[...] is a major problem with every smartphone I’ve ever used. I wrote about the problem back in 2008 and again in January. The X10 re-confirms my theory. There is NO SUCH THING AS IDLE and screens and [...]

[...] The days of ‘standby’ are long gone as even the most basic of phones are able to play music, access 3G networks, present information on backlit colour screens and run simple background tasks like alarm and event monitoring, location services, email polling and more. Move to a smartphone scenario and that 16mw idle figure is irrelevant. When I tested my N82 a few years ago I was shocked to find out that it could suck 9 batteries dry in a long day of heavy use. I re-charged the device fully and did a static test using the same apps. Music playing, live GPS tracking (I use Nokia Sports Tracker) and IM via Gizmo. I left the device alone and didn’t use it. After 110 minutes it switched off indicating a 2.1W average drain from the 3.7wh battery. [Source] [...]

[...] a mobile phone for constant web access kills the battery life. Smartphones are efficient, yes, but having to carry a handfull of spare batteries or having to worry about turning off the microblogging client to preserve the last bar for voice is [...]

However having IM engines on should NOT drain much, unless you’re talking about a natively running Skype (not Fring or something like that) which also drains the battery badly.

Once again this smartphone of mine lasts me at least 12 hours with all live browser, instant push email and AIM, Yahoo, and MSN messengers live at all times, even doing extensive IMs all day doesn’t affect the battery significantly. I’m not sure what they did to achieve this (aside from leaving out 3G) but all I can say is I know it can be done with current technology.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danger_Hiptop

[...] that if you want the FIE on a regular basis, there’s no substitute for a fat battery!  As I mentioned in a previous article, 10wh is about your minimum battery size for any serious mobile Internet device in 2008 and 2009. [...]

@steverubel totally agree. Heres a test report on smartphone battery life under ‘mobile internet’ conditions. http://tinyurl.com/5mbr89

Internet 2 go

Since I got my P1i in December I got more and more used to have this well of free knowledge ( yes, the internet ) everywhere I am.
My eMails get checked every 2 hours from 9am to 7pm, I use Opera Mobile to feed RSS quite often and I instant-message from time to time.
And my cell last about 3 days until I have charge it again ( which btw takes about 2 to 3 hours – thanks SE ) and I am pretty satisfied with this duration.
I should mention that I only use GPRS. Not because I can’t use UMTS ( both O2 Germany and my P1i support it ) but because it is more than fast enough for my needs. I enjoy RSS Feeds with pictures but I mostly don’t need them on pages or if I do, the Opera Mobile server does its magic and sends me shrunk versions of the page. I think I don’t have to mention that messaging doesn’t need that much speed and even the time it takes for Google Maps to load non-satellite pictures is ok. The only time i activate UMTS is for using Skype (Fring-client) or when I am in the train where I am happy to have whatever connection there is to stay connected.
I am even sometimes worried that GPRS is too much of a battery-life-drainer but what can you do about that. I don’t think they will step down the throttle and supply me/us with a battery-saving solution that maybe take some time to load “the internet” but at least can stay connected ‘all-day’.
But they all rather build Vista based MIDs, using UMTS or WLan to delivering two hours of high quality internet.
Welcome to the future!
So my last hope will have to rely on the battery “improvements” Steve I talking about. Yeah.
Anybody heard about new fuel-cell developments, yet?
Greets