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How much energy does it take to power those iPads?

Om Malik — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 05:35:14 +0000

If you are like me, then you are constantly using your iPad all the time. I like to run my iPad at full brightness and I am almost always connected to the Internet. And that means frequent visits to the electrical outlet — at least twice a day. And as result I often fret about how much energy I am using on my iPad and other devices, and how they are impacting my carbon footprint.

Some new research from Palo Alto, Calif.-based Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) breaks down how much an iPad costs in terms of electricity and how much energy all the world’s iPads consume. EPRI calculations show that the annual cost of charging an iPad every other day is about $1.36 a year.

The analysis shows that each model of the iPad consumes less than 12 kWh of elelctricity over the course of a year, based on a full charge every other day. By comparison, a plasma 42” television consumes 358 kWh of electricity a year. EPRI conducted the analysis in Knoxville, Tenn., at its power utilization laboratory. Costs may vary depending on what region that a consumer resides and the price of electricity in a particular location. The assessment was conducted to determine the load requirements – the amount of power needed to operate the devices — of the increasingly popular iPad.

But when you multiply those kilowatts by millions of iPads being sold, the energy impact on the planet starts to add up pretty quickly. According to EPRI calculations:

… the average energy used by all iPads in the market is approximately 590 gigawatt hours (GWh). In a scenario where the number of iPads tripled over the next two years, the energy required would be nearly equivalent to two 250-megawatt (MW) power plants operating at a 50 percent utilization rate. A quadrupling of sales in two years would require energy generated by three 250-MW power plants

Our measurements indicate that new iPads will consume about 65 percent more electricity per year. Other products that were included in the analysis were laptop PCs, which consume 72.3 kWh of electricity each year and cost consumers $8.31 and 60W CFL light bulbs which consume approximately 14 kWh of electricity and cost consumers $1.61 a year.

They also calculate that the Apple iPhone 3G consumes 2.2 kWh of electricity each year, which results in a power cost of $0.25 annually.

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Apple and Microsoft’s “patent exploitation” pact, plus 4 other Apple stories to read today

Erica Ogg — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:21:13 +0000

With so many people writing about Apple, finding the best stories and reports isn’t easy. Here’s our daily pick of stories about the company from around the Web that you shouldn’t miss:

Wired gets an in-depth look at Rockstar Consortium, the group that grew out of the companies that banded together to buy Nortel’s patent portfolio last year. The member companies include Apple, RIM, Microsoft, Sony and Ericsson. According to Wired, Rockstar is a “pure patent exploitation operation funded by all of the winning bidders except EMC.”
Apple’s iPhone may carry a high cost for carriers — in the form of subsidies paid to Apple — but the return they get in the form of new customers and upgrades is worth it. AllThingsD breaks down a research note from BMO Capital analyst Keith Bachman.
Computerworld connects the dots between Apple CEO Tim Cook’s earlier observations about the market for prepaid phones in developing regions and an analyst note this week that suggests Apple might make the iPhone 3GS available without contract at a lower price in emerging markets.
Cook tops The Wall Street Journal’s list of the highest-paid CEOs, thanks to his grant of a million stock options last fall and an ascendant Apple stock price.
Apple and Foxconn sent in third-party auditors to Chinese factories that produce the iPhone and iPad, and promised to jointly improve working conditions. But, as CBS reports, the group behind the “ethical iPhone” protests earlier this year isn’t satisfied and plans to keep acting as watchdog on iPhone production safety and ethics issues.

Image courtesy of Flickr user Ioan Sameli

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Android still 1st choice among virgin smartphone buyers

Kevin Fitchard — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:49:13 +0000

The iPhone may have passed over Android in the fourth quarter in total U.S. smartphone sales, but Google’s platform still has one key advantage: it’s attracting more mobile data newbies. New research from the NPD Group shows that 57 percent of first-time smartphone buyers last quarter chose Android handsets, while only 34 percent of new buyers purchased an iPhone.

“Android has been criticized for offering a more complex user experience than its competitors, but the company’s wide carrier support and large app selection is appealing to new smartphone customers,” said Ross Rubin, executive director of Connected Intelligence for The NPD Group, in a statement. “Android’s support of LTE at Verizon has also made it the exclusive choice for customers who want to take advantage of that carrier’s fastest network.”

Price would seem to be a factor, since Android handset makers like HTC, LG and Motorola make many lower-tier phones that far undercut the latest iPhone 4S. But viewing Android’s success solely in terms of price doesn’t paint the whole picture as evidenced by NPD’s sales numbers for the iPhone 3GS, which AT&T is giving away for free with a two-year contract. The 4S outsold the 3GS five to one, despite the latter’s steep discount. The iPhone 4S also outsold the 4 – which unlike the 3GS is available on three of the four nationwide networks – by 75 percent, according to NPD. If price was the biggest factor, customers had plenty of cheap iPhone options to choose from.

