Smartphones

Picture this: You walk into a phone store looking for the latest Sony Xperia, only to find empty shelves where they used to be. That's increasingly becoming reality across major markets, and it's raising a question that would've seemed impossible just a few years ago — are we witnessing the twilight of Sony's smartphone ambitions?

You've probably heard this song before: "world's thinnest foldable phone!" But the Honor Magic V5 might actually deserve the hype. At just 8.8mm thick when folded and weighing a mere 217g, this thing makes other foldables look chunky by comparison. Honor didn't just chase thinness records though, they packed in a 64MP periscope telephoto camera and the world's first 6,100mAh silicon-carbon battery for a foldable. The engineering feat represents something bigger than spec sheets: it's the moment...

You lose cell service in the middle of the day, and twenty minutes later, your bank account is empty. Welcome to SIM swapping—the nightmare scenario that's plagued millions and cost victims over $25 million in 2024 alone. The good news? AT&T just rolled out a feature that could slam the door on these attacks before they start. ZDNet reports that Wireless Account Lock is now live for both postpaid and prepaid customers, joining T-Mobile and Verizon in offering SIM protection tools.

Streaming is great until you're 30,000 feet up, riding the subway, or stuck on a network that suddenly drops to dial-up-slow speeds. That's why Amazon's offline access remains one of Prime Video's best perks.

The Unicode Consortium is already hard at work on the next batch of emoji, but don't get too excited just yet. It may be a while before you see these new characters, which include an apple core, orca, and hairy creature, on your devices.

Google Maps makes it easy to find the best routes, and one of its most useful tools is the ability to set departure and arrival times directly in the mobile app. While this feature was initially exclusive to the desktop site, it’s now fully integrated into the app for both iPhone and Android. This allows you to plan ahead and get accurate travel estimates based on predicted traffic conditions.

If I told you to follow as many users as you could possibly follow, in order to get more Instagram followers, that may seem counterintuitive, right? If I told you I'm trying to brainwash/annoy you with how many times I could possibly say versions of the word "follow" in an opening sentence, that would seem weird, too.

I have nightmares about trying to reply to hundreds of strangers on social media. To prevent the overwhelming feeling of having to small talk with people I don't know, I'm now aiming for more control over the ways that people can contact me. One way is to stop users from hitting me up on Instagram Stories.

Breathe new life into your Instagram profile picture with another layer of self-expression. It's the perfect way to show another side of your personality without sacrificing your current IG profile photo.

Most of you have probably wondered at least once who has been checking out your social media profiles. While most platforms prohibit you from seeing who's viewed your profile, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, TikTok is one of the few places that lets you track profile visitors. And unlike with LinkedIn, you don't have to pay for the privilege.

When it comes to smartphone screens, there are two predominant technologies—the traditional LCD panel, and the newer AMOLED display. Most phones still use LCD screens, as the tech is more cost-effective due to its longstanding reign as the primary display type in TVs, smartphones, and tablets.

So, you're trying to show a friend or two a hilarious Reel you liked or saved on Instagram, but where is it? Unlike TikTok, Instagram doesn't make it clear where you're supposed to find your liked and saved Reels. Luckily, we can help.

You can add a timestamp to any YouTube video in just a few clicks from the desktop website on your computer but not from YouTube's iOS or Android app. Until YouTube adds a "start time" when sharing videos from the mobile app, you'll have to use one of these workarounds on your phone or tablet.

If you're in the market for a new smartphone and want nothing but the best of the best, now's the time to act. Some of the greatest phones money can buy are being released as we speak, while others are still in their prime and will continue to be for most of 2024. Whether you want an iPhone or Android, we've rounded up the best picks you have to choose from for top-of-the-line specs and advanced features.

Christmas is just one week before Jan. 1. That means a lot of New Year's resolutions filled with promises to better ourselves with increased productivity, focus, and work ethics — but getting started can be challenging. Give the people in your life a leg up this holiday season with these smartphone gifts to keep them on-task in 2020.

There's never been a better time for streaming videos on your phone. With so many options available (including a potential mobile-only Netflix tier) and so many new smartphones having large screens, there's a good chance you know someone who mainly use their phone for videos. And if you looking for a gift for them, there are some great options.

