cell phones

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Students Face New Phone Rules in 17 More States

Total is now 35, up from just one in 2023

(Newser) - Jamel Bishop is seeing a big change in his classrooms as he begins his senior year at Doss High School in Louisville, Kentucky, where cellphones are now banned during instructional time. In previous years, students often weren't paying attention and wasted class time by repeating questions, the teenager says....

Hardly Anyone Buys the 'Smartest' Phone

Google looks to change that as it unveils the Pixel 10

(Newser) - Details have been leaking out ahead of Wednesday's announcement of Google's new Pixel 10 smartphone, with talk of the first foldable phone with an IP68 rating, a triple camera setup with a 5x telephoto lens, and Qi2 magnetic wireless charging, per the Verge . At Android Police , longtime Samsung...

We May Be Headed Toward Post-Smartphone World
We May Be
Headed Toward
Post-Smartphone
World
in case you missed it
Aug 9, 2025 6:00 AM CDT

We May Be Headed Toward Post-Smartphone World

Mark Zuckerberg isn't the only tech bigwig who sees a future in wearable AI devices

(Newser) - Artificial intelligence is advancing so quickly that some Silicon Valley bigwigs are betting it will lead to what might seem unthinkable at the moment: a world in which people don't carry around smartphones. Instead, they might get their AI-powered know-how from their glasses, or maybe a bracelet. As Tim...

Jack White Turns 50, Gets First Cellphone

'I've been saying that my days were numbered for years'

(Newser) - Jack White turned 50 this week and he received a gift that most people tend to get before they reach the half-century mark—his first cellphone. In a post on Instagram , the singer thanked his "gorgeous and thoughtful wife Mrs. Olivia Jean" and shared photos of himself looking at...

Cellphone Use Is a Pain in the Neck
Cellphone Use Is
a Pain in the Neck
NEW STUDY
Apr 28, 2025 11:13 AM CDT

Cellphone Use Is a Pain in the Neck

Behavior tied to 82% increased risk of neck pain, per meta-analysis

(Newser) - Cellphones have made our lives easier in many ways, but they're also a pain in the neck. When it comes to neck pain, using mobile phones is the riskiest screen-based activity, boosting the likelihood by 82%, according to a meta-analysis covering 25 studies involving more than 43,000 people,...

Virginia Moves Toward 'Cellphone-Free Education'

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin issues executive order aimed at getting phones out of classrooms

(Newser) - Count Virginia among the states moving to get phones out of public school classrooms. On Tuesday, Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order directing the state's education department to start working toward "cellphone-free education," NBC News reports. Specifically, the Republican governor's order calls for the department...

T-Mobile to Buy Majority of US Cellular
T-Mobile Makes a Big Purchase
May 28, 2024 8:27 AM CDT

T-Mobile Makes a Big Purchase

Company to gain 4M customers in $4.4B US Cellular deal

(Newser) - T-Mobile is buying US Cellular's wireless operations and certain spectrum assets in a deal valued at $4.4 billion that further consolidates the industry. T-Mobile would get more than 4 million new customers and control of US Cellular's wireless operations and about 30% of spectrum assets across several...

If Your Cellphone Was Useless Today, You're Not Alone

Major carriers appear to have resolved most of the outages, but the cause is still unclear

(Newser) - It's been a lousy day for a lot of smartphones, but the trouble is mostly over: AT&T said late in the afternoon that its network was back again for an hourslong outage across the country, reports the AP . The trouble began overnight, leading to nearly 60,000 outages...

Judge Who Sent 500+ Texts During Murder Trial Resigns

DA had called Traci Soderstrom's behavior 'shocking'

(Newser) - An Oklahoma judge caught on surveillance footage texting, scrolling through Facebook, and sending GIFs, all while she was presiding over a trial regarding the beating death of a toddler, has stepped down from the bench, per the AP . A proposed settlement was filed Thursday agreeing that Lincoln County District Judge...

Fan Throws Phone at Show, Injures Singer Bebe Rexha

Pop star has to cut short her concert in New York City after being struck in the face

(Newser) - Singer Bebe Rexha had to cut short a concert in New York City on Sunday night because she was injured on stage by an oh-so-modern threat to performers: a tossed phone. Tweeted video shows the phone striking the pop star in the face and causing her to fall to the...

