The Verge: How to use your phone to find hidden cameras. “Want to make sure your privacy is being respected? There are a couple of ways you can kinda, sorta find out if there are any hidden cameras in your space.” The one comment at this writing offers a third method.
The Verge: How Nokia ringtones became the first viral earworms. “Today, Fusoxide is behind the popular @ringtonebangers Twitter account. With others, like @OldPhonePreserv, he helps to maintain Andre Louis’ phonetones directory — a repository of phone software, sound banks, ringtones, and audio ephemera from a bygone era.”
BBC: Not smart but clever? The return of ‘dumbphones’. “Dumbphones are continuing to enjoy a revival. Google searches for them jumped by 89% between 2018 and 2021, according to a report by software firm SEMrush. And while sales figures are hard to come by, one report said that global purchases of dumbphones were due to hit one billion units last year, up from 400 million in 2019. This compares to worldwide sales of 1.4 billion smart phones last year, following a 12.5% decline in 2020.”
MakeUseOf: The 5 Best Apps for a Temporary Burner Phone Number. “We’ve all seen criminal types using burner phones on shows like The Wire and Breaking Bad. And most of us have secretly wanted to throw a phone away or break it in half at the end of a conversation. Unless you have reason to believe the NSA or FBI is interested in you, it’s probably not something you need. However, there are all sorts of non-criminal reasons to have a second phone number. While you may want to get a physical burner phone for emergencies, you could also just get a burner app on your existing phone.”
The Irish News: Mobile Phone Museum launches online. “A collection of mobile phones detailing the history of the device has launched as an online museum with more than 2,000 handsets dating back to 1984. The Mobile Phone Museum, founded by industry veterans Ben Wood and Matt Chatterley, includes high-resolution photos and backstories for many of the phones in its catalogue.”
The Register: Mobile mobile museum looks to chart the history of portable phones . “A very-literally-mobile museum boasting over 2,000 exhibits is to go online and on the streets this year to show off the evolution of the mobile phone from 1984 to the present day – and its founders are looking for donations to fill a few gaps in the collection.”
TechCrunch: Google gives the world its first official glimpse of the Pixel 6. “While the company isn’t revealing everything about it just yet, this morning Google gave the world its first official peek at its next flagship phone: the Pixel 6.”
NBC News: Mass. Using New Tool in COVID Fight: Phone Alerts for High-Risk Communities. “People who live in or near some Massachusetts communities at high risk for COVID-19 transmission were getting alerts on their phones Monday afternoon reminding them about coronavirus safety rules. It’s the first time a Wireless Emergency Alert is being sent about the coronavirus in Massachusetts, a Massachusetts COVID-19 Command Center spokesman said.”
CNET: Phones for low-income users hacked before they’re turned on, research finds. “Adware isn’t a problem just for [Rameez] Anwar and other users who have the same phone model, made by American Network Solutions. Because the phones and their service plans were subsidized by a US program, taxpayers were funding the data that was used to display the promotional campaigns. On top of that, the adware prevented the phones doing their intended job: keeping low-income people connected to vital services via phone and internet.”
Liliputing: Database of 200+ smartphones that can run Linux (unofficially). “In a nutshell all you have to do is type your phone’s model number into a box at… and if your phone is one of the 200+ models in the database, you’ll see listings for the GNU/Linux distributions that support your device. Have a Nexus 5? It’s supported by all three of the Linux-based operating systems mentioned above. Have a first-gen Pixel or Samsung Galaxy S7? Then your phone can run postmarketOS.”
Fast Company: Cheap smartphones have a disturbing secret. “Seventeen dollars for a smartphone sounds like a great deal, especially for people living in poverty who can barely afford rent. But there’s a problem: low-cost smartphones are privacy nightmares.”
Google Blog: Bringing Google Fi to more people on Android and iOS. “Starting today, Project Fi is available on more phones: our plan now works with the majority of Android devices and iPhones. And since we’re officially expanding our device support, we’re making our name more official, too: we’re now Google Fi.”
Digital Trends: Like a bullet to a gun, scientists can match a photo to the phone that took it. “You know that cop movie trope where a single bullet is traced back to the specific gun that fired it? Well, researchers at the University at Buffalo in New York have developed similar technology — only this time it’s for tracking a photo back to the phone that took it. It could potentially lead to a new way to enhance security and fight cybercrime.”
New-to-me but apparently around for a while: an online database of pay phones. “By the 1990s there were nearly three million pay phones in America. But now just a small fraction remain. Mark Thomas keeps track of the ones that are left. He created the Payphone Project, an online database of pay phones from around the world.”
Um, not me! From NBC News: It’s Not Just You: Why So Many People Lose or Break Their Phone Just as a New One Comes Out. “It might seem strange that smartphone owners would get clumsier right as a new model hits the market, but that’s exactly what happens, according to a forthcoming article in the Journal of Marketing Research. Data on lost iPhones shows that owners are less likely to try and track down their missing devices when a newer version is available, the paper found.”
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