Articles by Jeremy Sikora
Poor battery life and iPhone are a few words that get mixed together all too often it seems. While some will say it’s fine, others will say it’s pitiful. As many of you know, battery life will fluctuate greatly between users and their individual usage patterns but TiPb wants to provide you with some simple tips and tricks on conditioning your battery to provide a maximum life and squeezing as much usage out of each charge as possible.
The battery in an iPhone is a lithium-based battery which is most common in consumer portable devices. A lithium-ion battery provides 300-500 discharge/charge cycles in its lifetime and the following tips are just a few ways to efficiently gain longer battery lifespans while extending overall battery life of your iPhone.
- Be sure to go through at least one charge cycle per month (charging the battery to 100% and then completely running it down).
- Avoid heat – do not leave your iPhone in a hot car or in direct sunlight.
- Optimization of your settings. Yes, some of these are no brainers but can be effective. Simple things like:
- turning off Location Services,
- turning off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when not in use,
- fetching new data less frequently,
- setting the brightness of your screen below 50%,
- turning of the EQ while listening to music,
- turning off 3G while not surfing the internet (Yes, we said it…)
All of these add up to better battery life.
After you’ve tried some of the above tips and you are still not happy or your battery life is just horrid all together, you may want to try restoring your iPhone and do not restore from a backup file but rather restore as a new iPhone. All too often we hear about horrible battery life striking many of you after updating your iPhone to the latest software. If this is the case, 9 times out of 10 a separate restore as a new iPhone will clear up your battery issue.
Have some battery saving tips you’d like to share? Leave them in the comments for others to take advantage of!
Starting today AT&T has flipped the switch on their A-List unlimited calling feature. The complete details are as follows:
- Individual plans 900+ minutes ($59.99 and over) per month, and FamilyTalk plans 1400+ minutes ($89.99 and over) per month qualify for A-List
- No extra charge with your qualifying plan
- Add up to 5 numbers on your individual plan
- Add up to 10 numbers on your FamilyTalk plan
- Add any domestic number, on any network – including landline numbers
- Update your list online as often as you want, right from your myWireless Account
For those of you who do meet these requirements, you can now log into your online account and set up your A-List! For those of us who are less fortunate and do not meet AT&T’s required plans, would you pay a few extra bucks a month to get A-List?
[Thanks for the tip Gregg!]
It’s time for some good old forum action. Reading From the Forums is a great way to see what all of the current hot topics are on the TiPb forums. In order to create any new threads of your own or reply to any of the existing threads, you must be a registered member. Becoming a member is a simple process that will only take a few minutes out of your day, so if you have not already already done so, head on over and register now.
Rene has started an excellent thread for those of you who want to know more about iPhone 3.1 along with iTunes 9 – TiPb’s iPhone 3.1 Software Walkthrough is the place to go if you’d like to know what has changed in the software and/or need a link to send to some of your friends who have similar questions.
This next thread was started by xtremeyouth1 and he poses an interesting question – Will there be a new design for 4th generation iPhone? It’s never to early to start speculating!
Last up for today we’d like to remind everyone who is in search for cool wallpaper and ringtones to please visit our dedicated forum – iPhone Wallpapers and Ringtones. That thread is the place to be for the latest and greatest to customize your iPhone.
See you on the forums!
The BlueAnt V1 Bluetooth Headset for iPhone 3G/3GS [$68.92 - TiPb Store Link] has been a pleasant surprise as I did not think I’d find another Bluetooth headset that I would prefer over the highly regarded Jawbone PRIME.
For the full scoop follow us after the break! Read the rest of this entry »
The Dev Team have updated their blog to let the jailbreakers of the world know how to go about jailbreaking iPhone 3.1. It seems as if Apple has really thrown a monkey wrench into jailbreaking the 3.1 software, however, so sit tight as this may be a bit confusing…
First and foremost they have released the PwnageTool 3.1 for Mac OS X that should only be used with the original iPhone and iPhone 3G. Sorry 3GS owners, you’ll have to wait. Be sure to heed some of the Dev Teams warnings before attempting to jailbreak your device.
