Apple's Google Lens-like took called Visual Intelligence is coming to the iPhone 15 Pro, according to John Gruber of Daring Fireball. It's unclear which update will offer the feature but Gruber speculates it could arrive with iOS 18.4 in April. From a report: Visual Intelligence was originally introduced with the initial iPhone 16 lineup in September, and Apple showed it off as a feature that you launched from the Camera Control button. But yesterday, Apple announced that Visual Intelligence would be available on the iPhone 16E, which does not have the Camera Control button, through its Action Button.

That suggested that the feature could technically work with the iPhone 15 Pro, which also has an Action Button, and now Apple is confirming that Visual Intelligence will indeed come to that phone and be available via the Action Button. You'll also be able to launch Visual Intelligence from the Control Center on the iPhone 15 Pro, Apple told Gruber.

Apple has launched the iPhone 16E, featuring a 6.1-inch OLED display, Face ID, an A18 chipset, USB-C, 48MP camera, and support for Apple Intelligence. Gone but not forgotten: the home button, Touch ID and 64GB of base storage. The Verge reports: The 16E includes the customizable Action Button, but not the new Camera Control you'll find on the 16 series. It does swap its Lightning port for USB-C, now a requirement for the phone to be sold in the EU. On the inside, there's an A18 chipset, the same chip as the iPhone 16. That makes the 16E powerful enough to run Apple Intelligence, the suite of AI tools that includes notification summaries. Even the non-Pro iPhone 15 can't do that, so the 16E is one of the most capable iPhones out there. Apple has previously confirmed that 8GB RAM was the minimum to get Apple Intelligence support in the iPhone 16 series, so it's likely that the 16E also boasts at least that much memory. It's also been bumped to a baseline of 128GB of storage, meaning there's no longer a 64GB iPhone.

There's only a single 48-megapixel rear camera; the lack of additional cameras is the biggest downgrade compared to the company's other handsets. With support for wireless charging and a water-resistant IP rating, there's little you have to give up elsewhere. The iPhone 16E is also the first iPhone to include a modem developed by Apple itself. The company has spent years trying to move away from modems developed by Qualcomm, and we're finally seeing the fruits of that labor. The big questions now are how well the new modem performs and whether Apple is ready to roll out its own connectivity components in the iPhone 17 line later this year. It's available for Friday starting at $599 with 128GB of storage.

A tech enthusiast has successfully transplanted the internal components of an iPhone SE 3 into the body of a Nokia Lumia 1020 Windows Phone, according to a post on Reddit's r/hackintosh forum. The modification preserves all key functions of the iPhone SE 3, including its 12-megapixel camera, 5G capabilities, and Touch ID sensor, which has been relocated to the back of the device. The project retains the Lumia 1020's distinctive design while upgrading its outdated microUSB port to Apple's Lightning connector.

The creator adapted the Lumia's original camera shutter button to work as a secondary volume control that can trigger photos in the iPhone's camera app. The only significant feature lost in the conversion was the headphone jack.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from VentureBeat: A new startup PIN AI (not to be confused with the poorly reviewed hardware device the AI Pin by Humane) has emerged from stealth to launch its first mobile app, which lets a user select an underlying open-source AI model that runs directly on their smartphone (iOS/Apple iPhone and Google Android supported) and remains private and totally customized to their preferences. Built with a decentralized infrastructure that prioritizes privacy, PIN AI aims to challenge big tech's dominance over user data by ensuring that personal AI serves individuals -- not corporate interests. Founded by AI and blockchain experts from Columbia, MIT and Stanford, PIN AI is led by Davide Crapis, Ben Wu and Bill Sun, who bring deep experience in AI research, large-scale data infrastructure and blockchain security. [...]

PIN AI introduces an alternative to centralized AI models that collect and monetize user data. Unlike cloud-based AI controlled by large tech firms, PIN AI's personal AI runs locally on user devices, allowing for secure, customized AI experiences without third-party surveillance. At the heart of PIN AI is a user-controlled data bank, which enables individuals to store and manage their personal information while allowing developers access to anonymized, multi-category insights -- ranging from shopping habits to investment strategies. This approach ensures that AI-powered services can benefit from high-quality contextual data without compromising user privacy. [...] The new mobile app launched in the U.S. and multiple regions also includes key features such as:

- The "God model" (guardian of data): Helps users track how well their AI understands them, ensuring it aligns with their preferences.
- Ask PIN AI: A personalized AI assistant capable of handling tasks like financial planning, travel coordination and product recommendations.
- Open-source integrations: Users can connect apps like Gmail, social media platforms and financial services to their personal AI, training it to better serve them without exposing data to third parties.
- "With our app, you have a personal AI that is your model," Crapis added. "You own the weights, and it's completely private, with privacy-preserving fine-tuning." Davide Crapis, co-founder of PIN AI, told VentureBeat that the app currently supports several open-source AI models, including small versions of DeepSeek and Meta's Llama. "With our app, you have a personal AI that is your model," Crapis added. "You own the weights, and it's completely private, with privacy-preserving fine-tuning."

