Six things to know about smartphone batteries

If you're trying to figure out what your iPhone 5 (or 6) -- or your next Android device or Windows Phone -- is going to look like, there are some things you need to know.

The smartphone market revolves around one question: how do you fit all-day access to all of a consumer's favorite applications and services comfortably into one hand? (The tablet market? Two hands.) The rest is commentary.

No smartphone manufacturer has managed to answer the question fully, because they all face a fundamental dilemma. The electronics that enable faster performance, higher-speed data, better video and gaming, a more vivid and detailed screen, are moving at the speed of Moore's Law. The lithium ion (Li-ion) pouch cell batteries that power them can't keep up. Little wonder that battery life is the biggest complaint of smartphone users!

The feature vs. run-time battle this imposes on smartphone designers is why the new iPadcame in thicker and heavier than its predecessor. The battery needed to power the Retina Display, 4G LTE, and general and graphic processing improvements is 70 percent bigger and heavier. Even so, the new iPad's battery life (run-time) is slightly less than that of the iPad 2. The implications of that for the iPhone 5 are being hotly discussed.

Li-ion battery constraints go a long way toward explaining why smartphone vendors spend millions on incremental design advantages in a market that's moving with blinding speed. If you're trying to figure out what your iPhone 5 -- or your next Android device or Windows Phone -- is going to look like, here are six things you need to know about smartphone batteries.

Keep Reading....

The Real Cost Of Owning A Smartphone

 There's a pretty good chance you either own a smartphone or, according to the stats, you're going to own one really soon. A recent Nielsen report said that almost half of all mobile subscribers now have smartphones.

If you already have a smartphone, the reasons are pretty obvious why you'll hold on to it. You can download apps to organize your work, play games, search Wikipedia, get directions and connect to the Internet whenever you want.

However, like anything else we buy, there's a cost of ownership that we rarely think about when we make a purchase.

So, what's the real cost of owning a smartphone?

What It Really CostsAccording to the Wall Street Journal, the average data, texting and minute plan for a smartphone costs about $2,100 for a two-year contract. However, that's not the real cost. The average tax on smartphones is about 15% and some can be as high as 20%. On top of the taxes, you need to factor in costs like overage charges and other fees. When all of these are added together, the average cost for owning a smartphone is $3,400 over two years.
Read More....