All posts tagged: smartphones

Tello Mobile Plan Review (2026): Low Cost, Reliable Service

Tello Mobile Plan Review (2026): Low Cost, Reliable Service

Published by skeptic

But Tello’s latency was significantly higher in general—not enough to affect a game of Royal Match, but maybe you have higher demands. The download speeds were also lower for Tello in any given location, but not by a whole lot. At home, my cellular 5G data speeds tend to run at about 800 to 900 megabits a second on T-Mobile. With the Tello phone, it was around 30 percent slower. But both these speeds are well into 5G territory. They’re also a full order of magnitude faster than you’d ever need for 4K video. I had no problem streaming my usual dose of Josh Johnson comedy, if that’s what you’re wondering. Curiously, upload speed was actually faster with the Motorola Razr using Tello than with the old iPhone using T-Mobile. After consulting with my colleague Julian Chokkattu, who has covered phone advances for years, I’m likely to chalk this up to improved modem performance by the newer Motorola, not a secret backdoor to faster uploads by Tello. It’s only in areas with degraded or 4G …

Vertu Is Back With a Folding Phone Powered by—Surprise—an AI Agent

Vertu Is Back With a Folding Phone Powered by—Surprise—an AI Agent

Published by skeptic

Vertu is a company known for making extraordinarily gaudy smartphones with outdated technology, luxe materials, and eye-watering prices. Now the brand is here to meet the AI moment with its first-ever book-like folding phone, complete with an AI agent on board. The company announced the AlphaFold smartphone on Thursday—targeting business executives—which comes outfitted with the Hermes Agent. This agent can purportedly handle schedules and tasks on a user’s behalf and “connect to enterprise systems.” Agents are big in the smartphone world right now, with companies like Google and Samsung offering ways for Gemini on Android smartphones to perform tasks such as booking an Uber or ordering DoorDash. Vertu is cashing in on that trend. But the company has a checkered past. Originally, Vertu was a Nokia subsidiary that made handcrafted luxury Nokia phones (in the UK!) in the early 2000s. Each phone came with access to a live concierge service. The company faced headwinds with the smartphone revolution and fell behind the times. Vertu then changed hands over several years, with various acquisitions, eventually shuttering …

UK faces ‘economic catastrophe’ as young people are ‘rewired’ by smartphones, warns government’s jobs tsar

UK faces ‘economic catastrophe’ as young people are ‘rewired’ by smartphones, warns government’s jobs tsar

Published by Sam Flores

The government’s jobs tsar has warned Britain faces an “economic catastrophe” as young people have been “rewired” by smartphones. Alan Milburn was appointed by Sir Keir Starmer as chairman of the Young People and Work Report as hundreds of thousands of 16-24-year-olds are not in education, employment or training (Neets). His interim report, set be published next week, will suggest that the “rising tide of mental ill-health, anxiety, depression, neurodiversity” is the main reason for high economic inactivity. Speaking to The Times, the former health secretary said young people “are not snowflakes or faking it”, but the rise in these issues could be linked to growing up in a digital age on social media. “The system is trapping people in worklessness rather than enabling them into work,” Mr Milburn told the paper. “We’re at a risk of just writing a whole generation off.” 729,000 16-24 year olds were not employed between January and March this year (PA Wire) The research also described a “bedroom generation” with many of those who had left school at 16 …

How to Watch Google I/O

How to Watch Google I/O

Published by skeptic

Google I/O is imminent. This is the annual developer event and product showcase where Google shows off all the shiny new updates to its Android operating system and other platforms, as well as new features and improvements to its artificial intelligence models. The big announcements at Google I/O usually come in the form of a livestreamed keynote event at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California, hosted by Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. That starts on Tuesday, May 19, at 10 am Pacific time (1 pm Eastern). You can watch the livestream on Google’s website or on YouTube. It will also be streaming right here on this page. What to Expect On the announcement front, Google actually tipped its hand last week, unveiling a bunch of new features coming to the upcoming Android 17 operating system and its ongoing Gemini AI efforts, which it now calls Gemini Intelligence for the most advanced Android devices. Many of the new Android features highlighted are AI-infused tricks that aim to make your life a little easier by offloading onerous …

Nothing Phone 4a Pro review: premium aluminium meets quirky design | Smartphones

Nothing Phone 4a Pro review: premium aluminium meets quirky design | Smartphones

Published by Sam Flores

Nothing’s latest quirky smartphone is a huge aluminium Android with three cameras and a big LED matrix screen on the back that challenges the notion mid-range phones can’t be just a bit more fun. The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. The Phone 4a Pro is a bit of a departure from UK-based Nothing’s previous glass-clad transparent designs. It still has a touch of those elements but only in the camera island at the top, with the rest of the body now solid aluminium – a rare sight in the world of Android phones. It costs £499 (€479/$499/A$949), sitting above the regular Phone 4a at £349 and below the top-of-the-line Phone 3 costing £699. That puts the Phone 4a Pro in direct competition with some very good, if less interestingly designed, rivals such as the Google Pixel 10a. The screen is bright, colourful and crisp with a high 144Hz refresh rate that keeps your scrolling smooth. It’s great for watching video on the …

The Top New Features in Google’s Android 17—and Gemini Intelligence—Coming This Summer

The Top New Features in Google’s Android 17—and Gemini Intelligence—Coming This Summer

Published by skeptic

“Our goal is to be able to have it as customizable as possible, pulling from all sorts of data sources that you ask it to be able to create a custom widget for you,” Brooks says. Maybe that means creating a weather widget that shows Celsius and Fahrenheit for when you’re traveling abroad. Or a countdown to your next marathon. Or a widget that shows three new high-protein meal prep recipes every week. What does this mean for the future of the home screen? Will we still have app grids? Or will every person’s phone have its own look and feel, drummed up by natural language? Brooks says Android has always been good at customization, so we should expect even more control over how our phones look and work. “I think you’ll see a lot more of that in the future on how we can continue to do this in a delightful way, to make your device truly yours.” Rambler Courtesy of Google The voice dictation feature on Google’s Gboard keyboard is getting a Gemini …

Update Your iPhone Now for Better Encrypted Messaging With Android

Update Your iPhone Now for Better Encrypted Messaging With Android

Published by skeptic

Last year’s rollout of iOS 26 was striking, with the translucent Liquid Glass aesthetic. Apple has since iterated on its smartphone’s software, though some users continue to voice their displeasure. If you’ve held out, this latest version—iOS 26.5—includes a new feature that’s worth updating your smartphone for right now: end-to-end encryption for RCS messaging. Apple rolled out the latest version of its iPhone operating system on Monday. Now, if an iPhone owner sends or receives green bubbles, aka RCS texts, in Apple’s Messages app with an Android owner, those chats may be encrypted. “Conversations labeled as encrypted are encrypted end-to-end, so messages can’t be read while they’re sent between devices,” reads an early version of the settings page. Apple is launching this feature as a beta, and its current availability depends on your device and carrier. Texts between Apple devices in the Messages app, aka iMessages, have been encrypted since launch, but chats with Android devices were not protected in the same way. Apple recently upgraded non-iMessages from SMS to RCS and modernized the backend—enabling …

Exclusive: Metalenz Has Figured Out a Way to Make Face ID Invisible

Exclusive: Metalenz Has Figured Out a Way to Make Face ID Invisible

Published by skeptic

We’re all too familiar with the notch—the unsightly cut-in that graced many smartphones for years, like the iPhone X or the LG G7. The notch has largely been replaced on today’s smartphones by floating punch-hole cameras that take up less space and look a little more futuristic, though notches are still prevalent on some laptops, like Apple’s MacBooks. On the iPhone, Apple calls its floating pill-shaped camera system the Dynamic Island, which debuted on the iPhone 14. The iPhone still has the largest camera cutout today, due to its Face ID biometric authentication system. (Barring Google Pixel phones, the vast majority of Android phones don’t offer a secure face authentication equivalent, so they don’t need a bulky camera cutout.) This island could get much smaller, however, thanks to new under-display camera technology announced at Display Week 2026 from Metalenz, a optics startup from Boston. A Primer on Metasurfaces Metalenz’s optical metasurfaces technology is a flat-lens system that uses a fraction of the space of traditional multi-lens elements in most smartphones. You can read more about …

15 Best MagSafe Wireless Chargers (2026): Power Banks, Stands, Pads, and Travel Chargers

15 Best MagSafe Wireless Chargers (2026): Power Banks, Stands, Pads, and Travel Chargers

Published by skeptic

More Good MagSafe and Qi2 Chargers Here are a few other MagSafe wireless chargers we have tested that didn’t quite manage to earn a place above. Photograph: Simon Hill Mous Dual Charging Station for $100: This dual charger from Mous is a looker, but disappoints on charging speeds, maxing out at 15 watts for the main MagSafe pad and just 5 watts for the second Qi pad, though there is a spare USB-C port that can charge at 18 watts. You can also add an Apple Watch charger ($55) that connects magnetically to the pogo pins at one end (5-watt maximum) and pops up for Nightstand mode. Anker MagGo Wireless Charger Pad (Qi2) for $30: Our top pick until Apple’s redesign, this Qi2 charger brings MagSafe-style magnetic charging and a 15-watt charging rate. This pad stays put, has a durable aluminum casing that remains relatively cool, and comes with a 5-foot USB-C cable permanently attached. It can also charge AirPods with a magnetic charging case, but it does not come with a power adapter. Belkin …