In addition, customers buying Android devices aren’t simply gravitating toward cheap phones. The Samsung S II and the Galaxy S 4G – handsets that measure up to the iPhone both on features and price — were the fourth and fifth best selling devices in the fourth quarter, behind the three commercially available iPhone models.

Still, the average selling price for a U.S. smartphone in the fourth quarter was $143, up from $135 in the third quarter, but down from $149 year-over-year. The release of the iPhone 4S last fall is responsible for the big quarter-over-quarter bump in average selling prices, but Android seems to be driving a long-term decline in overall U.S. smartphone pricing.

That could be both good news and bad news for the handset makers that feed the lower-end of the market. There’s still plenty of growth left in smartphones with less than 50 percent penetration in the U.S. HTC, Moto and LG have all been suffering in the smart device market – HTC just posted another weak quarter. While they could potentially take a big share of the remaining market by selling cheaper, lower-margin devices, they might not be able to achieve much in the way of follow-up. When it comes to buying their next more-expensive smartphones, those customers seem to be choosing Apple and Samsung.

Image courtesy of Flickr user geoliv

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CES 2012: a recap and analysis

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:40:31 +0000

This year’s CES was the biggest in the show’s 44-year history, boasting 15 miles of exhibit hall aisles, 3,100 booths and 153,000 attendees. The Kerton Group sent three delegates to CES to scout out new products, listen to keynotes, watch announcements and get tips from insiders. This report, which bundles those findings together, serves as an outline of the major launches and overarching trends at CES (think smartphones for $0, Androidification and connectivity) as well as an analysis of what those developments mean for the larger consumer electronics picture. Companies mentioned in this report include Apple, Tesla and T-Mobile. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial.

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Chinese iPhone 4S launch the one to watch as lines grow

Darrell Etherington — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:50:38 +0000

Apple is in for another huge iPhone 4S launch, if early lineups are any indication. Penn Olson reports that lines outside Apple’s five official retail stores in China have already extended into the hundreds ahead of Friday’s launch.

Photos from Chinese microblogging site Sina Weibo clearly show huge crowds at the two Beijing and three Shanghai locations, despite temperatures between 32 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit. The lineups are likely for people who want to try to get an iPhone off-contract and unlocked, starting at 4,988 yuan, or around $790. Shoppers can also buy directly from China Unicom, which even has some pricing plans that allow users to pick up the hardware free, but monthly contract requirements for those subsidies are quite steep. Plus, buying unlocked makes it easier for scalpers to resell devices through unofficial channels.

When it launched in the U.S., the iPhone 4S was also greeted with long lines, and in Hong Kong, attendance at Apple’s retail flagship store numbered in the thousands. The Chinese launch of the 4S should be the biggest since it debuted in October, since China is now Apple’s second-most-important market, and according to at least one estimate, it’s conceivable that Apple sold more iPhones in China during its fiscal fourth quarter of 2011 than it did in the U.S.

The staggered launch means that sales resulting from the Chinese launch of the iPhone 4S will appear as part of Apple’s second fiscal quarter results and not those that will be reported on Jan. 24. That could help Apple post higher iPhone shipments next quarter even without the holiday bump, especially if its regulatory progress with getting a China Telecom-compatible version of the 4S to market bears fruit within the next couple of months.

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Apple’s iPhone tops UK holiday smartphone shopping

Darrell Etherington — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:39:00 +0000

Apple’s iPhone 4S is on a roll this holiday in the UK, where it accounted for almost a quarter of all smartphone sales during the four weeks leading up to Dec. 9, according to research firm GfK (via Financial Times). The iPhone brand performed well in general, with five versions of the phone appearing in the top 15 handsets sold during the first week of December.

Other manufacturers who did well include Samsung, which took the second spot for the week prior to Dec. 9 with its Galaxy S II Android-powered smartphone. BlackBerry also saw sales boosts ahead of the holidays, but Microsoft and Nokia didn’t score with Lumia Windows Phone 7 handsets, failing to crack the top 10 during the four weeks covered in the study.

The performance of the 4S is great news for Apple, since it means the iPhone withstood the arrival of attractive new entries from competitors with relative ease. Chinese manufacturers entering the market with low-cost options like Huawei and ZTE also didn’t seem to take too much wind out of Apple’s sails, perhaps due in part to the continued strong performance of Apple’s nearly three-year-old iPhone 3GS, which reduces the cost of entry for iPhone ownership by being available for free with contract or lowering the minimum monthly requirement on contract commitments through some UK carriers.

