Re: [sandbox] 3G Throttler (Battery Saver)
 

but I dont want it to go active when I resume it! what if I just want to call someone (GSM)? it powers up drains battery and I didnt need it... even I like to text someone, IM like jabber will do fine with GPRS...

Re: [sandbox] 3G Throttler (Battery Saver)
 

IMHO that battery drain is less significant than having to wait after starting the browser. Remember that this system would already be better than the status quo.

Although since Maemo is moving away from Gnome anyway, maybe this could be a user configurable option :D

Re: [sandbox] 3G Throttler (Battery Saver)
 

It should only open a 3G connection if an active connection required it. Meaning, if no applications were requesting network connectivity at the time then it would not open the 3G connection.

Re: [sandbox] 3G Throttler (Battery Saver)
 

We will have plenty of stimuli to play with to determine which one works best as the 3G-initiator trigger. We can pick and choose which one work best depending on how we use it and maybe even combine them together, and have them react differently depending on time of the day, or our location (via gps or gsm location signal):

- Proximity sensor (detect if the device is in our pocket\holster)
- Accelerometer (maybe pocket the device upside down to disable 3G).
- Keyboard open/close
- Light sensor
- Microphone (Maybe have a voice control, so you can say "Connect" before taking the device out of your pocket).

PS: I think this is doable with shepherd (Attila77's project).

Re: [sandbox] 3G Throttler (Battery Saver)
 

Please don't do that! :D
That would be so annyoing. I'm fine with the current method, where you just enable/disable 3G/Wifi connection via the quickmenu on top of the homescreens. I see no problem with that, being connected to the internet 24/7 is just useful for messenger and skype anyway. Messenger could run with 2G. So your friends telling you in skype chat, that he wants to call you, you enable 3G in quick menu, or maybe with a keyboard shortcut or something similiar and then you call him.
I think we need no automatic switching, since manual switching is that easy, but as an optional battery life saving method, it's ofc very welcomed.

Re: [sandbox] 3G Throttler (Battery Saver)
 

What about activate it with a shortcut and keep it activated until you switch off your screen and don't turn it on in the next 10 minutes?

Like a "screensaver": Don't use your Device for 10 Minutes and you'll automaticaly fall back to 2G Connection!

If you need it again you can turn it on again. But it's not needed to think about switching it off after usage.

Re: [sandbox] 3G Throttler (Battery Saver)
 

too much interaction but a good idea if this is not possible to take automated effects.

having a user adjustable setting for when does the device switch to 3G and when does it switch back is the best solution so far.
But for incoming VoIP calls. If the switch happens in the same delay the user needs to answer the call fine but if it takes longer the call will be dropped. the call negotiation doesnt need 3G, the ringin doesnt as well.
Is it possible to keep connections alive or does it need to reconnect when an upscale to 3G happens? Does this depend on the setup how we control the hardware, is it protocol related or even a provider problem?

EDGE and UMTS happen within different channels the EDGE uses a time based routine known as TDMA and UMTS is using a code based routine known as CDMA. But thats only protocols the real hit comes to connection, only CDMA2000 and W-CDMA share the same duplexer mode (same connection) with EDGE. At that point it the host network is coming to play! If the negotiation of your host supports channel hopping and the used channels are CDMA2000 and W-CDMA you will be fine but if it doesnt you drop connection any time you switch channels. even if its within 3G technology and the provider doesnt support the hopping it will reconnect.

Example: you are somewhere with CDMA (HSPA) and you provider decided to use at the train-station another radio-station type as downtown (because of the amount of people or something) it could happen you drop connection and reconnect while entering to its radio zone, maybe you get more speed, maybe the provider gets more channels (users).

so the only chance I see doing it is to scale down the 3G device and keep connected, but edge is already fast enough to do most of the basic stuff, even VoIP should be possible (its not that slow).

As I am not a professional, please, proof me wrong if I misunderstood the basics of wireless networking and I will correct it asap.

Re: [sandbox] 3G Throttler (Battery Saver)
 

Well, the 'problem' with 3G activation is that it's not instant (Probably from 5 to 15 seconds, depending on operator, signal ccondition, etc). So, the earlier the trigger can happen before you're 'ready' to use it, the better :)

I know voice activation can be really geeky, awkward and unnatural, but it's one of the conceptually 'neat' way to trigger the device without having to handle the device and wait it out in front of you.

PS: Yes, you can just say "Heck, it's only a 15 second wait." and shower this discussion with morality/behaviorist judgements ;) I'll just preempt that with a figurative sidestep as we're trying to find better ways to enhance Maemo and the N900 compared to other platforms.

Re: [sandbox] 3G Throttler (Battery Saver)
 

So did I, Great minds think alike!:p
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p...2&postcount=10

Re: [sandbox] 3G Throttler (Battery Saver)
 

Voice interaction or using certain sensors are all well and good but the surest way of getting what you want when you want is when an application is opened by the user - the programming should be pretty easy too. Also Im not sure how using a sensor would speed up the connection process. If you wanted to activate 3g using voice activation, you would say "3g" (as an example), then you would have to wait for the connection to connect then open the browser. How does it in reality 'pre cache' the 3g? If you were to make it so that 3g turned on when out of idle - i suspect the constant switching of 2g/3g would increase battery life. (Unless of course you didnt check your phone much). Maybe this could be an option to turn on/off in the programme?

I get that it may take some time to connect but personally Id take that 'negative' to increase the battery life.

The one downside I can see is as this is a multitasking device you'd want to leave the browser windows open. A timer that switches off 3g after a preset time of low data usage would be required to negate this issue. Would it be hard to 'identify' this state using an application? Does anyone know?

If this is indeed possible the programme would have to work like this:

2g data connection default (for background services/agps/widgets)
if firefox (a user specified app) opens - turn on 3g
if data usage is low - revert to 2g connection
if firefox is open and data connection becomes high - switch on 3g

The crux of the problem is identifying 'high data' Id assume a widget or push service works in 'bursts' of data? The programme might perhaps have to identify a period of say 3 seconds sustained data access - identify this as 'high data use' and turn on 3G. This would be important as you dont want a constant flicking on and off of 2g/3g.

Am I making sense? (Im rather tired!)

So we would have 2 branches in the 'road' - 1. data monitor of high/low data (as well as 2g default, 3g on when user specified programmes open) or 2. absolute - if a specified high data programme is open, 3g is permanently on, if closed, its turned off.

Which is the preferable? (If option 1 is even possible!)

Imagine if this application increased battery life by say 20%, Im sure people would buy it.