Category: Smartphones
You can now buy an Amazon Fire Phone for £99
Putting it nicely, the Amazon Fire Phone has been a serious flop. You know it, I know, and Amazon knows it. Despite the fact that Amazon is still adamant that a successor is coming, it appears to have totally given up on the original Fire Phone -- discounting its price by 75 per cent in…
The Xiaomi Mi Note sold out in three minutes
Xiaomi is a rising star in the world of smartphones, and despite the fact that it has yet to launch in the likes of the UK it is doing remarkably well for itself. The company is also known for its devices selling out obscenely quickly, and the newly announced Mi Note is no exception --…
We could get safer, thinner batteries made with layers of Kevlar
There's a lot of work being done with batteries at the moment, particularly with making them last a lot longer. But there are other factors that matter: Safety and, as any Apple exec will likely tell you, thickness. The answer to both of those could lie with Kevlar. A team at the University of Michigan…
It’s Apple’s fault the Nexus 6 doesn’t have a fingerprint scanner
Biometric security has started popping up in smartphones recently, most prominently in Apple devices. It's just been confirmed that a fingerprint scanner was supposed to be included in the Nexus 6, and it's all Apple's fault that it wasn't. This little piece of information have been rumoured for a while thanks to the inclusion of a…
Microsoft has promised flagship Windows Phones are on the way
Windows Phone has never really had the same level of popularity as Android or iOS, and in the past year Microsoft's first party Windows Phone devices have been focused on the budget and mid-range smartphone market. It has, however, been confirmed that flagship Windows phones are on the way. Speaking at the Windows 10 launch event…
Young people and politics: we’re far from apathetic
Too apathetic, too ignorant and too self-absorbed: that sums up my generation when it comes to political engagement, right? After all, voter turnout among the 18-24 year-olds has been below 50% since 1992: 39% in 2001, 37% in 2005, with a slight rise to 44% in 2010, compared with 76% turnout for the over-65s. I've been…
You can have a second display on your iPhone with the popSLATE case
There aren't many phones on the market with a second display these days, but what if you really want one to make life a little bit easier? Thankfully iPhone owners can do that by buying their phone a special case. The popSLATE case is available for any iPhone 5, 5S, or 6 and sticks an e-paper screen onto…
‘Inconspicuous Mode’ will stop your phone from being a nuisance in the cinema
When you're off to watch a film at your local picturehouse you often have to be reminded to switch off your phone by those strange and annoying adverts. Soon, though, your phone might do that by itself. It's not particularly difficult to turn your phone's ringer off when you go to the cinema, but some…
Our phones could help us make decisions in future
Computer scientists from MIT have developed software that could help us make decisions by predicting the probability of success of different options. Brian Williams, from the university’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, says he and his colleagues wanted to make ‘a better Siri’. So rather than just retrieve information, it can help you make…
Ofcom’s planning for 5G to be available by 2020
4G is readily available and affordable these days, so don't you think it's time we started thinking about the next generation of mobile internet? Ofcom certainly thinks so. Today Ofcom announced that it was beginning consultation with key members of the mobile industry with the goal of preparing the UK for arrival of 5G services…
