Are Facebook and Instagram too addictive for children and teenagers? That’s a question that the United States wants Meta to answer. The answer, however, comes in the form of a US$ 18 billion fine and changes to how teenagers can use the platforms.

Recently, Meta found itself in a pool of hot water over how addictive their platforms are for younger users. The government alleges that the company incentivizes a teenager’s prolonged usage and collects their data without their consent.

After some deliberation, Meta has agreed to the US$ 18 billion settlement and policy changes for younger users, pending the court’s agreement, of course.

Besides the hefty (but ultimately insignificant for the multi-billion dollar company) fine, Meta will impose stricter limits on teenage use. For example, teenagers can now use the platforms for only up to two hours per day. Meta will also block usage between midnight to 6AM. Parents can still manually change these limits. The platforms are also blocking notifications for younger users at night and during school hours.

Meta says that they’ll increase these limits to only one hour per day and a block from 10PM to 7AM, if rival platforms like YouTube and TikTok follow in their footsteps. They will also withhold 30 percent of the fine, unless these same platforms agree to the limits.

Most notably, Meta is starting a new “non-algorithmic” feed for teenagers which limits what they see only to accounts that they actually follow. This prevents the algorithm from sinking them into an endless doom-scrolling loop. Honestly, we wish that this “feature,” which is already what Meta was years before, comes to all users, too.

Though these measures are a welcome change to combat addiction, it’s only the tip of the iceberg on what Facebook and Instagram can change for the better. One can hope that this settlement will lead to more changes in the future.

September 9 might be the most anticipated date for foldable fans this year. Today, Apple has revealed that the aforementioned date will host the brand’s annual fall event, this time titled “Surprise and Shine.”

As is custom every year, Apple releases official invites heading into the fall to officially announce its next event. The event, which usually finds itself as the home of the next iPhone generation, will potentially herald Apple’s first ever foldable phone.

For a while now, so many rumors have teased the coming of the so-called iPhone Fold. Rather than dwelling on the traditional slab phone, Apple is reportedly entering the foldable market to compete against the likes of the Galaxy Fold and the Pixel Fold series.

To be fair, the rumored foldable is shrouded in a lot of mystery. Though there have been dummy models already, the device can still go in a lot of different directions. Is it going to be a book-style foldable to start, or is Apple already barreling headfirst into the passport-style foldable segment becoming popular only today? Heck, is it even coming this year?

Outside all this talk about foldables, one thing we’ll surely get this year is the next iPhone 18 generation. In terms of hardware, the upcoming generation hasn’t really caused a lot of waves. However, we’re very excited for the supposed Dark Cherry colorway option coming with this series.

Of note, this will also be the first Apple event with John Ternus as the company’s leader, taking over from the departing Tim Cook. There’s a lot riding on making a big splash to start off his stint, especially coming from an engineering background.

Did you know that the original Nokia 3310 had only up to 1000mAh of battery life per charge? And yet, a single charge is enough to last ages. That’s because a “dumb” phone doesn’t really need a lot of juice to work. But what if you stick a larger battery onto a dumb phone. Well, you can get a phone that can double as a powerbank, and that’s just what the new Nokia 300 Charge is.

Despite the abundance of smarter options today, dumb phones, especially those from Nokia, can still find a home in the hands of those who don’t want to feel connected 24/7. Now, there’s another use for a dumb phone: a savior for your main phone.

The Nokia 300 Charge has a sizable 3700mAh battery. Powering the phone, the battery can supposedly last up to 40 hours on standby. However, it can also double as a powerbank for your other devices, which is a basic 10W reverse wired charging with an included 4-in-1 cable.

Technically, a 3700mAh powerbank is sorely inadequate for today’s devices that often go beyond 5000mAh already. Still, if you’re in a tight situation, the Nokia 300 Charge might be a lifesaver.

In addition to saving your devices from an empty battery, the phone can also save you from darkness with a built-in LED flashlight.

Inside, you’ll get a basic Unisoc SC6531E chipset with 4GB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage. For that added flavor of nostalgia, the Nokia 300 Charge comes with a retro QVGA camera.

HMD has not announced when the phone will come out or its price, but you can expect it to be cheaper than most phones today.

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