Technologies

Samsung’s $450 Galaxy A54 5G Is Here to Challenge the Pixel 6A

Samsung’s latest sub-$500 phone launches on April 6.

This story is part of Samsung Event, CNET’s collection of news, tips and advice around Samsung’s most popular products.

Samsung is expanding its lineup of A-series devices with the $450 Galaxy A54 5G, which launches on April 6 and is available for preorder starting March 30. It represents Samsung’s latest effort to capture the market for middle-tier smartphones, competing directly with Google’s $450 Pixel 6A.

The Galaxy A54 5G has a lot in common with last year’s Galaxy A53 5G. That phone punched above its weight in many ways except for its occasionally laggy performance, as I wrote in my review. Both phones have a 5,000-mAh battery, which matches the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s in capacity, a screen with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate and 128GB of storage that’s expandable up to 1TB. They also have very similar screen sizes, with the Galaxy A54’s measuring 6.4 inches, making it just slightly smaller than the Galaxy A53’s 6.5-inch display. International pricing wasn’t immediately available. But the Galaxy A53 5G had the same US price at launch, and lists for £399 and AU$699 in the UK and Australia, respectively.

The biggest changes Samsung made to its new phone have to do with the camera. The Galaxy A54 5G has a 50-megapixel primary camera instead of the Galaxy A53’s 64-megapixel main sensor, although both phones have a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera and a 5-megapixel macro camera. Samsung instead seems to be emphasizing nighttime photography with the Galaxy A54 5G, although we won’t know how much of an improvement to expect until we are able to try it. The company also says the pixels in the Galaxy A54 5G’s sensor are larger than those in the Galaxy A53 5G’s camera, therefore requiring fewer megapixels. Like its predecessor, the Galaxy A54 5G also has a 32-megapixel front camera, but Samsung got rid of the rear-facing 5-megapixel depth camera.

The Galaxy A54 5G will run on an Exynos 1380 processor, which sounds like it might be the successor to the Exynos 1280 chip in last year’s phone. I’m curious to see whether this chip makes a difference, since performance was one of my few complaints about the Galaxy A53 5G. Like other recent Samsung phones, the Galaxy A54 5G will receive four generations of Android OS updates and five years of security updates.

Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S devices and its foldable phones may attract the most attention, but the company’s A-series devices have built a serious following. Two of Samsung’s A-series devices, the Galaxy A13 and Galaxy A03, made it into Counterpoint Research’s rankings of the top-selling phones in 2022, while the Galaxy S series was nowhere to be found.

The launch comes as Google has been competing with Samsung more aggressively on price in recent years. Google has its own A-series devices that offer some features from its flagship Pixel line at a more affordable price. The $450 Pixel 6A, for example, is one of the best-looking phones in its price range and inherits Google’s Tensor processor from the Pixel 6. It also offers a superior camera compared to the Galaxy A53 5G when taking photos in very bright or dim surroundings. Google launched the Pixel 6A last July after announcing it at its developer conference in May, so there’s a chance it could launch a successor in the coming months.

Back of the Samsung Galaxy A54 5G. — The Galaxy A54 5G has a 50-megapixel main camera.

Samsung

Beyond its A-series phones, Google also sells its flagship Pixel phones for significantly less than the list price of Samsung’s new Galaxy S phones. The Pixel 7, for example, starts at $600, while the Galaxy S23 begins at $800 without a trade-in discount.

Still, Samsung dominates the US market for Android phones, accounting for 20% of shipments in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to Google’s 5%, according to Counterpoint Research.

The Galaxy A54 5G is also another sign that you no longer have to pay close to $1,000 to get features like a multilens camera and a screen with a high refresh rate. It builds on a theme that’s been prevalent throughout the industry in recent years, particularly on Android devices, as once-premium features like 5G, larger screens and advanced cameras have trickled down to cheaper devices.

And while Apple did release a third-generation of the iPhone SE last year for $429 that competes with Samsung and Google’s midrange offerings, the company isn’t expected to refresh its cheaper iPhone in 2023. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that a fourth iPhone SE is in development, but it’s not expected to arrive until 2024.

Technologies

Social Media and AI Want Your Attention at All Times. This New Documentary Says That’s Bad

Your Attention Please, a documentary premiering this week at SXSW in Austin, Texas, explores how we live in the attention economy.

«Do you remember the world before cellphones?»

The question comes early in Your Attention Please, a documentary premiering this week at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. And it hit me harder than I expected. As a 27-year-old tech reporter, I realized I don’t have too many clear memories of life before smartphones. My adolescence unfolded alongside the rise of smartphones, social media, push notifications and the routine of endless scrolling. Like many people my age, I’ve spent most of my life inside the attention economy — without ever really stepping outside it.

That’s the uneasy territory the documentary explores.

CNET was given exclusive early access to the film’s trailer, embedded below.

Exploring how tech shapes our behavior

Director Sara Robin said she originally set out to make something smaller: a documentary about people trying to reclaim their attention by breaking unhealthy phone habits. In an interview with CNET, Robin described the idea as a personal story about focus and self-control in an age of constant distraction.

