BlackBerrys and battery life

For anyone who didn't know the BlackBerry has an almost unequalled ability to run multiple appplications in the background, meaning you can actually multitask on a BlackBerry (unlike other smart phones, which require you to close an application, prior to running another).

You can also run media in the background as well, and many a time have I had my tunes playing in the background whilst using twitter, reading my RSS feeds on Viigo, or even composing an email or text message.

There is a downside to this multitasking though.... it does put a strain on the normal battery. But I do have a couple of suggestions for you, plus the little gadget shown above.

Here are a couple of setting changes you can make which will improve battery life:

• If you have Wi-Fi and don't use it regularly, switch it off
• If you don't use BlueTooth, switch it off
• Check any applications that auto refresh (twitterberry, Google, SocialScope, Viigo, yatca and similar), and only have the ones you need to auto refresh set that way... the other's switch to manual updates
• If you are listening to music, when finished listening, turn the music off (otherwise it will run in the background and use battery power)
• But the biggest killer of battery time is low reception levels. The BlackBerry will hunt for better signal strength, and therefore use more power.

If all else fails, and you don't want to lash out for another battery, there is a stop gap solution:

• The Energizer portable charger

It takes 2 x AA batteries and has almost enough grunt to fully charge my BlackBerry Bold from almost empty to full, and has saved me at a number of airports over the past few months. and for Australian readers, Coles is currently selling these at AUD $15 (roughly half price).

I hope this helps out with prolonging your battery life on your BlackBerrys.

Enjoy,

TferThomas