battery drain

Two 'battery drain' stories October 2013 - June 2014

Google announces Project Volta & Battery Saver to vastly improve battery life on Android

Today towards the end of its keynote address previewing its upcoming Android L release, Google announced software enhancements coming in the release that will vastly improve battery life. Dubbed “Project Volta”, Google has new tools for both developers and users that will increase battery life and optimize software on devices to be more efficient.

Google showed off a new tool called Battery Historian that will help quickly identify a system task that might be draining battery. The company said it’s already been using the tool to make Google Apps more efficient and hopes it will improve instrumentation of battery data for all. It also has a new Jobshceduler API that will allow a device to better allocate system tasks when users might be low on battery.

Lastly, Google has a new Battery Saver mode that allows things like clocking down CPU, turning off background data, and other tasks that are hard on battery life. The feature can be triggered manually or configured to come on when battery is low. Google said the Battery Saver can offer up to an extra 90 minutes of usage on a Nexus 5 for a typical day.

Samsung offering free replacements to Galaxy S4 users with battery problems

Following a number of complaints from Samsung Galaxy S4 users experiencing battery issues that saw noticeably less battery life and in some cases “swollen batteries.” The majority of the complaints seem to be coming out of Germany, but Samsung confirmed to TrustedReviews that it is aware of the issue and will offer free battery replacements for customers:

In a statement provided to TrustedReviews, Samsung has stated: “We are aware of this issue, which has affected a limited number of customers.”

An official spokesperson for the company added: “We ask all affected customers to please visit their nearest Samsung Electronics service centre, where they can receive a replacement battery for free of charge. We remain committed to providing the best possible user experience for our customers.”