You can sign up for early access to the PIN AI app here.

Apple has released emergency security updates for iOS 18.3.1 and iPadOS 18.3.1 to patch a zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2025-24200) that was exploited in "extremely sophisticated," targeted attacks. The flaw, which allowed a physical attack to disable USB Restricted Mode on locked devices, was discovered by Citizen Lab and may have been used in spyware campaigns; users are strongly advised to install the update immediately. BleepingComputer reports: USB Restricted Mode is a security feature (introduced almost seven years ago in iOS 11.4.1) that blocks USB accessories from creating a data connection if the device has been locked for over an hour. This feature is designed to block forensic software like Graykey and Cellebrite (commonly used by law enforcement) from extracting data from locked iOS devices.

In November, Apple introduced another security feature (dubbed "inactivity reboot") that automatically restarts iPhones after long idle times to re-encrypt data and make it harder to extract by forensic software. The zero-day vulnerability (tracked as CVE-2025-24200 and reported by Citizen Lab's Bill Marczak) patched today by Apple is an authorization issue addressed in iOS 18.3.1 and iPadOS 18.3.1 with improved state management.

The list of devices this zero-day impacts includes: - iPhone XS and later,
- iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later

Today T-Mobile announced what they're calling "the next big thing in wireless" — T-Mobile Starlink. But the real surprise is "The beta is now open for absolutely everyone — yes, even Verizon and AT&T customers — to register for free access until July."

And, as they explained to Americans watching the Super Bowl, "If you can see the sky you're connected." Now in public beta, this breakthrough service, developed in partnership with Starlink, uses straight-out-of-a-sci-fi-movie satellite and mobile communications technology to help keep people connected — even you, Verizon and AT&T customers — in the more than 500,000 square miles of the country unreached by any carrier's earth-bound cell towers. That's nearly the size of two Texases...! The beauty of the service is its simplicity: users don't need to do anything out of the ordinary. When a user's cell phone gets out of range of a cell tower, the phone automatically connects to the T-Mobile Starlink network. No need to manually connect. Messages are sent and received just as they are today on a traditional network, even group texts and reactions. And it works on most smartphones from the last four years. It's not limited to a few smartphones or operating systems...

The beta is free until July at which point T-Mobile Starlink will be included at no extra cost on Go5G Next (including variations like Go5G Next 55+), T-Mobile's best plan. Business customers will also get T-Mobile Starlink at no extra cost on Go5G Business Next, first responder agencies on T-Priority plans and other select premium rate plans. T-Mobile customers on any other plan can add the service for $15/month per line. Through February, T-Mobile customers who have registered for the beta can secure a $10/month per line Early Adopter Discount, 33% off the full price.

AT&T and Verizon customers hate dead zones, too

When your service is amazing and different, you want as many people to try it as possible. T-Mobile is giving AT&T and Verizon customers the opportunity to try out T-Mobile Starlink satellite service on their existing phones... During the beta period, Verizon and AT&T customers can experience T-Mobile Starlink text messaging for free, and once the service launches in July, it will be available for $20/month per line... More details and consumer registration can be found here.

A Vision for Universal Coverage

As T-Mobile and Starlink continue to work towards eliminating mobile deadzones, the companies welcome wireless providers from around the world to join their growing alliance, which aims to provide reciprocal roaming for all participating carriers. So far, KDDI (Japan), Telstra (Australia), Optus (Australia), One NZ (New Zealand), Salt (Switzerland), Entel (Chile & Peru), Rogers (Canada) and Kyivstar (Ukraine) are among the providers that have signed on to join the cause and launch satellite-to-mobile technology. Learn more about the alliance and how providers can join at direct.starlink.com.

Apple plans to unveil a long-anticipated overhaul of the iPhone SE in the coming days, a move that will modernize its lower-cost model in a bid to spur growth and entice consumers to switch from other brands. Bloomberg: The company expects to announce the device as early as next week, ahead of it going on sale later in the month, according to people with knowledge of the matter. [...] The new device, code-named V59, also will be Apple's first with an in-house cellular modem, replacing a component from Qualcomm, Bloomberg News has reported. It will have a larger screen with Face ID and also include a speedier A18 chip, which will help support Apple Intelligence. The removal of the home button from the iPhone SE means that Apple will have fully phased out the iconic interface, which debuted on the first iPhone in 2007.

