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 Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, March 14

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for March 14.

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

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s the extra-long Saturday version, and a few of the clues are tricky. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Book parts: Abbr.
Answer: PGS

4A clue: Silicon Valley company that operates a fleet of robotaxis
Answer: WAYMO

6A clue: To a much greater degree
Answer: WAYMORE

8A clue: Contents of a scuba diver’s tank
Answer: AIR

9A clue: South Korean automaker
Answer: KIA

10A clue: Stop on a train route
Answer: STATION

12A clue: Actress Merman of «Anything Goes»
Answer: ETHEL

13A clue: Find another purpose for
Answer: REUSE

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Employee’s hourly calculation
Answer: PAYRATE

2D clue: Workout spot
Answer: GYM

3D clue: «Great» mountains of Tennessee, familiarly
Answer: SMOKIES

4D clue: One giving you the dish?
Answer: WAITER

5D clue: Baltimore M.L.B. player
Answer: ORIOLE

6D clue: Used to be
Answer: WAS

7D clue: Suffix with Caesar or Euclid
Answer: EAN

11D clue: Night that NBC once aired «30 Rock» and «The Office»: Abbr.
Answer: THU

Technologies

AI Toys Can Pose Safety Concerns for Children, New Study Suggests Caution

When one child told the toy, «I love you,» it responded, «As a friendly reminder, please ensure interactions adhere to the guidelines provided.»

A new study from the University of Cambridge found that AI-enabled toys for young children can misinterpret emotional cues and are ineffective at supporting critical developmental play. The conclusions could be concerning for parents.

In one report examining how AI affects children in their early years, a chatbot-enabled toy struggled to recognize social cues during playtime. Researchers found that the toy did not effectively identify children’s emotions, raising alarm about how kids might interact with it.

The report recommends regulating AI toys for kids and requiring clear labeling of their capabilities and privacy policies. It also advises parents to keep these devices in shared spaces where kids can be monitored while playing.

The research behind the study had a limited number of participants, but was done in multiple parts: an online survey of 39 participants with kids in their earlier years, a focus group with nine participants who work with young children and an in-person workshop with 19 leaders and representatives from charities that work with early-years kids. That was followed by monitored playtime with 14 children and 11 parents or guardians with Gabbo, a chatbot-enabled toy from Curio Interactive.

Some findings indicated that the AI toy supported learning, particularly in language and communication skills. But the toy also misunderstood kids and sometimes responded inappropriately to emotional requests.

For instance, when one child told the toy, «I love you,» it responded, «As a friendly reminder, please ensure interactions adhere to the guidelines provided. Let me know how you would like to proceed,» according to the research.

Jenny Gibson, a professor of neurodiversity and developmental psychology at the Faculty of Education at Cambridge, who worked on the study, said that while parents may be excited about the educational benefits of new technology aimed at children, there are plenty of concerns.

Gibson posed overarching questions about the reason behind the tech.

«What would motivate [tech investors] to do the right thing by children … to put children ahead of profits? she said»

Gibson told CNET that while researchers are exploring the potential benefits of AI-based toys, risks remain.

«I would advise parents to take that seriously at this stage,» she said.

What’s next for AI toys

As more playthings are enabled with internet connectivity and AI features, these devices could become a major safety risk for children, especially if they replace real human connections or if interactions are not closely monitored.

Meanwhile, younger people are increasingly adopting chatbots such as ChatGPT, despite red flags. Multiple lawsuits against AI companies allege that AI companions or assistants can impact young people’s psychological safety, including some chatbots that have encouraged self-harm or negative self-image.

AI companies such as OpenAI and Google have responded by adding guardrails and restrictions for AI chatbots.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Gibson said she was surprised by the enthusiasm some parents showed for AI toys. She was also alarmed by the lack of research on AI’s effects on young children, noting that companies making such products should work directly with children, parents, and child development experts.

«What’s missing in the process is that expertise of what is good for children in these kinds of interactions,» she said.

Curio Interactive, the company behind the Gabbo toy, was aware of the research as it was happening but was not directly involved, Gibson said. The toy was chosen because it’s directly marketed to young kids, and the company had an understandable privacy policy. Gibson said the company seemed supportive of the project.

A representative for Curio did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Technologies

Two Lost ‘Doctor Who’ Episodes Found Intact in Waterlogged Collection

The 1960s episodes featuring the first Doctor William Hartnell will air in the UK in April.

Whovians, rejoice. The BBC is about to unlock a piece of Doctor Who history that even the TARDIS might have forgotten. Two lost episodes of Doctor Who, the iconic sci-fi series, will broadcast in April, the showrunner for the current season confirmed.

The two 1965 episodes, The Nightmare Begins and Devil’s Planet, were donated to the charitable trust Film Is Fabulous by the estate of an anonymous collector.

«The collector did recognize what he had, but how he acquired them has been lost to time,» Professor Justin Smith Leicester of De Montfort University, who led the recovery effort, told the broadcaster.

The researchers said that while most of the donor’s private collection was destroyed by water damage, the Doctor Who episodes were intact.

Doctor Who showrunner, Russell T Davies, celebrated the news on Instagram and said the episodes would air in the UK in April, though no US air date has been announced yet.

«Lost for 61 years! Best of all, these will be made available for FREE on the BBC iPlayer in April,» Davies wrote.

He expressed gratitude to Film Is Fabulous for finding the lost episodes and encouraged people to donate to the registered charity. «Maybe they’ll find more! As the Doctor says… ‘Daleks!'»

The episodes feature the first incarnation of the Doctor, played by William Hartnell, and a typical Dalek plot to take over Earth and the galaxy.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the BBC had a policy of destroying film or reusing videotapes, leading to dozens of episodes of Doctor Who and other popular UK shows like Dad’s Army and Top of the Pops going missing.

Old Doctor Who episodes do surface occasionally, and in 2016, the newly discovered soundtrack for one storyline was turned into an animated series called The Power of the Daleks.

Meanwhile, Disney ended its working relationship with the BBC last year, and star Ncuti Gatwa left the show. However, the UK broadcaster says that Doctor Who will continue, and Russell T Davies is working on a new Christmas special.