📱 Need a tough phone or tablet? Samsung just announced the rugged Galaxy XCover7 Pro and Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro. They’re water- and dust-resistant and can survive drops from up to 1.5 meters (that’s 5 feet for people like me who never understood the metric system). As for performance, both run the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 with 6GB RAM. Oh, and the batteries are removable. Pricing is still TBA.
What’s replacing your smartphone? Here’s what’s coming next
ChatGPT
Let’s be real: Smartphones are getting out of hand, literally.
We traded pocket space for bigger screens, better cameras and more power. Some of these glass bricks are the size of a paperback novel and about as easy to use one-handed.
Even Marty Cooper, the man who invented the cell phone, told me directly that the future of communication is a chip embedded behind our ears. No screen to crack. Just an invisible little whisper bot baked into your skull. Sounds crazy, but so did the idea of Instagram in your pocket, 30 years ago.
The phone is evolving, fast. Here’s what’s trying to eat its lunch:
⌚ Wearables that actually do stuff
Your Apple Watch or Pixel Watch can already handle calls, texts, payments and your resting heart rate. One tap, and you’re checking vitals or pausing a playlist. Smart rings (Oura, Samsung, etc.) are slowly taking over, too. Congratulations, you’re engaged to your biometric data.
And yes, we have real-life Star Trek-style comms badges coming. Beam me up, notification settings.
🤖 AI wearables … flopped
The Humane AI Pin promised screen-free, voice-first living. Reality? It was glitchy, sluggish and hotter than a toaster. Humane’s now offloading its tech to HP.
The Rabbit R1? Same idea, different shape. Still clunky. Still not your phone’s final boss.
The only intelligent thing was your decision not to buy one.
🕶️ Smart glasses are plotting
Cheap ways to make your old tech better
Reading this on a 6-year-old iPhone 11? It’s well past the average smartphone lifespan of 2.5 years … and I’m impressed you’ve hung onto it this long. Btw, Apple typically provides iOS updates for five to six years after a model’s release.
5 cool tricks for your router
You never hear anyone say, “This router is amazing. It changed my life!” It’s sad because that little guy controls your entire home’s internet. If yours has a USB port (check the back!), you can unlock some surprisingly useful features. You’re gonna love this.
🤯 No cure for brain rot: If your brain feels fried from endless scrolling, folks are turning to a dumb phone (paywall link). We’re talking only the basics, i.e., phone calls and texts. The trade-off? Anxiety and fear you’re missing out. Basically, you’re screwed either way.
🔐 Android got harder to crack: Google’s rolling out a feature that auto-restarts your locked phone if it hasn’t been used in three days. This puts your data into a fully encrypted state, making it tougher for hackers (or law enforcement) to break in with forensic tools. See if you have it: Go to Settings > Security & privacy > System & updates > Google Play system update. You’re welcome.
⌚ Her watch saved her life: Dr. Amanda Faulkner, a 51-year-old psychiatrist from New Zealand, thought her new Apple Watch was faulty for always nagging about her heart rate. Then it spiked to over 90 BPM, and doctors found she had acute myeloid leukemia. This rare cancer was caught just hours before her organs could have failed. Thankfully, she’s now in remission.
📱 Does your kid have a burner phone? We’ve reached the era of middle schoolers running black market tech ops. A dad posted to Reddit after he found out his 12-year-old son was hiding one in a pillow to access apps he wasn’t supposed to be on. Signs to watch for: They’re ignoring the phone you know about, there are sudden dips in data usage, or you notice new devices using the Wi-Fi.
🍏 Fresh Apple: It’s time to hit that update button for new Apple features. For iPhones, Priority Notifications helps you see urgent messages first. On your Mac, the Mail app can automatically sort your inbox. Plus, Quick Start lets you set up a new Mac by holding your iPhone nearby. Those last two have been on iPhones and iPads for a while. About time, right? Click here for all the updates.
Alexa+ is here … kinda: The gall! Amazon’s new $20/month (Yikes!) AI assistant is rolling out to newer Alexa devices, but a few hyped-up features are MIA. Right now, you can order an Uber, get cooking advice and upload docs for summaries. Storytelling for kids, recognizing who’s in the room and chore reminders are coming. FYI, smarter Alexa is free if you pay for Prime.
I’m scratching my head on this one: People who use a Garmin smartwatch are upset about a monthly fee, and it’s not that they are still using a Garmin. The app’s new AI health and fitness tracking tools cost $6.99 a month ($69.99 per year). Apple Watch, anyone?
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📺 Lost the remote again? If you own a new 2025 Samsung TV and a Galaxy Watch 7 or Watch Ultra, control your TV with a flick of your wrist. Literally. Move the cursor by waving your arm, pinch your fingers to select apps, make a fist to exit or swipe the watch bezel to scroll. Neato!
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🖥️ Windows 11 update: Microsoft dropped an optional update packed with 38 changes. What’s new? Live captions and real-time translation for over 44 languages on Copilot+ PCs with AMD and Intel CPUs, plus a fix for random blue screen crashes. Go to Settings > Windows Update > Check for Updates > Download and install.
iPad cracks the case: London police just solved a six-year-old case after finding an iPad in the bottom of the Thames River. It led the forensics team to Amazon and eBay purchases used in an attempted murder plot. Three clowns are behind bars, pointing fingers at who threw the iPad in the water thinking it would be gone for good. Meanwhile, a ton of permanent facial recognition cameras just went up in London.
Own a pair of AirPods Max? In April, Apple’s fancy over-the-ear headphones are getting full lossless audio support. They’re also adding ultra-low latency to smooth out audio. It’ll be in the iOS 18.4 update. Btw, Apple announced WWDC 2025 will kick off June 9. That’s when they’ll announce iOS 19 and all its features.
Good news if you have an Aura frame: It’ll keep auto-syncing with Google Photos after all. ICYMI, the feature was supposed to shut off this month, but Aura’s working with Google to keep it going. They make great gifts for grandparents. You can remotely share new pics.
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🚨 Red alert for Androids: Be careful what you download. Hackers are using a tool called .NET MAUI to create what look like legit banking, dating and social media apps. They spread through texts and shady links instead of the Google Play Store. Always stick to the official app store, and keep your OS updated. Mahalo!
📷 Not just for tracking steps: The Apple Watch looks like it will get a camera to “see” the world using AI-enabled visual intelligence (paywall link). That means you could scan a flyer to add an event to your calendar or look up a restaurant on the spot. ETA? 2027.
Apple’s shiny new modem: The iPhone 16e is the first iPhone to feature Apple’s own C1 modem, marking a move away from Qualcomm. So how’s it doing? Depends on your carrier. On AT&T and Verizon, the 16e had better download and upload speeds than the regular iPhone 16. But on T-Mobile, the iPhone 16 still had slightly better upload speeds.