What’s happened? Smartphone maker HMD (Human Mobile Devices), has launched a new smartphone designed to protect kids from harmful content online, with an AI feature which blocks nudes.
This is important because: A recent Vodafone survey found one in five high school aged children (11-17) have felt pressured into sharing an explicit image of themselves.
Why should I care? If you’re a parent who is concerned about the content their children can access on their mobile phone, the HMD Fuse offers a level of safety and security few other handsets can come close to – it’s unlikely the upcoming Google Pixel 10 or iPhone 17 will offer the features here.
Okay, what’s next? The HMD Fuse is currently only available in the UK, via the carrier Vodafone, where it costs £33 per month (plus a £30 upfront cost).
A virtual private network (VPN) encrypts your internet traffic and routes it through a server run by the VPN provider. Websites see the VPN server’s IP address instead of yours, and you can get around geo-blocks, censorship, and ISP throttling. The best VPN services are paid, but there are still a handful of free options that do the job well.
Most free VPNs come with a hidden cost, because running servers isn’t cheap and a company that doesn’t charge you has to make its money somewhere else. Many do so by logging your browsing activity and selling it to advertisers, while others flood you with ads and track you across apps.
There's nothing quite like curling up with a good book on a cold evening. As much as I love the feel of a physical book, books take up a lot of space, and carrying more than one on a trip quickly becomes a chore. That's where e-readers come in, and the Amazon Kindle remains one of the best options.
Amazon just refreshed its Kindle lineup with thinner, lighter designs, a new flush-front display, and colors that wrap from front to back. Add the Kindle Scribe and the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft to the mix, and you have more choices than ever before.
A good Android app should earn its place on your phone. It might make an everyday task easier, handle something the built-in software can't, or let you change an experience that never quite worked for you.
These 20 apps cover everything from quick notes and password management to automation and local file sharing. Some are free, others charge for advanced features, and a few take some effort to figure out. The point isn't to install them all. It's to find the ones that make your phone work better for you.