I just read about that today .. but there is a Hull Triangle
Quirk draining certain Verizon phone batteries
By LAUREN MAYK
lauren.mayk@heraldtribune.com
SARASOTA -- If Verizon Wireless wanted to keep the launch of its new wireless broadband service a secret this summer, its own phones sure spoiled the surprise.
Tests of a new network to allow users Internet access through phones at faster speeds have drained cell phone batteries.
The new network was hanging out where phones could sense it. And sense it they did -- sniffing at it with such gusto that they tired themselves out.
Verizon says it hasn't happened anywhere else where the EVDO network has launched in Florida. But there's been similar weirdness in other parts of the nation, sparking chatter on message boards.
Larry Ritt of Sarasota noticed the drain on his and his wife's handset. When he went into the store to ask about it, he found he was far from alone.
"I was hearing this story repeatedly," said Ritt, who has a VCast phone equipped for broadband usage.
Ritt's phone often held a charge for only an hour or two. He even bought extra chargers and an extended-life battery, but "it still doesn't work."
"A lot of times I can't finish a call. I go dead all the time just 'cause there's no juice left."
Verizon Wireless acknowledges the problem and says the EVDO network should go live here by the end of the month.
"They can't really get on it yet," spokesman Chuck Hamby said. "Once they can get on it, the problem's going to go away."
In the meantime, the company -- notified of the problem by workers fielding complaints -- has switched its testing to overnight to lessen the inconvenience.
But Ritt says his phone still loses its get-up-and-go quickly overnight and during the day.
It is unclear how many customers might have been watching their battery power fade. Hamby didn't know which models were affected, though it's likely that newer models built for broadband would be more sensitive.
The drain didn't happen when Verizon Wireless launched the broadband network in Tampa or Miami, Hamby said.
"That's like a freak accident," said Roger Entner, a telecommunications analyst at Boston's Ovum Research. "I would say it's an oversight."
But elusive battery life and flashing "EVDO" symbols have apparently become telltale signs for some wireless broadband fans.
The phenomenon is discussed in online forums such as howardforums.com, where Pennsylvania resident Ronald Heft Jr. found answers.
Heft, about to start college, noticed abbreviated battery life on his new Verizon phone back in March, and something else when it was working.
"I would look on my phone, and every once in a while I would see an 'EVDO' symbol," said Heft, who lives outside of Philadelphia.
Heft found out how to disable EVDO through a "secret" menu, and his phone snapped back to normal life once the system launched.
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