It was with the launch of Apple iPhone that the real craze for smart phones began. Mobile phones were just meant for calling and sending text messages but Apple iPhones are mini computers themselves. Equipped with every program or application these phones help in performing multiple things at a time. But the thing that hampers the ability of the iPhone to be a complete productive device is its battery life. Though it depends how a user uses his iPhone, here are a few tips that may help one to increase the battery life:

• Keep the Apple iPhone away from heat. The smart phone is at its best from 32° to 95° F.
• Update It Regularly: Make use of the latest firmware to update your iPhone to ensure that your phone has the latest technology to maximize the battery performance.
• Turn off the vibration of your phone unless it is necessary.(I keep my vibration on when I am attending any important conference or meeting)
• Turn off the Auto Brightness: Auto Brightness is responsible for changing the screen brightness of iPhone on basis of the surrounding light. This consumes a lot of battery power while changing from low to high level of brightness. Turning off will put an end to this process thus saving a lot of your battery life.
• Downloading From App Store Or iTunes irelessly Is Not Suggested: Downloading applications consumes a lot of battery power. Use your computer for downloading is always suggested for Apple iPhone users.
• Vibration In Games Should Be Turned Off: A number of games come with frequent vibrations that drain battery life. If it is possible, then turn the vibration off in game settings. Playing too many games is not advisable.
• Turn off 3G: Your battery is low and you want to keep your iPhone alive in case of emergency situations, turn off 3G.
• Keyboard Clicks should be turned Off: If the keyboard of your phone is frequently used then just turns off the keyboard clicks. This can be done by going to Sounds pane of setting and searching the particular option.
• Use Of Third Party Application Should Be Limited: The third party apps such as games prevent the options for auto power savings such as switching off or screen dimming.
• Directly Charge The iPhone From the Computer: When you are connecting the iPhone to a wall socket for charging it, it is advisable not to connect it to the keyboard or some other USB bridge. It should be directly connected to one of the USB 2.0 ports of your computer.
• The iPhone Should Be Used Regularly: Weird but true! If the iPhone is not being used for a long time at a stretch then it results in decreasing the battery life of the phone.
• Turn off EQ: A lot of battery power is consumed when the EQ settings is applied to the phone. For keeping the phone alive throughout the day, the EQ settings should be turned off.
• Always Use Your Discretion: Being a user you can decide best how to improve your battery life. If you do not have enough time to charge your battery, do not play too much games or go for downloading apps. Do not even pass the phone to friends who always look out for new games and apps. Be smart with your smart phone!

Author Bio:Emma Hamilton is a freelance content writer and she writes articles and blogs on behalf of Charter internet and others cell phones related technologies.

First cable companies insisted that people canceling TV service weren’t real. Then, as companies began noticing the last two quarters that people were actually canceling TV service due to cost, they began insisting those consumers really don’t matter all that much (which is only true when looking at the relatively massive size of some companies). The reality is that you can’t continue to impose rate hikes twice a year and not see some consumer response; the cable industry just doesn’t care because they feel these consumers are little more than a statistical blip.

The seriousness with which cable companies take consumer concerns about high prices is reflected in the way they continue to gleefully impose rate hikes on not only cable TV but DVR rentals and other services. When they do try their hand at the unfamiliar idea of lowering prices, the end result is often somewhat insulting, like Time Warner Cable’s new entry level cable tiers that offer no consumer value and are loaded with restrictions like the inability to bundle it with additional services, or even use a DVR.

Following in Time Warner Cable’s footsteps, Charter is illustrating what they think about cord cutters and those struggling financially, by sending out notices saying they’ll be hiking the price of, well, everything:

effective with your January Statement pricing will be adjusted for TV Install fees: New Primary Outlet Installation and Reconnection will be adjusted from $29.99 to $39.00; Change of Service Special Trip from $23.62 to $30.00; Additional Outlet with Initial Install from $9.87 to $9.99; Additional Outlet with Special Trip from $29.86 to $39.00; Labor Charge (formerly Hourly Service Charge) from $34.85 to $39.00; Inside Wire Service Call from $35.00 to $45.00; Ancillary Equipment Install with Initial Install from $5.99 to $9.99 and Ancillary Equipment Install with Special Trip from $27.15 to $35.00.

Public Access Fee will change from $0.52 to $0.55, Franchise Fee will change from $1. 13 to $1.17. Basic Service Tier from $12. 85 to $16.21 an increase of $3.36; Expanded Service Tier from $48.14 to $44.78 a decrease of (-$3.36). Customers in a promotion will not see this immediate price change; however, new pricing will apply at the end of your promotional period.

While Charter jacked up the price of essentially everything, they did reduce the price of their “Expanded Service” tier from $48.14 to $44.78. However, they actually increased the price of their entry-level “Basic” service tier $12.85 to $16.21. Why? As Charter customers in our forums correctly note, Charter was seeing more customers downgrading to their cheapest TV tier due to the economy, so they raised the price and lowered the price of the next level tier in the hopes they’d upgrade. Cable’s borderline disdain for cash-strapped customers couldn’t be any more clear, and it will be a historical cornerstone when the story of the inevitable (but glacial) Internet video (r)evolution is told.

