Q – Where can you typically find TMC (News - Alert) Chairman Rich Tehrani at a news conference?
A – Within cord distance of the nearest 110 volt outlet
One of the downsides – perhaps THE downside to mobile broadband devices – is the quest for electricity, a constant battle to keep the battery charged up and topped off so you can make the phone call you want, post the pictures and blog posts as soon as possible, and get the latest minute-by-minute tweets out. At a minimum you need to keep the smartphone charged up and ready to go, but more than likely you also have something with an almost 100 percent keyboard – netbook or laptop -- that also needs to be fed on a regular basis.
Compounding matters is that the more work you do on a battery-powered device – be it a phone call, a Tweet, or some quick email maintenance -- the more power you consume and the greater need to go get a charge up somewhere down the road. And you never want to get caught short on power. Tethering a smartphone and another device for broadband connectivity? If you are using Bluetooth between the two, there's a battery drain on both while I've found that USB tethering keeps my phone charged at the expensive of some laptop/netbook battery life.
Smart travelers on the go leverage what power resources are available when they travel. Higher-end bus services traveling between cities offer both free WiFi (News - Alert) and power outlets. If the bus isn't your cup of tea, Amtrak and longer-ride commuter trains have long had 110v outlets – although if you get an aisle seat, you may have to ask the person by the window to plug you on. Flying through the skies, Virgin America gets kudos for providing 110 volt and USB power outlets in all rows – the perfect complement to the Gogo WiFi service. As WiFi continues to proliferate throughout the airline industry, I suspect regular power outlets will start to appear in other airlines as a value-added/premium service – would you pay $5-10 extra for a seat with a power outlet? I know what Rich's answer is!
Another way to manage power is to get device that strikes a balance between battery life and functionality – yes, I'm talking my friend, the netbook. Samsung and Toshiba (News - Alert) tout models offering over 7 and over 9 hours of run time respectively; of course, your power mileage will vary, but if you can get up to 6.5 hours in a day between outlets, that's pretty good.
If all else fails, there's also the option of an additional battery pack. An additional battery adds more weight, but adds more run time. I've just bought an Energizer (News - Alert) Xpal lithium polymer battery pack (Staples, on sale this week for $89) capable of adding up to 3 hours to my netbook runtime; it also has a USB charging port if my phone needs topped off.
Doug Mohney is a contributing editor for TMCnet and a 20-year veteran of the ICT space. To read more of his articles, please visit columnist page.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi
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