Smart Backup Battery, normally $69.95, and all iPhone/iPod accessories from RichardSolo. Just enter the code “flowers” at checkout.