Anyone who visits MD regularly knows that I am a bit obsessive when it comes to battery usage/drain. I long ago gave up trying to conserve power and instead enjoy my phones to the fullest, while keeping a charging source nearly. I am also somewhat boring (unless you want to talk tech) so my routine … Read more
I started my series of battery drain tests after reading countless theories and rumors about why our batteries lose juice. Don’t think I have solved every mystery, but I did separate truth from fiction in several areas. My BDOD (Battery Drain Obsessive Disorder) started back with my Palm II. I still remember the panic that … Read more
To conclude my Truths series for Windows Phone I wanted to check into an area that has bugged me for several weeks. Anyone who has been reading my test results knows that I have occasionally encountered anomalies, results that were worse than expected. I usually countered the odd duck result with a couple consistent values … Read more
Up until a week ago, if you asked 10 Windows Phone users why they didn’t have an option for persistent WiFi, at least 9 of them would have answered, “because it will kill you battery stupid”. I will admit that up until I found the iHeartRadio trick, I was one of those 9 people. But … Read more
Think the “push email” myth was pretty well busted here a while back. This time up, we taka a look at email in general. It’s been a busy few weeks in the Microsoft/WP world, with the introduction of the Microsoft Surface Tablet, the unveiling of WP8. And, oh yeah, another firmware update for the … Read more
I have read a number of posts from bloggers explaining about how their WP battery life was vastly improved when they disabled “push” or “as items arrive” email. This appeared strange and contradictory to me, as from what I understand, Microsoft maintains a constant low power connection to every Windows Phone, provided a data connection … Read more
Until battery technology catches up with today’s electronic gadgetry, we have to constantly be vigilant of battery banditos that snatch our juice before we know what happened. While I am not a fan of battery conservation measures that may affect my user experience, I do aggressively search out/stamp out battery sappers, those apps and functions … Read more
Back when the original iPhone 4 came out, there was a certain place that if you held your iPhone, it would drop a call, or most generally, lose bars of signal. This was only true if you were using your iPhone 4 without a case. Apple’s response to this was: "Gripping any mobile phone will … Read more