Improve Android Battery Life by Changing The Way You Charge

With the introduction of smart phones we quickly saw battery life drop to only a day long if you're lucky.  Having your phone die halfway through the day has quickly become the norm.  Good news is there's something you can do about it. 

After doing some research in to the way Android phones charge I found an interesting quirk.  It's has to do with the way the phone tracks the charge level.  I've had my phone shut off several times claiming to be dead only to find out when I plug it in it claims to have a 50% or more charge.  Research revealed that the phone tracks the battery level in two ways.

1. Part of the Android OS.
2. The phones internal systems.

It appears that the Android OS(At least Android 2.2 in my case) fails on a regular basis to correctly calculate the charge level, in many cases by up to 50%-60% less than it actually is.  The good news is there's a charging method that will allow you to get that extra charge.


1. Power down the phone and charge it to 100%(tip: a quick press on the power button while off with show this screen.

2. Don't make the mistake of unplugging at this point.  Pulling the plug while the phone is still off results in the shortest battery life possible.

3. Power on the phone and wait.  Letting it sit for about 15-30min allows everything to boot and appears to allow the phone to sync the battery level.  I like to power it up when I first wake up and let it sit while I have breakfast, shower, etc.

4. Once the phone is all powered up and ready to go it's safe to unplug and enjoy the charge!

Living Without 3G Data

In a quest to improve battery life on my Samsung Intercept I decided to take the recommendation of many online and turn off 3G data as an experiment.  Being a blend of cellphone and computer it's doesn't come to much of a surprise to many that smart phones suck battery life far faster than their old school cellphone counterparts.  By shutting off the 3G data it's much like shutting off the computer modem portion of the phone.  Leaving you temporarily with a more or less old school phone.  You can still make phone calls, send and receive texts, but if you need access to the internet you're going to have to switch it back on or turn on Wifi.


The Results
Overall I was happy with the improvement of battery life, going from only about one full day worth of battery to somewhere in the 1-2.5 day range.  Not having to listen to the tone in low coverage areas when the 3G dropped out was an added bonus as well.  So it sounds like a great improvement right?

The Problem
Only problem with shutting off 3G is none of your apps have access to the internet.  This doesn't seem like a problem if the phone is in your pocket right?  Thing is, when 3G is turned back on they all have a heyday.  So you go to check the weather, your email, or an address quick and you have to fight the apps for data and processing power.  Something as simple as checking a price online I found could take up to 10min waiting for the phone to catch up.  The worst of them all was actually Gmail, as far as I can tell any time Gmail looses data connection it must sync everything back up, all of your emails, contacts, calendar, etc.  This process was the main reason for the slow response anytime you wanted to check something quick.

My Recommendation
Overall the battery life improved dramatically, but the problems didn't make it worth it for me, so it's back to running with 3G.  If you're in a bind and need to stretch that battery a while or are in a poor coverage area I highly recommend it, but it's just not practical on a daily basis.

Considering an upgrade to the Motorola Triumph?

If you think it's about time to trade in your old Samsung Intercept or LG Optimus V for the New Motorola Triumph.  mstechify over on YouTube has put together a couple of great videos comparing the three.  With camera tests, bench marks, game demos and More!  Props to mstechify for taking the time to run it through it's paces.

Virgin Mobile Samsung Intercept Android 2.2 Has Arrived!

The long awaited update for the Virgin Mobile Samsung Intercept has finally arrived. The prompt is on your screen, and you're excited to get started. But take it from me, don't click that button just yet. After receiving the update prompt from Virgin Mobile I too was excited to get started. I didn't have a charger handy, but my battery was full, so I figured it would be fine. What I didn't count on was my poor signal. In the process of updating I received the following error:

assert failed:("/tmp/modem_delta.bin","modem_delta.bin")
E: Error in /cache/54dbc743fd5b.update-SPH-M910_OTA_DI06ToEC07.zip
(Status 7)
Installation Aborted

A sheer sign that the download failed at some point losing valuable information.  So what now you ask?  Can you simply try it again?  The short answer is no, the prompt will not appear again when you power up the phone.  You have three options:

1. Contact Virgin Mobile regarding the issue.  As many can tell you this will take time and may be days, weeks before you finally get it updated.

2. Do a factory reset on the phone.  In doing so you will lose all of your apps, contacts, and any other data on the phone. Some have reported that the update prompt will appear again after this is done, but what's the point if you lose everything?

