AT&T installing solar-powered charging stations around New York

By Cody Lee on Jun 19, 2013

This is quite interesting. It appears that AT&T has begun installing charging stations in parks throughout New York to help keep smartphones and other mobile devices up and running. The stations are solar-powered and capable of charging a wide range of gadgets.

The carrier says that the new Street Charge project was born out of its work during the recovery from Superstorm Sandy. After the hurricane ripped through most of the eastern US, AT&T setup charging stations in the blacked out areas. And now it’s expanding on the idea… Read More

 

Vox: a minimalistic spin on the battery indicator

By Jeff Benjamin on Jun 18, 2013

Looking for a minimalistic battery indicator, yet don’t want to fool with any WinterBoard themes? If so, then you just got a brand new option. Vox is a recently released jailbreak tweak that reimagines the stock battery indicator for something a bit more subtle and minimalistic.

The tweak outright forgoes the numerical percentage, and eschews the skeuomorphic battery indicator for something a bit more abstract. Have a look at our video walkthrough for more details… Read More

 

iOS 7: Charging

By Jeff Benjamin on Jun 13, 2013

As you know, many an item has changed with iOS 7 from a visual perspective. We’ve already covered some of the details of the Lock screen, booting, etc. What about something as subtle as the visual cues when the device begins to charge? Indeed, those have been totally revamped as well, and the changes, I believe, are for the better. Take a look… Read More

 

Belkin launches new Grip Power Battery Case for the iPhone 5

By Cody Lee on Jun 3, 2013

Belkin, a California-based maker of consumer electronics and accessories, today announced its first entry into the iPhone 5 battery case space with the Grip Power. Similar to Mophie’s popular Juice Pack line, the Grip Power is a case that has a built-in backup battery.

The Grip’s power block is of the 2000mAh variety, which Belkin says is good enough to double the battery life of your late-model iPhone. And with its shock-resistant outer shell and anti-glare camera ring, it makes for a decent case in terms of protection as well… Read More

 

Mophie unveils new 2,100 mAh Juice Pack Plus for iPhone 5

By Cody Lee on May 15, 2013

Good news for all of you iPhone power users out there. The California-based accessory-maker Mophie took the wraps off a new battery case today for the iPhone 5: the Juice Pack Plus.

This is the third case we’ve seen from Mophie for the iPhone 5, and it’s also the most powerful. Forget about built-in 1500 and 1700 mAh batteries, this one has a 2,100 mAh pack… Read More

 

Apple’s battery patents hint at rounded gizmos

By Ed Sutherland on May 2, 2013

The days of boxy computers are history, so why are the batteries which power them still the same shape? That’s the question a pair of new Apple patent applications seek to answer. The patents filed in 2011 with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office describe “non-rectangular batteries for portable devices.”

The iPhone and iPad maker outlines a way to customize the shape of batteries to fit the flexibility of today’s consumer electronics, including the growing array of wearable devices, such as the highly-discussed iWatch or Google’s Glass eyewear… Read More

 

Is Google Now draining your iPhone’s battery?

By Christian Zibreg on May 1, 2013

Google’s take on search AI dubbed Google Now went live Monday via an update to the Internet giant’s native iOS Search app.

Today, a number of users took to the Internet to complain about the application’s excessive power drain due to a possible glitch in how it retrieves your location in the background… Read More

 

Live Battery Indicator now available for free on Cydia

By Jeff Benjamin on Apr 16, 2013

Live Battery Indicator, a jailbreak tweak that merges the battery bar and the battery percentage into one, is now available for free download on Cydia’s BigBoss repo. I must say that I was quite surprised at the reception that this tweak, a very simple one, received in our preview. A lot of you guys seemed to be keenly interested in its release.

Live Battery Indicator performs pretty much exactly like it did in my preview build of the tweak. Just like the preview version, there are no options or settings to configure, and once it’s installed it starts working immediately.

There is one unsuspected surprise that you’ll find when installing the official version of Live Battery Indicator, though. Can you guess what it is? Read More

 

Live Battery Indicator merges battery percentage with a circular icon

By Jeff Benjamin on Apr 14, 2013

I’ve received quite a few inquiries about my iPod touch’s battery over the last few days. More specifically, people want to know exactly how I got new battery icon with the battery percentage in the middle.

This is the result of an upcoming jailbreak tweak called Live Battery Icon. It ditches the standard battery icon for a new-fangled circular indicator with the battery percentage neatly situated in the center. Read More

 

The Braven 600 portable speaker is on point

By Jim Gresham on Apr 11, 2013

Having reviewed different ranges of audio accessories for iOS devices, until now, I had yet to review a portable wireless speaker set. There are plenty around, but none of them ever piqued my interest. Unless my wife started asking about them, I would not have considered owning a wireless speaker considering I have a pretty serious home system and a pair of nice headphones.