Analysts have lately been revising their predictions for holiday iPhone sales upward in light of this strong performance. Predictions for how many iPhones Apple will ship during the current quarter range from 28 to 31 million units, and Apple CEO Tim Cook himself said during the company’s mid-October earnings call that the Apple is “very confident” it will “set an all-time record” for iPhone sales during the holiday quarter.

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Batteries are burning: Recall covers two brands of iOS battery cases

Darrell Etherington — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 17:02:34 +0000

There’s trouble in extra power land: Two types of iOS device battery cases are being recalled for overheating issues. One could burn, and the other could catch fire, according to their manufacturers. The issue has affected both bargain brands and market leaders, but luckily, incidents are relatively rare and getting your money or a replacement product back if you have a problem gadget is easy.

Mophie’s Juice Pack Air for the 4th generation iPod touch is one of two battery cases being recalled. It can, in very rare instances, become so hot it can potentially cause burns to a user. Mophie says it only happens in very rare cases, but the heat is enough to deform the case in many more instances. If your product has a serial number starting with TR113 through TR120, you’re eligible to receive a replacement product, which you can get following the instructions found at Mophie’s replacement website.

Best Buy’s in-house brand Rocketfish is also having heating problems with its battery case for the iPhone 3G and 3GS. The situation is a little more extreme for those accessories, however, as Rocketfish is saying those overheating issues could in some cases lead to a fire during the charging process. There are 14 reported incidents on record, some of which include minor property damage. Affected owners will be reimbursed with a gift card for $70 or $105 depending on whether they’re located in the U.S. or Canada, respectively. Check your eligibility and find directions for getting your gift card at Best Buy’s recall site.

If you’re a battery case user, you already know they tend to get hot, but in both these cases the situation is going beyond the average levels of heat and into dangerous territory. Had any incidents with the products described above? Let us know in the comments.

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Apple looking into iPhone 4S battery issues. Is yours affected?

Darrell Etherington — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 18:58:20 +0000

The iPhone 4S may have its first significant early life issue, according to many users, and even possibly Apple itself. Many users are reporting seeing very poor battery life with iPhone 4S devices, and on Friday the Guardian received word that Apple was contacting affected users directly to get to the bottom of things.

Problems with the 4S battery go beyond just the advertised changes, which acknowledge that the iPhone 4S won’t get as much standby time from a full charge than either the iPhone 4 or the iPhone 3GS. 3G talk time and other use cases are supposed to last longer with the 4S’s new battery, however, which a teardown revealed is higher capacity than the one in the iPhone 4.

Users who are having problems aren’t seeing just a small drop in standby time, however. Some users are reporting between 10 and 20 percent battery burn per hour while the phone is in standby mode. That’s well off the usual, which is closer to around 1 percent an hour, or even less. In fact, we’re treading well into Android territory here, where battery life is a known failing of most devices.

Solutions people are suggesting vary from performing a full backup and restore, to switching off Siri, to not using wireless sync. But in many cases, these solutions don’t seem to be helping. Some argue that it’s an issue with 3G data, as users who depend more on Wi-Fi don’t seem to be as affected in some cases.

The Guardian reports that some iPhone 4S users who’ve posted about the problem on Apple’s discussion boards are receiving calls from Apple engineers looking into the problem. It’s a good sign that Apple is investigating, but according to one person who was contacted, an engineer admitted “they aren’t close to finding a fix.”

My own iPhone 4S seems to have comparable, if not better battery life when compared to my iPhone 4. I’ve managed to get as much as two full days of standby time along with five or six hours of usage. I tend not to be away from Wi-Fi for very long, however, and I have noticed that the phone runs hot and battery seems to drain more quickly when I’m actually browsing in Safari using a 3G connection.

What about you? If you’ve upgraded to the iPhone 4S, are you having problems with battery life? Maybe iOS 5 is the culprit, and you’re seeing problems even on an iPhone 4 or 3GS? Let us know in the comments.

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The iPhone 4S upgrade decision: 4 things to consider

Darrell Etherington — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:38:38 +0000

So the iPhone 4S is real and arriving Friday, Oct. 14, with pre-orders beginning this Friday, Oct. 7 (at 12:01 a.m. PDT, according to reports). That doesn’t give you much time to figure out whether or not to upgrade, if you want to be among the first to get the device. We’re here to help.

A lot of factors are involved in choosing a new device, and people might be understandably reluctant to drop a lot of money on new hardware now, given the current global economic climate. How you use your device will also ultimately determine whether new features are worth the investment. So consider the following before making up your mind.