3. Become one of the many hackers like me and download the Update.zip file from the following forum:  SamsungInterceptForum.com.  After waiting patiently for months now I'd had enough.  I had been granted my wish for the "Official Update" and it failed.  So, being computer savvy, I took it upon myself to fix the issue.  I am happy to say the update was faster and completely flawless using the instructions and files supplied in the forum.  Props to tifferrr89 for the post.

So why didn't Virgin Mobile just release the download file for the Samsung Intercept?
Testing the update at first was a good plan on their part.  Pushing it out to 5000 as a initial test will verify that it is in fact working correctly without bricking 1/2 of their customers phones.  But after that initial test, an official release of the file would have been nice.  The way the Android update system works, there is no more chance that it will brick with the file downloaded than over the air, and as I have found, it may be more likely to fail receiving the "official OTA update".

What can I do to make sure the official update works?
1. Take your charger with you at all times.  This is one of the downfalls of the OTA updates.  It will come at some point and you want to be ready.  Mine showed up at 12:05am.

2. Check your signal strength before you update.  If you have poor 3G access make sure you find a wifi network that works before updating.

3. Be patient.  The progress bar can be deceiving.  In my case it went really fast for about the first 1/4 then stopped.  I thought something was wrong and went outside to find better signal.  Bad move on my part as it lost the wifi access it was using.

Closing thoughts about the Virgin Mobile Samsung Intercept Android 2.2 Update

Overall I'm happy with the update.  Speed has improved to acceptable levels, the calling function doesn't seem to lock up the phone anymore, and the transition was extremely smooth.  Stay tuned for more to come about what's new.

Android 2.2 Rolling Out to the Virgin Mobile Samsung Intercept.

It's official. Android 2.2 is rolling out to the Virgin Mobile Samsung Intercept starting April 11th 2011.  Customers started receiving word by text message earlier today.  Included in the message is a link with more details on the update, only viewable on the phone.  I included a screen capture of the page below.  Of the two other release dates mentioned before, this is the first time text messages have gone out to customers.  So it's a good sign the third times the charm.  As with many of the updates, word has it there will be 5000 lucky customers that will receive it first as a test.  If all goes well, then it will be released slowly to the remaining customers over the next few weeks.

With the update almost certainly on it's way, I highly recommend backing up your phone just in case there are some bumps in the road.  Check out: Preparing for an Android Update for more details.

How to get peak performance out of the Samsung Intercept

If you've owned the Samsung Intercept for more than a couple of weeks you have probably seen it. Slow load times, apps freezing, missed calls because the screen didn't come up, and more. Well, I'm here to help make those problems a thing of the past.  Originally released back in July of 2010 for Sprint, the Samsung Intercept is definitely not the newest phone on the market.  Even at the time of release, it was considered a low end Android phone, but it's not done fighting yet.

Step 1 - Accept it for what it is

The Samsung Intercept is not a high end smart phone, it's not going to knock your socks off, have all the fancy 3D widgets, or play HD movies at 720p like the new HTC Thunderbolt.  But when it comes down to it at the end of the day, it will get the job done.  The Samsung Intercept is a low end Android Phone.  By accepting it for what it is, you will not demand more from it than it can handle.  

Step 2 - Assess your needs

Keeping step one in consideration, we move on to what you need it to do.  The following screen shot is my home screen.  That's right "home" screen, as in just one.  Other than one widget, it is simply icons, some would say boring, dare I say almost iOS like (may I reiterate the fact that this is a low end phone).  The apps located on my home screen are my daily use apps.  Anything beyond that I just open my tray.  Android must load in to memory any apps or widgets on the home screen.  This can take time and cause it to be slow returning to the screen.  By reducing the gadgets on the home screen, you will speed up the response time.

Step 3 - Strip it down

Now, as I said reducing your home screens down to just what you need will speed up overall responsiveness.   To do this I recommend a new launcher app called Launcher Pro.  This launcher is fully customizable and will really smooth things out.  For starters, it allows you to reduce the number of home screens.  In my case, I went to just one, but going down to just two will help as well.  It also has features like making the background image stick so it doesn't move when switching the home screens(iOS?).  The Samsung Intercept does not have a dedicated graphics chip so any fancy graphical move it does will slow it down.  So stick to the basics and your Intercept will treat you well.

