Smartphones

An app designed at Johns Hopkins is saving patients' lives—and the hospital thousands of dollars.

• By Kevin Charles Fleming

Two of Apple's largest investors called on the tech giant to take smartphone addiction more seriously. Research shows they're right to be concerned.

• By Kevin Charles Fleming

New research suggests your ethics may depend upon your electronics.

• By Tom Jacobs

A look at whether smartphone assistants know to recognize and respond when their owners are in acute distress.

• By Francie Diep

A species of animal is defined as much by its culture as by its genetics. By that criterion, humanity’s status is quite precarious.

• By Steven I. Weiss

The latest entry in a special project in which business and labor leaders, social scientists, technology visionaries, activists, and journalists weigh in on the most consequential changes in the workplace.

• By Frank Levy

Our phones are hurting our ability to truly know one another and ourselves.

• By Peter C. Baker

There’s a lot of comfort to be found in virtual worlds.

• By Kyle Chayka

Buy fewer of them, and recycle when you upgrade.

• By Francie Diep

One reporter marvels over how the things he cherishes most about his parents aren’t those that he would have ever imagined.

• By Charles Ornstein

Zero manufacturing employment: Coming soon to a regional economy near you.

• By Jim Russell

In the age of smartphones, is boredom a thing of past?

• By Gregory Ferenstein

Smartphone penetration in Spain is similar to that in the United States, but nobody over there seems to be talking about addiction to technology. They are talking though—to each other, in person.

• By Kyle Chayka

A new study shows just how badly college kids crave their emoji-laden communication.

• By Wes Judd

Even if you live in an urban environment, taking some time to correct for plant blindness can provide many benefits, both physical and psychological.

• By Nyree Zerega

A new entry in the sousveillance market, Alibi is a smartphone app that can constantly record audio and video of your surroundings—and surrounders.

• By Kyle Chayka

We complain that we’ve become addicted to glowing screens, but it’s less the screens themselves than what's behind them that’s the big draw.

• By Kyle Chayka

On Android's ever-changing quest to find a working typeface for all of its devices.

• By Noah Davis

Normal wallets are simply too effective, no matter that the technology is millennia old.

• By Kyle Chayka

New research finds having a mobile device within easy reach divides your attention, even if you're not actively looking at it.

• By Tom Jacobs

In a unanimous decision that went far further than most anticipated, the Supreme Court ruled that law enforcement officers must obtain a warrant before searching a cell phone—even after arresting its owner.

• By Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza

You know the $21 billion mobile gaming industry you contributed to by purchasing the latest iteration of Angry Birds? Look to it for clues about how we’ll soon consume all digital content.

• By Kyle Chayka

The one-word-at-a-time presentation eliminates the eye movements that help you comprehend what you're reading.

• By Ryan Jacobs

"Gamifying" stress therapy might make treatment a lot more fun.

• By Paul Bisceglio