How to Read your Android Battery Graph

Your Android mobile phone includes a built-in app to help you visually monitor the battery usage pattern. Go to Settings > Battery (the app’s location may vary for your version of Android) and you’ll see a history graph detailing which apps have been consuming the most battery power and how long you can use the device before the battery is completely drained off.

If you observe the Android battery graph more closely, you’ll find some other interesting details as well. For instance, you’ll know the pattern of your mobile signal strength, how often apps running in the background ‘wake up’ your sleeping device and so on.

This is the main battery graph and is easy to interpret. If there are any breaks, it indicates that the device was powered off during that period. If there are any red or yellow lines over the graph, it indicates that the charge was critically low during that period. The gray area represents the approximate remaining charge.

Related Tip: Do not let your phone’s battery charge dip the below the 10% mark as that will affect your phone’s battery life in the long run.

If you tap the battery history graph, it will provide a more detailed breakdown of the battery usage and charge times as shown in the screenshot below.

The colored bars in the Mobile Network Signal indicate the strength of signal (or number of cellular bars). The dark green bars indicate strong signal (full bars), light green is a good signal, yellow means a weak connection (3 bars or less) while the red bars indicate ‘scanning’ mode meaning the device is searching for a network signal.

If your device is in airplane mode, or when you are out of coverage area, the network signal block will be blank (white or, for some models, black).

The Wi-Fi block indicates the time when the radio was turned on though the device may not be actually connected to a Wi-Fi network. The colored strips for charging indicate the time when your Android phone was connected to the charger. The ascending slopes in the battery graph is also an indicator of the charging time.

The colored blocks in the Awake bar represent background apps that may be running even while the screen is off. For instance, your mail app periodically checks for new email even while the phone is in ‘sleep’ mode. If you notice any extended ‘awake’ blocks, it means that some battery-draining apps are keeping your phone active and should be uninstalled.

The GPS line indicates the duration when the GPS receiver is powered on and some app or system service tried to use GPS to determine your exact location. Finally, the ‘Screen On’ bar indicates the actual usage time when the screen was turned on and not in standby mode.

Tips to Extend the Life of your Gadget’s Batteries

Your mobile phones, tablets and laptops have rechargable Lithim Ion batteries that lose capacity as they age but with good care, the batteries may last for 2 to 3 years or even longer. What can you do to increase the overall lifespan of your gadget’s battery? Should you keep your mobile devices charged or wait for the charge to drop to 0% before charging them again?

I recently scanned the websites of consumer electronics companies, includingHP, Asus, Apple, Dell and also Battery University – for their recommendations on how to maximize the battery life and here’s a quick summary of what I learned:

1. Avoid deep discharge meaning you should not continue using the device until the battery drains down to 10% or below. The optimal charge level for Li-Ion batteries is suggested between 40% and 70% and, if possible, charge your device in short bursts multiple times a day.

2. If you are not planning to use a gadget for long periods, like more than a month, charge them to around 50% before storing. If the device is fully charged, discharge to the half-way mark, power-down the device and store in a cool dry place.

3. You should never store a device that is either fully charged or completely discharged for extended periods as both these states would result in loss of battery capacity. If you are leaving your mobile device in the closet unused for longer than six months, charge it to 50% every six months to maintain battery health and also reduce the aging effect.

4. Do not leave your gadgets in the car on a hot afternoon as prolonged exposure to temperatures higher than 35°C can permanently damage the capacity of your mobile phone’s battery.

5. It is OK to leave your mobile phone plugged in at night for charging but the mobile case could be an issue. The heat generated during the charging needs an exit vent and if the design of your mobile case doesn’t allow that, it maybe a good idea to remove the case before plugging-in the charger.

That said, these tips will mostly benefit people who do not upgrade their gadgets frequently. For others, don’t sweat too much as you’ll probably replace the phone even before the battery starts to degrade.

And while we are on the topic of batteries, watch this TED video that explains how batteries work and why even the best batteries will slowly lose capacity and eventually die.

How to Make Your Wired Printer Wireless

Your laptop and desktop computers are connected over a Wi-Fi network but you still need a physical USB cable to connect your wired printer to one of these computers.

