Waiting: rediscovering boredom in the age of the smartphone
We constantly use electronic devices to distract ourselves from the tedium associated with waiting. Yet being bored can be a creative activity.
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Articles on Smartphones
Displaying 1 - 20 of 132 articles
How the smartphone affected an entire generation of kids
Move over millennials, there's a new generation in town. Dubbed 'iGen,' they differ from their predecessors on a range of measures, from mental health to time spent with friends.
‘Smart home’ gadgets promise to cut power bills but many lie idle – or can even boost energy use
Smart appliances, which let you control lights and power outlets via your phone, promise to cut energy bills. But research suggests these gadgets are confusing, and can just as easily raise power use.
Protecting your smartphone from voice impersonators
You can log in to your smartphone by talking to it. Current security systems don't protect enough against imitators. The best way to ensure voice authentication is secure is to start with the sound.
Banning smartphones for kids is just another technology-fearing moral panic
Teaching fear and avoidance of technology may protect people from negative consequences. But it also prevents them from finding, and benefiting from, productive uses of new innovations.
‘Screen time’ is about more than setting limits
For decades, parents have fretted over 'screen time,' limiting the hours their children spend looking at a screen. But as times change, so does media... and how parents should (or shouldn't) regulate it.
The iPhone at ten: mobile devices have opened a new era of tech storytelling
We don’t just hold our phones, we cradle them – and make films like this one with them.
Understanding the real innovation behind the iPhone
The iPhone changed the game not because of the technical details of the device, but rather as a result of its creators' imagination and courage.
7 in 10 smartphone apps share your data with third-party services
When smartphone apps get permission to access your location or other activity, they often share that data with other companies that can compile digital profiles on users.
Sorry everyone: on the internet, you’re always the product
Name almost any app. Your data is probably being tracked.
Could a doodle replace your password?
A simple idea that's surprisingly secure: drawing your own unlock pattern on a touchscreen. Faster and easier to remember than a password, and much harder to guess or crack.
Why emojis – 👫🍣💍🎭 – might be your next password
Useful for expressing moods, emotions and nuances in messages, emojis could have another use: as your next smartphone password.
What’s behind phantom cellphone buzzes?
Have you ever checked your phone thinking you had felt it vibrate or heard it ring, only to see that no one tried to reach you? One researcher decided to study this phenomenon.
How to protect your private data when you travel to the United States
Following reports of travellers to the US being forced to unlock their phones for border officials, here are some steps you can take to prevent your personal data from being exposed.
Is your smartphone making you shy?
Some have said that technology could lead to 'a new ice age' of social isolation. Not so fast, says the author of a new book about shyness.
What are the Orwellian dystopias of the 21st century?
Every crystal ball has a shelf life, even the most prescient.
How to secure a smartphone for the tweeter-in-chief
The best way to protect a presidential device is to keep it off the internet altogether. If that's not going to happen, how else can such a sensitive gadget be kept safe?
Why January 2017 is a watershed moment for film
Woody Harrelson’s directorial debut, released this month, signals that we are in a new age of cinema.
Helping universities combat depression with mobile technology
Using sensors on smartphones and smartwatches can shed light on patients' symptoms of depression, even identifying ones they didn't notice or share with counselors.
Does your smartphone make you less likely to trust others?
The more often Americans used their phones to obtain information, the less they trusted strangers. How can this be, and what does it mean?
Top contributors
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Senior Lecturer in Educational Technology, CQUniversity Australia
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Professor of Strategy, Frankfurt School of Finance and Management
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Director of UWA Centre for Software Practice, University of Western Australia
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Professor, Computer Networking and Telecommunications, University of Salford
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Professor of Health Psychology, University of Wollongong
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Associate Professor in Telecommunications Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology
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Senior Lecturer in Applied Ethics and SocioTechnical Studies, School of ICT., Griffith University
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Senior Lecturer in Digital Cultures, King's College London
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Associate Professor in Physiotherapy, University of the Western Cape
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Research Scientist at the Australian E-Health Research Centre, CSIRO
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Quality of life researcher and occupational therapist, The University of Queensland
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Research Associate in Psychology, University of Virginia
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Professor of Marketing, Baylor University
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Senior Lecturer in Medicine, UNSW
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Associate professor, RMIT University
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