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Exclusive: You Can Finally Buy a Fairphone—a Sustainable, Repairable Smartphone—in the US
More than a decade after launching in Europe, the Netherlands company is now selling its repairable phones in the US, starting with the Fairphone (Gen 6+).
Social media analysis offers businesses a new way to forecast feature demand
Social media has become an important source of information for consumers making purchasing decisions, with prior research finding that more than 90% of consumers consult social media before making a purchase. ...
I Tried Large Format Photography on a 70-Year-Old Camera (Without Spending a Dime on Film)
After 20 years of avoiding intimidating 4-by-5 cameras and $11-a-shot film, I finally tackled my large format anxiety using an innovative digital attachment and my smartphone.
I planned to use Gmail forever, until one email app quietly replaced it for good
I just wanted to read emails, but Gmail served me with unsolicited AI tips
Apple, AI, Tesla And More: Top Tech And Entertainment Stories
From Apple’s streaming success to AI shifts and smartphone costs, these were the top tech and entertainment stories.
These celebrities gave up smartphones. What science has to say
These celebrities decided life was better with fewer notifications
Google’s Tensor G6 in Pixel 11 isn’t the first 2nm smartphone chip after all
It was rumored that Google’s new Tensor G6, debuting in the Pixel 11, would be the first smartphone chip using...
Google Pixel 11 Can Cost Less Than Pixel 10 With Amazon's Pre-Order Perks
If you've been waiting for the best time to get a new smartphone, lock in this deal now.
Honor's AI-Powered, Gimbal-Equipped Robot Phone Just Launched in China and it Looks Wild
There's no other smartphone quite like this one.
Google Unveils $29 Pixel Tag to Take On Apple's AirTag
Google today introduced the Pixel Tag, its answer to Apple's AirTag. Pixel Tag is Google's first item tracker, even though Google implemented an item tracking network two years ago that's been used by third-party devices. The Pixel Tag is made from stainless steel, and it is IP67 water- and dust-resistant. There's a built-in speaker that can play a sound when an item it's attached to is lost, and a button that causes a sound to play on a connected smartphone.
Apple Skipping iPhone 18 Launch This Year
Apple supplier Pegatron today indirectly confirmed that the standard iPhone 18 model will not be released until next year, according to a new report. Pegatron held an earnings call for the second quarter of 2026 today. On the call, Taiwan's Economic Daily News said Pegatron indicated that one of its customers will be changing its usual smartphone shipment schedule.
Every Galaxy phone and tablet eligible to get One UI 9 (Android 17) update
In May, Samsung unveiled its latest custom Android interface for Galaxy smartphones and tablets, One UI 9.0, by releasing its beta version for the Galaxy S26 se
Clicks' Power Keyboard brings BlackBerry-style typing to any phone — with some compromises
Clicks’ $99 Power Keyboard brings a customizable, slide-out physical keyboard to MagSafe and Qi2 smartphones, but its added heft can make larger phones awkward to use
iPhone vs. Pixel: There’s a Clear Winner for AI Photo Editing Tools
I used the built-in AI photo editing tools on an iPhone and a Google Pixel. There are big differences between the two smartphones.
iPhone 18 Pro Costing Apple 38% More to Make, TrendForce Estimates
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro will cost nearly 40 percent more to build than its predecessor because of soaring memory prices, according to new data analyzed TrendForce. The research firm's latest smartphone analysis puts the bill of materials for the 256GB iPhone 18 Pro roughly 38 percent above the equivalent iPhone 17 Pro, and says higher retail prices will be unavoidable as a result.
Google is finally letting a rival app store onto the Play Store
Aptoide Games is coming to Google Play in the US, giving Android users an easier way to try an alternative gaming app store.
iPhone 17 faces an early price rise a month before iPhone 18 Pro launch
Apple may raise the prices of the iPhone 17 roster on August 10, bringing the smartphones in line with other products affected by the memory pricing crisis.
Why smartphone makers stopped using removable batteries, and why they're making a comeback
Thanks to a new law in the EU, companies will be required to create phones with batteries that can be replaced by the end user.
Some Gen Zers swap their smartphones for "dumb" phones to curb social media habits
Foldable Smartphone Sales to Rise 20% This Year Due to 'iPhone Ultra'
Global foldable smartphone shipments are expected to grow 20% in 2026 compared to last year, with Apple's first entry into the category cited as one of the factors driving the increase, according to industry sources cited by DigiTimes. The report notes that the broader smartphone market is contending with tighter supply of upstream logic chips and higher memory prices, but says the foldable segment is expected to keep expanding regardless.
Galaxy S26 FE Price Leak Follows Samsung’s Mobile Profit Slide
Samsung’s Galaxy S26 FE could cost more than its predecessor, raising questions about whether the Fan Edition still offers strong value.
MrBeast Sales Slow, Angel Stock Falls, MUBI and Neon Look for Hits, and Will an NBA Franchise Set a Sales Record?