- If you are using a 3G iPhone with ultrasn0w and rely on ultrasn0w to obtain cellular service, then you should only upgrade to 3.1 with a PwnageTool created .ipsw. – Stay away from Apple’s direct updates.
- If you have an original iPhone (1st generation) then 3.1 unlock works with this PwnageTool release. iPhone 3G users upgrading to 3.1 will need to continue using ultrasn0w with a PwnageTool created 3.1 .ipsw
- PwnageTool WILL work for Original iPhone (1st Generation), Original iPod touch (1st Generation) and the iPhone 3G.
For the full rundown please visit the Dev Teams blog and make sure you fully understand what you are getting yourself into before attempting to jailbreak iPhone 3.1.
If you don’t understand it, don’t do it, and TiPb takes no responsibility for the outcome either way. Need more? Check out TiPb’s Forums.
On tap for today’s TiPb Top 5, we thought we’d cater to all of our iPhone and iPod touch wielding readers who enjoy action games. Just like our TiPb’s top 5 must-have board games, all of these games are available in the App Store, this time under categories – games – action. And even better, all of them are very reasonably priced. For the full run down, follow us after the break!
According to Macrumors we may just start seeing iPhone dedicated activation areas as well as designated iPhone staff in our local Apple retail stores starting today.
These new staff members, rumored to be called “iPhone Experts”, will obviously be there to help streamline the sales of iPhones along with providing a dedicated “expert” that can accommodate all of your iPhone needs. The whole concept behind this new layout sounds ideal for those of you who are first time Apple shoppers.
So if you happen to pass by your local Apple store within the next few days, stop in and say hello to your very own “iPhone Expert”.
Dexter fans can now visit the App Store and purchase their favorite serial killers very own iPhone game for $5.99. [iTunes Link] It was almost a year ago since we first mentioned that this game was in development. Hopefully the extra time it took to arrive has paid off. Judging from the above video and what I’ve seen in the brief time I’ve spent with the final version, it does seem a bit more polished.
In the game, help Dexter choose his next victims while always protecting his identity. Analyze crime scenes, uncover evidence and use stealth tactics to stalk your prey. Is the case best served by the courts or the Dark Passenger? The outcome of every choice and action revolves around the Code of Harry: only kill the guilty, maintain the mask, and above all, don’t get caught!
This game should hold you over until the new season begins on September 27th.
[Via Touch Arcade]
It’s no secret that the Apple App Store is just flooded with games and entertainment titles – 21,178 to be exact.
As impressive as that number may sound, however, there is an old saying that says quality over quantity. Now don’t get us wrong, there are very impressive games that have hit the App Store but we think developers are just beginning to scratch the surface of the power of Apple devices. When the App Store was first introduced many developers just rushed to put apps together in a effort to simply cash in with some subpar apps. As time goes on we are seeing more and more impressively polished games arrive in the store.
Games such as EA’s Madden 2010, Assassins Creed 2 from Ubisoft (available November 11th), and a FPS called Nova from Gameloft are just a taste of what’s to come.
So we ask the big question to you, does Apple raise a serious threat to the likes of Sony and Nintendo? What are you using these days to get your game on?
Rhapsody [free - iTunes Link] is now available in the iTunes App Store. It was less than a month ago that we told you about the submission of RealNetwork’s Rhapsody iPhone app, well Apple may have been scared straight by the FCC because it’s been approved and is now available as a free download.
Now don’t don’t forget there is a $15/month subscription fee you must dish out if you want all of that music streaming goodness over AT&T’s data network or Wi-Fi. Sorry folks, no off-line access like Spotify here.
In a strange twist of fate, PreCentral.net tells us Palm has rejected their first App Catalog app, NaNPlayer, a (superior according to PC) replacement for the built-in Pre music player. Why did they do this? The developer used an undocumented API and that violates the SDK agreement. Sound familiar, iPhone users? Will Palm now get the same grief Apple does?
Sound off in the comments!
