Published January 17, 2025 10:00am EST close Create custom visuals on your iPhone with Image Playground in iOS 18.2 Tool transforms simple text prompts into images or animations in seconds. Before tossing out your old iPhone, consider it a treasure trove of potential waiting to be unlocked.Your seemingly outdated device isn't just electronic waste. It's a versatile gadget ready for an exciting second life. From transforming into a smart home hub to becoming a dedicated digital companion, an old iPhone can be repurposed in countless creative ways that breathe new life into technology you may not have considered.Here are some of the best ways to use your old iPhone. A woman looking at her iPhone (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)1. Turn it into a dumb phoneSmartphones are incredibly powerful, but they can also be overwhelming. The constant notifications and social media updates can make it hard to focus or enjoy the present moment. If youre finding that your iPhone is more of a time-waster than a tool for productivity, why not transform it into a "dumb phone"?A "dumb phone" is a basic mobile device that focuses on essential communication functions like calling and texting, while minimizing digital distractions through limited internet access and app capabilities, helping you reduce screen time and stay more present.Steps to disable apps and notificationsDisable notifications:OpenSettingsTap on NotificationsSelecteach app andtoggle off Allow NotificationsDelete unwanted apps:Press and hold the app icon on the home screenTapRemove AppFactory reset (Optional):Back up your data, if neededGo toSettings >General >Transfer or Reset iPhone >Erase All Content and SettingsWHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)?2. Give it to your kidsEventually, you may want to give your child their own smartphone. While a new phone can be expensive, handing down your old iPhone is a great way to introduce them to technology while also being mindful of your budget.By using Family Sharing and parental controls, you can carefully monitor what apps and content your child accesses. Plus, its an excellent way to bring them into the Apple ecosystem.Steps to set up Family Sharing and Parental ControlsSet up Family Sharing:OpenSettings and tap on your name at the top.SelectFamily Sharing and tapAdd Family Member to invite your child.If your child does not have an Apple ID, selectCreate an Account for a Child and follow the prompts to set up their account.If they already have an Apple ID, tapInvite People and choose how you want to send the invitation (AirDrop, Messages or Mail).Enable Parental Controls:OpenSettings and scroll down to tap onScreen TimeUnder the Family section, tap onyour child's nameIf Screen Time is not already enabled, tapTurn On Screen TimeFollow the prompts to set it up as your childs device.Tap onContent & Privacy RestrictionsIf prompted, enter yourScreen Time passcode(you will need to create one if you haven't already)Toggle onContent & Privacy RestrictionsYou can nowcustomize settings such as app limits, content restrictions and downtime settings, as needed.For app limits, tap App Limits, then select categories or individual apps to set time limits.To restrict explicit content or purchases, go to therespective sections under Content & Privacy RestrictionsThis process will help you manage your child's device usage effectively while ensuring they have access to appropriate content. A child using his iPhone to play games (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)3. Repurpose it as a webcamIn recent years, Apples Continuity Camera feature has made it easy to use an iPhone as a webcam for your Mac or Apple TV. While newer models work well for this purpose, older iPhones can still serve as excellent webcams, especially for online meetings and video calls.Instead of purchasing an external webcam, your old iPhone can deliver superior video quality. iOS 18 even allows older iPhones to work as dedicated continuity cameras for Apple TV, which is ideal for FaceTime or Zoom calls with family and friends.Steps to use your iPhone as a webcamDownload webcam apps: Consider apps like EpocCam or DroidCam from the App StoreConnect your iPhone: Follow the app's instructions to connect your iPhone to your computer via USB or Wi-FiSelect your iPhone in video settings: In your video conferencing app (like Zoom or FaceTime), select your iPhone as the camera sourceInstead of purchasing an external webcam, your old iPhone can deliver superior video quality.4. Make it a dedicated music playerWhy use your main iPhone for music when you can repurpose your old one as a dedicated MP3 player? With your old iPhone set up as a music player, you can enjoy your favorite tunes or podcasts without the distractions of text messages or social media notifications. Its a perfect solution for workouts, long drives or when you just want to zone out with music.GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE A woman using her iPhone as a dedicated music player (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)5. Use it as a remote or smart home controllerIf you own an Apple TV, you already know that your iPhone can function as a remote control. However, keeping your main phone tied up with the remote can be inconvenient. By making your old iPhone a dedicated Apple TV remote, you can still enjoy controlling your TV without using your primary phone.Steps to set up your old