Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
Resident parking only.

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


                     

Cell Phone Power Schedule

Cell Phone Battery Saver - Shut down/Power up Schedule
  (+2, -1)
(+2, -1)
  [vote for,
against]

Like the set-back thermostat, where your heat or A/C shuts down overnight, to spring alive in the morning, all cell phones should give the user the ability to program their phone to shut off and restart, hours later.

My phone, when fully charged, will last about 6 days, or more specifically, about 150 hours. Unfortunately, 40 of those hours, I'm asleep, and probably don't want to hear from my friend who just got a hole-in-one on the 24hr mini-golf course.

I should be able to tell my phone to power down from 11pm (bedtime) to 7am, every day. And, just like a fancy set-back thermostat, give me 1 schedule/day, which would allow the user to have different schedules for, say, the weekends, when sleep times are different.

This simple change would mean you wouldn't need to charge your battery as often, getting you at least an extra couple days of juice.

duncantuna, Jul 07 2005

[link]






       RIM devices (Blackberries) have this, and since they now double as phones, I'd call it Widely Baked.
DrCurry, Jul 07 2005
  

       True, Blackberries have this, and the last pager I owned had it. But of the 5 phones I've owned over the past decade, none of them have had this basic, power saving feature.   

       And sure, charging the phone overnight will really keep your battery charged. Gee, why didn't I think of that?
duncantuna, Jul 07 2005
  

       Per Google, Siemens phones also do this, so I stand by that Widely Baked.
DrCurry, Jul 07 2005
  

       Charging your phone every night will shorten the overall battery life by expending charge cycles and will also shorten the standby and talk time by introducing memory effect. Yes, memory effect exists in Li-Ion and NiMH batteries, too.
bristolz, Jul 07 2005
  

       I don't get this. You want a device to automatically turn your phone off at night? Is there any reason why you can't just turn it off when you go to bed?

You could always get a friend to phone you in the morning to remind you to turn it back on.
Basepair, Jul 07 2005
  

       Yup. Some of us don't use our cell phone much. It's something you carry around all day, but perhaps never use. My wife and I rarely use our phones, and used to keep them off unless we needed to make a call. Now we leave them on all the time, as, if we turned them off, we'd never remember to turn them back on. Her's sits in her purse for 5 days without being used, then oops, the battery is now dead. Sure would be nice to have the power cycle off/on to prolong the battery, and increase the time between charges.
duncantuna, Jul 08 2005
  

       Yes, but the power cycling may not, in fact, extend the time between chargings because of battery memory induced by the cycling itself.
bristolz, Jul 08 2005
  

       If you don't use the phones, why do you have them? And what difference does it make if they are on or off, or if the battery is dead?
waugsqueke, Jul 08 2005
  

       Is the memory effect still really a problem? I've just got rid of a little Nokia I've had for 2œ years that I rarely used (maybe 5 minutes a day) though never switched off, and every night I put it on the charger - never had a problem with it, even on the odd occasions I used it for over an hour at a time. Not sure of the battery chemistry - Li-Ion, I think.
AbsintheWithoutLeave, Jul 08 2005
  

       Turning a phone off for 8 hours, then back will not have a negative "memory effect" on a battery -- Firstly because NiMHs are (mostly) immune to this problem, but secondly, memory effect has to do with frequent recharging without complete drainage of the battery.   

       Why have a phone if I don't use it? I didn't say that. We place/receive calls infrequently, but still desire the convenience of being able to receive calls at any time, even though it doesn't happen much. Increasing the days between recharges is highly favorable.
duncantuna, Jul 08 2005
  
      
[annotate]
  


 

back: main index

business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle