Technologies

This Android Phone Puts the Emphasis on Easy Repairs and a Sustainability Vibe

The Fairphone 6 will be getting a new push in the US. But first, there are the headphones.

If you’re looking for a device with a difference, Fairphone may have just the thing for you. The Dutch company puts its emphasis on consumer electronics products that are designed to be easy to repair and that are produced with sustainability in mind.

It’ll be making a new push in the US with an Android version of its Fairphone 6, along with over-the-ear headphones called the Fairbuds XL. Both feature a modular construction, as well as the incorporation of recycled materials and components that are e-waste neutral.

First up will be the headphones, which feature 30 hours of listening, active noise canceling and joystick control. Fairphone says they’ll be available in stores by late November or early December, and are currently available online.

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The Android phone doesn’t have a formal launch date yet. That’s because of the «complicated process» of launching a new Android phone in the US, Fairphone’s chief commercial officer, Rutger Sneep, tells CNET. «We’re working hard towards being ready for that in the very near future,» Sneep said.

In a twist, an Android-less version of the Fairphone 6 is already available in the US through French startup Murena, under the branding Murena Fairphone (Gen. 6). That model uses an operating system called /e/OS and is «de-Googled,» meaning it doesn’t have Google apps and services preloaded as do most other Android-based smartphones.

When Fairphone itself begins selling the phone in the US, it will run on the Android system with Google apps and services preloaded.

But it is repairability and sustainability that Sneep points to as the core of its appeal to US consumers, «who are increasingly interested in their right to repair and having longer-lasting devices.»

There has been a notable push to empower DIY fixes for phones and other gear. Right-to-repair laws have been introduced in all 50 states, and some are already in force (check out this handy map from iFixit). Whether it’s for tech devices or farm machinery, such laws say that manufacturers must make available parts, tools, diagnostic software and repair documentation. It’s an effort to give consumers more control over their purchases and make them last instead of going the throw-it-away-and-buy-a-new-one route.

CNET senior editor Mike Sorrentino says Fairphone’s message of sustainability aligns well with a US consumer base that could be skittish about economic uncertainties over tariffs.

«Fairphone’s longstanding pitch has been about making a phone that lasts longer by being easy to repair, making this US push timed quite well for tariff-conscious phone buyers,» Sorrentino said. «It may even be novel to see a phone available at US stores whose battery can actually be replaced without needing to make an appointment at a repair store.»

Fairphone says its latest phone should last eight years or more. Need to replace the battery? The cameras? The speakers? Check, check and check. All the parts are listed here.

iFixit gives the Fairphone 6 a repairability score of 10 out of 10.

The business model appears to be succeeding in Europe. The company said revenue grew 61% year over year in the third quarter of 2025. Sales of spare parts went up 41% during the same period.

Technologies

Google, Meta and Amazon Join Global Pact to Fight Rising Online Scams

The companies will share fraud intelligence and coordinate responses as AI makes scams faster, cheaper and harder to detect.

Modern online scams operate across multiple platforms, perhaps spanning social media, messaging apps, email and online marketplaces. Google, Meta and Amazon are among 11 tech, retail and payments companies that have signed a new agreement to combat online scams by sharing threat intelligence across platforms, Axios first reported Monday.

The initiative, called the Industry Accord Against Online Scams & Fraud, is designed to improve how companies detect and respond to fraud that spans multiple services. Participants say they will exchange signals, such as scam-linked accounts and fraudulent domains, and coordinate enforcement actions.

By sharing intelligence in near real time, companies hope to identify these scams earlier and stop them before they spread.

The effort reflects how modern scams operate. A victim might encounter a fake celebrity investment ad on social media, move to a messaging app where the scammer builds trust, then faces prompts to send money through a fraudulent website, payment app or crypto wallet — spanning multiple companies’ ecosystems.

Google said it now blocks hundreds of millions of scam-related results every day using AI, underscoring how both attackers and defenders are increasingly relying on the same technology. Meta removed more than 159 million scam ads in 2025 and is expanding AI tools to detect impersonation and warn users.

