battery, page 2.

When I first heard about this update through my friend I questioned it because why would Apple jump from firmware 2.2.1 all the way to 3.0? Well in fact, when I looked it up, it is dead true. Now I'm here to tell you about it. Apple is planning a major revamp of its OS which includes many cool things that might just blow your mind when you put it all together. There are loads of features, 100 last time I counted but these are the ones that I decided to highlight.

iPhone 3.0 Software

Push Technology

Apple was late to the push technology game and so when it released it, it basically killed the battery life. Now, it's reconfigured its system so that it eliminates background processes and thus improves battery life. This makes the iPhone more business friendly because it automatically updates you if you receive new mail for instance even when the application isn't running.

Last week, I wrote about live streaming video from your car and in doing so, I mentioned something that helped my iPhone 3G keep powered up for the ride. That device is the Mophie Juice Pack for iPhone 3G from a company called mStation.

No, you can't drink it
The Juice Pack for iPhone 3G is a device, not an actual juice pack that you can drink. A few people had to ask when I said things like "One second, I need to grab my Juice Pack". The Juice Pack is actually a pretty sleek device and I had heard of it before, but hadn't thought much about the need for it. When I got it, I also noticed that it looked like it could be a bit bulky. Basically, it's a battery that your iPhone 3G slides into and it more than double's the battery life of your phone.

I'm not an expert at this subject but I've been through the whole struggle and now my battery life can only last about 10-20min give or take. Now the sad thing is, there is no viagara type solution for these issues but there is a way to prevent your laptop battery from deteriorating at the beginning. I did not take any of what I'm about to tell you into consideration but I hope when you get a new laptop you take these four things into consideration when you're travelling and one thing that will extend the life of your battery.

When Travelling

• Turn Down Your Screeen Brightness- Screen brightness is not a big deal yet it takes away a lot of battery power that can be put to better use (like playing games). This is very easy to do. All you'll need to do in Microsoft Windows Vista is go to Control Panel–>Hardware & Sound–>Power Options and then on the left sidebar, click Adjust the display brightness. Here you can also tell the computer when to turn off the display and power off depending if you're plugged in or not. 

microsoft windows vista control panel

On the same day Apple released an update for iTunes, Apple releases a new iPod Shuffle that has everyone talking, including the iPod Shuffle itself. The new Apple iPod Shuffle, scheduled to be released on April 3, 2009 has revolutionized the sub-$100 mp3 market, once again. Not only does it talk with its feature called VoiceOver, but it also is much smaller with a size of 1.8″ by 0.3″. This is about half the size of the previous generation, and that was small, but it is also smaller than a key! There are no controls on the actual device as they have been moved to earphone cord. The 4GB version, which can hold 1000 songs is available at a price of $79 USD or $99 CDN with two colours, black and silver. For some reason they're phasing out the 2GB version, and keeping the 1GB. If anybody can explain this to me, be my guest. 

There's a couple different ways that portable devices are powered these days, standard batteries, or proprietary. I love the ability to just purchase relatively cheap AA batteries to re-fuel a device when it goes dark, but being able to just recharge a device has it's own advantages. One disadvantage is that I often need to be near a power source and I have to wait for my device to recharge or at best, I have to stay plugged in to keep using the device. An alternative is to fork over the cash for a second battery and this was often the first thing I did when I bought a new cell phone. My iPhone, on the other hand, requires a different approach, a solution found, perhaps, in EcoSol's Powerstick.

What is it?
Just as the name implies, it's a stick with power. More specifically, it's a rechargeable battery that has a USB connector on one end to charge it up with power and a female jack on the other, where you attach a device using one of the nine included connection cables. The device can be powered up by the Powerstick to make it last beyond the normal lifetime of its internal power supply. Of course, this only works with devices that can accept external power to run or charge, but those that don't almost always run off regular AA or similar batteries, anyway.

I just got my hands on a new portable video camcorder called the Flip Video Ultra Series, made by Pure Digital. First off, I've got to say that it's got some slick packaging—even in the interior; it definitely hyped up my enthusiasm for this product. One thing that struck me as a huge plus to this camcorder was its compact design compared to the heavy, chunky one we have that lasts only 30 minutes with the LCD screen out. This one could fit in your back pocket and be thrown around, though I would not recommend the latter.

Without a doubt, this compact camcorder is not up to Sony standards—not even close. Everything is basically plastic and even the buttons look cheap. The buttons are easy to press and are placed where it makes sense. It's simple enough, though, and the colour scheme is ultra modern. It has a nice curved shape that fits the palm of your hands well. The exterior case is easily worn down and I can already see marks within the first week and I've barely touched it.