(Welcome to the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a newsletter on the entertainment industry and business strategy. I write a weekly Streaming Ratings Report and a bi-weekly strategy column, along with occasional deep dives into other topics, like today’s article. Please subscribe.) You probably remember egg prices spiking a few years ago. This led to a lot of debate between the pro-market/pro-competition/antitrust/Neo-Brandesian crowd and the center/center-right/center-left/abundance/libertarian crowd over the cause, whether it was the avian flu outbreak or whether industry consolidation led to price fixing, using avian flu as a convenient cover. Basel Musharbash wrote a whole investigation at BIG looking at it. Well, two years later, we have our answer: it was price fixing. The Justice Department found proof, via emails, of price fixing. Indeed, just the threat of an investigation brought prices down two years ago: I bring this up because at least half a dozen of my favorite political writers and pundits, who were skeptical about price fixing at the time, haven’t written any mea culpas on this issue. It’s really dispiriting and makes it much, much harder to trust their work on other issues. If you take a hard stand on an issue, then you get it wrong, you need to explain how and why you got it wrong. Or update your priors. This is how epistemological bubbles are formed! All of which is to say, it’s time for another installment of “What I Got Right, What I Got Wrong”. Last issue, I mostly focused on the “wrong” side of the equation, so today’s is a bit more balanced, but with one big mea culpa (though I still stand by my original concerns). Let’s dive right in! Subscribe CORRECTION: UFC Didn’t Release Subscriber Data (But Seems to Have Bragged About It Internally) In my analysis of the viewership of UFC Freedom 250, I wrote... “Paramount has also released datecdotes bragging about their subscriber numbers. Earlier this year, they claimed that the first UFC fight on Paramount+ brought in 1 million subscribers.” Well, that datecdote did not come from a PR rep, but from great reporting from James Faris at Business Insider. The actual quote was this: “Paramount’s flagship streaming service generated about a million new subscribers on the day of its first-ever UFC event, Paramount product chief Dane Glasgow told employees in a town hall on Tuesday morning, three staffers who attended the meeting told Business Insider.“ This wasn’t the biggest goof in the world; even Faris emphasized to me that this is more a “clarification” than a correction. Still, it sounds like, internally, the folks at Paramount were very happy about this result—and I’m guessing they were happy with this news getting out—even though the gains didn’t last through the quarter, dropping to 700K adds. RIGHT: MrBeast’s Struggles Continue... I’m very skeptical about MrBeast’s burgeoning media “empire” and, in particular, its $5 billion valuation, as I wrote earlier this year and last year. Sure enough, according to Business Insider, regarding its “booming” consumer products division_:_ “US sales volume grew 13% year-over-year in 2025, following a 33% leap the previous year, according to a presentation deck dated May 2026....A February 2025 investor deck viewed by Business Insider showed Feastables’ net revenue more than doubled in 2024 from 2023, to $215 million, and was forecast to grow 74% in 2025, to $375 million.” [Emphasis mine.] If you told investors that you projected 74% growth but delivered 13%,1 that’s not ideal. But it’s not just MrBeast. Logan Paul and KSI’s Prime had sales drop in half for their energy drinks. It’s one thing to build a successful entertainment company and an entirely different thing to succeed in the heavily-consolidated-but-also-very-competitive consumer packaged goods space! CPGs are dominated by a few firms with very wide moats compared to YouTube, which has few barriers to entry. These businesses require different skill sets and have completely different business environments. WRONG: Does the NBA Have an $8 Billion Bidder? Almost as soon as I published my article about the NBA’s finances, casting skepticism on NBA expansion, I saw this Front Office Sports headline: One group “claims to have already raised $8 billion” for the Vegas expansion team. I mean, wow. That’s just $2 billion less than what the Los Angeles Lakers were valued at when they were sold just last year. And they’re arguably the most popular team in the NBA. (Side note: the new owner is now under an investigation for fraud in how he went about financing the Lakers and the Dodgers purchases.) So much for the “dried up” language I used in that article. (This is why I usually stick to my “Entertainment Nuance Guy” tone in articles...) I went off old information—from April, when I read/heard about the NBA downplaying expansion efforts—instead of doing a quick double-check for new news. That said...if you read the article, the market for Seattle is “slow”, with just one reported bidder. So I wasn’t entirely off. This goof has annoyed me since I first published it, mainly because it undercut that article’s real point, which I stand by: NBA franchises are really overvalued right now. Now, I get why NBA teams are overvalued. When it comes to owning sports teams, it’s basically never wrong to assume that some rich person somewhere will care more about owning a team (or just being part of a group since they’re so expensive) than the actual financials. There are only so many teams to own, and opportunities to buy in preferred markets don’t come along very often. This explains why the teams sell for such high multiples (usually above a 10 to 12.5 revenue multiple, which is very high). You only need one person to overpay! Beyond the ultra-wealthy luxury good explanation, I worry NBA teams are becoming speculative assets. More and more private equity investors are buying into NBA teams. But the value, in owning a team, comes from selling it later, not any meaningful relationship to revenue or profit growth. In other words, the newer NBA owners are increasingly expecting someone later to buy their inflated asset. That’s not sound economics; that’s the “greater fool” theory at work.2 At some point, actually making money has to matter. Especially since revenue growth is now below the growth of the stock market. (And this matters because the NBA doesn’t have easy levers to pull to drastically lower their costs—half of their