Technologies

The Future of Phones Is DIY Repairability

It’s time for mobile makers to get with the program.

Performing a highly technical demonstration in front of a live audience of journalists is always a risky move on the part of a technology company. You can almost guarantee that tech will fail you at the very moment you need it to perform at its best.

But not today, Satan. Today, Nokia Product Marketing Chief Adam Ferguson is replacing the battery on one of the company’s three new budget phones live on camera, all while providing onlooking press with a running commentary of exactly what he’s doing and why it’s so important.

Ferguson promises it’ll take him less than five minutes to complete the battery transplant, and though we can quibble over a few seconds either way, he fundamentally proves to be a man of his word.

«If someone like me — who isn’t particularly good with his hands, as you’ve probably seen from some of my shaky handling there — can do it while speaking to all of you, hopefully it demonstrates that absolutely anybody can,» he told us during the demo, which took place virtually, in the week preceding Mobile World Congress.

The Nokia G22, now waking up from major surgery performed by an amateur in front of our eyes, is designed with repairability at its very core. Thanks to a partnership with tech repair company iFixit, owners of this phone, announced at MWC in Barcelona on Saturday, will be equipped with guides and support to fix their phones themselves when the time comes. All they’ll need is a guitar pick and a #00 screwdriver.

It puts Nokia, which isn’t even in the top five global smartphone brands, ahead of the game this week at the world’s biggest mobile show, where sustainability is a major theme. In the context of the global climate crisis, the problem of electronic waste has become an increasingly pressing concern for tech companies and for consumers. Ensuring the products we use have a long life and aren’t easily disposed of as soon as our battery starts to flop is a key step in reducing the environmental impact of our tech use.

«We’re seeing already that people are holding on to their phones for longer,» Steven Moore said in an interview during the lead-up to Mobile World Congress. Moore is head of climate action at mobile industry body GSMA, which hosts MWC. He said the average lifespan of a smartphone has already stretched from two to three years. Plus, he added, people are showing more interest in repairing their phones, and are open to purchasing refurbished models in the first place.

Nokia isn’t the first to do this. Since 2013, Fairphone, a Dutch social enterprise, has been focused on trying to make modular phones that have a smaller environmental footprint. Since last April, Apple has also been supporting people who want to take care of DIY fixes on their iPhones, through its Self Service Repair program.

But the difference right now is that DIY repairs are beginning to shift from being a niche perk to being an important headline feature of new phones. «As consumers increasingly demand more sustainable and longer-lasting devices, the ability to repair smartphones easily and affordably will become a key differentiator in the market,» said Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight, in a statement.

Nokia might not be the pioneer of the repairability trend, but it’s adopting the practice at a key time. This year at MWC sustainability is front and center, as companies across the mobile landscape strive to reduce their environmental impact in line with the GSMA’s goal of the mobile industry reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Any phone manufacturers who don’t come to the show this year with a well-rehearsed set of arguments for why they aren’t taking control of repairability options for their devices should be prepared to face criticism, Emma Mohr-McClune, chief analyst and practice lead at analysis firm Global Data, said in a statement.

«At present, operators are staying out of this argument, but at one point even operators will start demanding more choice in this regard,» she added.

With pressure mounting from consumers and from other areas of the mobile industry, it’ll be up to phone manufacturers to respond by making it easier to replace device parts such as batteries and screens, which often bear the brunt of long-term use. But it’s important that they don’t neglect software as part of this conversation either.

When OnePlus released the OnePlus 11 earlier this month, it extended its support period for up to four years of Android updates and an additional fifth year of security updates. Without the promise of long-term security updates such as this, an otherwise decent phone can become unusable.

Good future-proofing also doesn’t lessen the responsibility on phone makers to ensure devices are already as sustainable as possible before they even reach your hands.

According to Moore, 80% of the environmental footprint of a mobile phone has already happened before you take it out the box. «That really means that we need to consider the actual embodied emissions and environmental impact within the device,» he said.