After spotting the Braven 600, I figured why not give it a shot. It seemed like a well-built option, considering the price. Braven is a company with which I was not immediately familiar, but when I opened the box, I was quite surprised at the well-packaged speaker. It’s a perky little thing, for the size, and it is a nice addition to my current line up. Follow me past the fold for the full details… Read More

 

The iTorch, a portable iPhone charger that lights the way

By Jim Gresham on Apr 10, 2013

Since my visit to CES 2013, a quest for a backup portable iPhone charger began. Running around the world’s largest trade show peddling for power was pretty ugly. New Trent was kind enough to send one over for review and it fitted the bill for my charging woes. A simple, travel size device, the iTorch IMP52D provided a full charge in just under 2 hours for my iPhone 5… Read More

 

iBatteryInfo provides useful battery data when unplugging your device

By Cody Lee on Mar 31, 2013

If your device’s battery life is a major concern for you, there are a number of jailbreak tweaks out there that will help you monitor and get the most out of it. There’s BatteryDoctorPro, Battery Status and BattSaver, to name a few.

Today we’re adding another one to the list, a new tweak called iBatteryInfo. This simple utility offers up all kinds of useful data, like whether or not your battery is fully charged, when plugging in and unplugging your iOS device… Read More

 

BatteryDoctorPro: power management, NC settings toggles, app switcher and more

By Cody Lee on Mar 19, 2013

Every once in a while, a good jailbreak app or tweak sneaks past our radar. We feel we do a pretty good job of covering most new notable Cydia packages, but every now and then, one slips through the cracks. And that’s exactly what’s happened with BatteryDoctorPro.

For those who aren’t familiar with it, BatteryDoctorPro is a jailbreak app that monitors your iPhone or iPod touch usage to essentially lengthen your battery life. But it also has Notification Center settings toggles, a multitasking bar and several other handy features… Read More

 

The iKit NuCharge: an iPhone 5 battery case with interchangeable covers

By Cody Lee on Mar 9, 2013

When it comes to battery cases for the iPhone 5, there’s no shortage of options. Mophie itself offers a few choices—the Juice Pack Air and the Helium Juice Pack—and there are countless offerings from other third party manufacturers.

But that doesn’t mean the space couldn’t use another contender. And the folks of Shark Design think they have what it takes to be a big one with their iKit NuCharge. They say it’s the “most advanced iPhone battery case ever made…” Read More

 

Mophie announces new, thinner Juice Pack Air for iPhone 5

By Cody Lee on Feb 25, 2013

Fans of Mophie’s popular Juice Pack Air line will be happy to hear that the company has just announced a new, thinner model for Apple’s latest handset. This is the first significant update to the line in two years.

Aside from the prestige of its highly-regarded creators, the major selling point for the new Air is its size—it’s both thinner and lighter than its predecessor, measuring in at just 0.63-inches thick… Read More

 

iOS 6.1 battery problems may be related to Exchange bug

By Cody Lee on Feb 9, 2013

Yesterday, we reported that Vodafone UK has been sending out text messages to its iPhone 4S subscribers, warning them not to upgrade to iOS 6.1. The update is said to contain a bug that affects the handset’s 3G performance, and subsequently its battery life.

But the issue appears to be more widespread than that. We’ve received a number of comments from readers, that aren’t in the UK and don’t have a 4S, that are seeing similar battery life problems. And it’s been discovered that Exchange might just be the culprit… Read More

 

BatteryPeek shows your battery percentage only when needed

By Mike Schnier on Feb 9, 2013

There are times when it’s useful to know exactly how much battery life you have left on your phone. But since you’re not checking it every second, the percentage meter mostly just adds clutter to the status bar.

With the new BatteryPeek tweak in Cydia, you can have the best of both worlds: the tweak will hide the percentage meter, until you actually want to know how much power you have left… Read More

 

Vodafone UK warns iPhone 4S owners not to upgrade to iOS 6.1 due to 3G bug

By Cody Lee on Feb 8, 2013

Vodafone UK subscribers with an iPhone 4S who haven’t upgraded to iOS 6.1 may want to hold off on doing so. The carrier is currently sending out text messages to customers stating that there’s a bug in the new firmware.

According to the warning, the issue has to due with 3G performance. Apparently 4S users on Vodafone UK have been experiencing problems with both cell service and battery life since updating to the latest version of iOS… Read More

 

Mophie unveils Helium Juice Pack for iPhone 5

By Cody Lee on Feb 5, 2013

This must be ‘unveil your latest product’ week for accessory makers. Logitech took the wraps off its new Ultrathin Keyboard for the iPad mini yesterday, Griffin just announced new designer iPhone 5 cases, and now Mophie has come forward.

The California-based designer and manufacturer introduced the iPhone 5 version of its popular battery case line today, the Juice Pack Helium. The case is 13% thinner than any previous Juice Pack, and features a built-in 1500mAh battery… Read More

 

Use iFunBox’s ‘Power Saving Mode’ to prevent select apps from running in the background

By Mike Schnier on Jan 24, 2013

Want to take a load off your iOS device’s CPU, battery life, and cellular bandwidth by preventing certain apps from running in the background? Sure, you could install a tweak like WeeCloseApps, but it doesn’t set automatic profiles for app behavior, and it doesn’t work on non-jailbroken devices.

Luckily, there’s a powerful iOS file browser for Mac and PC called iFunBox, which works on both jailbroken and non-jailbroken devices. Among its features, iFunBox allows users to edit ‘Power Saving Mode’ profiles. Right click on an installed app and you can set one of three multitasking states: allow background, always background, and kill switch. ‘Allow background’ is the default state of most apps, while ‘always background’ is normally applied to music and podcasting apps that you’d want active in the background, and ‘kill switch’ is applied to power-hungry games… Read More

 
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