revenue has to go to players and then you actually have to run a team, including coaching, training, travel, media expenses, and more—or raise revenues aside from one-off expansions in America and overseas.) I just don’t see how investors make their money back buying NBA teams, except for selling at a higher price later on down the line. But if revenue/profit growth continues to slow, at some point, someone will be left holding the bag. RIGHT: Baseball and Basketball are about equally popular. Related to the above, I wanted to cite two quick pieces of evidence for one of my other theories: that the NBA and MLB are about as popular as each other, but the NBA gets much, much better media coverage. One YouGov survey has that fans prefer basketball to baseball by 52% to 48%, which I’m guessing is within the margin of error for that poll. That’s virtually even, meaning they’re about the same popularity. Over on NBC, a recent Red Sox-Yankees game averaged 4 million viewers, higher than Sunday Night Basketball’s average of 3.4 million on the same network. A Yankees-Dodgers game averaged 3.9 million two weeks ago. Not every game averages this much, but it shows you that baseball isn’t far off from basketball, depending on the matchup. Altogether, the NBA is just slightly more popular than baseball, but NBC is paying MLB a fraction of what they pay the NBA, a point I’ve made before. RIGHT: Angel, MUBI and Neon Updates... I’ve long been skeptical about many of Hollywood’s buzziest startups/smaller indie studios. It’s not that they don’t make great movies—films like Anora and Everything Everywhere All at Once are amazing—or that they’re not (rightfully) pushing the majors to make better films, but...they get a ton of hype, and that hype often doesn’t live up to the reality or difficulty in scaling up. Starting with MUBI, well, The Wall Street Journal wrote a feature on MUBI’s struggles last April, best summarized by the subheader “After Sequoia valued Mubi at $1 billion, a left-wing revolt sent the indie film company into a tailspin”. MUBI lost $7.3 million on $200 million in revenue in Q4 2025, but reportedly hit a record 1.7 million subscribers at the end of Q1. As for Neon, Department M purchased a “significant stake” in the company earlier this year. How much is that “stake” worth? According to Deadline, “No financial figures for the Neon-Department M deal were disclosed.” So...that’s not great! If it was a big valuation, we’d hear about. Also, I found this curious: “Both Neon and Department M already have separate partnerships with Qatar. The Qatar Film Committee has a slate deal in place with the former, and a biopic production pact with the latter.” Color me skeptical about much Middle Eastern investment dollars. See: LIV Golf. Finally, as for Angel (formerly Angel Studios), their stock very, very slightly popped last month after Young Washington ($20 million budget) which made $45 million in the US, but their stock is still way down from its opening. Smaller Updates RIGHT: The WGA should focus on antitrust concerns! I’ve been on this for years. Post-WGA/AMTPT deal in 2023, I wrote an article for the Ankler calling on the WGA to focus and organize against industry consolidation. Sure enough, the WGA filed a lawsuit against the Paramount-WBD merger, and people are organizing around this issue now. I wish this energy had coalesced earlier (specifically to lobby Washington much earlier), but better late than never! WRONG: Actually, the chip shortage might be due to market manipulation. In my last “Long Reads for the Long Summer” article, I shared an article about how LLMs are causing memory chip prices to spike, which will make all electronics more expensive. Well, turns out, three RAM manufacturers control 90% of the market, and now a private lawsuit accuses them of price-fixing. So yeah. WRONG/UPDATE: The Odyssey will hold! Two weeks ago, I wrote, “As of this moment, we haven’t had a super-blockbuster, though The Odyssey, Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday could all cross the $500 million mark. (At this point, The Odyssey would need a very strong hold to get there.)” Well, it’s safe to say it’s going to have that hold! It only dropped 30% in weekend two and IMAX screenings are sold out all month. Spider-Man: Brand New Day is also off to a great start. RIGHT: People are rushing to get shows out yearly. I’ve long been bullish on yearly, weekly-released shows, and Leslie Goldberg at The Ankler wrote about how many people in town are now listening. WRONG: Mark Carney reverses Canada’s stance on homegrown production. After writing about Canada installing domestic production quotas, Canada has backed off. WRONG: I don’t trust Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s online “views”. When I originally wrote about the latest Spider-Man film’s record-breaking trailer, I thought this was just YouTube views, but after watching this Corridor Crew video and doing more research, well, it’s all social views of the trailer globally. Really? That stat includes TikTok, Reels and YouTube Shorts views. Basically, I don’t trust it anymore. (This film will probably set record, but I trust the pre-sales data more.) RIGHT: Celebrity Production companies are still struggling. I’ve written about this for years, but the company that I didn’t track was Kevin Hart’s HartBeat, which was valued at $650 million but is struggling now and might just end soon, especially after Kevin Hart pulled his endorsement deals. And Bad Robot is moving to NYC. CORRECTION: SpongeBob is a “second run” title. In my 2025 recap article, I had _SpongeBob SquarePants_labelled as a “library” title, when it is still a “second run” show, with new episodes still coming out on Nickelodeon. CORRECTION: In my last “What I Got Right, What I Got Wrong” update, I offered a correction from Doug Creutz and misspelled TD Cowen. Thanks, Grammarly! 1 Though he could have increased prices to make up for the gap, he couldn’t have increased them that much. 2 There’s a theory, which I think that Daryl Morey created and Bill Simmons popularized, that, to be successful building your team, you only need a handful of bad GMs in the league to take advantage of. To be clear, Daryl Morey’s theory was also for signing bad contracts, that you could always get out of bad contracts. Basically, there’s always someone who will make a bad trade. It’s not the same exact thing, but similar enough to the Greater Fool Theory that I really like it.
