Batteries for Ricky

Batteries for Ricky is not a new band playing opening slot the Glasshouse next Thursday, nor is it a new charity telethon, unless Ricky does want us to raise batteries for whatever his cause may be.

Early in September when I posted my Nokia (life)viNe review, Ricky asked about the battery usage of the Nokia viNe mobile app (not yet released, in closed beta as of Oct. 2008).  He asked if I would use the Nokia Energy Profiler app to monitor the battery usage and power draw-down of the the Nokia viNe mobile app vs. the native NSeries geo-tracking and photography.

As a dutiful foot solider in the mildly-scientific mobile experiments, I loaded the Energy Profiler on the trial Nokia N82 and ran it as I tested the native GPS/geo-tracking while I took photos and then later started recording with Nokia viNe while taking photos.

The results are....

My own anecdotal experience is that the GPS plus photography = hot camera phone and low battery life, while the Nokia viNe mobile app does not make the N82 go hot and the battery lasts at least 4-6+ hours or more of normal to super usage.

As you can see from the photos above***, using the GPS/geo-tracking with the camera* causes spikes of battery drain over 2 watts while I took the photos or used other mobile apps (top two screenshots of the Energy Profiler), but later in the session using just the Nokia viNe mobile app to track my geo-path and take photos at the same time the battery usage consistently stayed under 2 watts with occasional spikes even under heavy draw (bottom two screenshots).

Nokia viNe plus taking photos*  wins for less battery usage.

***
Notes:
* ...as well as using email, checking the web, and other usual bits to relieve boredom while driving to a client meeting in LA**.
** No judging about my mobile use while stuck in LA traffic, until a 35 mile drive takes you over 1.5 hours.
*** Per usual, if you are looking at these photos while on Black Phoebe :: Ms. Jen, you will see the nice Lightbox slide show with captions, if you are looking at it on Darla Mack's site, then you will just see the photos without the nice Ajaxy goodness.