Is your contract up?

Carrier subsidies are a huge boon to cell phone buyers. With subsidy, the new iPhone 4S costs between $199 and $399, depending on how much storage you want on your device. Off-contract pricing in the U.S. hasn’t yet been announced, but in the Canadian store, it’s listed as starting at $649 and going up $100 for each additional level of onboard flash storage, topping out at $849 for the new 64 GB tier. U.S. prices should be in the same ballpark, if they don’t match those exactly.

A difference of $450 is going to be a difficult pill to swallow for most. Unless a brand new iPhone is a valid business expense for you, or necessary because your existing phone is actually broken or failing, you probably shouldn’t upgrade if you can’t get the subsidized pricing unless you’re really interested in Siri, but let’s take a look at that particular buying incentive.

Siri looks good, but so did FaceTime

Siri plays well in Apple’s promo videos, and it was impressive during the Apple presentation Tuesday, but those things don’t necessarily make it a must-have. Many are pointing out that using Siri in public will be downright awkward, and there’s also the comparison Stacey drew to FaceTime: How many will actually use Siri with any kind of frequency or consistency?

If Siri is the only reason you’re thinking about upgrading, then taking a step back and waiting might be your best course of action. Siri isn’t going anywhere, after all, and a couple of months of it being on the market might give us a better idea of its usefulness in everyday situations.

Will you be upgrading anyway?

Some might be tempted to consider upgrading an older iPhone (a 3G or 3GS, for example) to an iPhone 4, given that device’s lower starting price point. But if you’re already going to be upgrading, and likely locking in to a new contract anyway, consider that by the next time you become eligible for a phone you’ll be two devices behind instead of just one. That isn’t working out so well for 3G owners right now, since software support ended with iOS 4.3.

A faster processor and dual-core graphics might not seem like big advantages today, but the gap will widen; the iPhone 4 will become slower and less reliable with each subsequent software update, while the iPhone 4S is better able to take advantage of its increased power. Even if you think you can live without Siri, a better camera and faster networking (which will also only get better and make older devices look worse as time passes), you should seriously think about paying up for the iPhone 4S.

How important is your carrier?

If your choice of carrier is a key factor in prompting an upgrade, then now’s a good time to move to the 4S. Sprint availability is going to be great for some, especially considering the availability of unlimited data plans on that network. If you want a new iPhone because you’re looking to improve your network reliability, then the 4S is an especially good choice because of the new, speed-boosting dual-antenna design.

In summary: The iPhone 4S isn’t a disappointing upgrade, no matter what tech pundits and analysts may say. But just because it isn’t disappointing doesn’t mean it’s right for you. Before you decide to stay up late and hit the iPhone pre-order page, consider the above, and should you think of anything else that’s worth considering, share it with us in the comments.

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Supply chain sources point to high holiday expectations for iPhone 5

Darrell Etherington — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 13:24:41 +0000

Apple is increasing its iPhone orders for the second half of 2011, according to sources within the company’s supply chain speaking to DigiTimes on Monday. Order volume has been adjusted upward by 15 percent according to the publication, bringing the sum total of iPhones ordered to more than 56 million. Of that number, around 26 million will be Apple’s next-gen iPhone 5, the sources say.

The bulk of Apple’s iPhone 5 orders will ship out in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to the report. Third quarter (ending in September) orders are around 5.5 to 6 million units, which is down from an initially planned volume of 7 million, DigiTimes says, which could suggest either that Apple is indeed targeting an October release date for iPhone 5, or maybe narrowing the list of countries that might see the new device in September. At the same time, the supply sources suggest orders for the fourth quarter will go from 14 million to 20 million units, which again supports the idea that one or more countries has been dropped from the initial launch group and shifted to those getting the device a little later.

The orders indicate Apple is very optimistic about the sales potential of its next device. Its previous record quarter saw 18.65 million iPhones sold, and that was during the second quarter of 2011, when it was already nearly a year old. There’s plenty of reason to believe Apple could topple that record, since this new device would be launching just in time for the holiday season, and also will feature completely updated specs and features, as well as Apple’s newest mobile operating system, iOS 5.

Fourth quarter orders for the iPhone 4 will reportedly dwindle to around 8 million, down from 20 million for the third quarter. It’s to be expected that Apple would cut production of its legacy devices to make way for a new models. Typically, we see the company keep the last model (the iPhone 4 in this case) as a lower-cost option, and drop the model before that (the iPhone 3GS). Some reports claim we’ll see a lower-cost line of iPhones this time around, so maybe the 3GS will survive in some capacity.

What do you think? Is Apple setting its expectations too high, or will this iPhone really be the company’s strongest seller yet?

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