School Smartphone Bans Show No Effect on Youth Mental Health
Following a decade of declining youth mental health, many states have attempted to limit children’s access to social media and the internet by banning smartphones in schools. In new research, Henry Saffer finds no evidence that in-school smartphone bans have any effect on the screentime or mental well-being of young Americans.
3 Tech Brands You Might Not Realize Are Owned By TCL
TCL owns several other tech brands that help expand its marketplace reach beyond TVs and smartphones. Among the most prominent are Palm, iFFALCON, and RayNeo.
DSiWare game Zenonia making a comeback on Nintendo Switch with a remaster
Many years after its original release, Zenonia is making a comeback on Nintendo Switch. The RPG launched on mobile way back in the day and also DSiWare. Com2us is now re-releasing it as a remaster, though we’re not entirely sure what’s new aside from updated visuals. Here’s an official overview: Where It All Began Before smartphones. Before app stores. Zenonia...
Say hello to my little foldable friend: this Galaxy Z Fold 8 costs $12,560
In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get this limited edition smartphone.
Review: The Galaxy Z Fold 8’s new shape isn’t for you
The appeal of a book-style foldable is obvious. A smartphone that opens up to something more expansive, more capable –...
casio turns its ring watch into smart wearable with health tracking and notifications
the CRW-H001 combines digital timekeeping with biometric sensors and smartphone connectivity in a finger-sized device available exclusively in china.
Tecno's New Concept May Be The First Truly Bezel-Less Smartphone
Tecno is teasing a truly bezel-less smartphone concept and it'll reveal it at IFA 2026.
5 reasons patients check with a chatbot before—and often instead of—going to the doctor
Warning healthcare consumers about the unreliability of AI for medical advice is like screaming at tourists for frolicking in a decorative fountain on an oppressively hot and humid day.
I turned off this core Android app to reclaim 7GB of storage; I should have done it sooner
I won't be reinstalling this app
iPhone 18 Pro: Twelve Changes Coming to Apple's Next Flagship
We're less than two months out from the launch of Apple's premium next-generation smartphone lineup, and while we're not expecting a dramatic change in terms of functionality, there are still several enhancements rumored to be coming to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth noting is that Apple is reportedly planning a major change to its iPhone release cycle this year, adopting a two-phase rollout starting with the iPhone 18 series.
Apple Upgrade is the future of phone ownership, and Google and Samsung need to follow suit
Apple’s new leasing program could reshape how all premium smartphones are sold, and it's something Android OEMs need to follow.
Google Pixel’s Tensor grows as global smartphone shipments continue to fall
The chipset giants like MediaTek and Qualcomm are facing a drop in shipments as proprietary SoCs from Google and Samsung...
OpenAI's First Devices: Speaker, Smartphone, and More
OpenAI's hardware roadmap has sharpened considerably in recent months, with its first device now identified, a smartphone said to be arriving as soon as next year, and a wider lineup taking shape behind them. AI Smart Speaker OpenAI's first product is a portable, screenless smart speaker developed with former Apple design chief Jony Ive, designed to act as a personal companion in the home rather than a conventional voice assistant.
Gemini can now make your Google Docs look a lot less boring
Need some visuals? Gemini can now create and edit images, diagrams, and infographics directly inside Google Docs.
WhatsApp now lets you make calls using its web app
Similar to the smartphone and desktop apps, the web app will support the calling features such as screen-sharing and reactions.
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 ‘Passport’ Design Is the Next Big Smartphone Trend
Between the Fold 8 and Apple’s first folding iPhone, US consumers are about to see a lot more of this shorter, wider shape.
I found more than 10GB of wasted storage on my phone with this free Google app
It does much more than help me find downloads
End of the search bar: Why Utah businesses are racing to solve the 'GEO' puzzle
If you own a business in Utah, the way customers find you is about to undergo its biggest shift since the invention of the smartphone.
AI devices that see, listen and record: Are we ready for the post-smartphone world?
