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Tech News & Commentary
Mark in Lewis, Delaware listening on WXDE 105.9 asked: “I’ve been very disappointed in the battery life of my HTC One. I love the phone itself and the Android platform. But I’m wondering how engineers could sit around a table and actually come up with a horrendous battery life. And of course it’s a sealed back so I can’t even get an extended battery. And I find it odd that someone would make a Mophie pack engineered exactly for that phone right after it comes off the assembly line. I just find it very frustrating to have a phone that doesn’t last until 1:00 in the afternoon. I’d like your comments on that and maybe a solution to my problem.”
Mark, You may want to check your phone and see what is using up the battery, it may be something you can turn off and not a problem with the phone itself.
If you don’t find an app that’s draining too much battery, check your network settings, your phone may be looking for LTE in an area with poor coverage and constantly losing the network and falling back to 3G only to try again, that can take a toll on the battery life.
Overall, the latest HTC One, the M9, is not really a fan favorite, it’s been called too slow, prone to overheating, the camera has been criticized in everything but perfect daylight, it’s been called “at best not a downgrade from the M8,” but the battery is not one of the usual complaints! As for the Mophie case, you’re probably not looking at a grand conspiracy there, they have a case for the HTC One, they also have cases for LG models, for the whole Samsung S line since the S3, for every iPhone since the 4… it’s what they do, they probably realized the phone had a chance of having a following and adapted one of their battery cases to fit it. It’s just a company doing it’s usual business.
Your battery life should not be that terrible, the phone running out of juice by 1PM is not normal, check your setting and check your apps, there must be something overusing your battery without you noticing.
We offer the usual battery saving tips in a case like this. Turn off Bluetooth if you won’t be using any Bluetooth devices. Turn off WiFi if you’re not going to be in range of a WiFi network. (This is a big one, having your WiFi search for networks in your pocket can be a huge battery drain.)
Also, if you’re someone who drives for work, or is otherwise very mobile for a portion of your day, watch how much you use your smartphone during those times of movement.
As a simple practical matter, how a smartphone connects and stays connected while moving involves a lot of battery drain. There’s a reason why people who sit at their desks with a nice strong WiFi signal to provide their data are the same people who say battery life is not a problem.
For more information tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
“Into Gaming Update” Weekly Feature with Mark Lautenschlager
Michael in San Jose, California listens on KLIV 1590 AM Silicon Valley News asked: “I got a smartphone. The model is A320T – Lenovo. I was wondering which US carrier would provide service for this type of Smartphone. When I power it up it says 4G LTE. That’s all I know.”
Michael, Assuming your phone is unlocked it should be able to run just fine on any GSM network since the Lenovo A320T is a quad-band GSM phone. That means that it should work with AT&T, T-Mobile and many smaller local companies. However there is a big caveat.
The Lenovo A320T may say 4G LTE phone, but that means very little, there are different bands used for LTE, the A320T can use bands 38, 39, and 40, those are known as TDD-LTE bands and they are not used by any provider in the US. So basically, if you take the phone to Colombia, or Nigeria, or Brazil, you’re all set! but in the US, you’re not likely to get LTE service.
Major US carriers are using bands 2, 4, 5, 12, 13, 17, 25, 26, and 41, and most minor carriers are just renting the big guys networks, so that’s what you’ll most likely have available to you in your area. You can also check willmyphonework.net, they should be able to show you networks that support your phone.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Guest Segment:
Karl Volkman, Chief Technical Officer – SRV Network, Inc
Protecting companies & consumers from hackers
“IFA History Feature” brought to you by Messe-Berlin
The tube based TV sets dominated the market since the beginning of the real mass market in the early 50s.The screens got bigger, but also very heavy and bulky. Stereo sound and color TV were the only innovations, until the introduction of a remote control; In the beginning connected to the TV with a cable, introduced first by Zenith in the US, named “Lazy Bones”. Then remotes went wireless – first using ultrasound technology, but as this was not very reliable, the switch was made to infrared, a technology still used today. IFA was, of course, showing all these latest innovations.
George in Franklin, Tennessee listening on SuperTallk WTN 99.7 FM asked: “I am looking for an app for my wife. We have a dog boarding business and she is on the phone from 6am till 9pm. She needs a break from thee phone. Is there an app that would allow business calls from 7am to 7 pm but allow personal calls anytime? She has so many clients and personal contacts it would not be practical to change the number for either use. I hope you can help.”
George, Depending on what phone she has, the phone itself might do it.
iPhones allow users to set Do Not Disturb hours in which the phone does not ring, and it allows the user to select a group to be an exception to the rule, so you could set up the contact group “Family & Friends” to ring at all times, while all other callers stay silent.
The newest versions of Android allow that too, though that’s not the case for the older versions. However you may be able to use an app to achieve the same result, if you don’t mind giving it power over your phone. There are many options, but they’re not exactly challenging to find, for example, you can download “Do Not Disturb” which allows for exceptions and set do not disturb hours.
Do Not Disturb Me works largely the same way, allowing whitelisted contacts to call at any time, and blocking everyone else. Long term though, they may not be perfect solutions, but they should do what your wife needs without too much trouble.
You should also consider setting up a Google Voice number for her to use with the business. You would have that number forward to her existing phone, but it gives you a different number to expose to the public, thus assisting with maintaining privacy. You also get a whole raft of cool features including, but not limited to, the Do Not Disturb feature you’re asking about.
The other advantage here is that if she changes telephone numbers, say by switching to a new provider, she can just update the Google Voice account. To her business clients, nothing has changed.
You can also send and receive text messages through Google Voice. It’s an excellent service, even if it does appear to be the ugly stepchild of the Google Apps world.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
If you have any questions about any of this week’s show info, please email us here.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
TYLT: Car Charger RIBBN Cables – These cables rapidly charge 2 Smartphones or 2 Tablets simultaneously.
Jabra: SoleMate Portable Bluetooth speaker for your laptop, tablet, smartphone or music player
Monster Products: DNA Pro 2.0 High powered Over-ear headphones
Hydreon Corp: FakeTV Burglar Deterrent – Simulates the light output of a TV to deter burglars from your home.
Verykool: S5015 Spark II Smartphone – Unlocked GSM phone with Android OS and front facing flash – perfect for selfies!
Kensington: SD4000 Universal 4K Docking Station for laptop computers