Link to the original article…

As noted the other day, Charter Communications has decided to add a new $1 “Broadcast TV Surcharge” to user bills, in order to offset the cost of network affiliates demanding higher carriage rates. Despite being simply the cost of doing business, the company is tacking the fee below the line to keep the advertised rate the same.

Worse perhaps, Charter tells Stop The Cap that “Charter Price Guarantee” and contract customers (who are supposed to have their rates locked) will also see the hike:

A Charter representative we contacted claimed the company will impose the fee on all customers, including those on contract, because of a clause in the terms and conditions which says, “The guaranteed price does not include the cost of installation and equipment, any applicable franchise fees, taxes or late fees, or costs for other ancillary services that you may order.”

Except one user e-mails us their latest bill with a notification of the new fee, and it claims contract customers and price guarantee customers won’t be impacted at least until their contract is up. We’ve reached out to Charter to clear this up but have a feeling Charter misspoke, given that promising customers a fixed rate then imposing a rate hike disguised as a below the line fee would be valuable fodder for class action attorneys.

Burying the cost of business in below the line fees so they can jack up consumer bills (but leave advertised rates the same) is bad enough.

Link to the original article…

In March of 2009 Charter Communications filed for bankruptcy and emerged from Chapter 11 in November of last year minus about $8 billion of Charter’s then $21 billion debt load. Things continue to normalize for the troubled company, Charter announcing they’ve been relisted on NASDAQ under the symbol “CCMM.”

“To resume trading on NASDAQ is an important and meaningful milestone for Charter,” said Mike Lovett, President and Chief Executive Officer in a statement. “Through the hard work and discipline of the entire Charter team, we’ve made significant strides to enhance our products and services, expand our commercial business, and continue to improve customer care.”

I’m personally a Charter customer, here’s to hoping they continue to improve their offerings and service.

Link to the original article…

Bernie Arnason over at Telecompetitor makes the argument that with DOCSIS 3.0 relatively inexpensive to quickly deploy (75 million Americans should have it by the end of the year) and many telcos clinging to aging copper last mile connectivity, the cable industry should have it pretty good competitively over the next few years. Comcast added more broadband customers (608K) in the last two quarters than AT&T, Verizon, and Qwest combined (401K), and cable’s triple play continues to gobble up fleeing copper landline customers. Cable also dominates more than 90% of the VoIP market.

Cable’s traditional weak spot – upstream bandwidth, looks to get some help later this year as cable operators perfect upstream channel bonding. Comcast recently noted that they’re seeing 75 to 100 Mbps upstream in tests. While Verizon’s decision to spend $23 billion on FTTH to the home puts them in a decent position for now, there’s a huge swath of America served by telcos using aging copper infrastructure that many of these companies can’t afford to upgrade to fiber. DOCSIS 3.0 means telcos will up their game somehow:

It all adds up to this perfect competitive storm analogy I referred to early on. This storm compels the telcos who haven’t already done so to respond, primarily with FTTH. Good customer service, local presence, and a solid DSL product are very admirable and noble. But these storm clouds may demand much more.

Can Qwest seriously compete with DOCSIS 3.0 with no money for serious upgrades? Marketing that pretends last mile copper is FTTH can only go so far. When does AT&T decide to stop waiting on VDSL bonding and pony up the cash for the move to FTTH? 3-7 Mbps is the fastest speed offered by Verizon in roughly half of its broadband territories. Luckily for most carriers, they’ll be sheltered from the “perfect competitive storm” Arnason mentions by the simple fact that many of their markets don’t see decent competition. When you’re the only game in town (be it cable, telco, satellite or carrier pigeon), you get to charge whatever you’d like for last-generation service.

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Despite the best efforts by creditors who didn’t like the bankruptcy conditions, Charter Communications has announced that the company has exited Chapter 11 after filing for bankruptcy back in March of this year. The bankruptcy process and reorganization eliminated about $8 billion of Charter’s $21 billion debt load. According to Charter CEO Neil Smit, the bankruptcy will help the company to “remain focused on further enhancing the customer experience.”

Unfortunately for Charter, a lousy customer experience is one of the major reasons the company went bankrupt in the first place. Charter consistently coming in last place in nearly every survey that measures customer satisfaction among ISPs and TV operators.

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Charter Communications continues to battle with the companies lenders, who are trying to prevent the bankrupt cable company from exiting bankruptcy so they can appeal a court ruling approving the reorganization. Creditors have been fighting against Charter’s reorganization plan all summer and fall, primarily because they don’t like the pre-bankruptcy interest rates agreed to in the deal. “Hundreds of millions of dollars of additional interest and would put at peril the entire plan,” Charter attorneys claim in court filings.

Last week Charter executives indicated that a post-bankruptcy Charter would explore price hikes and metered billing for the company’s customers.

Link to the original article…

Link to the original article…