Picture this: On a normal workday, you and your coworkers walk around the office with tiny recorders clipped to your clothes. The glasses on your face instantly identify what you see. Your bracelet records and analyzes all your conversations.
All the Ways You Can Make Reading on Your Phone Easier
Tired of eye strain? These tips will help optimize your smartphone for marathon reading sessions.
iPhone Ultra to account for 25% of foldable shipments in 2026
Counterpoint Research is out with a new report saying Apple expected to capture a 25% share following its entry into the foldable smartphone market.
Why Samsung Gave Its Next Folding Phone a New Shape
People spend hours watching videos on their smartphones. The wider, shorter, and lighter Galaxy Z Fold8 caters to exactly that.
The iPhone 18 Pro's Rumored Camera Upgrade, Explained
Apple's upcoming iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are expected to feature a variable-aperture camera. The upgrade has been rumored repeatedly and would be a first for Apple's smartphone lineup, but what would it actually change for everyday users? An aperture is the opening inside a camera lens that lets in light. A natural comparison would be the pupils of your eyes, which open wider in the dark and become smaller in bright conditions.
Saint Paul College to host community conference on kids, smartphones, and mental health
The Light Flip is a minimalist flip phone with a point to prove
Job number one: don’t look like a smartphone.
Introducing AT&T Business Unlimited Ultimate 3.0
New Unlimited Ultimate 3.0 includes connectivity for one tablet and one wearable with every voice line, helping businesses extend productivity beyond the smartphone.
Samsung Debuts AI-Powered Health Assistant, Joining Packed Market
Samsung Electronics Co. is rolling out a new AI-powered assistant that acts as a virtual health companion, joining a growing number of tech companies using chatbots to deliver personalized wellness insights to its users.Samsung Health Assistant pulls in data from the user’s Galaxy smartphone, smartwatch or smart ring, the company said Tuesday. The firm also announced a series of other features coming to its health platform, particularly around heart metrics.
Samsung makes One UI 9.0’s new power menu security feature easier to understand
Samsung’s latest Android skin for Galaxy smartphones, One UI 9.0 (Android 17), introduces several changes and improvements. One of them is the removal of the Lo
Samsung lost the latest global foldable battle, and it wasn't even close
The last quarterly foldable smartphone market report before the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Z Flip 8 are released sees Huawei earn a blowout win over Samsung.
Google and Apple are clashing with the EU over the future of AI assistants
Google and Apple have a big leg up in the AI race: their control of billions of smartphones around the world.
The 2000s called. They want their digital camera back
Why are people who weren't born 25 years ago snapping up the digital camera of that era? Blame Taylor Swift, trend cycles, childhood nostalgia and smartphone fatigue.
Parents want safer phones for kids. These companies are answering the call.
As parents look for alternatives to unrestricted smartphones, a growing number of companies are building phones designed specifically for kids, from feature-limited mobile devices to minimalist home phones.
iPhone Loyalty Rate Climbs to 87% as Switching to Android Slows
iPhone owners are sticking with the platform at a higher rate than a year ago, with new research firm CIRP putting iPhone loyalty at 87% for the first quarter of 2026. CIRP's latest quarterly survey found that just 12% of new iPhone buyers in the March quarter had come over from an Android phone, with the remaining 1% arriving from a feature phone, a different smartphone platform, or buying a smartphone for the first time.
RIP, OnePlus – Smartphone Maker Calls It Quits
The report from earlier in the week was correct - OnePlus has officially called it quits in the US, Canada, and beyond. Through community posts on their awkwardly launched US-specific forum and...
iPhone 18 Pro leaks point to a bigger, better and heavier smartphone from Apple
From camera breakthroughs to a new design, here's everything we know.
OnePlus, the ‘Flagship-Killer’ Smartphone Brand, Is All but Dead
The original OnePlus phone disrupted the mobile market 13 years ago with its affordable price and top-end specs. Now, the company is exiting North America and Europe to focus on China.
Report: OnePlus to Pull Out of US and Europe
OnePlus is exiting the U.S. and European smartphone markets as part of a broader restructuring at parent company Oppo, Bloomberg reports. OnePlus is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oppo. The change could happen as early as this week, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to Bloomberg. Realme, another Oppo-owned mobile brand, will exit the China market as part of the same restructuring.
The Cutthroat Smartphone Industry And DRAM Crisis Force A Player Out Of The U.S. Market, Giving Apple & Samsung Additional Room To Reap Profits
The brutality of the smartphone industry coupled with rising DRAM costs have forced one manufacturer out of the U.S. market
Google Pixel 11 devices to have the first 2nm smartphone SoC, new modem
The Tensor G6 is expected to leapfrog the competition in one very specific metric and probably not much more. According to a new report from China,...
Are 988 and other mental health crisis lines missing people over 50?
Many people over 50 aren't aware of the 988 mental health crisis line, though some are aware of other crisis lines, suggesting an opportunity to increase awareness and use.