In a time where we're more connected than ever, privacy and security have never been more important. Maybe you're not concerned, but I'm sure there's someone in your life who is, and shopping for them can be daunting. However, with these gifts, you can provide them the tools they need to enhance their protection.

Advancements in technology have made it perfectly possible to make a short film or even an entire movie with your iPhone or Android — as long as you've got the right gear. Lenses, stabilizers, tripods, lighting, microphones, chargers, and cases can make the difference between a good movie and a great film, all of which can make a great gift for those aspiring (or current) filmmakers in your life.

With MP3 players all but dead, phones are now the dominant portable music devices. While smartphones have gotten better at this task over the years, they do have some glaring limitations when it comes to music. On the bright side, we can use these limitations to help find the perfect gifts for the audiophiles in our lives.

Smartphone gaming continues to improve with ever sharper displays and raw processing power to deliver console-quality graphics right in the palm of your hands. Nonetheless, you still stand to improve the gaming experience on any phone by adding the right accessories to the mix.

There is a whole world of smartphone accessories out there, some of which are more quirky than others and don't get the recognition they deserve. But these sometimes strange, sometimes embarrassing products can really make life easier on your iPhone or Android phone.

You might have missed it, but the virtual keypad you use to enter phone numbers in your smartphone's dialer and contacts app isn't all numbers. Take a closer look, and you'll notice a few mysterious buttons you've likely been tuning out unconsciously. But it's time to stop ignoring them because each has a particular purpose that could come in handy one day.

The cinematic photos feature in Google Photos can create impressive three-dimensional views of normally flat images, turning ordinary pictures into life-like representations of the moment captured. Google Photos would automatically pick images from your library to apply the effect to. Now, you can choose images on demand from your library — it's just not super obvious that you can.

While the iPhone came before the first Android smartphone, every new iOS version seems to include a wealth of features already existing on Android, and iOS 17 is no exception.

Now that Bard — Google's response to the revolutionary ChatGPT generative AI chatbot — is out in the wild, it's beginning to let its freak flag fly.

Generative artificial intelligence has taken the tech world by storm, and Google's AI chatbot will give you a taste of what it offers.

Magic Eraser was one of Google's big selling points for the Pixel 6 and 7 series smartphones, and it's finally made its way to other Android devices. It's even available on iPhone and iPad with the latest Google Photos app.

A hidden TikTok feature changed how I watch videos in the app, and it's about to transform your TikTok video-watching habits too.

Google has a few hidden tools you might not have discovered yet, and they work in Google Search, in the Google app, and with Google Assistant — on both iPhone and Android phones.

YouTube has offered viewers a video queue on desktop browsers for some time, and the world's most popular video site is preparing to finally bring the queue feature to its Android and iOS mobile apps.

For whatever reason, you may want or need to remove multiple posts from your Instagram grid. If you only have a couple to hide from the public, archiving or deleting posts one by one is fine, but there's a much faster way when you have tens or even hundreds of Instagram posts to purge from your account.

In mid-2017, Instagram added the ability to archive posts you've previously shared so that only you could see them going forward. As easy as it is to archive one of your Instagram photos or videos, it can be just as easy to forget how to unarchive it so others can see it again in all its glory.

It's that time of year again. No, not the holiday season … the "share your year in music listening" season. And no matter which music streaming service you use, there's a way to find and share (or not share) your activity from 2022.

To play in the World Cup, soccer's ultimate tournament, you have to be among the best players on the planet. For the rest of us, Google has a hidden game to simulate the thrill of scoring goals for your favorite team.

Unlike Apple Maps, Google Maps can tell you when a restaurant, bar, club, or other business you're thinking of visiting is busy. It's extremely helpful if you want to avoid peak times or wait for the place to be empty. If you can't pry yourself away from using Apple Maps, there's an easy alternative to see the popular times of most businesses.

If you have a screen recording with distracting UI elements, black borders, and other unneeded visuals, Google Photos can help you crop out all the junk from the video, leaving you with only the important stuff.