Step 4 - Widgets

Widgets are what make Android great.  But widgets take memory, processor time, and most importantly battery life.  Widgets are there to save you time, so finding the ones that will show you what you need on a daily basis without having to open the app will be a big time saver.  This is a delicate balance between what widgets you need, and what you can live without.  Again, less is more in this case, so pick your widgets wisely.

Step 5 - Clean House

Now, moving on to your apps.  To get peak performance out of the Samsung Intercept, keeping an eye on what you have installed is very important.  Going to Settings>SD card & Phone Storage will show you how much space your phone has left.  As of this post the Virgin Mobile Samsung Intercept is running Android 2.1, so it doesn't have the ability to install apps to the SD card.  So sadly you must ignore that nice big GB number at the top.  Instead take a look at the "Internal Phone Storage".  This is the space allocated by your phone for app storage.  Any app installed on your phone will use this space as well as the cache for the app itself.  I have found if this fills up, bad things happen.  So I highly recommend keeping an eye on it and making sure it doesn't go below 20MB.  Uninstalling apps and clearing cache will keep this at bay.

Step 6 - Clearing your cache

As I stated in step 5, clearing your cache helps alleviate internal phone storage problems.  There are two ways you can go about doing this.  First is to clear one application at a time.  This of course will take a fair amount of time if you have many applications.  The other option is to download an app to do it for you.  One such application is called 1TapCacheCleaner.  It's simple, easy to use, and lives up to it's name, allowing one click to clear all application cache.

Step 7 - Memory boost

My final recommendation is an application called MemoryBooster, which is designed to tackle the difficult yet crucial problem of memory management.  MemoryBooster reclaims lost memory by defragmenting and recovering memory caused by leaks from poorly behaved applications. As shown in step two, I have the MemoryBooster widget on my home screen.  Anytime I find the phone acting sluggish, I just hit the button.      

Closing Thoughts

To get peak performance out of the Samsung Intercept requires a little care and maintenance, but by doing so the Intercept will serve you well.  Many of these steps can also be applied to other Android phones, so if you find yourself in the same boat as the Intercept, feel free to try it yourself.

Virgin Mobiles Andorid 2.2 Update for the Samsung Intercept - What's the fuss about?

We have all been patiently waiting for months now for Virgin Mobile to release the Android 2.2 update on the Samsung Intercept, but what's all the fuss about?  Many of us don't even know what the update is, let alone all of the changes that will happen.  I did some digging and this is what I have found.



1. General Android OS speed, memory, and performance optimizations
Thanks to some tricky little programming on Google's part, the overall responsiveness and speed will be improved.  Something that has been plaguing the Intercept since it was released.  Applications will be given a boost courtesy of JIT implementation and the browser is receiving Chrome's V8 Javascript engine.

2. Unlock Screen Change
Having played with the LG Optimus running Android 2.2, I can tell you that the user interface has changed a fair amount.  The first thing you will notice is the unlock screen has changed.  You now have to slide the unlock button to the right to unlock the phone.  You also have a quick sliding silent button on the unlock screen as well.

3. New non-scrolling dock
They have added a new dock to the bottom of the home screen that contains the Phone, Tray, and Browser buttons.  As you scroll the different home screens this dock is always visible and indicates which screen you currently are on.

4.Updated Camera App Layout
The slider is out and new transparent buttons are in.  Giving you single handed setting adjustments and shutter.  After digging around I have yet to find if the "Night" shot mode that makes the Intercept's camera so great is still included.  They claim the change is all visual, but that has yet to be seen.

5. New Dial Pad
Switching from the current multi colored dial pad to a more uniform gray keypad with larger spacing between keys.

6. Technical Stuff
Also included with the update is a bunch of technical stuff.  I'll spare you the details on that.

Samsung Intercept 2.2 Update - Virgin Mobile

It's official, the long awaited update for the Virgin Mobile Samsung Intercept to Android 2.2.  Which rumor has it, this update will speed up the Intercept to more usable levels, and fix may of the bugs we all put up with on a day to day basis, has been delayed by Virgin Mobile USA.  Originally scheduled to be delivered on the 25th of March 2011.  It has been offically delayed until the first week of April.  According to Virgin Mobile USA the update was delayed due to "internal timing issues".