Microsoft wants to integrate your smartphone more deeply with Windows 11: Plans major UX enhancements that will make your PC and phone more seamlessly connected
Sources say that Microsoft is exploring several ways it can introduce new smartphone integration features across the Windows 11 interface in the coming months.
I'm saving hundreds on new phones while everyone else panics about the RAM crisis
I found the one trick that keeps me ahead
Dumb Co dared me to trade my iPhone for a hacked flip phone
Dumb Co sells flip phones that sync to your smartphone, bridging the infinite connectivity of the iPhone and the unrealistic limitations of an early 2000s relic.
Parents’ Phone Addiction Affects Bond with Kids, New Study Finds
Parents’ attachment to screens and smartphones can have negative, long-lasting developmental and psychological effects on their children, according to new research.
Google's new Play terms reveal something most Android users never know
Ahead of its July 29 rollout, Google is giving users a preview of its updated Play Terms of Service that make several changes.
Shut Those Laptops! Anthropic Puts Its Claude Cowork Agent on Your Phone
Claude Cowork now keeps working on tasks even after you close your laptop. It’s part of a larger push toward smartphone-controlled agents.
Can citizen science save the world’s wildlife?
Can smartphones save the planet? Learn how citizen science and AI-powered apps are providing crucial data to protect global biodiversity.
Mark Zuckerberg takes business calls on a jet ski wearing his $800 Meta glasses—and insists ‘the other person could not tell’
Zuckerberg is convinced smart glasses will replace the smartphone—and he's spending billions to prove it, even as Reality Labs posts a $19.2 billion loss.
Long Reads for the Long Weekend
(Welcome to the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a newsletter on the entertainment industry and business strategy. I write a weekly Streaming Ratings Report and a bi-weekly strategy column, along with occasional deep dives into other topics, like today’s article. Please subscribe.) Happy Fourth of July weekend! As has been a tradition of mine going back to the beginning of the EntStrategyGuy website, I’m sharing my favorite long reads of the last year, like I did in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2024, and 2025. Let’s dive right in! Subscribe “Different Prices for the Same Ride: How Uber and Lyft Use AI to Get More Money Out of You“ by Derek Kravitz in Consumer Reports I don’t think surveillance pricing, like the kind described in this brilliant Consumer Reports article, is long for the world—it’s toxically unpopular—but we’ll see if either party takes on this issue. If I ran a political party focused on affordability, I would focus on a few pro-consumer and pro-market policies: Banning non-compete agreements. Ending surveillance pricing Eliminating junk fees (read more here...) Ensuring “right to repair” for consumer (and military!) products Capping excessive app store fees Stopping digital/algorithmic price-fixing tools. Preventing automatic subscription price increases. And more. If you want to fight inflation, there are a lot of great ways to do it quickly. Speaking of higher prices... “Secret Documents Show Pepsi and Walmart Colluded to Raise Food Prices Across the Economy“ by Matt Stoller in BIG Again, I think a political party should focus on lowering prices for consumers. And deals like this—Walmart making a deal/forcing Pepsi to offer the lowest prices at its stores and nowhere else—hypothetically lower prices at Walmart...but raise them everywhere else. “15 DUIs, still driving: California’s failure to take repeat drunk drivers off the road“ by Robert Lewis and Lauren Hepler in CalMatters CalMatters does terrific reporting in California, something the Golden State desperately needs more of, and this article is a great example of that. “PugLips: The next insanely popular thing you’ve never heard of…” by Simon Carless in Game Discover Co I thought that this parody article (and yes, it’s a parody, but I was definitely unsure at first) was hilarious and totally nailed how much tech/business journalism feels these days. Actually, three of my favorite articles this year were on hype in the video game industry, including Georg Zoller’s “The Video Game Industries Very Dark Night”—which I linked to recently and wrote a follow-up here—and Owen Mahoney’s “Derek Zoolander, Videogame Exec”. In particular, I like Mahoney’s focus on user experience as a guide to what trends will actually grab hold of customers. “The Matrix Lies“ by Evan Shapiro in Media War & Peace Evan Shapiro’s first person account of his experience with AI was hilarious. I think LLMs capabilities have significantly grown from last summer, and yet...my editor/researcher just had an abysmal experience using an LLM to do a quite basic task (which our LLM normally does each week) and the LLM made a mistake on every single data entry...along with seven different mistakes affecting twelve of the twenty or so entries, including mistakes that are explicitly spelled out in the prompt. That’s a brutal failure rate. Again, if you use AI/LLM for data collection, you need to take a lot of extra steps to verify and check the data. “Ghosts in the Balcony: A Cross-Country Trip to 58 Theaters Fighting to Survive“ by Matthew Frank in The Ankler I thought Matthew Frank’s pitch to head across America to visit theaters sounded insane aggressive at the time—at least it felt that way to someone a decade older than him; man, to be in your twenties again, am I right?