The long-term vision for future phones, as laid out in a GSMA strategy paper released last November, is that one day our devices will be 100% recycled and recyclable, as well as made with 100% renewable energy.

«There’s no device at the moment that fits that description, but we’re already seeing really promising signs from some of the manufacturers on this,» said Moore. «There’s a lot that the industry can do [and] I think we’re just at the beginning.»

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for June 8, #728

Here are some hints and the answers for Connections for June 8, #728.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle could be tricky. The purple category is one of those «sounds like» groups, that can be really tough to figure out. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Keep at it.

Green group hint: Think Wall Street animals.

Blue group hint: Online encyclopedia subheads.

Purple group hint: $$$.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Persist.

Green group: Animal metaphors in economics.

Blue group: Sidebar info on a person’s Wikipedia page.

Purple group: Homophones of slang for money.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is persist. The four answers are hold, last, stand and stay.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is animal metaphors in economics. The four answers are bear, bull, dove and hawk.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is sidebar info on a person’s Wikipedia page. The four answers are born, education, occupation and spouse.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is homophones of slang for money. The four answers are bred, cache, doe and lute.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for June 8, #1450

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle No. 1,450 for June 8.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle isn’t too tough, especially if your first guesses are heavy on vowels. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has one repeated letter.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

There are two vowels in today’s Wordle answer, but one is the repeated letter, so you’ll see it twice.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with L.

Wordle hint No. 4: Ending

Today’s Wordle answer ends with a vowel.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer refers to a contract where someone is given the right to use something for a specific time and payment.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is LEASE.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, June 7, No. 1449 was REUSE.

Recent Wordle answers

June 3, No. 1445: ADMIN

June 4, No. 1446: CEASE

June 5, No. 1447: DATUM

June 6, No. 1448: EDIFY

Technologies

Resident Evil Requiem Revealed, but Where’s Leon Kennedy?

The Resident Evil 9 trailer showed off a new character, but not the much-rumored return of Leon.

After a fake-out earlier in Summer Game Fest on Friday, Resident Evil Requiem, or Resident Evil 9, was shown for the first time.

The new title is the first mainline entry since Capcom released Resident Evil Village in 2021, and is rumored to feature series stalwart Leon Kennedy. In the trailer, the only person we saw was a character named Grace Ashcroft, who works for the FBI and appears to have ties to Raccoon City.

For the most hardcore Resident Evil fans, the name Ashcroft will ring a bell. Alyssa Ashcroft was one of the survivors of the online-only title, Resident Evil Outbreak for the PS2. Alyssa was a journalist who was trapped in Raccoon City during the events of Resident Evil 2, and she, along with other survivors, had to escape the city before it was destroyed.

Grace is Alyssa’s daughter, and in the trailer, she is going to visit the Remwood Hotel, where Alyssa was murdered. Later in the trailer, images from what appears to be the remnants of a destroyed Raccoon City are shown — including the police department from RE2 — so it appears Resident Evil 9 will return to where the series started.

Leon’s (rumored) return is a big deal for the series, which has made some of its best games with him in the starring role. He first showed up as a rookie cop in Resident Evil 2, which built on the original game’s success with more story and improved monsters and level design.

He showed up again in Resident Evil 4, which took the series in a new direction by introducing an over-the-shoulder perspective, instead of the usual static camera angles and tank controls. Leon was also one of several playable protagonists in Resident Evil 6, a game that seemed to forget about its survival horror roots. We mostly don’t talk about that one.

But the 2019 remake of Resident Evil 2 was an excellent return to form, bringing RE4’s gameplay and much better graphics to a fan-favorite entry. The RE4 remake was a similar success.

Resident Evil Requiem is set to drop Feb. 27, 2026, for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series consoles, but we’re hoping to get our hands on it this weekend. If you want to catch up on older Resident Evil games, Capcom is having a sale that includes basically all the games, including Village and the three remakes.