iPhone as a remoteSet up Apple TV remote feature:Ensure both devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi networkOpen theControl Center on the old iPhone (swipe down from the upper-right corner)Tap on theApple TV remote icon and follow the prompts to connectManage smart home devices:Downloadsmart home apps likeApple Home or those specific to your devices (e.g., Philips Hue)Follow theapp instructions to add and control devicesYour old iPhone can even be a hub for all your smart home devices, from adjusting lights and thermostats to checking security cameras.6. Save it for gamingSmartphones have transformed mobile gaming, and your old iPhone could be an ideal portable gaming console. Many classic and modern games run smoothly on older iPhone models, and with subscription services like Apple Arcade, you can access a huge library of high-quality games. This is a fun, low-cost way to enjoy mobile gaming without draining your main iPhones battery life. A game app on iPhone (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)7. Convert it into an e-readerFor book lovers, using an old iPhone as a dedicated e-reader is a great option. You can install apps like Kindle or Apple Books from the App Store. The iPhone's display is perfect for reading books and graphic novels, and since youre not using your main iPhone, there are no distractions like notifications to interrupt your reading.You can disable all apps and notifications on the old device, making it a peaceful reading experience. Plus, you can still connect your AirPods to listen to audiobooks while on the go.Kurts key takeawaysJust because youve upgraded to a new iPhone doesnt mean your old one has to be discarded. There are countless ways to repurpose it, from boosting your productivity to controlling your smart home. This way, you can extend its lifespan and maximize the value of your purchase.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPWhat other devices would you like tips on breathing new life into?Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Cyberguy.com/Newsletter.Follow Kurt on his social channels:Answers to the most asked CyberGuy questions:New from Kurt:Copyright 2025 CyberGuy.com.All rights reserved. Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on "FOX & Friends." Got a tech question? Get Kurts free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com. Related Topics

Existing artificial intelligence (AI) models available in the public domain fail to provide complexities and nuances of the past, and merely offer oversimplified stories about the Holocaust, according to an international Holocaust research lab.In November 2024, the University of Sussex launched the Landecker Digital Memory Lab, an initiative to ensure a sustainable future for Holocaust memory and education in the digital age.According to a research-based policy briefing presented by the lab to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), Does AI have a place in the future of Holocaust memory, the use of AI in Holocaust memory and education is problematic because mainstream models including generative AI (GenAI) systems such as ChatGPT and Gemini lack good data about the Holocaust, and need the right representation from experts on this subject.The labs primary investigator, Victoria Grace Richardson-Walden, has recommended in an urgent call to all stakeholders involved in Holocaust memory and education, as well as policymakers to help solve the problem by digitising their data and human expertise, rather than just bringing people to their sites and museums.Very few of them have a clear digitisation strategy, she said of the Holocaust memory and education sector, which includes archives, museums, memorial sites and libraries all over the world. They only digitise their material content or their testimonies for specific exhibitions.That is a pressing issue for heritage in general, said Richardson-Walden, referring to wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.All heritage, all these things are at material risk, she said. There has been instrumentalisation of history on all sides of the political spectrum for varying political aims. When that becomes very loud on social media, you lose nuance. Thats where the urgency is.Richardson-Walden highlighted that GenAI systems are not knowledge machines, as they only assign probabilistic numerical value to words and sequences of words, rather than a value based on their historical and cultural significance. This leads to lesser-known facts and stories being buried, as the systems will tend to reproduce only the most well-known canonical outputs that focus on the most famous stories.It gives you a headline answer and bullet points, she said, describing a typical answer to an enquiry made to ChatGPT. This idea of summarising really complex histories is problematic. You cant summarise something that happened over six years in many, many countries, and affected a whole range of different people and perpetrators.The research doesnt seek to provide answers to this complex issue. Instead, Richardson-Walden hopes to find alternatives in discussions with her informatics and engineering colleagues. Cultural signifiers are difficult to code and then to build into training data, she said.Richardson-Walden also highlighted the need to have good data in commercial GenAI models, especially in relation to sensitive subjects of history such as those involving genocide, persecution, conflict or atrocities.Good data comes from the Holocaust organisation, but first they need to digitise it in a strategic way, and the metadata attached to it needs to be correct and standardised, she said.Another problem highlighted by the labs policy briefing is the self-censorship that is programmed into most commercial image GenAI models. Almost every time a system is prompted to produce Holocaust images, it will refuse, and the user will be met with censorship guidelines.Read more about artificial intelligenceDigital Ethics Summit 2024: recognising AIs socio-technical nature: At trade association TechUKs eighth annual Digital Ethics Summit, public officials and industry figures and civil society groups met to discuss the ethical challenges associated with the proliferation of artificial intelligence tools globally and the direction of travel set for 2025.Creative workers say livelihoods threatened by generative AI: Computer Weekly speaks with various creative workers about the impact generative artificial intelligence systems are having on their work and livelihoods.Barings Law plans to sue Microsoft and Google over AI training data: Microsoft and Google are using peoples personal data without proper consent to train artificial intelligence models, alleges Barings Law, as it prepares to launch a legal challenge against the tech giants.The brief cited an example of Dall-E, OpenAIs image generator. All it can offer is to produce images of a wreath, elderly hands and a barbed wire fence, or an image that looks like a ghost in a library, it said.Richardson-Walden added: You end up making the Holocaust invisible or abstracting to the point where its absurd. So, this idea of putting in censorship within your programming is a good thing as a moral approach that actually creates the opposite effect.She believes that, although these guardrails are better than producing false or distorted data, they also prevent people from learning the history and its lessons, adding that the developers of these models should therefore find a middle ground in their guardrails that prevent misinformation on the Holocaust, but also dont pigeonhole them into banning Holocaust information for future generations reliant on digital media.The way [middle ground] comes is through dialogue, said Richardson-Walden. There needs to be a space to bring more discussion with OpenAI, Meta, Google, sitting down with places like the UN, with us at the lab. She added that Landecker offers free consultancy to discuss approaches for tech companies that are for the first time engaging in holocaust memory.As soon as they delve into it, [they] realise this is so complex and so political, and theres this whole new area about ethics and digital they never thought about, she said.Landeckers website mentions that the most prominent example of Holocaust memory digitisation is an AI model known as Dimensions in Testimony, developed by the USC Shoah Foundation. Its an example of a domain-specific GenAI model, described as a small language model, which is heavily supervised and relies on substantial human intervention. Users and academics can interact with it by asking questions to which the model responds with testimonies from survivors and answers by experts that have been fed into it.However, other labs and memory centres may not have the same wherewithal and funding as the Landecker lab. Therefore, the focus should be on mass digitisation of assets, which can then be used to responsibly inform commercial large language models.

Does the Supreme Court's ruling mean TikTok is going dark this Sunday? Here's what to know.

ToplineThe federal ban on TikTok is set to take effect Sunday after the Supreme Court upheld the law Friday, and while reports Wednesday suggest President-elect Donald Trump is mulling an executive order that would quickly reinstate the app, he may have limited optionsand his attempts to stop it could be challenged in court.President-elect Donald Trump speaks to members of the media during a press conference at the ... [+] Mar-a-Lago Club on January 7 in Palm Beach, Florida.Getty ImagesKey FactsTrump opposes the TikTok ban taking effect, his lawyers said in a recent court filing, and the president-elect asked, Why would I want to get rid of TikTok? on Truth Social, posting a graphic that boasted his popularity on the platform and the billions of views his official accounts and hashtags associated with him have garnered.The lawwhich prohibits U.S. app stores from hosting TikTok unless Chinese parent company ByteDance divests from itis scheduled to take effect one day before Trumps Jan. 20 inauguration, after the Supreme Court ruled Friday to uphold the law.Trump asked the Supreme Court to stop the law from taking effect until after he takes office, arguing he wants time to resolve the ban before it can take effect, but the court did not uphold his request and did not pause it from taking effect.The law empowers the president to pause the ban for 90 days if TikTok shows its in the process of separating from ByteDance, so Trump could pause it once he takes officewhich reports suggest he may do, as The Washington Post cited anonymous sources who said Trump is considering delaying the law for 60 to 90 days, and The New York Times similarly reported Trump could issue an executive order pausing the law until a deal with ByteDance is reached.While any executive order could give time to negotiate a deal with ByteDance, if he pauses the law without actual evidence showing ByteDance is divesting, the executive order may not be legally sound, meaning it could be challenged in court and the ban could take effect anywayor companies like Apple and Google could still take TikTok off their app stores regardless of what Trump says, in order to avoid any potential legal liability.Trump could also similarly just declare TikTok in compliance with the lawregardless of whether or not its actually separated from ByteDanceUniversity of Minnesota law professor Alan Rozenshtein noted, which would keep TikTok legal but similarly leave room for the move to be challenged in court or ignored by companies if ByteDance hasnt actually divested.Beyond that, Trump cant do much: He could try to negotiate a deal for TikTok to be sold to a U.S. company so it would properly comply with the law, but if ByteDance isnt willing to sellwhich so far it isntthe ban will stay in effect unless Congress decides to repeal the law.Crucial QuoteTrump was noncommittal about what actions he could take in a phone call with CNN Friday following the Supreme Courts ruling. It ultimately goes up to me, so you're going to see what I'm going to do, he said. Congress has given me the decision, so I'll be making the decision.What Has The Biden Administration Said?The Biden administration said Friday it will defer to Trump on enforcing the TikTok ban, given it takes effect on the last day of President Joe Bidens term. Given the sheer fact of timing, this Administration recognizes that actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration, which takes office on Monday, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said following the courts ruling.News PegThe Supreme Court upheld the TikTok ban in an unsigned opinion Fridaymeaning its unclear if any justices voted against the lawruling the ban does not violate TikTok and its users First Amendment rights, as the plaintiffs claimed. Justices ruled the federal governments national security concerns about TikTok justified imposing the ban and singling out TikTok over other social media apps, and opposed TikTok and content creators arguments that the law silences their speech. The federal law neither references the content of speech on TikTok nor reflects disagreement with the message such speech conveys, justices argued, even as they acknowledged the policy certainly burdens [TikToks] users expressive activity in a non-trivial way.What Will Trump Do About Tiktok?Trump has been mulling a range of options on how to handle TikTok, the Post reports. In addition to an executive order that would pause the law from taking effect for a few months, Trump has reportedly considered issuing an order that would unravel the lawwhich is all but certain to result in legal challenges, given the policy was passed by Congress with bipartisan support and presidents cannot unilaterally repeal federal laws. The Times similarly reports Trump could use an executive order to declare the law wont be enforced, or that it wont be enforced only temporarily until a deal is reached. Trump is reportedly eager to make a deal with TikTok and ByteDance, per The Post, with allies floating options that could include forcing a sale of TikToks U.S. assets in a way that would give the U.S. Treasury a cut of the proceeds, or revive TikToks Project Texas, a plan TikTok previously offered to the Biden administration about how it could handle the U.S. national security concerns without separating from ByteDance. Experts cited by the Post suggested Chinawhich would have to approve any sale by ByteDancewould only be likely to cut a deal with Trump on TikTok as part of broader political negotiations between the two governments.Can Trump Just Not Enforce The Tiktok Ban?While Trump could just declare his administration wont enforce the TikTok ban, its hard to say whether that would actually work. Justice Brett Kavanaugh questioned Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar on Friday about that possibility, and Prelogar acknowledged Trump could order it not to be enforced and while it remains to be seen what the effects of that would be, there may be safeguards to legally protect companies who keep TikTok up as a result of his promises about facing penalties. Legal experts have suggested companies arent likely to take the risk and potentially subject themselves to legal liability by keeping up TikTok even if Trump says its fine, however, given the possibility that Trump could change his mind and decide to start enforcing the ban. You could have a policy not to enforce this ban, University of Washington Law School professor Ryan Calo told The Times. But I think that maybe conservative companies would just be like: OK, youre not going to enforce it. But it is on the books, and you could enforce at any time.Will Bytedance Divest From Tiktok?TikTok and ByteDance so far havent shown any interest in separating, with TikTok arguing in a court filing that doing so is not possible technologically, commercially, or legally. It remains to be seen if the company will change its mind should the Supreme Court uphold the law and it actually takes effect, however, and Prelogar suggested Friday that justices upholding the ban could be the jolt that ByteDance and TikTok need to actually start the divestment process. Trump could also potentially have an impact on forcing ByteDances hand, as James Lewis, director of the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told NPR that China could be persuaded to approve of ByteDance selling TikTok in exchange for Trump backing off his threat of high tariffs on Chinese imports. A source familiar with ByteDances thinking told The Post that reports TikTok could serve as part of a big bargain or a big negotiation were legitimate.What Happens If The Tiktok Ban Takes Effect?The full impact of the TikTok ban taking effect is still unclear. The law does not ban Americans from using TikTok and wouldnt wipe it from users phones, but rather bans U.S. app stores and internet service providers from hosting it. That would mean that users could not download or update TikTok from Apple or Googles app stores, so it would grow obsolete and eventually no longer work. Oracle also wouldnt be allowed to host TikToks U.S. user data, as it does now. Though its been unclear on whether that would result in TikTok shutting down entirely in the U.S., TikTok said in a court filing that banning internet service providers from hosting the app means the company could no longer provid[e] the services that enable the TikTok platform to function, effectively shutting down TikTok in the United States, and TikToks lawyer Noel Francisco reiterated that Friday, saying its his understanding that if the ban takes effect, we go dark. Multiple outlets report TikTok is planning to totally shut off access to the app in the U.S. on Sunday should the ban take effect as scheduled, with Reuters reporting users will only see a pop up message directing them to a website with more information about the ban. TikTok has told its U.S. employees they will still have jobs and the companys U.S. offices will remain open even if the ban takes effect, The Times reports.Will The Ban Impact Possible Tiktok Alternative Lemon8?Yes, the ban is expected to similarly impact ByteDance-owned apps CapCut and Lemon8.Surprising FactIf the ban does block TikToks U.S. user data from being hosted by a U.S. company, its possible the data that TikTok already has on its American users could be moved to China, which a Forbes investigation found is what happened when India similarly banned the app. That would actually make it more likely the data could be accessed by the Chinese government, contrary to the federal laws national security goals.Key BackgroundPresident Joe Biden signed the bill requiring TikTok to leave ByteDance or else be banned into law in April, reflecting a bipartisan concern from lawmakers that the app poses a threat to national security. TikTok has long denied any wrongdoing or links to the Chinese government, but Forbes has reported numerous concerns involving the app, including TikTok spying on journalists, promoting Chinese propaganda that criticized U.S. politicians, mishandling user data and tracking sensitive words. The specific evidence the government has for justifying TikToks ban has not been made public, however, and was entirely redacted in court filings. TikTok and creators on the app sued to block the law days after it was enacted, arguing the ban unlawfully infringed on their First Amendment rights. A panel of federal judges sided with the governments argument that the ban was justified due to the national security threat and did not violate TikToks First Amendment rights, given that users can still post on the app if it just separates itself from ByteDance. The court ruled the law as it was enacted is actually a less restrictive way of handling the governments concerns about TikTok, given the fact it still allows the company to operate in the U.S. if ByteDance divests from it. TikTok appealed the case to the Supreme Court after the lower court declined to pause the law from taking effect, and the Supreme Court quickly took it up, scheduling arguments for Jan. 10 but declining to pause the law in the meantime.Further Reading

TL;DR: Microsoft is adding Copilot-powered AI features to its Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plans after rolling them out to businesses and Copilot Pro subscribers. However, the AI features come at a price, as Microsoft hiked subscription fees for both plans by $3 per month or $30 per year. Microsoft 365 Personal subscriptions will go from $7 monthly and $70 annually to $10 and $100, respectively. Family subscriptions will also rise from $10 a month and $100 a year to $13 and $130, respectively. The new plans go into effect immediately for first-time subscribers and upon renewal for existing 365 members.Microsoft will still offer 'Classic' Personal and Family plans without Copilot, but only "for a limited time." These plans will have no AI features, maintaining their current pricing. Unfortunately, only existing users can opt for the Copilot versions. New subscribers must sign up for the more expensive plans, like it or not. However, the good old $2 per month Basic plan, which offers no AI features, will remain an option for the foreseeable future.Interestingly, customers with AI-infused plans will have the option to disable Copilot when they want. Users can disable the feature in the Settings of apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint under "academic scenarios."The new Copilot-powered plans come with one significant caveat aside from the price hike. Subscribers won't have unlimited access to the AI features. Instead, they will get 60 AI credits per month for AI services across all the Office apps. Users can also spend credits to generate images or text in Windows apps like Designer, Paint, and Notepad. Customers wanting unlimited access to all the latest AI features must sign up for a Copilot Pro subscription for $20 extra monthly.This change is the first time Microsoft has increased the prices of Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plans in the US since it rolled out the service in 2013. However, the company did raise pricing for the business and consumer plans in other regions. // Related Stories

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" Table of ContentsTable of ContentsA tablet tailored for seniorsThe GrandPads bread and butterGrandie Chat adds AI to the mixGrandPad, the Android tablet designed for seniors, has been around for years. However, its not something Ive ever been able to try for myself. I had a chance to change that at CES 2025, so I did.What I discovered is a surprisingly competent senior-focused Android tablet, and one that now has a splash of AI to boot. Heres what I learned during my hands-on time with the GrandPad.Recommended VideosJason Howell / Digital TrendsAt its core, the GrandPad is an 8-inch tablet designed specifically for older, less technologically confident users. The device aims to keep seniors connected to their family, friends, and caregivers while promoting independence and confidence with current technologies.RelatedDuring hands-on testing, the tablets resemblance to the classic Nexus 7 became quickly apparent. This similarity is no coincidence, as the GrandPads roots trace back to a modified Nexus 7, which served as the initial prototype.The tablet boasts several features that make it more accessible to its target audience. These include large, easy-to-read icons and simplified navigation combined with support for video calls, multiplayer turn-based games, and photo sharing that doesnt rely on a public network, along with personalized content tailored to each users interests.Jason Howell / Digital TrendsOne standout feature of the GrandPad is its 24/7, 365-day-a-year proactive customer care team based in the U.S. Isaac Lien, co-founder of GrandPad, highlighted the teams dedication: If their battery is running low and we see its dying and not on the charger, well just call and say, Hey, it looks like your battery might be running low, reminder to put it on the charger.'Lien further emphasized the importance of this service, stating: For many of our customers, loneliness is a huge issue. Its wintertime, and theyre sitting at home alone. We want them to call. He added, You call us on Christmas Eve at 3 a.m., well answer.Security is critical to the GrandPad experience. The tablet includes a private network for blocking spam and scam calls, a dedicated GrandPad email address to filter untrusted communication, and a persistent LTE connection using an included SIM card. These features ensure the device always has access to critical security updates, even when Wi-Fi is unavailable.GrandPad / GrandPadWhen my concerns about GrandPads use of Android 8 AOSP (from 2017) were raised, Lien assured me that critical security updates are pushed to the device silently overnight. The GrandPad softwares modular and configurable nature allows users to receive security updates without friction or interference.The GrandPad team is constantly upgrading the user experience as well, though they realize that some users may be unaware of or uninterested in those changes. The company offers proactive customer support to inform users about updates and new features, and users have the choice to stay with their familiar interface or upgrade with guided assistance from GrandPad support.GrandPad / GrandPadAt CES 2025, GrandPad was showing off Grandie Chat, an AI-driven, voice-controlled feature that leverages OpenAIs models to provide an intuitive way for seniors to interact with technology. This new feature has led to GrandPad users adopting generative AI at three times the rate of others in their age group.Some users have never used a computer before, said Lien. But with Grandie Chat, once they realize its just like talking, they say, Oh, its so easy, Im just having a conversation.'Grandie Chat eliminates the need for typing through voice interaction and preprogrammed prompts, making it incredibly user-friendly for the elderly. While currently utilizing OpenAIs models as the primary large language model (LLM) brain, GrandPad continuously tests different models to achieve optimal performance and user experience.Jason Howell / Digital TrendsThe GrandPad comes with a wireless charging stand that exemplifies the companys attention to user needs. The tablet easily slides into place without the hassle of aligning pogo pins or plugging in cables a significant benefit for the devices target users. The stand is also convenient for video calls.With its blend of simplicity, security, and LLM-based AI, GrandPad really is unlike any other tablet available. Its certainly not the tablet for everyone, but for a grandparent who wants a way to stay connected with an simple-to-use device, its easy to see why the GrandPad is so appealing.Editors Recommendations

A group of 18 former European heads of state have called on the European Commission to break up Googles highly lucrative advertising-technology business, claiming it erodes Europes media landscape.

Contemporary physics still wrestles with a question posed by philosophers millenia ago: What is the universe made of?

Smooth as glass A solid electrolyte gives lithium-sulfur batteries ludicrous endurance Sulfur can store a lot more lithium but is problematically reactive in batteries. John Timmer Jan 17, 2025 10:19 am | 7 If you weren't aware, sulfur is pretty abundant. Credit: P_Wei If you weren't aware, sulfur is pretty abundant. Credit: P_Wei Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreLithium may be the key component in most modern batteries, but it doesn't make up the bulk of the material used in them. Instead, much of the material is in the electrodes, where the lithium gets stored when the battery isn't charging or discharging. So one way to make lighter and more compact lithium-ion batteries is to find electrode materials that can store more lithium. That's one of the reasons that recent generations of batteries are starting to incorporate silicon into the electrode materials.There are materials that can store even more lithium than silicon; a notable example is sulfur. But sulfur has a tendency to react with itself, producing ions that can float off into the electrolyte. Plus, like any electrode material, it tends to expand in proportion to the amount of lithium that gets stored, which can create physical strains on the battery's structure. So while it has been easy to make lithium-sulfur batteries, their performance has tended to degrade rapidly.But this week, researchers described a lithium-sulfur battery that still has over 80 percent of its original capacity after 25,000 charge/discharge cycles. All it took was a solid electrolyte that was more reactive than the sulfur itself.When lithium meets sulfur...Sulfur is an attractive battery material. It's abundant and cheap, and sulfur atoms are relatively lightweight compared to many of the other materials used in battery electrodes. Sodium-sulfur batteries, which rely on two very cheap raw materials, have already been developed, although they only work at temperatures high enough to melt both of these components. Lithium-sulfur batteries, by contrast, could operate more or less the same way that current lithium-ion batteries do.With a few major exceptions, that is. One is that the elemental sulfur used as an electrode is a very poor conductor of electricity, so it has to be dispersed within a mesh of conductive material. (You can contrast that with graphite, which both stores lithium and conducts electricity relatively well, thanks to being composed of countless sheets of graphene.) Lithium is stored there as Li2S, which occupies substantially more space than the elemental sulfur it's replacing.Both of these issues, however, can be solved with careful engineering of the battery's structure. A more severe problem comes from the properties of the lithium-sulfur reactions that occur at the electrode. Elemental sulfur exists as an eight-atom ring, and the reactions with lithium are slow enough that semi-stable intermediates with smaller chains of sulfur end up forming. Unfortunately, these tend to be soluble in most electrolytes, allowing them to travel to the opposite electrode and participate in chemical reactions there.This process essentially discharges the battery without allowing the electrons to be put to use. And it gradually leaves the electrode's sulfur unavailable for participating in future charge/discharge cycles. The net result is that early generations of the technology would discharge themselves while sitting unused and would only survive a few hundred cycles before performance decayed dramatically.But there has been progress on all these fronts, and some lithium-sulfur batteries with performance similar to lithium-ion have been demonstrated. Late last year, a company announced that it had lined up the money needed to build the first large-scale lithium-sulfur battery factory. Still, work on improvements has continued, and the new work seems to suggest ways to boost performance well beyond lithium-ion.The need for speedThe paper describing the new developments, done by a collaboration between Chinese and German researchers, focuses on one aspect of the challenges posed by lithium-sulfur batteries: the relatively slow chemical reaction between lithium ions and elemental sulfur. It presents that aspect as a roadblock to fast charging, something that will be an issue for automotive applications. But at the same time, finding a way to limit the formation of inactive intermediate products during this reaction goes to the root of the relatively short usable life span of lithium-sulfur batteries.As it turns out, the researchers found two.One of the problems with the lithium-sulfur reaction intermediates is that they dissolve in most electrolytes. But that's not a problem if the electrolyte isn't a liquid. Solid electrolytes are materials that have a porous structure at the atomic level, with the environment inside the pores being favorable for ions. This allows ions to diffuse through the solid. If there's a way to trap ions on one side of the electrolyte, such as a chemical reaction that traps or de-ionizes them, then it can enable one-way travel.Critically, pores that favor the transit of lithium ions, which are quite compact, aren't likely to allow the transit of the large ionized chains of sulfur. So a solid electrolyte should help cut down on the problems faced by lithium-sulfur batteries. But it won't necessarily help with fast charging.The researchers began by testing a glass formed from a mixture of boron, sulfur, and lithium (B2S3 and Li2S). But this glass had terrible conductivity, so they started experimenting