—but I knew the result would be great. And it was, a terrific feature by a great young writer. Also, I loved Matthew’s recent article on who’s getting the precious few entry level jobs in Hollywood. (Hint: nepotism.) “Disney erased FiveThirtyEight“ and “Did Las Vegas get too greedy?” by Nate Silver in Silver Bulletin I love media history and analysis, and there’s no one better to get the history of FiveThirtyEight than from Nate Silver, who wrote about his personal experience in one of my favorite pieces from this year. I also loved Nate’s breakdown of what’s causing Vegas’ woes, but I’ll offer one criticism, summarized as “Might I suggest antitrust?” Many centrists/center-right/libertarian thinkers (Nate is self-described as the latter) often don’t consider consolidation or antitrust as factors in policy issues like housing, America’s military readiness, or, in this case, Las Vegas. Even if libertarians want to debunk antitrust/consolidation concerns, I’d love to read that debunking. In this case, Vegas is incredibly consolidated (though it also has been for a long time) and I’d have loved to read Nate at least contending with this factor, since he addresses almost every other potential factor for Vegas’ decline. “Why Microsoft’s Carbon Removal Pullback Is Such a Big Deal“ by Robinson Meyer in Heatmap News I’m a big supporter of carbon removal efforts, but this nascent industry faces a lot of headwinds, including this big move most recently. I think it’s clear that solar panels and batteries should be able to get the world to its carbon footprint goals, but effective carbon renewal remains necessary to prevent the worst impacts of global warming. “AI is killing the cheap smartphone“ by David Oks LLMs and AI will impact the world in ways we’re not ready for, and already, third world countries are seeing the prices of cheap cellphones skyrocket due to the cost of chips skyrocketing. This article by David Oks is a terrific breakdown. “100 Days of Madness: Netflix, Paramount, Warner and the Future of Hollywood“ by Wade Major at Hollywood Heretic Wade Major dove deep into Hollywood/streaming’s financials in this must read piece. Not that I agree with everything in this article (read my take on Warner Bros./Paramount here) but the analysis is top notch. I think many people discount how quality thinking, regardless of the argument/conclusion, will make you a better thinker. “Erased by the UFC: Frank Shamrock, The MMA GOAT of the 20th Century“ by Nate Wilcox in The MMA Draw Newsletter Growing up playing the UFC fighting game on the Dreamcast, Frank Shamrock was my favorite MMA fighter, and this history/tribute to him was great. Other Fun Reads “The Hardest Part Of History To Tell Is How It Felt“ by Craig Fehrman at Defector “Unmasking the Sea Star Killer“ by Craig Welch at bioGraphic “What Could Save the Industry? Fin-Syn“ by Richard Rushfield in The Ankler Alex Rollins Berg in Underexposed on movie bumpers, pillow shots, Disney trash cinema, cult films, and Casablanca. David H. Montgomery in YouGov’s The Surveyor on punctuation marks, condiments, dinosaurs, and comic strips and kids media. “How Medium finally pivoted its way to profitability“ and “Why the best journalists on YouTube are all former Vox employees“ by Simon Owens in Simon Owens’s Media Newsletter “It’s Not Just You, Netflix Shows Have Gotten Slightly Shorter: Here’s What the Data Says“ by Kasey Moore at What’s on Netflix “Numlock Awards: How Diane Warren became the biggest loser in Oscar history“ by Nathaniel Rakich and “Numlock Awards: The Oscar Bait era is over. The Oscar Chum era is here.” by Walt Hickey & Michael Domanico at Numlock Awards
iPhone Fold could help raise average foldable phone prices by 18%
Apple’s entry into the foldable smartphone market will reportedly be one of the factors driving an 18% increase in average sale prices in the category in 2026.
iPhone Fold expected to fuel rebound in foldable phone panel shipments
Apple’s entry into the foldable phone market will help drive a strong rebound in foldable smartphone panel shipments this year.
AirDrop is finally coming to Motorola, but only to one specific smartphone
One more Android brand is getting AirDrop support over Quick Share.
Clicks shows off its BlackBerry-inspired phone in a new hands-on video
A new video shows the final production version of the upcoming Clicks Communicator, a BlackBerry-like smartphone that runs modern apps.
Acti puts AI agents directly into your smartphone keyboard
Startup Acti is betting the smartphone keyboard is the next home for AI assistants. Its new keyboard for iOS and Android works across apps and lets users create custom AI-powered shortcuts using natural language.
Nutrition apps can help build healthy habits. For some users, their gaming features carry risks
The next time you get a trophy on a smartphone app, it might not be from a game.
China's Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo cut 2026 smartphone targets again: sources
Rising costs and component shortages lead some brands to slash outlook by up to 30%
Exclusive: First look at the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, Z Flip 8, and Z Fold 8 Ultra (a.k.a. 'Fold 8 Wide')
Samsung is gearing up for a big reveal of its latest foldable smartphones at the upcoming annual Unpacked event in July, and it's slated to officially
There's Now An OpenClaw App For iOS And Android Phones
Smartphones are welcoming the agentic AI overlords.
Google testing iPhone feature to add to Pixel smartphones
Google might soon expand on a current Pixel capability matching the iOS version of it.
