News

The Fairphone 3 is an ethical smartphone with modular parts

A smartphone that cares for the people and the planet

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The smartphone industry is plagued by ethical problems such as human exploitation and e-waste production. Fairphone —  a Dutch company that aims to reduce e-waste and exploitation — has taken the wraps off its Fairphone 3.

Ethical by Design

Like its predecessors, the Fairphone 3 retain its modular design where all of its components are swappable for a spare part. All of its components — yes, all of it — can be taken out and replaced with another identical component. This is made possible with a modular design that replaces adhesives with Phillips screws which conjoins all the smartphone components together. Every spare part is also purchasable through Fairphone’s online store.

There is no shortage of components to take apart — the display, the cameras, and the speakers are all replaceable. And not to forget the battery which can be easily removed and swapped with another battery — harking back to the days when smartphones had removable batteries. As such, the phone can easily be repaired when something goes wrong. This ensures that the phone lasts longer and doesn’t end up in a landfill.

The components of the Fairphone 3 are also made mostly from recycled components. Fairphone sourced all of its components in places and industries which ensure good working conditions for its workers, making it an “ethical” smartphone.

There is no USB-C charger or earphone in the box as Fairphone believes that most users have them nowadays. And sticking with its ethos, the Fairphone 3 ships with a mini screwdriver on the box.

Specs and Availability

The Fairphone 3 is a modest smartphone for 2019. It features a 5.7 inch 18:9 display with bezels on both sides. The processor is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 which can be seen in budget devices. The device also has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. While that seems inadequate for a device that is built to last, Fairphone adds a MicroSD card slot which most smartphones today doesn’t have.

The 12MP rear camera and 8MP selfie camera are adequate for everyday tasks. The device runs Android 9 Pie out of the box. Keeping the lights on is a 3,000 mAh battery which seems inadequate for 2019. On the flip side, the device retains a headphone jack which is absent on most smartphones nowadays.

The phone is available starting September for US$ 500.

That steep price seems justifiable considering the efforts Fairphone made into producing an ethical smartphone that cares for the people and the planet. The phone is the Fairphone’s third smartphone iteration that features a modular design. Its predecessor, the Fairphone 2, was released last 2015 — so it was due time that Fairphone release another successor.

 

Gaming

AMD FSR Upscaling 4.1 now available for Radeon RX 7000 Series

Update drops earlier than expected, powering more than 300 supported games

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PC and handheld gamers can officially skip the wait, as AMD has launched its FSR 4.1 upscaling technology for Radeon RX 7000 series (RDNA 3) GPUs.

Computing and Graphics Group Senior Vice President and GM Jack Huynh made the announcement on X (formerly Twitter). This development brings machine learning powered gaming to millions of players across more than 300 games.

By downloading the latest AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.6.2 driver, users can unlock the new AI upscaling suite on existing RX 7000 series desktop graphics cards.

(The driver can be downloaded here.)

The update drastically sharpens image reconstruction, delivers far superior temporal stability, and keeps motion ghosting to an absolute minimum. That’s across a massive library of supported titles.

Beyond optimized frame rates out of the gate for those two blockbusters, the release packs vital architecture stability improvements and bug fixes for the broader Radeon ecosystem.

Huynh added that AMD is actively engineering lightweight machine learning models to expand FSR 4.1 optimizations to a wider base of gamers. More details are to come.

Moreover, the driver for the FSR 4.1 upscaling technology will deliver day-one support for two highly anticipated releases: Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced and DOOM: The Dark Ages | Revelations.

if you are wielding an RDNA 3 desktop rig or an RDNA 3-powered handheld, like the ROG Ally X or Lenovo Legion GO, simply open up the AMD Software suite, get the update, and test the new AI tech.

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News

TECNO EllaClaw is your next-gen Agentic AI

Smarter yet more practical

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Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

TECNO is giving its experimental AI assistant, EllaClaw, a major upgrade.

Still in its Beta stage, EllaClaw is evolving from a simple AI chatbot into a more proactive Agentic AI (not to confuse with AI Agent) that can manage your phone, learn your habits, and even interact with third-party apps on your behalf.

From chatbot to personal phone caretaker

TECNO says EllaClaw now goes beyond answering questions and can actively help optimize your smartphone.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

Powered by over 40 Smart Skills, the AI agent can perform tasks such as:

  • Cleaning up RAM and CPU resources to reduce lag
  • Identifying apps that consume excessive battery power
  • Optimizing background activity to cool down the device during heavy use
  • Monitoring mobile data consumption based on your usage habits

Importantly, major changes still require user approval, keeping people in control before any action is executed.

Learning your routines

EllaClaw is also gaining persistent memory capabilities, allowing it to remember user habits and preferences over time.

This enables more personalized features such as morning briefings, combining your calendar, weather, travel plans, and news updates in one.

There’s also Trip Preparation Assistance that can arrange transportation and set departure reminders. Moreover, context-aware reminders to stay connected with family members and loved ones.

The idea is to transform EllaClaw into a digital companion that proactively helps organize daily life.

Cross-app support

Perhaps the biggest leap forward is EllaClaw’s ability to work across different apps. With user permission, it can interact alongside shopping apps, transportation services, food delivery platforms, as well as smart home ecosystems.

Rather than operating invisibly in the background, TECNO says EllaClaw uses a visible, human-like interface that lets users see every action it takes which include:

  • Booking rides through a single voice or text command
  • Monitoring connected smart home devices
  • Acting as a shopping assistant that finds products inside e-commerce apps such as Lazada

The future of Ella?

TECNO emphasizes that EllaClaw remains an exploratory project undergoing internal testing and closed beta development.

The move is part of TECNO’s broader “Practical AI” strategy, which aims to make advanced AI features more useful and accessible, particularly for users in emerging markets.

While there’s no official release date yet, the company says more details about future availability and additional capabilities will be announced as its development continues even further.

Still, with the latest update, it offers a glimpse at where mobile AI is headed: less about asking questions and more about having an assistant that can proactively get things done for you.

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Apps

Honor, Xiaomi are working on their own Privacy Displays

Samsung’s Privacy Display is apparently very popular.

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Normally, a smartphone brand’s blatant copying of another brand’s feature is not a good practice. Today, however, there is a new feature that we wish other brands would copy: Samsung’s Privacy Display. Thankfully, some brands, like Honor, have finally gotten the message and are working on version of the feature.

As reported by Digital Chat Station on Weibo, Honor is reportedly working on a privacy screen for its smartphones. Likewise, Xiaomi is working on the same thing, potentially launching the feature for the Xiaomi 18 Pro.

For the uninitiated, the Samsung Privacy Display is a built-in feature that blocks visibility of the screen at certain angles. If you’re not looking at the screen from the front, all you’ll see is a black void. It’s a built-in version of those protective screens that you can buy separately. Besides adding a nice layer of protection against scratches, it’s also meant to prevent snooping from your shoulder.

Samsung’s take was widely acclaimed for being insanely useful. When it arrives, this feature will be a godsend to more brands. Even better, users will no longer need to rely on third-party screen just to enjoy the privacy.

That said, there’s still no indication as to when these features will arrive on either Honor or Xiaomi.

SEE ALSO: LE SSERAFIM Chaewon flexes Galaxy S26 Ultra Privacy Display

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