4 ms·

Is "week long battery life" really a killer feature? As long as a phone has enough battery to make it through the 16 hours per day most of us are awake, anythin

by dfxm12 14y ago

Is "week long battery life" really a killer feature? As long as a phone has enough battery to make it through the 16 hours per day most of us are awake, anything more is just gold plating. Just how big is the "week long battery life" niche?

peterwiese 14y ago
It's huge. If I were Samsung or Motorola I'd manufacture a phone that is a) beautiful b) incredibly thin, light-weight and simplistic c) has a week battery life d) is absolutely feature-reduced. It'd have no app ecosystem or anything alike. It's capabilities would be reduced to a) phone calls b) SMS c) email (no attachments; maybe even no HTML) d) Facebook messenger. It'd have no browser. Design-wise I'd make it almost as thin as a credit card and a screen 2/3 the size of the iPhone 4. A black and white screen would actually be perfect, even if that'd be an artificial limitation. I'd call it: THE PHONE. Nothing more. I know many people that'd buy this device. You could even do something like RIM and offer worldwide email/messaging service.
aw3c2 14y ago
Most phones should run for a week with no issues if rarely used. This (I guess, the site not loading) promises a week of active usage. It is useless as "normal" smartphone though because e-ink has a lot of latency and a low refresh rate. edit: peterwiese, you have been ghosted for 2 months or so :(
stinos 14y ago
for me this is a feature: not having to think about or doing the effort of putting the phone in the charger every single day? I'll sign for that. (it's also marginally cheaper since you don't waste elektricity if using the charger only once a week vs every day. And it makes it useful in countries not having power everywhere)
- hollerith 14y ago
  >t's also marginally cheaper since you don't waste elektricity if using the charger only once a week vs every day I read recently that recharging an iPad every night costs less than 2 cents per year.
  - micampe 14y ago
    I think you are referring to this study: http://blog.opower.com/2012/09/how-much-does-it-cost-to-charge-an-iphone-5-a-thought-provokingly-modest-0-41year/ http://blog.opower.com/2012/09/how-much-does-it-cost-to-char... Which has the iPhone 5 at $0.41/y, the Samsung S III at $0.53/y and the iPad (model unclear, but I guess the 3), at $1.36. I agree with your point though: the electricity cost of these devices is already negligible, an e-ink display wouldn’t make much of a difference.
Lexarius 14y ago
Anyone without reliable access to electricity, or who want to stay connected if it's lost. Hikers and other outdoorsmen. Survivalists. People who live in areas prone to natural disasters that can knock out electricity. People living in countries with poor infrastructure. When I was in college, a hurricane knocked out electricity on my block for about a week. By careful rationing of my UPS battery I was able to briefly use the internet a few times a day, just enough to check my e-mail and get updates on the situation. I think keeping a few low-power "backup" devices (and a portable solar panel or hand crank) seems like a decent investment.
johnrgrace 14y ago
I could this being big with the homeless...
nuje 14y ago
Yes. It sucks to worry about your chargers when you're not going home for the night (trips or something more spontaneous). Even for a 9-5 family lifestyle, charging every night is a habit you have to learn and you need to keep chargers around your night table. Phones used to work like this (run for a week) before the current smartphone craze. For other stuff you could have a PDA that wouldn't leave you incommunicado if it ran out of juice.

by dfxm12 14y ago

peterwiese 14y ago

It's huge. If I were Samsung or Motorola I'd manufacture a phone that is a) beautiful b) incredibly thin, light-weight and simplistic c) has a week battery life d) is absolutely feature-reduced. It'd have no app ecosystem or anything alike. It's capabilities would be reduced to a) phone calls b) SMS c) email (no attachments; maybe even no HTML) d) Facebook messenger. It'd have no browser. Design-wise I'd make it almost as thin as a credit card and a screen 2/3 the size of the iPhone 4. A black and white screen would actually be perfect, even if that'd be an artificial limitation. I'd call it: THE PHONE. Nothing more. I know many people that'd buy this device. You could even do something like RIM and offer worldwide email/messaging service.

aw3c2 14y ago

Most phones should run for a week with no issues if rarely used. This (I guess, the site not loading) promises a week of active usage. It is useless as "normal" smartphone though because e-ink has a lot of latency and a low refresh rate. edit: peterwiese, you have been ghosted for 2 months or so :(

stinos 14y ago

for me this is a feature: not having to think about or doing the effort of putting the phone in the charger every single day? I'll sign for that. (it's also marginally cheaper since you don't waste elektricity if using the charger only once a week vs every day. And it makes it useful in countries not having power everywhere)

hollerith 14y ago
>t's also marginally cheaper since you don't waste elektricity if using the charger only once a week vs every day I read recently that recharging an iPad every night costs less than 2 cents per year.
- micampe 14y ago
  I think you are referring to this study: http://blog.opower.com/2012/09/how-much-does-it-cost-to-charge-an-iphone-5-a-thought-provokingly-modest-0-41year/ http://blog.opower.com/2012/09/how-much-does-it-cost-to-char... Which has the iPhone 5 at $0.41/y, the Samsung S III at $0.53/y and the iPad (model unclear, but I guess the 3), at $1.36. I agree with your point though: the electricity cost of these devices is already negligible, an e-ink display wouldn’t make much of a difference.

Lexarius 14y ago

Anyone without reliable access to electricity, or who want to stay connected if it's lost. Hikers and other outdoorsmen. Survivalists. People who live in areas prone to natural disasters that can knock out electricity. People living in countries with poor infrastructure. When I was in college, a hurricane knocked out electricity on my block for about a week. By careful rationing of my UPS battery I was able to briefly use the internet a few times a day, just enough to check my e-mail and get updates on the situation. I think keeping a few low-power "backup" devices (and a portable solar panel or hand crank) seems like a decent investment.

johnrgrace 14y ago

I could this being big with the homeless...

nuje 14y ago

Yes. It sucks to worry about your chargers when you're not going home for the night (trips or something more spontaneous). Even for a 9-5 family lifestyle, charging every night is a habit you have to learn and you need to keep chargers around your night table. Phones used to work like this (run for a week) before the current smartphone craze. For other stuff you could have a PDA that wouldn't leave you incommunicado if it ran out of juice.