Online scams are growing rapidly, in part because generative AI has lowered the barrier to entry. AI can be used not only to produce realistic phishing emails but also to clone voices and deepfake videos that impersonate executives, public figures and even family members.

The agreement is voluntary and doesn’t create new legal obligations, but it comes after regulators’ increased pressure on tech platforms to address fraud more aggressively. The companies say they will begin building frameworks for reporting and intelligence-sharing, though it’s not yet clear how quickly those systems will be deployed or how effective they will be in practice.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, March 18

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for March 18.

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 thought it was a fairly easy one, but 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: Word before «card,» flood» or «photography»
Answer: FLASH

6A clue: Joust weapon
Answer: LANCE

7A clue: Brain, heart or lungs
Answer: ORGAN

8A clue: «Frozen» reindeer
Answer: SVEN

9A clue: What can be found on frozen roads or frozen margaritas
Answer: SALT

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Follow a dentist’s recommendation
Answer: FLOSS

2D clue: Baby bug
Answer: LARVA

3D clue: Shape made in the snow
Answer: ANGEL

4D clue: Very little
Answer: SCANT

5D clue: Egg layer
Answer: HEN

Technologies

Amazon Speeds Up Delivery Even More With 1- and 3-Hour Options

The retailer says the one-hour option is available in hundreds of cities, with discounted shipping for Prime members.

Same-day delivery apparently isn’t fast enough for some Amazon shoppers. The retail giant said on Tuesday it’s adding new shipping options that will get products to front doors within a one- or three-hour window.

The company said in its announcement that the one-hour option is available in hundreds of cities across the US, while the three-hour option is now live in more than 2,000 areas. Amazon’s web page at amazon.com/getitfast shows whether those options are available to shoppers for their location. More than 90,000 products will be available for those shipping windows, the company said.

For those who can’t get those services (including the author of this post, who lives between Austin and San Antonio in Texas), a message will display: «3-hour delivery is currently unavailable. Check back at a later time or shop products with Same-Day delivery below.»

Pricing for the faster delivery options is not cheap: It’ll cost you $20 for one-hour delivery and $15 for three-hour delivery for those without an Amazon Prime account, or $10 and $5 for customers who subscribe to Prime.

Last year, the company rolled out faster Amazon delivery options to 4,000 additional areas.

In a video of the podcast Learn and Be Curious with Doug Herrington, hosted by Amazon’s CEO of worldwide stores, Kandace Kapps, the director of the company’s same-day strategy team, spoke in more detail about the challenges of fast shipping. Kapps discussed shifts in customer buying habits over the last few years, such as more people buying household essentials like toilet paper on Amazon.

She said that Amazon can deliver so quickly by placing same-day delivery hubs close to customers in metro areas and by getting products ready to ship within 15 minutes, aided by warehouse robots.

«I think customers are going to continue to get magically surprised by how fast we can deliver to their doorstop,» Kapps said.

Herrington said fast shipping increases sales: «When we speed up the service, the probability that somebody buys a product from us goes up.»

Other retailers, including Walmart, have been adding same-day delivery options or exploring other ways to speed up shipping times to compete with Amazon.

Removing buyers’ moments of hesitation

Part of Amazon’s strategy, which has involved a massive buildout of locations, deployment of thousands of trucks, deals with other delivery services and investment in logistics software, is actually pretty simple: being there when people need last-minute items or make impulse buys.

«It’s about removing the last moment where you would’ve reconsidered the purchase,» said Stephanie Carls, retail insights expert at coupon and promotional-code website RetailMeNot, a sibling site of CNET. «It changes how you shop, not just how fast you get things.»

Carls said that Amazon’s super-fast delivery is removing the timeframe when people might change their minds about a purchase.

«There used to be a gap between deciding to buy something and actually having it. That’s when you’d price check, rethink it, or decide you didn’t need it after all,» she said. «This closes that gap.»

The retail expert said that competitors, including Walmart and Target, have been speeding up delivery times in some markets. Still, they’re not matching Amazon’s scale or product range at those speeds or levels of consistency.

«And that’s what starts to make everyone else feel slow,» Carls said. «Amazon’s advantage is how tightly connected its technology, inventory and delivery networks are, which makes this level of speed more repeatable.»