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Finding Your Roots With Help From Your Phone
Everyday tools and free apps on your mobile device can help you collect, translate and digitize new material for your family-tree files.
By J. D. Biersdorfer
What the Arrival of A.I. Phones and Computers Means for Our Data
Apple, Microsoft and Google need more access to our data as they promote new phones and personal computers that are powered by artificial intelligence. Should we trust them?
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Welcome to the Era of the A.I. Smartphone
Apple and Google are getting up close and personal with user data to craft memos, summarize documents and generate images.
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The New ChatGPT Offers a Lesson in A.I. Hype
OpenAI released GPT-4o, its latest chatbot technology, in a partly finished state. It has much to prove.
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Smartphones Can Now Last 7 Years. Here’s How to Keep Them Working.
Google and Samsung used to update smartphone software for only three years. That has changed.
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Meta, Google and others are driving a renaissance for voice assistants, but people have found the technology uncool for more than a decade.
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How to Clean Up Your Phone’s Photo Library to Free Up Space
Deleting duplicates, bad shots and other unwanted files makes it easier to find the good pictures — and gives you room to take more.
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Artificially Intelligent Help for Planning Your Summer Vacation
Travel-focused A.I. bots and more eco-friendly transportation options in online maps and search tools can help you quickly organize your seasonal getaway.
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The Basics of Smartphone Backups
It doesn’t take a lot of work to keep copies of your phone’s photos, videos and other files stashed securely in case of an emergency.
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Time-Saving Tips for Using Your Phone as a … Telephone
The latest smartphone software includes tools to help you more easily connect with the people you want to contact — and avoid those you don’t.
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How to Give Your Photos and Videos a Vintage Look
Retro-photography apps that mimic the appearance of analog film formats make your digital files seem like they’re from another era.
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Microsoft Surrenders OpenAI Board Position
As regulatory scrutiny picks up, the tech giant says it is pleased with the progress OpenAI has made with governance and considers its oversight role unnecessary.
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Amazon Says It Reached a Climate Goal Seven Years Early
The company said it effectively got all of the electricity it used last year from sources that did not produce greenhouse gas emissions. Some experts have faulted the company’s calculations.
By Ivan Penn and
F.T.C. Bars Anonymous Messaging App From Serving Users Under Age 18
The move against the app NGL by the Federal Trade Commission was the first time the agency barred an online service from hosting minors.
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U.S. Plans Up to $1.6 Billion in Funding for Packaging Computer Chips
The proposed funding, part of the CHIPS Act, is intended to stoke chip packaging, a process that helps drive progress in semiconductors but that takes place mostly in Asia.
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Everyday tools and free apps on your mobile device can help you collect, translate and digitize new material for your family-tree files.
By J. D. Biersdorfer
Cable cars are still trundling up the city’s hills, but robotaxis from Waymo are shaping up as the city’s latest must-do for visitors.
By Lauren Sloss
The horror video game Content Warning, a surprise hit, lets players microdose as momentary celebrities on the fictional website SpookTube.
By Kieran Press-Reynolds
Despite Mark Zuckerberg’s hope for the chatbot to be the smartest, it struggles with facts, numbers and web search.
By Brian X. Chen
The $700 Ai Pin, funded by OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Microsoft, can be helpful — until it struggles with tasks like doing math and crafting sandwich recipes.
By Brian X. Chen and Andri Tambunan
Even if you manage to ditch your iPhone, Apple’s hooks are still there.
By Brian X. Chen
What happens when a columnist and a reporter use A.I. glasses to scan groceries, monuments and zoo animals? Hilarity, wonder and lots of mistakes ensued.
By Brian X. Chen and Mike Isaac
Roku recently changed its policy to make it even harder for customers to take legal action. It’s a reminder of how we need to protect ourselves.
By Brian X. Chen
A wallet-free lifestyle relying on your phone is attainable, but it requires preparation and some compromise.
By Brian X. Chen and Yiwen Lu
Canceling is simple. The tough part is remembering to do it.
By Brian X. Chen
Billed as the future of computing, the $3,500 goggles can’t replace a laptop for work. At times, wearing them also made our columnist feel nauseated.
By Brian X. Chen
Videos, many of them stunts or jokes, of people wearing Apple’s new virtual reality headset while driving Teslas in Autopilot mode prompted officials to issue warnings.
By Jesus Jiménez
The new headset teaches a valuable lesson about the cost of tech products: The upsells and add-ons will get you.
By Brian X. Chen
The music-streaming platform’s new “daylist” feature serves users three personalized playlists a day, with titles ranging from quirky to bewildering.
By Frank Rojas
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Starting with Google Glass, all have been plagued with the same issues, even as Apple plunges into the market with its Vision Pro.
By Brian X. Chen
Hunching over a device can mess with your gait, slow you down and poison your mood. And that’s before you trip and fall.
By Markham Heid
Google’s Routines and Apple’s Shortcuts combine multiple steps into one command to make your phone or tablet do more of the work for you.
By J. D. Biersdorfer
People who subscribe to OpenAI’s ChatGPT Plus service will be able to browse the new store for tailored chatbots that perform different tasks.
By Cade Metz
The best tech, from universal power charging to foldable phones, solved practical problems. But the worst tech, including self-driving cars and cryptocurrency, put us in harm’s way.
By Brian X. Chen
After misplacing his iPhone while returning a rental car, a traveler tracked down the device and presented strong evidence to the agency that a worker took it — to no avail.
By Seth Kugel
Overwhelmed by apps, profiles and not-quite-matches? Here’s how to start the new year fresh.
By Catherine Pearson
As the year winds down, take the time to explore iOS 17 and Android 14 with new wallpaper and widgets or by creating a digital diary.
By J. D. Biersdorfer
With Shopify, Mercari and other retailers rolling out chatbots to help buyers, this holiday shopping season is the first to be powered by A.I.
By Yiwen Lu
Meta’s $300 smart glasses look cool but lack a killer app, and they offer a glimpse into a future with even less privacy and more distraction.
By Brian X. Chen
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While texting technology will soon get better, the “blue versus green bubble” disparity is far from over.
By Brian X. Chen
We are overpaying for phone plans from Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile. Budget wireless services, similarly fast and robust, can save thousands.
By Brian X. Chen
Meta’s rival to Twitter will now offer users — who signed up in droves at its launch — the option to delete.
By Isabella Kwai
A first impression of Humane’s new magnetic Ai Pin: equal parts magical and awkward.
By Erin Griffith
The so-called iPhone giveaways marketed by Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T can make customers spend more on perks they don’t need.
By Brian X. Chen
With a free library card and the right app, you can check out e-books, audiobooks and more from your local branch.
By J. D. Biersdorfer
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