The full extent of mobility -- powerful, capable devices; location-aware social media; ubiquitous networks (WiFi and cellular); etc. -- is held back by battery limitations. Very few smartphones, for instance, will last even the canonical eight-hour workday under heavy use on just one charge.
This great piece by Jessica Dolcourt in CNET summarizes the challenges and potential solutions.
"Smartphone battery life: 2 problems, 4 fixes (Smartphones Unlocked)"
Battery life on smartphones is generally terrible, and everyone knows it. Here's why, and who is trying to fix it.
- Imagine a smartphone that charges completely in 5 minutes and lasts a full 10 hours before running on empty. Crazy, right? Toting along the charging cord is just another part of life with 4G streaming and a power-hungry screen.
- Back in January, Motorola's Droid Razr Maxx offered the first real glimmer of hope for long-life batteries with the 3,300mAh ticker that dwarfed the battery in any other available handset -- it ran for 19 hours in CNET's tests, a longevity that hasn't been reproduced since.
- That leaves the question I get asked over and over again: why is it taking so long for batteries to catch up to all the other advances in smartphone technology?
- There's good news and bad news. The good news is, help is on the way. The bad news is, much of the cutting-edge development is still a year or two out. Here's a look at some of the exciting evolutions, and even revolutions, coming to the stuff that fuels our smartphones.
williamgarrity