TALK about misleading. The manual says that your cellphone has a standby time of a week. But that is if you don't use your phone. At all.
Even the specs for length of talktime doesn't help. Consider this: Your cellphone is your most overworked electronic gizmo.
As a phone you leave it on 24/7. But it also serves as your camcorder and camera. And your e-mail device. You surf the Net on it and check out the latest YouTube clips.
It guides you to your destination and list the services around you once you get there.
You read e-books and even watch movies on it. And your children see your phone as their gaming console.
All these scream for power – more than just for making phone calls. And as the phone's repertoire of tricks grow and screens get brighter and bigger, it sucks up energy. Big time.
Which brings us to the one piece in the cellphone that remains a laggard - the battery.
It can't keep up. Use your multi-talented phone hard and your battery may not last out the day.
With our work and social life revolving around our phone, that is just not acceptable.
More power means a bigger battery. But surely you can't have a lump of a battery sticking out from a svelte streamlined design, right?
Not quite.
One thing I like about my two-year-old Samsung i600 smartphone is that it came with a standard slim battery plus a larger, heavy-duty one that gives almost twice more juice. I am given a choice: Slimness or power.
Mind you, separate housing is included so that the increased bulk of the larger battery is artfully hidden.
But for most phones, a power user on the move can always keep a fully-charged battery handy in case the first battery runs out.
The question is: What if the battery is sealed away inside the phone where it cannot be reached without voiding the warranty? That's the case for a popular smartphone from a company named after a fruit linked to the discovery of gravity.
I know some folks who lug their chargers around with them. Better a permanent bulge in the Kate Spade or attaché case than have a call or transaction that dies midstream.
But what if you are on move away and have no access a power point? There are third party solutions but all add considerable bulk to the phone.
This word, therefore, to manufacturers: Bravo for making phones that are probably smarter than most of us before our morning cup of coffee.
Now, how about giving more power (options) to your customers?