Longtime Slashdot reader AmiMoJo shares a report from the BBC: Banning phones in schools is not linked to pupils getting higher grades or having better mental wellbeing, the first study of its kind suggests. Students' sleep, classroom behavior, exercise or how long they spend on their phones overall also seems to be no different for schools with phone bans and schools without, the academics found. But they did find that spending longer on smartphones and social media in general was linked with worse results for all of those measures.

The first study in the world to look at school phone rules alongside measures of pupil health and education feeds into a fierce debate that has played out in homes and schools in recent years. [...] The University of Birmingham's findings, peer-reviewed and published by the Lancet's journal for European health policy, compared 1,227 students and the rules their 30 different secondary schools had for smartphone use at break and lunchtimes. The schools were chosen from a sample of 1,341 mainstream state schools in England.

The paper says schools restricting smartphone use did not seem to be seeing their intended improvements on health, wellbeing and focus in lessons. However, the research did find a link between more time on phones and social media, and worse mental wellbeing and mental health, less physical activity, poorer sleep, lower grades and more disruptive classroom behavior. The study used the internationally recognized Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scales to determine participants' wellbeing. It also looked at students' anxiety and depression levels. Dr Victoria Goodyear, the study's lead author, told the BBC the findings were not "against" smartphone bans in schools, but "what we're suggesting is that those bans in isolation are not enough to tackle the negative impacts."

She said the "focus" now needed to be on reducing how much time students spent on their phones, adding: "We need to do more than just ban phones in schools."

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Robocallers posing as employees of the Federal Communications Commission made the mistake of trying to scam real employees of the FCC, the FCC announced yesterday. "On the night of February 6, 2024, and continuing into the morning of February 7, 2024, over a dozen FCC staff and some of their family members reported receiving calls on their personal and work telephone numbers," the FCC said. The calls used an artificial voice that said, "Hello [first name of recipient] you are receiving an automated call from the Federal Communications Commission notifying you the Fraud Prevention Team would like to speak with you. If you are available to speak now please press one. If you prefer to schedule a call back please press two."

You may not be surprised to learn that the FCC does not have any "Fraud Prevention Team" like the one mentioned in the robocalls, and especially not one that demands Google gift cards in lieu of jail time. "The FCC's Enforcement Bureau believes the purpose of the calls was to threaten, intimidate, and defraud," the agency said. "One recipient of an imposter call reported that they were ultimately connected to someone who 'demand[ed] that [they] pay the FCC $1,000 in Google gift cards to avoid jail time for [their] crimes against the state.'" The FCC said it does not "publish or otherwise share staff personal phone numbers" and that it "remains unclear how these individuals were targeted." Obviously, robocallers posing as FCC employees probably wouldn't intentionally place scam calls to real FCC employees. But FCC employees are just as likely to get robocalls as anyone else. This set of schemers apparently only made about 1,800 calls before their calling accounts were terminated.

The FCC described the scheme yesterday when it announced a proposed fine of $4,492,500 against Telnyx, the voice service provider accused of carrying the robocalls. The FCC alleges that Telnyx violated "Know Your Customer (KYC)" rules by providing access to calling services without verifying the customers' identities. When contacted by Ars today, Telnyx denied the FCC's allegations and said it will contest the proposed fine.

Apple has announced Apple Invites, a new iPhone app designed to help you manage your social life. Engadget reports: The idea behind Apple Invites is that you can create and share custom invitations for any event or occasion. You can use your own photos or backgrounds in the app as an image for the invite. Image Playground is built into Invites and you can use that to generate an images for the invitation instead. Other Apple Intelligence features such as Writing Tools are baked in as well, in case you need a hand to craft the right message for your invitation. The tech giant also said it was increasing AppleCare+ subscription prices for the iPhone, "raising the cost by 50 cents for all models in the United States," according to MacRumors. From the report: Standard AppleCare+ for the iPhone 16 models is now priced at $10.49 per month, for example, up from the prior $9.99 per month price. The 50 cent price increase applies to all available AppleCare+ plans for Apple's current iPhone lineup, and it includes both the standard plan and the Theft and Loss plan. The two-year AppleCare+ subscription prices have not changed, nor have the service fees and deductibles. The increased prices are only applicable when paying for AppleCare+ on a monthly basis. Apple has not raised the prices of AppleCare+ subscription plans for the iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch.

"iPhone devices are now eligible to test SpaceX-owned Starlink's direct-to-cell capability," Reuters reported this week, citing an announcement from T-Mobile: T-Mobile and Elon Musk's SpaceX are currently testing the Starlink cell network on a trial basis after receiving approval from the Federal Communications Commission in November last year. The trial offers 'text via satellite', while voice and data features will be added in the future, according to the T-Mobile website. T-Mobile initially only listed a few Android smartphones as eligible devices to test the network, but has now added iPhone devices with the latest iOS 18.3 software update.
The next day stock prices fell for several direct-to-smartphone satellite companies, reports SpaceNews: Shares in Globalstar, which enables connectivity beyond the reach of cellular towers on the latest iPhones via a far-reaching partnership with Apple, closed down nearly 18% the following day. Constellation developer AST SpaceMobile slipped 12%. Canada's MDA, which is building at least 17 satellites for Globalstar after Apple agreed to cover most of the costs to replenish the constellation, also saw its shares fall more than 9%...

