Better Battery Life: Smartphone Data 3G vs WiFi

Smartphones have become fairly mainstream recently and all I hear is how WiFi kills your battery and how 3G is slow (in most city areas). While both statements above are true, you can get the best of both worlds.

WiFi is often disregarded by mobile users unless they are at home and have a charger nearby. The sole reason being, it can drain your tiny smartphone battery quickly if not used correctly. Although this is a downside, WiFi is far more efficient than 3G when it comes to downloading and extended mobile browsing. Another thing that most people don't realize is that 3G draws more juice than WiFi when actually being used, communicating with the tower is no small task for your handheld device. In city areas it's even worse, everyone connecting makes the network slow which in turn lengthens the amount of time your phone needs to hold a solid connection with it.

Enough with the technical stuff, you obviously just want a fix.

The answer is fairly simple, to get the best out of your phone turn WiFi on when updating applications and watching YouTube videos. (This also will save you precious MB's with the new Data caps! :))

As soon as you are finished with your data hungry task, flip it off and carry on with your day! Leaving WiFi on keeps your phone searching for a network as you roam about during the day. The scanning and analyzing of local WiFi networks is what chews up your battery like a rottweiler. To make it simple for you lazy people who didn't want to read or are not sure when to switch it up, I made an easy to use chart :D Click to view it big! (Note: I am no artist)

At a glance you can tell when to use WiFi and when to use 3G!

Helpful Tip - If you have an Android phone make a widget (like the one below) on one of your homescreens so you can flip it on and off quickly and easily.

thejustinmurphy.com

MacDesign

I'm thrilled to write about the announcement of MacDesign, a new blog focused on graphic design and video production on the Mac. MacDesign will feature daily tips, reviews, and tutorials on applications that will speed up your workflow and give you great results. The MacDesign forums offer a place for professionals and newbies alike to share their own tips and ask questions of others.

Be sure to check out the latest MacDesign article on VoltaicHD, a video converter/manager for Mac.

Cinch for Mac

Cinch, developed by Irradiated Software, is an elegant, mouse-driven solution to window management. Inspired by Microsoft's Windows Explorer, Cinch is based off the idea of "hot-zones". Once you drag a window into one of the zones (either left, right, menubar), an outline of your resized window will appear on the screen. Just drop the window into the hot-zone and the application window will be resized. Cinching to the right or left side of the screen will resize the window to exactly half the screen's resolution. The top hot-zone resizes to will the entire screen. Dragging a window away from its cinched position will restore the window to its original size.

Drag a window to a "hot-zone" to see a preview of the resize.

Cinch automatically resizes your window to the desired length (determined by "hot-zone").

You can download the free version (occasional pop-up), or purchase a license for yourself over at the Irradiated Software store. I will be posting a video review of Cinch on my YouTube channel, which can be found here.

The Icon Portable Battery from IPEVO

Ever run out of battery while using your iPod touch or iPhone; making a phone call, only to realize your battery is dying and you have to cut the conversation short? Well, IPEVO has heard your call and they now offer a very portable solution to this. The Icon is the universal symbol for charging your Apple products. They took a very unique idea and made it happen. This portable external battery works on any iPod touch or iPhone, including the newest versions. I have been using it for a bit now and I am very pleased with how it works. To check it out or to get one for yourself visit IPEVO.com, or go to the link below.

http://www.ipevo.com/The-Icon-Power-Pack-for-iPhone_p_95.html