If you find your existing setup a bit inconvenient and are looking for ways that will help you print documents from the same printer but wirelessly, here are some choices.

Turn any Wired Printer into a Wireless Network Printer

More new printers these days are network enabled so you can just attach them to your home network using the Ethernet port (or over Wi-Fi) and print from any other computer in the home network. However, if you are using an old USB based printer, you can use a wireless print server to turn that wired printer into a wireless one.

Wireless print servers are small devices (they look like mini routers) that have a USB port. You just have to connect the printer to this wireless print server using a regular USB cable and the printer will then become available to all other computers in your wireless network.

Here’s an overview of some of the most popular wireless print servers:

Netgear WGPS606 – This is both a wireless print server and a wired router.   It has two USB ports so you may use the device for sharing up to two printers over the wireless network. The same print server can also help you connect four different computers to the network even if they are not fitted with wireless network adapters. Costs around $60.

Linksys Print Server – This wireless print server from Cisco makes it easy to access all the functions of your all-in-one printer over the wireless network.   The Print Server can connect most USB based multifunction printers to your network using an Ethernet cable or Wireless-G. The print function works like any other print server but for scanning or copying, a user can request exclusive use of that function until his task is complete. Costs around $80.

HP Wireless Kit – If you like to turn your wired HP printer into a wireless one, the HP Wireless Printing Kit could be a good choice as it integrates fully with all features of your printer, including print, scan, and fax. It comes with a USB transmitter that you need to insert into the computer for wireless printing. The advantage is that you can print wirelessly even if you don’t have a wireless network. Requires Windows and costs around $75.

If you don’t have a wireless network at your place, you can consider getting a Bluetooth adapter for your printer. You need to attach the Bluetooth dongle to your computer and print wirelessly though the range will obviously be limited. Check your printer manufacturer’s site if they provide a Bluetooth adapter for your printer model.

Should You Buy a Wireless Print Server?

Before you invest in a wireless print server for your printer, consider this.

Today, most multifunction printers include wireless capabilities and can therefore connect directly to your wireless network without any additional hardware. Some of these printers are available in the $100 range. With this in mind, does it make more sense to purchase a new printer instead of buying a wireless print server for your existing printer?

Here are some possible scenarios:

• If your current printer is relatively new and you paid more than $100 for it, then it may be more economical for you to simply purchase a wireless print server instead of purchasing an entirely new printer with the same features.
• If a wireless printer in not available in your area, you can buy a regular USB based wired printer and get someone to ship you a wireless print server. This would incur less shipping costs than ordering a wireless printer.
• Some wireless print servers can be used as wireless routers. If you do not have a wireless router at your place, you can opt for a wireless print server as it will not only turn your printer wireless but you also get to setup a wireless home network.

Also see: Secure Your WiFi Home Network

Why Windows Users Buy Laptops Preloaded with Free DOS?

If you are looking to buy one of the mid-range laptops, you may have noticed that some laptop manufacturers, especially Dell and Lenovo, offer you a choice in operating systems for the same hardware configuration.  The two machines carry identical hardware but one model is loaded with genuine Windows 7 while the other is on Free DOS. Some laptops may have Ubuntu Linux in place of Free DOS.

Why Windows Users go for FreeDOS / Linux Laptops?

The DOS / Linux based laptops are obviously less expensive than their Windows 7 counterparts as the vendor need not pay any Windows licensing fee to Microsoft and some of that price benefit is passed on to the consumer.

The important question is that if you are a Windows user and want a laptop with Windows 7, why would you even consider one that has Linux or Free DOS even if it is cheaper?

I was talking to a laptop dealer and he offered a very convincing reason. He said that most people who opt for Free DOS / Linux based laptops, purchase a retail (licensed) copy of Windows 7 DVD separately and then they overwrite the DOS with Windows 7.

Isn’t that tedious? People take this route because, unlike the OEM copy of Windows which is tied to one particular computer, they have an option to transfer the retail Windows license to any another computer later should they decide to sell /donate their old laptop. Piracy could be the other big reason why people may be opting for these non-Windows machines.