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Mobile Phones

The movement to dramatically reduce car traffic is picking up speed.

Anthropocene

Helsinki Has a Plan to Get People to Stop Owning Cars

A system being developed in Finland would allow people to subscribe to all kinds of mobility options and pay for everything on their phones

A bobtail squid hides on the ocean floor.

Research Into How Squid Camouflage Leads to An Ultra-Sharp Display for Televisions and Smartphones

Researchers at Rice University have created pixels 40 times smaller than those found in today’s LCD displays

Cool Finds

People Get Separation Anxiety When Parted From Their Phones

Separating college students from their smartphones can cause anxiety, especially for those who use their phones a lot

Cool Finds

New Apps Tell You How Obsessed You Are With Checking Your Phone

Information is power

Oh we're sorry, were you trying to be shifty?

Cool Finds

Some Cell Phone Towers Don’t Just Relay Your Call, They Listen In

The surprisingly affordable way to spy on someone’s phone

Trending Today

The Secret to Instagram’s New Video App Is Already in Your Phone

The ability to create moving, time-lapse videos is in your hands, thanks to gyroscopes

A rendering illustrates how messages will appear in mid-air using Navdy's new dashboard head-up display.

Tech Watch

Navdy Projects Apps and Text Messages Onto the Windshield of Almost Any Car

A California startup is launching a system that puts maps, texts and calls right at eye level

Cool Finds

Women Now Outnumber Adolescent Boys in the Gamer Community

Smartphones likely explain the sudden spike in the number of female gamers

Yes, that looks very safe

Cool Finds

How You Type Your Password Could Be Its Own Security Measure

Your phone could learn your typing behavior and use that to keep itself safe from intruders

Qnovo claims its technology will let you plug your phone in for 15 minutes at lunch and get an extra six hours of use time.

Tech Watch

Your Next Smartphone Could Charge Six Times Faster

A California startup is implementing faster, smarter charging for next year’s mobile devices

A trim cellphone accessory keeps you in touch when there's no cell service in sight.

Tech Watch

No Network? This Device Will Get Texts Through No Matter What

The GoTenna smartphone accessory uses short-wave radio signals to send messages, no cell tower necessary

This hardware innovation will make it easier for conservationists to identify where illegal deforestation efforts are happening and stop them before the trees have been taken down.

Tech Watch

How Solar-Powered Recycled Smartphones Could Save the Rainforest

A Silicon Valley non-profit is ready to give the forests of Africa and the Amazon ears to listen for loggers—and the ability to phone the authorities

A wearable wireless radio replaces your PIN code.

Tech Watch

This Temporary Tattoo Can Unlock A Phone

Motorola and VivaLnk release an electronic sticker that replaces your passcode

Pedestrians cross London's Millennium Bridge at dusk toward the lit dome of St. Paul's Cathedral.

Tech Watch

How to Plan the Most Beautiful Stroll Through a City

A team of researchers has used crowdsourcing to develop an algorithm that can map out the most eye-pleasing walks

Materials scientist Huolin Xin, shown here at Brookhaven Lab's Center for Functional Nanomaterials, is optimistic that his team will find ways to improve batteries for future electric vehicles and portable electronics.

Tech Watch

Next-Generation Electric Cars May Never Need A Battery Swap

U.S. Department of Energy researchers pinpoint the reasons why rechargeable batteries lose their ability to hold a charge over time

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Tech Watch

With $20 And Some Cardboard, You Too Can Enter Google’s Virtual World

A new project from the tech giant hopes to entice developers by creating a low-cost platform users can assemble on their own.

An image projection from a QPI chip.

Tech Watch

Your Smartphone And Sunglasses Could Soon Project Holograms

A chip the size of a TicTac can project images, in 2D or 3D, from everyday objects.

The California-based Raydiance has released a machine called R-Cut, which uses a femtosecond laser to cut sleek glass surfaces that aren't possible with existing manufacturing.

Tech Watch

Lasers Faster Than The Blink Of An Eye Could Change Glass On Our Phones

A new screen-chiseling method will give high-end finishes to low-end phones—and could revolutionize screens in everything from cars to smart watches, too.

Atlas V Launches the New Horizons Mission to Pluto.

Future Is Here Festival

Take a Peek Into the Future’s Present With Our Live Coverage of Smithsonian’s Two-Day Festival

The magazine’s 2nd annual conference brings together experts, authors and visionaries in the fields of science, science fiction and technology.

Cell phones have revolutionized daily life, and will only continue to impact our existence, says Joshua Bell, an anthropologist at the Natural History Museum.

Future Is Here Festival

The Future is Here: What’s Next For Mobile Phones?

Anthropologist Joshua Bell weighs in on new uses for cell phone technology at Smithsonian magazine’s annual festival

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