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      Vodafone-Three merger could mean higher prices, UK watchdog warns

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · 7 days ago - 08:41


    CMA plans in-depth investigation into deal that would create UK’s largest mobile phone operator

    The planned merger between Vodafone and Three UK, which would create the UK’s largest mobile phone operator, has been referred to an in-depth investigation by the competition regulator.

    The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it intended to refer the deal to a more detailed phase 2 investigation amid concerns that mobile customers could face higher prices and reduced quality.

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      US accuses Apple of monopolizing smartphone market in sweeping lawsuit

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Thursday, 21 March - 14:58

    Justice department lawsuit alleges tech giant illegally prevented competition by restricting access to its software and hardware

    The US government on Thursday filed a sprawling antitrust case against Apple, alleging that the tech giant has illegally prevented competition by restricting access to its software and hardware. The case is a direct challenge to the company’s core products and practices, including its iMessage service and how devices such as the iPhone and Apple Watch connect with one another.

    The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New Jersey, alleges that Apple has monopoly power in the smartphone market and uses its control over the iPhone to “engage in a broad, sustained, and illegal course of conduct”, the Associated Press reported.

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      ‘I’m back!’: how Guardian readers reclaimed their brains and cut their screen times by 40%

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Tuesday, 19 March - 12:00

    Readers say they’ve been sleeping better and pursuing new hobbies since signing up to the Reclaim your brain newsletter

    It’s been almost three months since the Guardian launched the Reclaim your brain newsletter – a free, five-week email coaching plan for anyone who wants to spend less time on their phone.

    Since then, more than 100,000 readers have signed up, making it the fastest-growing newsletter we’ve ever launched. (If you haven’t already, you can subscribe to Reclaim your brain whenever you want – you still get sent the same weekly plan as everyone else.)

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      Scroll on: why your screen-time habits aren’t as bad as you think they are

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Saturday, 16 March - 08:00

    The increasing use of digital technology has inspired many scare stories, but is it reducing our attention span, does smartphone addiction actually exist – and should we even be feeling bad about it?

    Digital technology is now inextricably woven into the fabric of society, and for many of us, that does not always feel like a good thing. As screens have become more numerous, so the anxieties that we have about them have become more salient and pressing. But what if we are focusing on the wrong sorts of worries? Here are five common questions about screen time, the answers to which may help us to frame the relationships we have with our tech more accurately.

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      Keep churches open to curb vandalism | Letters

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Friday, 15 March - 17:04

    Claire Walker says the biggest asset in keeping a church safe is the eyes and ears of local people; Michael Heaton thinks video media has made criminality fashionable

    The new report on vandalism at our nation’s heritage sites is sadly no surprise ( Vandalism on rise at historic English sites amid cost of living crisis – report, 13 March ). For churches in particular, there is an extra burden as any repair costs fall squarely on the shoulders of the congregation. A new roof after a lead theft can set a church back tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds, depending on the damage.

    The added danger to this report is that people will see locking up their churches as the solution to prevent vandalism. One of the best ways of preventing heritage crime at churches is to have them open during the day. Professional thieves can easily gain access to a locked church, whereas they will hesitate to enter an unlocked one, as they are very likely to be disturbed. Vandalism has been shown to reduce in both urban and rural areas when churches open their doors during the week.

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      It’s natural to freak out about kids and mobile phones. But a ban is not the solution | Zoe Williams

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Tuesday, 12 March - 11:00 · 1 minute

    The best way to stop children getting out of their depth? Talk to them – about everything from trivial beefs to misused emojis

    I got a message from an ex-colleague who used to be fun and is now an agitator preaching “alt-right” nostalgia to the gerontocracy. Whatever it was he wanted, I would have told him to stick it, but it just so happened that I really disagreed with it: a cross-party group campaigning to restrict mobile phone use among children.

    As reliably as bad things will happen to kids, people will blame it on phone use. Maybe there is a crisis in their mental health, or someone has been bullied online, or blackmailed over an image they have sent, or they’ve joined a criminal gang or undertaken a murderous enterprise or self-harmed: it is almost inconceivable that, somewhere in the story, a smartphone won’t have played a part. Those affected often wish they had limited phone use, or at the very least, they keenly regret how little they knew what was going on with their child, who was, of course, always on his or her phone. Then politicians and the commentariat get involved, leveraging the grief and trials of others for discursive advantage, preaching measures to schools that they’re often doing already, lecturing parents to return to the “dumb phone” or ban the devices altogether for their kids.

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      ‘It was a real carnival of the senses’: Shamil Tanna’s best phone picture

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Saturday, 9 March - 10:00

    The London-based photographer on capturing the buzz of a festival celebrating Menorca’s purebred horses

    ‘There’s a slight voyeuristic quality to using a phone to take pictures,” Shamil Tanna says. The London-based photographer was in Menorca last summer for Fiestas de Sant Lluìs, a series of events “revolving around the island’s purebred horses and traditional Menorcan dressage”.

    “I was staying on the island for a while and was keen to shoot some personal projects,” he says. “I’d just replaced my old phone and the festivities provided a good opportunity to try the new model out. It was super-busy, full of people, horses, parades and music – a real carnival of the senses.”

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      Nothing Phone 2a review: a standout budget Android

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Tuesday, 5 March - 12:30

    Funky design, fun software, decent performance and long battery life provide a lot of phone for the money

    London-based tech firm Nothing’s latest Android attempts to shake up the budget phone market with something a little more interesting.

    Costing from £319 (€329/A$529) the Phone 2a aims to take the cool design and intrigue that made its higher-end models stand out and package it up into something cheaper but still novel, sits alongside the full-fat Phone 2 costing £579.

    Screen: 6.7in 120Hz FHD+ OLED (394ppi)

    Processor: MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro

    RAM: 8 or 12GB

    Storage: 128 or 256GB

    Operating system: Nothing OS 2.5 (Android 14)

    Camera: 50MP main and ultrawide, 32MP selfie

    Connectivity: 5G, eSIM, wifi 6, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3 and GNSS

    Water resistance: IP54 (splash resistant)

    Dimensions: 162 x 76.3 x 8.9mm

    Weight: 190g

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      How long should it take to answer a Whatsapp? About a fortnight | Nell Frizzell

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Monday, 4 March - 11:00

    Real friends don’t expect instant feedback. They know you’re busy slicing potatoes or loading the washing machine

    Few things bring me greater joy than someone taking two weeks to reply to a WhatsApp message. I mean it. This week, my friend and former teacher replied to a message I sent asking after his knee, with a very friendly and funny message. It had taken him a mere 24 days to respond. Glorious.

    Not only does that kind of slack immediately take any pressure off me to reply there and then, while trying to simultaneously slice a potato, open a box of magnets for my son, load the washing machine and turn down the radio; but it proves the two of us have enough mutual affection and respect that, at some point, we can just pick up where we left off. Have I replied to him yet? Of course not. I’ve had cables to untangle and rice to boil. But I will.

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