Last couple of weeks, I downloaded two pieces of software from the net for my Treo 680. The existing phone number search function on Treo 680 is rather pathetic; you’d need to type in the first name initial and then last name to find the contact information. And if you are searching for a specific business name or a specific phrase in the contact database, you’d need to use global search function, an extremely slow function. After some research, I found the software TakePhOne is really cool, you can search on any substring and the search is instantaneous – quite impressive. The launch function to launch any software by scrolling sideway is very nice too. Also, it has a large display of the clock, which practically eliminates the need to wear a watch.

But soon after I downloaded and started using this software, I discovered the battery of Treo drains really fast. I used to be able use the phone whole day without any problem. Then I found the battery wouldn’t last beyond 3pm. Very strange. Is the software consuming all the power? What else could be a problem.

Based on my Google search, I found the solution to the problem from this website. As it turns out, once a while, the battery meter would go out of calibration and need to be reset. This website teaches you how to reset that. Well, it didn’t help.

Upon further Google search, I discovered another problem called “Glen Phenomenon” that would drain your battery really fast. This is triggered by “If I receive (answer) a call, and allow the caller to hang up, doing nothing at my end, my standby battery drain rate increases to 2-3% per hour and stays that way… This problem can be corrected simply by receiving another call. (I did it by calling my TREO from my landline, letting it ring at least once, and hanging up, not even touching the TREO).” This fixed the problem I had.

All is well now. I think I’ll go ahead and purchase the TakePhOne.