Optimise battery life
Something all manufacturers need to learn
from Apple is that to get the best possible device in terms of battery life,
you have to get the OS to play as nicely as possible with the hardware. We’ve
tried devices with early alpha ports of Android, and due to issues with
wireless adaptor drivers, sleep modes, screen drivers and so on, battery life
is a couple of hours at best. Compare that with an iPad’s run time of up to 10
hours playing video and a week on standby.
The good news is that these are usually
temporary issues, as developers can tweak these problems out. Even so, you may need
to disable the wireless to help extend sleep battery life. There are several
apps that can help automate these tasks, depending on whether you take the
tablet out and about. JuiceDefender is a good option. This comes in a number of
free and paid-for options with more features, including location-aware toggles.
A simpler option is the free Auto WiFi Toggle, which lets you specify schedules
and behaviour for when and how the wireless should be used. Simply turning off
a tablet’s wireless adaptor can help extend battery life from a day to almost a
week.
A Learn what the biggest battery drain is
and cut back on it. Adjust the screens brightness or turn off Wi-Fi when not In
use to extend Its life
Spotlight on... An aging Android
The number of Android devices can be
bewildering, and the number of versions of the Android operating system beyond
just the standard releases from Google even more so. Sometimes called
fragmentation, it refers to the number of different versions of the Android OS
that are available. While it’s often referred to in a negative way,
fragmentation is one of Android’s strengths, enabling custom versions and
cheaper devices to be released. The low cost comes partly from not bothering to
support a device once it’s released. Thanks guys!
The original version of Android are v1.1,
v1.5 Cupcake and v1.6 Donut. Incredibly, v1.6 devices were still around even in
2011. We would always strongly recommend against these versions. Android 2.0
Eclair is where things get interesting, with v2.2 Froyo being really the lowest
version you want, as it offers many advanced features like Wi-Fi hotspots.
Currently 2.3.7 is the latest release of Android v2.3.x Gingerbread, and it
includes a lot of optimisations. Android v3.x Honeycomb was rushed out for the
original Android tablets, and the source was never released publicly because
Google wanted a single build for all devices. That build is codenamed Ice Cream
Sandwich, also known as Android 4.0. We expect most current devices to get an
official or homebrew upgrade - the base specification is effectively any device
with 256MB of memory and a suitable.
A Your phone might have looked like this
back in the day — say 2009
Add the Market to a recently rooted device
1. Capitalism rules
For legal reasons, the Android Market and
other Google apps can’t be included in custom builds of Android and must be
installed separately. If you haven’t already connected to your wireless
network, open a browser and go to www.bit.Iy/9E29YP. This is the Cyanogen
Google Apps page. Grab CyanogenMod 7; we imagine CyanogenMod 9 ICS will be
there soon too.
2. Reboot disappointment
The Archos system is set to auto-install
the Google App zip file you just downloaded after a reboot. This will instigate
a fresh installation sequence and sets up the Market. Once this is complete you
may notice that not all the apps you’d expect are available. This is a Market
glitch that affects emulators and custom builds, but there is sometimes a way
around it.
3. Market hack
To improve the selection of apps, open
“Settings” and select “applications > Manage application>All”. Find the
Market, click “Force stop” if availabIe and then “CIear cache” but not “Clear
data” turn to the list, Iocate “Gooqe Service Framework” and select “Clear
data”, Reboot, then start the market for a wider selection.