"Combined, today's price action in Globalstar and satellite manufacturer MDA suggest a real investor fear that SpaceX could disintermediate the Apple-Globalstar partnership," said Adam Rhodes, a senior telecoms analyst at Octus. "However, it appears to us that there is room for both services. Based on the information we have seen, we do not anticipate that Apple views the T-Mobile-Starlink service as a replacement for the Globalstar MSS network, but rather it is choosing to enable the added feature on its T-Mobile phones...." B. Riley analyst Mike Crawford noted that Apple's two binding contracts with Globalstar extend well into the next decade, ensuring both capital expenditure (capex) and recurring service revenues.
Thanks to Slashdot reader jjslash for sharing the news.

A proposed class-action lawsuit accuses Amazon of secretly tracking consumers' movements through their cellphones via its Amazon Ads SDK embedded in third-party apps, allegedly collecting sensitive geolocation data without consent. The complaint, filed by a California resident in a San Francisco federal court, claims Amazon violated state laws on unauthorized computer access in the process. Reuters reports: This allegedly enabled Amazon to collect an enormous amount of timestamped geolocation data about where consumers live, work, shop and visit, revealing sensitive information such as religious affiliations, sexual orientations and health concerns. "Amazon has effectively fingerprinted consumers and has correlated a vast amount of personal information about them entirely without consumers' knowledge and consent," the complaint said.

The complaint was filed by Felix Kolotinsky of San Mateo, California, who said Amazon collected his personal information through the "Speedtest by Ookla" app on his phone. He said Amazon's conduct violated California's penal law and a state law against unauthorized computer access, and seeks unspecified damages for millions of Californians.

A new update to CVS's mobile app includes a feature that allows some customers to access items on locked shelves using their phone -- "without having to summon an overworked employee to open it first," reports The Verge. The feature is currently being trialed in a handful of stores, but will be expanded to many more locations later this year if it goes well. From the report: According to The Wall Street Journal, "app users need to be logged in, on the local store Wi-Fi, and with their device's Bluetooth enabled to activate the feature." You've also got to be a member of the CVS loyalty program if you want the convenience of grabbing secured merchandise without calling for help. Signing up for that gives CVS plenty of insight into your shopping habits, so keep that in mind as you weigh the convenience of not waiting around.

"People really, really dislike locked cabinets," Tilak Mandadi, executive vice president of ventures at CVS Health, told the Journal. Walmart has apparently come to the same realization, as the massive US retailer conducted a similar test last year. CVS aims to expand the program to around 15 stores soon and eventually reach national availability if all goes well.

TikTok is still not available for download from U.S.-based app stores, reports CBS News. So "Some fast-acting entrepreneurs are selling phones with TikTok preloaded on devices for thousands of dollars online." The Associated Press notes that New York-based Nicholas Matthews "listed an iPhone 14 Plus with TikTok for $10,000. As of Friday, Matthews said his highest bid was for $4,550."

Another example from The New York Times: An information technology engineer, Mr. Gustab listed his iPhone 15 Pro with TikTok downloaded onto it for $3,000 on Facebook Marketplace. That's about three times the cost of a brand-new iPhone 16 Pro. On Thursday night, he had an offer for $1,200, still more than almost every brand-new iPhone and nearly twice as much as a refurbished iPhone 15 Pro without TikTok.
Business Insider reports the search term iPhone TikTok "yielded more than 45,000 results" on eBay...

Longtime Slashdot reader shanen writes: What matters to you when buying a new smartphone? How can we make the recurring topic relevant without more SCREAMS about "dupe"? I do have a bit of recent research I could share -- quite a bit of fresh data since my latest search started a couple of months ago. Or perhaps I could start with a summary of the useful bits from an ancient Ask Slashdot discussion about batteries?

Seems funny to ask about relevant books, even though two come to mind already. One is The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt, where he argues that smartphone use by preadolescents is destroying their personalities. The other is Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, who doesn't actually say much about them, but I still think they should have been included in the the big table of examples at the end of the prologue. The "system" of smartphones is antifragile, even though the earliest models were quite fragile. The essence of this question is about which current smartphone models are the most robust...

Maybe I should include a list of my own criteria so far? However, would would just be responses to the problems with my current Samsung Galaxy and the Oppo I had before that. I've already determined that the two main problems with those models don't exist with any of the current options offered by my phone company... And the ancient battery problems are still lurking, too.