Kensington, a prolific provider of portable peripherals which has all sorts of accessories for Apple iPhone and iPod, unveiled on Tuesday several new accessories that will work with the new iPhone 4 as well as the iPhone 3G/3GS smartphones. New Kensington charging docks, car mounts, and battery packs updated for the iPhone 4 are now available for pre-order.
Among the new devices are the Charge and Sync Dock, the device can charge and sync your phone and has an extra battery pack that can be connected to the iPhone for longer runtime. The regular Charge and Sync Dock without the cradle is offered for $29.99, and the version with a battery pack is $69.99.
Kensington’s new version of nightstand Charging Dock that puts the iPhone on its side like an alarm clock for night charging. The other two items are car mounts that suction cup to the windshield. The SoundWave Sound Amplifying Car mount is $39.99 and the Quick release Car mount going for $29.99. Both mounts come with windshield and vent mounts.
1. Dim the Screen brightness – Below halfway saves a significant amount of battery. I find that the below half setting is actually easier to see in direct sunlight and much easier to read in dim conditions. Change this by going to Settings > Brightness.
2. WiFi OFF, Scanning OFF – If you are not using WiFi turn it off. Also turn WiFi scanning off if you don’t need to search for connections. If, for instance, you use WiFi mostly at work or at home.
3. Toggle off 3G until needed – If you are in an area with no 3G coverage, turn it off. Pockets of Edge only coverage are still fairly common on AT&T and the radio uses up a lot of juice searching for a 3G signal.
Viewing Usage Statistics
Awareness of how you use your iPhone and knowing how long your battery typically lasts can help you improve its battery life. You can view your iPhone usage statistics by tapping the Settings icon on the Home screen and choosing General > Usage. Under the “Time since last full charge” heading you’ll see two items:
Usage: Amount of time iPhone has been awake and in use since the last full charge. The phone is awake when you’re on a call, using email, listening to music, browsing the web, or sending and receiving text messages, or during certain background tasks such as auto-checking email.
Standby: Amount of time iPhone has been powered on since its last full charge, including the time the phone has been asleep.
Update to the Latest Software
Always make sure your iPhone has the latest software from Apple, as engineers may find new ways to optimize battery performance. Using iTunes 8.2 or later, you can update your iPhone with the latest software. Connect your iPhone to your computer, and then select iPhone in the Source List. In the Summary panel, click “Check for Updates” to see if there’s a new version of the iPhone software available. Click Update to install the latest version.
The iPhone is known for having a temperamental battery life span, often ranging from multiple days of power to less than a transcontinental flight. The reason for much of this inconsistency is that the iPhone essentially goes to sleep when it is not being used. When it is being used you can go from basic functions to those that eat up battery life like a terminal cancer. If you are trying to maintain battery life there are several standard suggestions that people tend to follow. Reduce screen brightness, turn off EQ, 3G, and Wi-Fi, turn off Push features, and shorten the speed of the Auto-Lock feature. Beyond the obvious there are a few things to think about and tips to follow if you want to really extend the life of your iPhone battery.
The first tip to follow is to simply reduce the use of your iPhone. This may seem obvious, but people often forget that the iPhone is a phone first and iPod second. Listening to music on your iPhone will eat up the battery, but watching videos either online or in the iPod section will kill it faster than anything else. If you absolutely need your battery life to remain consistent you are going to have to go to the basic functions of your phone and only use it for calls.
1. Turn on Auto-Brightness
The iPhone has an ambient light sensor that adjusts the brightness of the screen based on the light around it. Turn this feature on and you’ll save battery because your screen will need to use less power in bright places.
Find it in Settings -> Brightness
2. Use programs with 3D less often.
Not surprisingly, I’ve noticed that when I play games rendering 3D, battery life drops. Using the graphics chips more intensely will crank up power usage, but maybe the drain is also because of the nature of gaming
3. Reduce Screen Brightness
Users can control the default brightness of the screen. Needless to say, the brighter the default setting for the screen, the more battery it requires. Keep the screen dimmer to conserve more of your battery.
Find it in Settings -> Brightness
4. Turn Bluetooth Off
Bluetooth wireless networking is especially useful for cell phone users with wireless headsets or earpieces. But transmitting data wireless takes battery and leaving Bluetooth on to accept incoming data at all times requires even more juice. Turn off Bluetooth except when you’re using it to squeeze more juice from your battery.
Find it in Settings -> General
5. Turn Off 3G
The iPhone 3G and later models operate on two cellular networks, EDGE and the faster 3G. Not surprisingly, using 3G requires more battery life to get the quicker speeds and higher-quality calls. It’s tough to go slower, but if you need more battery, turn off 3G and just use EDGE. Your battery will last longer (though you’ll need it when you’re downloading websites more slowly!).
Find it in Settings -> General -> Network
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