Why Extended Batteries aren't worth getting

The technology lacking behind in this smartphone era is battery life. A result of using full capabilities of your smartphone is a very short battery life. The more you have your phone do, the faster it will run out of charge. The major factors that effect your battery life are the brightness, GPS, and data sharing.

I bought a cheap extended battery that is double the size of the standard default battery, but never got a charge life significantly longer. Unless you're willing to pay several hundred dollars for a quality extended battery, I highly recommend tweaking your device settings rather than buying a cheap larger battery. Extended batteries don't only stick out several centimeters further, but they won't fit into stock cases and won't extend your charge life for much longer. A large majority of these batteries that come from foreign countries are unreliable and fail to increase the battery life. The slightly increased battery size can make your phone a little faster, but they still won't hold a charge unless you know what you're doing with your settings.

After deciding my extended battery purchase wasn't worth the money, I decided to change some settings around and got my battery life to extend past 10 hours. Changing a few options will drastically increase your battery charge life and save you large amounts of money. Check back soon for a tutorial on how to implement these settings to drastically increase your battery life.

Highlights:

- Cheap batteries can be scams
- No significant difference between extended and stock battery
- Charge life can be extended by changing settings

Amazon's Android Tablet - 10 inch and 7 inch

Amazon became famous for their incredible prices for online shopping and their cheap eReader, the Amazon Kindle. The tablet explosion soon left the Kindle behind as devices started releasing full colored screens, application support, and internet browsing. As tablets became more advanced the Kindle was still using buttons and a keypad for navigation. Amazon has been secretly planning an Android powered tablet to be released in 2011, but the details and specifications behind them have been kept secret. A Silicon Valley Analyst says he has insider information, but it is still limited. He says that the planned tablet will be all touch LCD screen and is planned to be released before the holiday season. It has been rumored that the device will have NVIDIA's new quad-core Tegra SoC graphics. As far as details go there is little known for what Amazon has planned for their new device. 


The insider analyst also said that Amazon wanted to use a more complex screen design that would allow the user to switch from the black and white ink screen to the LCD screen when wanting to. The eReader ink screens allow longer battery usage before needing a charge and are easier on your eyes for reading books, magazines, and newspaper articles. LCD screens are better for browsing media, using applications, and surfing the internet, but the battery drains much faster and causes your eyes to strain from the illuminated display. Unfortunately the vendors that Amazon uses for their displays won't be ready for the hybrid screen until 2012 or even 2013.


Highlight Features of Amazon's Android Tablet:


- Full Color touchscreen display
- NVIDIA quad-core Tegra
- Android OS

Widget Locker - Customizing your Lock Screen

Get it now for just $1.99

Widget Locker is a fully customizable lock screen from Tesla Coil Software. Widget Locker comes equip with a visual editor that not only lets you change the style of your lock screen, but the whole functionality of it. You can drag and drop buttons on your screen then rearrange them how you please. The functionality feature of the buttons is great for performing tasks at a rapid pace. Custom functionality lets the user decide what to perform when the button becomes activated. For example you may want to pause your music, Widget Locker lets you do that from your lock screen. Not only are sliding buttons available, but you can add shortcut icons for even easier access. Other popular features include color changing, wallpaper changing, and even transparency of your lock screen items.

Widget Locker also includes styles to move you away from the default look and feel of your Android device. These styles include the iPhone slider and other Droid interface styles that come stock on some Android devices.



Highlight features of Widget Locker:

- Fully customizable Lock Screen capability
- Real time visual Lock Screen Editor
- Gesture function launching
- Unique Styles
- Icons on Lock Screen
- Custom buttons

(Click image to enlarge)