Guidelines also stipulate teenagers should have no more than three hours of screen time a day Children under the age of two should not be exposed to any screens whatsoever and teenagers should have no more than three hours of screen time a day, according to guidelines announced by health authorities in Sweden. Parents and guardians should think about how they use screens with their children and tell them what they are doing on their phones when they use them in their presence, the advice says. Continue reading...

All the camera, AI and performance of Google’s top Android squeezed into a tighter body The Pixel 9 Pro is a rare beast: a smaller phone that keeps the same bold design, specs and camera as Google’s biggest and most expensive model. It makes it an instant contender for the best small phone going. At £999 (€1,099/$999/A$1,699), it is cheaper than its larger Pixel 9 Pro XL sibling but still firmly in the high-end bracket. What sets it apart is the 6.3in screen is significantly tighter than the monster 6.7in-plus sizes you usually need to get the very best hardware. Screen: 6.3in 120Hz QHD+ OLED (495ppi) Processor: Google Tensor G4 RAM: 16GB of RAM Storage: 128, 256, 512GB or 1TB Operating system: Android 14 Camera: 50MP + 48MP ultrawide + 48MP 5x telephoto, 42MP selfie Connectivity: 5G, eSIM, wifi 7, UWB, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3 and GNSS Water resistance: IP68 (1.5m for 30 minutes) Dimensions: 152.8 x 72.0 x 8.5mm Weight: 199g Continue reading...

Taking the plunge and giving your child a handset? Here’s all you need to know – from the best models to the tariffs and networks (and how to use parental controls) As the schools go back, pressure mounts on parents to give their children their first phone. If you’ve decided the time has come, there are many options to choose from, whether it’s a smartphone, a basic handset, or an upgrade to something newer. From the handset to the mobile service that goes with it, and from key parental controls to how well the phone fits with the devices you already use, here are some of the things you should know before taking the plunge – including which models are the best. Continue reading...

Guidance comes after calls for a total ban for under-16s and a statuary ban on mobile phone use in schools Primary school children should not be given smartphones by their parents, one of the UK’s largest mobile phone operators has warned. EE is advising parents that children under 11 should be given old-fashioned brick or “dumb” phones that only allow them to call or text instead. Continue reading...

Apple is about to launch a ChatGPT-powered version of Siri as part of a suite of AI features in iOS 18. Will this change the way you use your phone – and how does it affect your privacy? Artificial intelligence (AI) is coming to your iPhone soon and, according to Apple, it’s going to transform the way you use your device. Launching under the brand name “Apple Intelligence” the iPhone maker’s AI tools include a turbocharged version of its voice assistant, Siri, backed by a partnership with ChatGPT owner OpenAI. Apple isn’t the first smartphone maker to launch AI. The technology is already available on smartphones including Google’s latest Pixel and Samsung’s Galaxy range. Continue reading...

Top-class camera, huge screen, long battery life, Add Me photo trick and advanced Gemini Live are impressive Google’s new superphone goes all out on battery, camera and smarts, leading a new line of Android devices that can run the company’s Gemini AI system with a next-generation conversational voice assistant that is a huge leap forward. The Pixel 9 Pro XL is the biggest normal phone Google makes, costing from £1,099 (€1,199/$1,099/A$1,849) and is joined for the first time this year by a smaller 9 Pro model with the same specs and camera costing £999 (€1,099/$999/A$1,699). The XL is therefore for people who want a huge screen and big battery. Continue reading...

New Pixel phones, foldable, watch and earbuds feature Gemini Live for free-flowing conversations with AI bot Google is launching four phones, one of them foldable, two smartwatches and a set of earbuds packing its latest AI tech including the new advanced Gemini Live conversational experience, as the Android maker tries to outdo Apple and Samsung. The array of new Pixel products, announced at an event in California, mark the latest evolution of Google’s own-brand Android devices as it attempts to prove its integrated AI and devices work better than rivals. Continue reading...

Lighter weight, better screens, faster chip and fancy AI features are all welcome, but feel iterative for the price Samsung’s most advanced, hi-tech folding phone for 2024 is the Galaxy Z Fold 6, which looks to see off rivals from Google, OnePlus and others with a lighter frame, bigger and better screens, and the fastest chip available for Android. The latest phone-tablet hybrid from the category pioneer is designed to be the ultra-premium device of choice for buyers, but faces stiff competition from several worthy challengers, most of which undercut the South Korean firm on price. Continue reading...

Development of ChatGPT and its ilk will plateau, just like it did for smartphones, and then what are we left with? More ho-hum consumer tech I bought an iPhone 15 the other day to replace my five-year-old iPhone 11. The phone is powered by the new A17 Pro chip and has a terabyte of data storage and accordingly was eye-wateringly expensive. I had, of course, finely honed rationales for splashing out on such a scale. I’ve always had a policy of writing only about kit that I buy with my own money (no freebies from tech companies), for example. The fancy A17 processor is needed to run the new “AI” stuff that Apple is promising to launch soon; the phone has a significantly better camera than my old handset had – which matters (to me) because my Substack blog goes out three times a week and I provide a new photograph for each edition; and, finally, a friend whose ancient iPhone is on its last legs might appreciate an iPhone 11 in good nick. But these are rationalisations rather than solid justifications. The truth is that my old iPhone was fine for the job. Sure, it would need a new battery in time, but apart from that it had years more life in it. And if you take a cold, detached look at the evolution of the iPhone product line, what you see from the 2010 iPhone 4 onwards is really just a sequence of steady incremental improvements. What was so special about that model? Mostly this: it had a front-facing camera, which opened up the world of selfies, video chat, social media and all the other accoutrements of our networked world. But from then on, it was just incremental changes and price rises all the way. Continue reading...

Sixth-generation folder adds bigger battery, better camera, brighter screen and more fancy AI features Samsung’s popular folding-screen Z Flip phone is back for 2024 with a faster chip, much longer battery life and more AI. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is the smaller of Samsung’s two new folders for this year, launched alongside the book-style Z Fold 6. It takes the flat sides and slab-like design of Samsung’s standard Galaxy S24+ and folds it in half, turning a big-screen phone into a compact clamshell. Main screen: 6.7in FHD+ 120Hz AMOLED Infinity Flex Display (425ppi) Cover screen: 3.4in AMOLED Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 RAM: 12GB Storage: 256 or 512GB Operating system: One UI 6.1 based on Android 14 Camera: 50+12MP rear, 10MP front-facing Connectivity: 5G, nano sim + esim, wifi6E, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3 and GNSS Water resistance: IP48 (1.5-metre depths for 30 minutes) Folded dimensions: 85.1 x 71.9 x 14.9mm Unfolded dimensions: 165.1 x 71.9 x 6.9mm Weight: 187g Continue reading...