Christopher Walken: I've Never Sent a Text, Email
Christopher Walken Has
a Surprising Confession
in case you missed it
Dec 19, 2020 7:00 AM CST

Christopher Walken Has a Surprising Confession

77-year-old actor says he's never sent a text or email

(Newser) - Christopher Walken says he doesn't have any moral or philosophical objections to modern communications technology—he just doesn't use it. The 77-year-old actor told Stephen Colbert on The Late Show on Monday that he has never owned a computer or sent an email or text message. "Somebody...

As Jogger Lay Dying, Someone Stole Her Phone

St. Louis man Brian Davenport arrested based on surveillance video

(Newser) - A man is facing charges for allegedly stealing a cellphone from a collapsed jogger who was dying on a St. Louis sidewalk, per the AP . Brian Davenport, 35, was arrested Monday and is charged with felony stealing, authorities said. He does not yet have a listed attorney. The 64-year-old jogger...

Founder of Electronics Dynasty Has Died

Lee Kun-hee transformed Samsung

(Newser) - The man who turned Samsung into a tech powerhouse—and nearly lost it all amid white-collar crime convictions—died Sunday in Seoul, the Washington Post reports. Lee Kun-hee was 78. "Chairman Lee was a true visionary who transformed Samsung into the world-leading innovator and industrial powerhouse from a local...

Nokia Gets 4G Lunar Contract
Nokia Gets 4G Lunar Contract
Oct 18, 2020 12:30 PM CDT

Nokia Gets 4G Lunar Contract

NASA wants a cellular network up there

(Newser) - To the moon, Alice! And call me when you get there. Yes, NASA is giving Nokia $14.1 million to install a cellular network on that big rock in the sky, Mashable reports. The idea is to deploy a 4G/LTE network—and later move to 5G—to "support lunar...

Kayaker's Lost Phone Ends Up Saving Him

Mark Miele, 67, didn't return Jan. 29 as planned

(Newser) - A kayaker who went missing during a solo trip in the Florida Everglades was found alive after his cell phone washed up on a riverbank and authorities were able to recover data showing where he'd been. A helicopter crew then spotted Mark Miele, 67, and led a marine unit...

Ex-CIA: Russia Knows Way More Than We Do

And that's allegedly because of President Trump's cell phone use

(Newser) - Seems President Trump is ignoring his staff and continuing to make calls on his personal cell phone—which experts say can easily be overheard by foreign powers like Russia, CNN reports. This according to several current and former US officials who say he still uses his old cell phone rather...

How a Blogger's Death Led to a Criminal Phone Company
Why Drug Traffickers Ran
Their Own Phone Company
longform
Nov 17, 2019 2:40 PM CST

Why Drug Traffickers Ran Their Own Phone Company

It's all tied to the murder of Dutch crime blogger Martin Kok

(Newser) - A Dutch crime blogger got into his Volkswagen Polo one night in 2016 and boom, he was shot dead—a crime that led authorities to a phone company allegedly run by violent criminals, Joseph Cox writes at Vice . Why a phone company? That's what makes it interesting. As for...

Cops Go Undercover in Georgia
Cops Go Undercover in Georgia
Jul 21, 2019 6:15 PM CDT

Cops Go Undercover in Georgia

Police hand out tickets under the state's hands-free law

(Newser) - Drivers in Cobb County, Georgia got a little surprise this week when construction workers turned out to be undercover cops, CBS News reports. The helmet-wearing officers aimed to stop drivers from using smartphones behind the wheel, and wrote 170 tickets at one crossing alone in only a few hours, mostly...

Phones May Take Weird Toll on Young Skulls
We're Growing Little Skull
Horns Because of Our Phones
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jun 23, 2019 3:35 PM CDT

We're Growing Little Skull Horns Because of Our Phones

Peer-reviewed research finds spikes at back of the skull, just above the neck

(Newser) - It sounds like a crazy tabloid headline—humans are growing little horns in the back of their skulls. Except it comes not from a tabloid but a peer-reviewed study in Scientific Reports . Australian researchers say more people, young ones especially, are showing up with what's known as an "...

For Some, a Missed WhatsApp Call Had Scary Consequences

Company uncovered spyware that could hijack a phone via a missed call

(Newser) - Spyware crafted by a sophisticated group of hackers-for-hire took advantage of a WhatsApp flaw to remotely hijack dozens of phones, the company said late Monday. The Financial Times identified the actor as Israel's NSO Group, and WhatsApp all but confirmed the identification, describing hackers as "a private company...

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