Researchers from McMaster University set out to examine smartphone environmental impact. Their study shows that buying a new phone consumes as much energy as using a phone for ten years.

Smartphones are particularly insidious for a few reasons. With a two-year average life cycle, they’re more or less disposable. The problem is that building a new smartphone–and specifically, mining the rare materials inside them–represents 85% to 95% of the device’s total CO2 emissions for two years. That means buying one new phone takes as much energy as recharging and operating a smartphone for an entire decade.

Rene Ritchie’s iPad Pro review is the only one you’ll need. 90% of these reviews are written by jaded tech reporters who can’t get over the “But can it replace a computer?” question, to which most of them shout an indignant “NO!”

I like Rene’s writing because in my opinion he seems to write from the perspective of the average, everyday consumer. Whereas many tech reporters write things from their own point of view, which may not reflect their audience. His iPad Pro review has useful information, and I definitely recommend it.

Jesus Diaz writes how he replaced his MacBook Pro with a 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and hasn’t looked back since.

I’m able to do everything I used to do with my MacBook on my 12.9-inch iPad Pro…If you are thinking that an iPad with a keyboard is a laptop, you are wrong. The iPad is better than a laptop. Better than any other computer I’ve used before. And I’ve been looking for the perfect computer for a long time.

I’d love to get my hands on the new 11-inch iPad Pro, and my plan will be the same. I only ever use my MacBook Pro for writing and web browsing, and an iPad would be the perfect replacement for me.

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) proposed an early draft of a bill that would create harsher penalties for companies that mishandle customer data.

Wyden’s draft proposal, called the Consumer Data Protection Act, would give the FTC more authority and resources to police the use of data by adding a total of 175 new staff. Under the proposal, the FTC would also be allowed to fine companies up to 4 percent of revenue for a first offense.

The legislation would also create a centralized Do Not Track list meant to let consumers stop companies from sharing their data with third parties, or from using it for targeted advertising.

I think this sounds fantastic. Companies like Equifax that put Americans in danger by not properly securing our data should be heavily fined. Having the executives jailed is a bonus.

A man named David Buchanan fit the entire works of William Shakespeare in a 2MB image. It’s an example of steganography, and it’s quite cool.

“So basically, I wrote a script which parses a JPG file and inserts a big blob of ICC metadata,” he said. “The metadata is carefully crafted so that all the required ZIP headers are in the right place.” This process was quite fiddly, he added, saying it took a few hours to complete, although he wrote the script itself over a span of a couple of months.

Since it’s a JPG image, you’ll have to unzip it via Terminal. Open Terminal, type unzip then drag and drop the image in. Unless you opened Terminal inside a specific folder, it will extract everything to your home directory.

John Biggs writes how the Apple Watch changed the world. Not just the watch industry, but people in general.

Watch analysts believe that Apple created a halo effect. Of the millions of people who bought and wore an Apple Watch, a majority had never worn or thought about wearing a watch. Once they tried the Apple Watch, however, and outfitted it with leather bands, fancy Milanese loops and outfit-matching colors, the attitude changed. If wearing watches is so fun and expressive, why not try other, more storied pieces?

China is exporting its Great Firewall tech to other authoritarian countries, like Russia and Uganda, so they can censor their citizens better.

A new report from Freedom House — a US government-funded NGO — supports this. During 2018, the authors found, “internet freedom declined for the eighth consecutive year.”

“A cohort of countries is moving toward digital authoritarianism by embracing the Chinese model of extensive censorship and automated surveillance systems,” Freedom House said.

Book publishers want to breathe new life into the industry by making tiny books the size of a smartphone.

This month, Dutton, which is part of Penguin Random House, began releasing its first batch of mini books, with four reissued novels by the best-selling young-adult novelist John Green. The tiny editions are the size of a cellphone and no thicker than your thumb, with paper as thin as onion skin. They can be read with one hand — the text flows horizontally, and you can flip the pages upward, like swiping a smartphone.

I know this is a moot point but I already have smartphone-sized books inside my smartphone. Still though, I’m sure these will be popular among commuters and travelers.

The U.K. government wants Apple to open up the NFC chip so citizens can scan their passports. It will help EU citizens apply for residency after Brexit.

Home secretary Sajid Javid visited Apple in Cupertino to discuss the matter. Apple is said to be resistant and has not promised yet that it will change its NFC policy. The report says the government is “continuing to engage with Apple at the highest level”.

The Dutch government is also pressuring Apple to adapt its NFC policy, as it also wants to offer apps for its citizens with integrated passport scanning.

I think Apple will eventually add this capability as things slowly start to shift digitally. Imagine keeping not only your credit cards and boarding passes in the Wallet app, but your passport and driver’s license as well.

Kids apps have a lot more ads than you might think, and they could contain inappropriate advertising.

A stunning 95 percent of commonly downloaded apps that are marketed to or played by children age five and under contain at least one type of advertising…Often the ads are intrusive, spread across in a banner or even interrupting play…One app geared to young children had a popup that linked to a political game showing a cartoon version of Trump trying not to push the red button that will send nukes…

Women Who Code is an organization that boasts over 137,000 members. It supports women in tech and encourages them to stick with the field.

A recent study by the National Center for Women in Information Technology (NCWIT) revealed that women held 57% of all professional occupations, yet they held only 25% of all computing occupations. And the numbers are even lower when considering women of color; for example, Latinas and black women hold only 1% and 3% of these jobs, respectively.

Supporting women in tech is important, and The Mac Observer‘s Kelly Guimont does something similar with her volunteer work at App Camp for Girls.

Daniel Dilger wrote an interesting article about AirPods and audio AR. While we didn’t see new AirPods at today’s event, they could be a key component of Apple’s AR ambitions.

The best AR implementations exist in various forms that remain captivating for long periods of time, works virtually anywhere and across an installed base of nearly a billion iOS devices, has immediacy practical applications in the enterprise, and which a broad swath of people will actually pay something to use.

I could’ve sworn I once read a quote from Tim Cook saying that he didn’t see AirPods as AR wearables per se, but I can’t find it. In any case though, I’ve been thinking along similar lines as Mr. Dilger. AirPods, Apple Watch, and the rumored Apple Glasses would all work together to form a more intimate mobile experience.

It seems that people don’t upgrade phones as often as they used to. More expensive phones, fewer carrier subsidies, and the death of two-year contracts may have led to this.

Carriers in recent years have offered less-generous promotions and separated the cost of a phone from a customer’s monthly service fees, leading to the demise of the two-year ritual of upgrading devices and service contracts simultaneously.

iPhones are now more expensive than ever. At the same time, Apple also has great support for older iPhones, so there’s not much incentive to upgrade every year anymore.

Amatas reports that an iOS 12.0.1 bug lets anyone obtain access to your photos by doing a special bypass at the lock screen.

People believe that this smartphone brand is extremely secure, but it is now emerging that all iPhone users are vulnerable to a distrustful partner, a curious colleague, an outrageous boss, because absolutely anyone can access your iPhone’s photo album, look through the photos and can send them to whom he wishes.

Poorly written article aside, this smartphone brand is extremely secure, but no system can be 100% secure. iOS 12.1 is reported to launch tomorrow, and it’s possible it will include a bug fix for this.