As much as we all would like to see this update go through, making sure the errors that occurred when Sprint updated their version of the Intercept is well worth the wait.  The original update Sprint pushed through bricked nearly 50% of the phones that received it, forced them to pull the update, and send hundreds of customers to sprint stores to replace their phones.

Low cost android phone service - Virgin Mobile

I know the amazingly low price service from Virgin Mobile has been covered by many, but I wanted to give you a users expeariance so far. I for one swiched over to Virgin Mobile back in Oct of 2010. When I called to get my number switched the customer support was friendly and easy to work with. They took down all my info and told me it could take up to 72hrs for my new Samsung Intercept to become active. To my plesent surprise I received a text about 2hrs later welcoming me to Virgin Mobile.

Is the phone reception perfect?

No. But so far I've only found one place that the service drops completely, which also happens to be surrounded by 2feet of concrete. Shortly after getting the phone activated I took a trip out to Los Angles California and found the reception to be great, and the GPS navigation on the Samsung Intercept to be a life saver.

What's the catch?

If you are looking for the hidden fee's you won't find them. The only thing on top of the $25 a month plan I picked up was sales tax. Which you will be paying on any other carrier as well. No incoming text fee's, no roaming fee's, no data fee's, nothing.

Do the phones suck?

The Android phones currently available from Virgin mobile are considered low end phones. So I will not lie, you won't be completely blown away by them. So far I've had the opportunity to use both the Samsung Intercept(My personal phone) and the LG Optimus V. Both phones are great entry level Android phones perfect for someone looking to move up to a smart phone without paying an arm and a leg. I hope to write reviews of them later on but I will give you a few pro's and con's of the two below.

Samsung Intercept

Pros

• Slide out Qwerty keyboard(for those that like to have a physical keyboard)
• Great Low light photos (Thanks to the Intercepts "Night" shot mode)
• Optical pad for navigation(Amazing how big a difference this makes over the Optimus)
• 2GB microSD card
• Good sound(The speaker on the Intercept looks larger in comparison, gives you more bass, and overall is louder than the Optimus)

Cons

• Sometimes feels sluggish(sounds like the Android 2.2 update improves this a lot).
• Poor Battery life like most of these phones.
• Not the best for graphics as they can sometimes be a little choppy(again sounds like 2.2 will give this a slight improvement).

LG Optimus V
Samsung Intercept Full Review

Pros

• Dedicated graphics chip makes gaming a whole lot smoother
• Higher resloution screen
• Overall feels fairly fast
• 2GB microSD card with adapter to make it a standard size SD card

Cons

• Poor low light photos(Comparing the two phones several photos came out black on the Optimus in low light and only dark on the Intercept.)
• Weak speaker (I found cranking it all the way up gave you a tinny sound and really wasn't that loud)
• No optical pad(When editing text you must switch keyboards to the arrow keys which is a pain)

Which phone is right for me?

Well, that all depends. If you are an avid gamer, I recommend the Optimus as it has the dedicated graphics chip. For those looking to take photos and listen to music, I would tend to lean towards the Intercept.

Will Virgin Mobile get better phones?

Rumor has it they may be picking up a 4.1" 1ghz smart phone. Which I think could be a big seller for Virgin Mobile. I for one would consider upgrading.

Overall I am extremely satisfied with my service so far. I highly recommend checking out Virgin Mobile for your cell phone needs.

Samsung Intercept Notification Pane Stuck

Phone: Samsung Intercept M910

OS: Android 2.1

Ever had your notification pane stuck and it just won't come down? I know I have. For the longest time the only way I could find to fix it was to restart the phone, and anyone that owns this phone knows just how long that can take. Well, I did some digging and finally found the answer.

What causes it:

1. Holding the power button down to display the options for airplane mode, power down, and silent.

2. Press the back button.

Your notification pane will now be lock. It won't swipe down or come down with with the Notification button found in the menu.

The good news, You can fix it! without restarting

Here's How to fix it:

1. Press and hold the Home button until the menu appears

2. Press the Back button.

That's it!

I have a feeling the glitch is caused by the power menu locking all other icons and options, but the coding doesn't release the notification pane. I have not heard if this is fixed in the Android 2.2 update on the intercept(due March 25th for Virgin Mobile Customers) but it will get you back in business for the time being.

Update: This issue is fixed in the Android 2.2 Update