This posting is older than 6 months and can contain outdated information.
Bluetooth is - like WiFi - a full-fledged protocol that works with a
connection-based model (similiar to TCP/IP), frequency hopping,
packets, etc. It is absolutely not comparable with infrared or custom
RF solutions, that only draw power when they actually have something
to send. Keeping a Bluetooth connection open requires constant
activity on the devices' ends. And thus even if you don't press a
button on your Bluetooth remote, it will continuously draw power.
So while I can understand your perspective, from a technology
viewpoint four days are actually not that bad when you take into
account the power needed to maintain a Bluetooth connection.
Compare that four days with f.ex. an iPhone 3G - which, with screen
turned off - has a talking time of a maximum of 5 hours. I'm aware
that the power requirements are likely to be higher for sending data
to a mobile tower, but so is the capacity of the Li-Ion rechargeable
battery in the iPhone 3G compared to the two AA batteries in the BD
Remote.
What can you do to prolong the run-time of the BD Remote?
1) Shutdown your Mac when you don't use it instead of just putting it
to sleep, as an open Bluetooth connection will stay open even during
sleep.
2) Disconnect your remote with a long press on the PS button when you
don't use it.
3) Only connect it when you are actually putting it to use.
- or (automating 2 and 3 and parts of 1) -
4) Make use of the Remote Buddy's power saving options at Prefs >
Hardware > Bluetooth Receiver. These offer you two ways to save energy:
a) RB can automatically disconnect the remote (and thus save power)
after it has not been used for a given number of minutes
b) RB can automatically disconnect the remote when you put your Mac to
sleep. That prolongs battery life by at least the amount of time your
Mac is sleeping. A disconnected Bluetooth remote can, however, not be
used to wake the Mac. An alternative to waking a (modern) Mac via a
remote is f.ex. to shortly press its power button.
Since technically Remote Buddy does no longer "own" the Bluetooth
connection to the BD Remote after Apple silently updated the OS X
Bluetooth stack with OS X 10.5.6, RB could no longer close the
connection and the power saving strategies in 4) could no longer be
used.
I'm writing this in past tense, because, yes, I recently found a
(clean) way to achieve the closure of the Bluetooth connection even
under OS X 10.5.6. Unless any last minute problems turn up with that
technique, the power saving options will be part of the next release
of Remote Buddy.
Best regards,
Felix Schwarz