Screen time can damage under-twos’ development, landmark study suggests
Exclusive: Researchers call for urgent investigation of risks to babies of tablets, smartphones and other digital devices
We almost had a smartphone in the 90s. Why did it fail?
In the early 90’s, a company called General Magic began working on a portable device that would allow people to check email, make phone calls, even play games. It was basically a smartphone. But it never caught on.On today’s show, a theory about why this device failed. General Magic had generous investors, world-class talent and creative freedom. But is it possible what they needed was constraints?Support:Planet Money+Read: Our book: Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life Our weekly longform Planet Money newsletterOur weekly Indicator round-up newsletterFollow: InstagramTikTokYouTubeFacebookThis episode was hosted by Erika Beras and Emma Peaslee. It was produced by Emma Peaslee with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and James Sneed. It was edited by Marianne McCune and fact-checked by Charlotte Isidore. It was engineered by Jimmy Keeley with help from Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.
Final Countdown: Save Up to 44% On These Prime Day Smartphone Deals by Samsung, Google, Motorola, and More
Need a new Pixel, Galaxy, or Razr? Hurry and grab your next flagship, foldable, or flip phone for a fraction of the price while these Prime Day smartphone deals last!
Prime Day Smartphone Deals Are Live: Save Up to 44% on Samsung Foldables, Google Pixels, Motorolas, and More
These are the Amazon Prime Day smartphone deals actually worth buying, featuring editor-approved picks from Samsung, Google, Motorola, and more.
Google’s New $100 Speaker Makes a Weak Case for Gemini in the Home
The Google Home Speaker is the first new device of its kind to come from Alphabet Inc. in six years. In that time, Google has reshaped itself as an industry leader in artificial intelligence, with its Gemini platform now ubiquitous across consumer hardware like smartphones and web services like Search, Workspace and YouTube.
Prime Day 2026: Top Savings on Anker, Beats, TVs, and More Accessories
Earlier this week we highlighted some of the best Apple-related product discounts that you can find on Amazon during Prime Day, and now we're focusing on third-party accessory markdowns during the event. In this article you'll find all the best accessories for charging, smart homes, smartphones, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
The ‘tech neck’ time bomb: why 43 million young Americans could cripple U.S. health care within a generation
A spine surgeon warns that smartphone addiction is quietly deforming the spines of Gen Z and Gen Alpha.
These are the 19 best Prime Day phone deals I'd actually buy myself
Prime Day 2026 has officially started. Save hundreds right now on smartphones, including the Google Pixel 10 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S26.
Prime Day Smartphone Deals Are Live: Save Up to 44% on Samsung Foldables, Pixels, Motorolas, and More
These are the Prime Day smartphone deals actually worth buying, featuring editor-approved picks from Samsung, Google, Motorola, and more.
Apple's Foldable iPhone Could Lose Almost $1,300 in Value in First Year, Study Suggests
A new resale value study suggests that a $2,000 foldable iPhone could lose as much as $1,292 of its value within its first 12 months on the market, based on current foldable depreciation trends. The estimate comes from SellCell, which analyzed the 12-month resale performance of flagship smartphones from Apple, Samsung, Google, Motorola, and OnePlus.
People-Powered Research With a Twist
Verify the work of an algorithm to unlock the secrets of spiral galaxies! Anyone with a smartphone or laptop can do this project.
'A smartphone-like user experience' – The Hammerhead Karoo has just hit its best price of the year in this Amazon Prime Day deal
At full price, the Karoo 3 impressed our expert tester with its brilliant touchscreen that made it our top choice for cycling navigation
Best Buy launches massive anti-Prime Day sale — see 25+ Android deals that might make Amazon look bad
Best Buy is carving up to 50% off smartphones, laptops, and more.
I resurrected a dead Android tablet with this unique third-party launcher
I dug my old Galaxy Tab S7+ out of a drawer, and a new launcher fixed it
Smartphones passively monitor heart health
Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering - A study in Nature uses deep learning to passively monitor resting heart rates via front-facing smartphone cameras, yielding highly accurate cardiovascular...
12 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 18 Pro
We're only three months out from the launch of Apple's premium next-generation smartphone lineup, and while we're not expecting a sea change in terms of functionality, there are still several enhancements rumored to be coming to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth noting is that Apple is reportedly planning a major change to its iPhone release cycle this year, adopting a two-phase rollout starting with the iPhone 18 series.
SNAP Stock Drops — Snap Launches AR Smart Glasses, But Retail Is ‘Skeptical’ On Over $2,000 Price Tag
Snap Inc. has officially opened preorders for Specs, a pair of standalone augmented reality glasses that blend digital content with the real world without requiring a smartphone.
Qualcomm wants to be the chip inside whatever replaces your smartphone, and it just announced two products toward that end
Qualcomm's CEO said today that the company is working on over 40 new AI hardware designs
Snap unveils $2,195 AR glasses as CEO Evan Spiegel bets on post-smartphone future
Snap is launching its first AR glasses geared toward the broader public instead of developers.