14 DAY TRIAL // Apple is reportedly taking matters into its hands with numerous reports of poor battery life hitting its Discussions forums soon after the release of iPhone OS 3.1 earlier this month. The company is sending out forms to select forum commenters with as many as eleven questions and software that, once installed, logs battery activity on the iPhone.
Stemming from The iPhone Blog, the news says that, “An undisclosed number of users who have posted on Apple’s discussion boards about poor battery life following the iPhone 3.1 software update are being contacted by AppleCare helpdesk with a hefty list of 11 follow-up questions.” According to the blog, targeted usage includes email (especially push), WiFi and Bluetooth, and App Store apps. The site notes that one of the questions is interesting to say the least. Question #10 asks, “When you notice a power drop, does it seem to be a legitimate power drop, or rather an issue with the battery icon indicator?”
As for the software included with the email, “When double-clicked, [it] installs what looks like an unsigned profile, similar to what is provided (in signed form) by developers using Ad Hoc provisioning for beta testing,” TiPb says. “This profile enables Battery Life Logging on the iPhone.”
The iPhone is to sync power logs back to Apple via iTunes, as the user syncs their device. Apple also recommends that users go for a few days without syncing, in order to provide decent usage information, while also providing instructions on how to turn off Battery Life Logging.
TiPb has recently carried out an iPhone 3.1 battery-life poll, revealing that 24% of the users experienced worse battery life under iPhone 3.1. 61% reported roughly the same battery life, while 11% actually saw an improvement in battery life, according to the survey. How’s your iPhone handling 3.1?