As Robin interviewed researchers, technologists and families affected by social media and cyberbullying, the film’s scope widened. What started as a question about individual habits quickly became a larger investigation into how modern technology systems are designed to shape human behavior. The story stretches from the rise of social media to the emerging influence of AI.

Along the way, Robin and her collaborators kept hearing the same observation from different corners of the digital world: Social media didn’t just change how people communicate; it quietly rewired what we value. Experiences that were once private or emotional — friendship, affection, belonging — began to acquire numerical equivalents. Followers, likes, comments, views and shares began to be how we saw our own self-worth. In the architecture of social platforms, those numbers function as a kind of social currency.

Trisha Prabhu, a digital-safety advocate and inventor of the anti-cyberbullying technology ReThink, argues that social platforms did more than create new online spaces. She says they fundamentally reshaped how social validation works. The metrics that define popularity often reward attention-seeking behavior and amplify conflict, while genuine connection is now harder to quantify and, therefore, easier to overlook.

Prabhu warns that the same dynamics already driving problems like cyberbullying could accelerate as automated systems become more capable. AI tools can generate abusive messages at scale, produce convincing impersonations or create deepfakes that spread rapidly online. In some cases, the technology may even blur the line between human interaction and machine-generated communication, which could deepen loneliness or encourage harmful behavior.

«There’s AI exacerbating existing harms [like automating cyberbullying], but then I also think that there’s AI creating completely new harms,» Prabhu told CNET. «There are reports of AI tools encouraging users, including minor users, to commit self-harm… Even for the everyday user who’s not experiencing the extreme outcome, I think we have to ask ourselves how much of our time and connection we want spent with an AI tool as opposed to a fellow human being.»

Bringing attention to attention

What struck Robin during filming the documentary was how universal these anxieties felt. Across conversations with families, educators and advocates around the world, the themes were remarkably consistent: overstimulated attention, declining focus in classrooms, rising anxiety among young people and a persistent sense of dread that comes from always being plugged in.

Those shared concerns have helped spark a coordinated moment around the film’s release.

On March 11, more than 25 organizations focused on digital well-being will simultaneously release the trailer for Your Attention Please as part of an initiative called Stand for Their Attention. What began as a small collaboration among five groups quickly grew as word spread through advocacy networks. The coalition now includes organizations such as Common Sense Media, Protect Young Eyes, Mothers Against Media Addiction, the Center for Humane Technology, Smartphone Free Childhood and Scrolling to Death.

The idea behind the synchronized launch is simple: Use the attention surrounding the documentary to highlight the growing movement that’s already working to reshape digital culture.

Many people feel overwhelmed by the scale of the problem, Robin says, but behind the scenes, a widening ecosystem of advocates is experimenting with ways to build healthier digital environments, from redesigning products to changing norms around screen use.

The campaign also arrives at a moment of growing scrutiny around the attention economy. Lawmakers in the US and abroad are increasingly debating how social platforms affect youth mental health and childhood development. Boycotts around AI use are taking off. Researchers are studying how these algorithms and chatbots influence behavior. Individuals are trying to figure out how much technology belongs in everyday life.

What can we do about it?

Despite the weight of those conversations, Robin says the goal of the film isn’t to leave audiences feeling powerless. In fact, the rapid rise of public awareness around AI has made her more optimistic than she was during the early days of social media. The systems shaping digital life, she argues, are built by people, which means they can also be rebuilt.

«We have more power than we think,» Robin said. «And there are a lot of different ways to get involved in this, from changing individual habits to changing the culture in your own family and in your community, designing technology differently, getting engaged in these conversations, all the way to pushing for legislative change.»

The film intentionally avoids presenting a single solution.

Instead, Your Attention Please asks a broader question: What happens when attention, one of the most human parts of our lives, becomes one of the most valuable commodities in the global economy? And perhaps more importantly, what kind of digital world do we want to build next?

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for March 12, #535

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for March 12, No. 535.

Looking for the most recent regular 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 and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one, with some very unusual categories. The blue one is pretty fun, actually. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

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

Yellow group hint: City of Brotherly Love.

Green group hint: NBA star.

Blue group hint: Grr! Meow! Roar!

Purple group hint: Think alphabet.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Philadelphia teams.

Green group: Associated with Larry Bird.

Blue group: Sports figures with animal names.

Purple group: Sports figures whose first names sound like two letters.

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

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is Philadelphia teams. The four answers are 76ers, Flyers, Penn and Temple.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is associated with Larry Bird. The four answers are Celtics, French Lick, Pacers and Sycamores.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is sports figures with animal names. The four answers are Bear Bryant, Cat Osterman, Catfish Hunter and Tiger Woods.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is sports figures whose first names sound like two letters. The four answers are Casey Stengel (KC), CeeDee Lamb (CD), Katie Ledecky (KT) and Vijay Singh (VJ).

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Thursday, March 12

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for March 12.

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? I found 7-Across 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.