Lifeboat Foundation

Apple unveiled its new iPhone lineup on Tuesday, with its Lightning charger ports replaced on the newest models by a universal charger after a tussle with the European Union.

The European bloc is insisting that all phones and other small devices must be compatible with the USB-C charging cables from the end of next year, a move it says will reduce waste and save money for consumers.

The firm had long argued that its cable was more secure than USB-C chargers, which are already deployed by Apple on other devices and widely used by rivals including the world’s biggest smartphone maker Samsung.

Scientists have shown that the biomass of 12 previously unstudied strains of cyanobacteria from around the globe is efficient at the biosorption of the rare earth elements lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, and terbium from aqueous solutions. This allows these rare elements, for which demand is steadily growing, to be collected from wastewater from mining, metallurgy, and the recycling of e-waste, and reused.

Rare earth elements (REEs) are a group of 17 chemically similar metals, which got their name because they typically occur at low concentrations (between 0.5 and 67 parts per million) within the Earth’s crust. Because they are indispensable in modern technology such as light emitting diodes, mobile phones, electromotors, wind turbines, hard disks, cameras, magnets, and low-energy lightbulbs, the demand for them has increased steadily over the past few decades, and is predicted to rise further by 2030.

Sometimes when you dig into the technology underneath your favorite devices and applications, you almost wish you hadn’t.

Still, it’s good to get an idea of what hackers are doing, how teams are responding, and what’s going on with the mobile devices that we all rely on more and more with each new year. Some of that has an intersection with AI/ML, in ways that might surprise you.

Check out Adam Chlipala’s talk on modern methods: applying this sort of data science to the practice of computer programming is going to be pretty heavy for anyone who isn’t a coder.

A year ago, Pinterest’s then brand-new collage-making app Shuffles was going viral on TikTok as Gen Z users sought out invites in order to create their own inspirational image boards. Now, that collage-making capability is heading over to Pinterest’s main app with the launch of a new feature that lets users leverage the platform’s advanced visual technology to cut out images and build interactive collages of favorite products and other visual content they find inspiring.

The idea is clearly lifted from Shuffles, which uses similar image cutout tech. On the app, users could build their own collages using photos from Pinterest’s own library or by snapping photos with their phone’s camera. When they found an image they like, they could cut out objects from the foreground of the photo — a feature that was also introduced with iOS 16 and now is being used to make image stickers for iMessage in iOS 17.

Not only did these collages serve as inspirational mood boards, the objects in the completed work were also shoppable. Users could tap on the items and be redirected to Pinterest where they can find out if the item can be purchased on a retailer’s website.

Poor battery life is the favorite complaint when it involves smartphones and laptops. As a wireless society, having to tether ourselves right down to power up our gadgets seems more and more a nuisance. And while researchers are looking into wireless charging, if batteries were better we might worry less.

Now, a brand new technology promises just that. Researchers from the University of California, Irvine, have invented a nanowire-based battery that may be recharged many thousands of times, a big leap towards a battery that doesn’t require replacing.

Apple’s iPhone 15 launched at the company’s fall event today, and I got to spend some time with the new smartphone. It didn’t get the flashy new titanium of the iPhone 15 Pro that Brian checked out, but it does have a new design that includes softer, more rounded edges and the introduction the Dynamic Island to a non-Pro phone for the first time.

The iPhone 15 is actually very impressive in the looks department. Apple went into details about all the material science magic it put into the new colored glass and anodized aluminum used in the cases during its presentation. The ultimate effect, and all most people need to care about, is that they look really good, like candy-colored confections in muted but fun tones.

Qualcomm shares surged 4 percent after deal announcement.

In a major win for Qualcomm, the wireless tech company has struck a new chips agreement with Apple. Their previous deal to provide 5G modem chips was inked in 2019 and was set to conclude this year. The new deal signed Monday means it will continue to be a supplier to the iPhone maker through 2026.

The deal also means that Qualcomm will maintain its patent licensing agreement with Apple, which would mean millions in royalty revenue for the chipmaker. Qualcomm shares shot up by 4 percent soon after the deal’s announcement.

Has your phone been acting up? Here’s how to check if malware is to blame, and what to do if it is.

Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said the company’s upcoming Snapdragon Summit in October could lead to major developments in mobile technology.

New cases from smartphone makers and other manufacturers the company works with “could create a new upgrade cycle for phones,” Amon said.

In 2022, global smartphone sales tumbled 18.3% year-over-year to 1.21 billion, the lowest level since 2013, according to data from market research firm IDC.

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