Since cellphone application software requires extra power for processing. Is there any application software that indicate power consumption by particular application?
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What platform are you asking about? iPhone? WinMo? Android? Blackberry? – Pretzel Aug 18 '10 at 14:54
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I would be interested in each platform. A very good question, if the answers might be somewhat indeterminate. – geoffc Aug 18 '10 at 14:58
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I don't think this is going to be a popular answer, but you have to realize that your modern smart-phone is an incredibly complex beast, and battery life is affected by all sorts of things:
- CPU usage (your phone might get warm, or use a system activity monitor for more details)
- Bluetooth radio, is it on, is it in use (ie, headset or tethering)
- Wireless radio, what protocol is it using? HSPA, EVDO, EDGE?
- WiFi radio, are you actively using it? What version?
- Proximity and power of nearest cell towers (weak towers = cell phone tries harder to connect, using more power).
- Baseband version (this is the part of the phone os written and maintained by your carrier)
As you can see there are a lot of things that affect battery life, so it's tough to guarantee that any given App will have a given profile, since it's data usage might be over weak signal (which will reduce your battery life more).
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I'm guessing it would be a no for all platforms, but Android is the only one I can speak to with certainty.
However, Android phones can tell you battery information for specific items and apps. Also if you are rooted you can use a command line command that gives even more information. If you have a Sprint phone you can try dialing (without quotes):
"*#*#4636#*#*"
or
"##DATA#"
Both are ## codes that give detailed info. The first is a battery info code and the second is one that gives cell radio and all other kinds of detailed info. But I don't think it gets that granular for cell radio.
Sprint might be able to give this information from their 4g app they have in their 2.2 Android OS, but I haven't looked into at all so that is just a guess.
An Android app called "OS Monitor" will give information about CPU utilization, but not cell radio. I think such an app doesn't exist.
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Linux-based phones (with a GNU or Busybox userland, I'm unsure about Android) might be able to run powertop. It was designed for desktop/laptops but it could be useful on a phone.
Intel wrote it so there may not be an ARM build, but it's GPL-licensed so some enterprising hacker could port it.
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Why not PowerTutor app which is freely available in Android Market.
