[Update] Eta Devices Gearing Up To Prolong Your Phone’s Battery

[GizBot]

Eta Devices Gearing Up To Prolong Your Phone’s Battery

Eta Devices, a fresh chipset manufacturer, is aiming to solve the high battery-drain problems of smartphones and save the environment while they’re at it. Major chipset manufacturers, such as Qualcomm and MediaTek, are being aggressive in developing 4G-capable SoCs. This has phone manufacturers hard at work, designing new LTE phone models utilizing said chipsets. Great […]


http://www.gizbeat.com/5811/eta-devices-...s-battery/

[twistyplain]

These are great developments in the smartphone universe but I don't see a day in the near future when standard users will benefit from the technology - it requires significant investment by mobile networks and drastic changes in how manufacturers make smartphones.

This is definitely technology worth watching but we shouldn't expect to see it in consumer devices for at least several years. But on the plus side, if the energy savings are as they say, we might finally see manufacturers ditching GSM for WCDMA as their slower networks. It'd be great if phones would last as much as they do on 3G as they do on 2G.

[cookiedough]

I think I remember reading a bit back that some of the major networks were planning to have GSM ditched by 2017... Slightly off topic I suppose, but in reference to what you were saying regarding ditching 2g @twistyplain

[twistyplain]

I think I remember reading a bit back that some of the major networks were planning to have GSM ditched by 2017... Slightly off topic I suppose, but in reference to what you were saying regarding ditching 2g @twistyplain

True, some big operators have ambitious plans to shut down their 2G networks sooner than you think. T-Mobile, for instance, is planning to upgrade it's entire 2G network to 4G by 2015. Check this out.

Since T-Mobile is the fourth largest network in the U.S. I think it's safe to assume that the three biggest providers are hot on the heels of T-Mobile.