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"The Fairphone is a modular handset designed with repairability and ethical sourcing of its materials as headline features. It sold 60,000 units. Amazingly, for what sounds like a nerd-phone, almost half of those buyers had never owned a smartphone before. Now the Fairphone 2 is launching, and with a totally-new, in-house design. The new phone is even easier to repair, and because it was wholly designed by the FairPhone team, its supply chain is even more responsible than ever. The Fairphone is thicker than the latest iPhone or Samsung flagship, but that's the point. Instead of packing everything into a tiny case and keeping it there with glue, the Fairphone is designed to be taken apart. The lightweight magnesium frame supports modules that can be easily replaced by the user. "We have designed it with an aim to last three to five years, looking at making it robust and modular-for repairability," says Fairphone's chief communications officer, Tessa Wernink. "Obviously how long it lasts depends quite heavily on the user, so what we as a company are doing is offering an ecosystem around the phone that supports long-lasting use, first-hand or second-hand." Inside the case (itself one of several options) you'll find the core unit, containing all the chips and radios; a replaceable battery pack; a display that can be snapped off and replaced without any tools (not even a screwdriver); a receiver unit, which contains the front camera, sensors; the headset connector and microphones; a speaker/vibrator unit; and a camera module. These modules are designed to balance manufacturing complexity with repairability. For instance, the display comes as a standalone unit, but less-vulnerable components are bundled into one module. The camera, which people are most likely to upgrade as better versions become available, is also housed in its own module. That way you don't need to toss out your whole phone just to get a better camera. "In fact, the motto from the maker mo

"El teléfono móvil tiene cada día más presencia en nuestras vidas, de hecho dicen algunos/as expertos/as que los/as españoles/as estamos más enganchados/as que nunca a ellos. El teléfono inteligente se está posicionando a la cabeza de los dispositivos que utilizamos para conectarnos a internet y está condicionando, en muchos casos, la forma de relacionarnos con el resto. Pero, ¿os habéis parado a pensar cuál es la historia que se esconde detrás de nuestros móviles, de dónde vienen sus componentes, dónde se fabrican, cómo se distribuyen y cuál puede ser el impacto del proceso en el medio ambiente? Para responder a estas y otras preguntas sobre nuestro teléfono móvil, ofrecemos hoy una entrada titulada "La historia de un móvil" elaborada por Marta González Reyes, profesora del Colegio Hipatia de FUHEM."

"Hace diez años, los adolescentes argentinos se conectaban a internet 30 minutos por día. Hoy, 7 de cada 10 no apagan nunca su celular, incluso cuando duermen", describe. En Colombia, según una investigación realizada por Tigo Une y la Universidad Eafit este año, el promedio nacional se establece en una hora con 46 minutos para los niños de 9 a 10 años, dos horas y 34 minutos para los de 11 a 12 años, cuatro horas con 19 minutos para los adolescentes de entre 13 y 14 años, y de cinco horas y cinco minutos para los jóvenes de 15 a 16 años."