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...
Tag - Smartphones
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...