with related glasses and settled on a combination that substituted in some phosphorus and iodine.The iodine turned out to be a critical component. While the exchange of electrons with sulfur is relatively slow, iodine undergoes electron exchange (technically termed a redox reaction) extremely quickly. So it can act as an intermediate in the transfer of electrons to sulfur, speeding up the reactions that occur at the electrode. In addition, iodine has relatively low melting and boiling points, and the researchers suggest there's some evidence that it moves around within the electrolyte, allowing it to act as an electron shuttle.Successes and caveatsThe result is a far superior electrolyteand one that enables fast charging. It's typical that fast charging cuts into the total capacity that can be stored in a battery. But when charged at an extraordinarily fast rate (50C, meaning a full charge in just over a minute), a battery based on this system still had half the capacity of a battery charged 25 times more slowly (2C, or a half-hour to full charge).But the striking thing was how durable the resulting battery was. Even at an intermediate charging rate (5C), it still had over 80 percent of its initial capacity after over 25,000 charge/discharge cycles. By contrast, lithium-ion batteries tend to hit that level of decay after about 1,000 cycles. If that sort of performance is possible in a mass-produced battery, it's only a slight exaggeration to say it can radically alter our relationships with many battery-powered devices.What's not at all clear, however, is whether this takes full advantage of one of the original promises of lithium-sulfur batteries: more charge in a given weight and volume. The researchers specify the battery being used for testing; one electrode is an indium/lithium metal foil, and the other is a mix of carbon, sulfur, and the glass electrolyte. A layer of the electrolyte sits between them. But when giving numbers for the storage capacity per weight, only the weight of the sulfur is mentioned.Still, even if weight issues would preclude this from being stuffed into a car or cell phone, there are plenty of storage applications that would benefit from something that doesn't wear out even with 65 years of daily cycling.Nature, 2025. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08298-9 (About DOIs).John TimmerSenior Science EditorJohn TimmerSenior Science Editor John is Ars Technica's science editor. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Biochemistry from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley. When physically separated from his keyboard, he tends to seek out a bicycle, or a scenic location for communing with his hiking boots. 7 Comments

An ion trap can control atoms for quantum experimentsY. Colombe/NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARYAfter decades of looking, researchers have seen a string of atoms go through a 1D phase change so elusive that it could only happen inside a quantum simulator.One motivation [for our experiment] is really trying to understand fundamental physics. Were trying to understand just the basic states that matter can be in, says Alexander Schuckert at the University of Maryland. AdvertisementHe and his colleagues used electromagnetic fields to arrange 23 ions of the element ytterbium into a line, forming a nearly one-dimensional chain. This device can be used for quantum computing, but in this case, the researchers used the chain as a simulator instead.Within it, they built a 1D ytterbium magnet one atom at a time. Previous calculations predicted this type of magnet would become unmagnetised when warmed, thanks to quantum effects. But no past experiment had achieved this phase transition.One reason for the difficulty is that systems like quantum computers and simulators typically only work well when they are very cold. Warming them to make the phase transition occur can thus cause malfunctions, says Schuckert. Untangle the weirdness of reality with our subscriber-only, monthly newsletter.Sign up to newsletterTo avoid this, he and his colleagues tuned the initial quantum state of the atoms so that, as time went on, the 1D magnets collective state changed as if its temperature had been increased. This revealed the never-before-seen phase transition.The achievement is very exotic because chains of atoms generally shouldnt undergo phase transitions, says Mohammad Maghrebi at Michigan State University. The researchers were only able to engineer it because they could make each ion interact with others that were far from it, even though they werent touching. This pushed the whole line into an unusual collective behaviour.Because their simulator makes such exotic states of matter possible, it could be used to study theoretical systems that may be very rare or even not exist in nature, says Maghrebi.Schuckert suggests quantum simulators could also help explain odd electric or magnetic behaviours that some materials show in the real world. But to do so, these devices must be able to reach higher temperatures than they can today. They can currently model extremely cold temperatures only, but he says higher-temperature simulations may be possible within five years.And even more existing and theoretical systems could be studied if the simulators can be made larger, for example by arranging the ions into two-dimensional arrays, says Andrea Trombettoni at the University of Trieste in Italy. This will suggest new physics to explore, he says.Journal referenceNature Physics DOI: 10.1038/s41567-024-02751-2