Researchers manage to shrink 3G phones’ power consumption

While the battery drain on 3G phones isn’t as severe as it is compared to 4G LTE capable devices, it still consumes a fair amount of power that usually causes heavy users to run out of juice by the end of the day. Funded by the Finnish government, a team of researchers have managed to develop a technology that they claim can cut the power consumption of 3G phones by up to 74%.

It seems that this technology was designed with the needs of Africa in mind after they discovered that broadband wireless internet in East Africa has been slowed down due to the power consumption required to access and download data. Their solution was to create a piece of technology that resembled a web proxy server, much like how Skyfire on the iPhone allows iPhone users to play/stream Flash content, and optimized communications between the smartphone and the proxy.

The proxies run in the cloud and the researchers claim that it can be used by smartphones pretty much anywhere in the world. The technology developed by the researchers is now being developed for deployment although it appears that its priority is aimed at those in developing countries such as Africa, although for all we know, enterprising companies could acquire the license to this technology and offer it up as a consumer service for those of us looking to save a bit of battery.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: 3g, africa, research