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Tech News & Commentary
How in Toronto, Ontario listens on TuneIn and is calling in via the FREE “Into Tomorrow” App asked: “I typically leave the GPS on my Android device off to conserve battery, but when I do use it I turn it on and sometimes forget to shut it off. Does it still consume battery if an app like Google Maps is no longer using it?”
The GPS is indeed a huge battery drain. When you’re actively using, for example, when using navigation, it can be so bad that on some phone it will kill the battery of the phone that is plugged in and charging, but even when it’s not being actively used it is still a pretty major drain on Android phones.
Part of the reason is that even when you aren’t using the GPS, some apps may be in the background. For example, you may open an app that you don’t think needs to know your location at all, something as simple as a tip calculator, but if that tip calculator displays ads, the ads may want to know where you are, so they’ll use location services even if you’re not really benefiting from them or are even aware that they’re being used.
Android can also keep a lot of fairly useless service running in the background at times, for example, you may open Google Latitude once, forget it even exists and it may still be constantly tracking you eventhough you forgot about it months before.
Google Maps will track you even when you’re not actively using it and send that information to Google so it can know how fast traffic is moving and keep Google Maps updated with correct traffic information, that may not be of any use to you, and you may not even know your phone is doing it, but you agree to it when you turn on location services.
Also, just the fact that the GPS is on and ready to be used means it’s using power too, so that can be a drain on it’s own.
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
“This Week in Tech History” Weekly Feature with Chris Graveline
Darrell in Cranbrook, British Columbia in Canada asked: “I would like to get a mapping program for my semi. I’m an over the road truck driver. I’ve been looking at all the GPS units but I’m thinking maybe a tablet and loading in something like Streets and Trips would be just as good. However, if I leave the tablet plugged in constantly, would that affect the battery life, or is it not a problem to leave units plugged in, charging, for 24/7?”
Modern Lithium Ion batteries aren’t prone to the memory effect that used to affect old batteries, and they are automatically set on a charging cycle that lets them discharge a little bit before charging a little again to prevent overcharging, that’s meant to make them a bit more resilient to being plugged in longer.
Depending on the manufacturer, some claim that you won’t see a lot of degradation from leaving a tablet plugged in all the time, others claim that you should still let them run off the battery every now and then to lengthen their battery lives.
There isn’t one clear and definite answer, but the majority opinion seems to be that leaving your tablet mostly plugged in won’t destroy the battery in the short term, but that you may experience a little more degradation over the long term than you would if you had let it run off the battery more often.
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Chris in Columbia, Missouri listens via the FREE “Into Tomorrow” App asked: I just read online about a washable keyboard from Logitech. Can you share more information about that keyboard. And for us that have other keyboards, what is the best way to sanitize them?”
The Keyboard you are referring to is the Logitech K310. This Keyboard is built to be submerged in up to 11 inches of water. Besides that, the keyboard is, claimed by Logitech, to last over 5 million keystrokes each. Which is nice for those of you who are missing the letter M on their keyboards.
However, there are a few downfalls. The keyboard is Wired… and you cannot get the USB cable wet, that part is still not water proof. Now the biggest downfall to the keyboard has to be the price. Logitech has set the price for the keyboard at $40, which we think is a little expensive for a keyboard.
We use a product called “Screen Guard” and we’ve given away many bottles of this cleaning foam.
When Chris cleans the keyboard on his laptop, he uses a can of compressed air to get the dirt out from in between the keys, then he takes a disinfectant wipe (like a Clorox wipe) wring it out so it’s not dripping wet, then wipe the entire laptop down with it. (except for the screen, of course) that not only removes fingerprints, but also kills any germs that may be present.
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
| HOUR 2 GUESTS | ||
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| David Westendorf, VP of Marketing & Business Development – NeuroSky | Jason Milstead, General Manager – WhitePages | Pete Weijmarshausen, CEO – Shapeways |
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This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Corrosion Technologies: Several bottles of CorrosionX — A few squirts of CorrosionX clean contacts & connections & keep them protected for months (in salt spray environments) to years.
Ergotron: A Universal Tablet Cradle — This accessory converts a monitor mount to hold a tablet or eReader. Works with most popular tablets and eReaders, including Apple iPad, Barnes & Noble Nook and Amazon Kindle.
iolo Technologies: Copies of System Mechanic 11 – PC Tune-up Software
SMS Audio: “Street By 50” Wired headphones in black or white. We brought ’em back from 50 Cent and our interview in Berlin.