The firm said people were still able to use mobile data services and make 999 calls during the outage. Three's support team has been telling customers that it does not "have a timeframe" for a fix, but that the firm is "working hard to resolve this as soon as possible". Three has around 10.5m customers across the UK, according to its website, but it is unclear how many of them are affected by the outages. Many people on social media have shared their frustration at the outage and described the disruption they said it had caused them. One person claimed they had "missed a medical appointment" as a result of being unable to receive calls, while another said the issues had left their daughter "stranded".

The upgraded Magnifier app stands out with iOS 18. Technology can be wonderfully convenient and provide a great deal of entertainment, but it can also be a great way to improve your everyday life, too. For those who experience visual challenges, a variety of apps and features can help you. That's why we love this question about apps and features that can help visually challenged loved ones: "I am not tech savvy. I need to know if there is an app that I can download on a phone, that will allow my mother to tell the app, without needing internet services, who she wants to make a phone call to? She's losing her eyesight and can no longer see the numbers on her phone. She's 88 years old and doesn't own a computer and has limited income," writes "Sheryl" of Westminster, Colorado.

Alexa has long been able to call friends and loved ones on their home and cell phones, but now you can ask Alexa to perform a new trick: placing and receiving calls using your AT&T mobile number. The feature, which allows AT&T subscribers to link their mobile numbers with Alexa, comes courtesy of a just-announced partnership between Amazon and AT&T, according to The Verge. Once you have your AT&T account linked, you can ask Alexa to call a contact with your AT&T number, answer incoming calls, or even dial a number by saying the digits. Alexa's "carrier calling" feature is new in the U.S. but not in other territories, with The Verge noting that users in the UK and Germany can link (respectively) their Vodafone OneNumber and EE mobile numbers with Alexa. You can ask Alexa to make and receive calls with your AT&T number once you link your AT&T account in the Alexa app.

Alexa users can always count on Amazon's voice assistant for a hand, and with the $129.99 Echo Loop smart ring, they can have Alexa wrapped around their finger. Currently available on an invitation-only basis, the Loop is an Amazon Day 1 Edition product (essentially a beta device you pay for) that gives you access to Alexa with the tap of a button. As usual, you can ask Alexa to answer questions, set reminders, create to-do and shopping lists, get directions and the weather, control connected smart home devices, make calls, and more. If you're a virtual assistant power user, it offers a new level of convenience, letting you summon not only Alexa but Google Assistant or Siri wherever you are without having to reach for your phone.

Artificial intelligence (A.I.) will one day integrate into human lives. While some of us are worried this form of technology will take over many jobs, it's also being used to enhance currently existing technology. But for those of you that still don't understand the potential of what AI can do, here are some tools and games you can try on your web browser. Sometimes when you're playing the piano, you might wish that you could perform a duet with someone else, only to realize that the people around you are tone deaf and should never touch a musical instrument. The good news is there's a program called A.I. Duet that can listen to the notes you're playing and try to follow up with its own tunes. It works best when you're playing a real song and not just some random notes.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most exciting technological growth areas in recent years, with some investors like technologically-focused entrepreneur Tej Kohli predicting the sector will be worth $150 trillion (£125tn) by 2025, but why do we need the technology in our phones? Flagship devices today all come equipped with specialised AI processing chips, known and neural engines or neural processing units, from Apple's A12 Bionic CPU to Huawei's Kirin 980 or Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845, and more and more tasks are using their advanced processing capabilities. The most obvious artificial intelligence in our phones are the voice assistants that learn to understand our voice commands and then act appropriately from telling us the weather to playing our favourite song or adding an appointment to our calendar. Google, Apple, and Amazon have steered clear of labelling their services as AI so as not to scare away users fearful of a robot takeover, but these services rely on machine learning to function – understanding what you are telling them to do and then performing the right action. Possibly the most advanced implementation of any digital assistant is Google's Duplex service that will make calls and interact with other people and businesses on your behalf.

A year ago, we were so impressed with what was then called the Google Home Hub, we called it one of the top 10 best tech products of 2018, with one caveat. We wished it could be bigger. Now, the all-new, and yes, larger version is in stores, with a bigger 10-inch screen (up from 7 inches) higher price tag ($229, vs. $129) and a confusing new name. The new Google Nest Hub Max, with a ten-inch screen, back to back with the old Nest Hub, with a 7-inch screen. The old Home Hub is now called the Nest Hub, and the larger, new version is the Nest Hub Max.

Forget Black Friday - one of the year's biggest shopping days is just hours away from kicking off, giving you the chance to rack up dozens of deals without even needing to take a single step away from your computer or phone. Amazon Prime Day - a 36-hour online sale open only to Amazon Prime users - kicks off in the US at 3 pm ET, offering a wide variety of savings and bargains that could save you hundreds of dollars on everything from a fancy new TV to your favorite mascara. But with so many deals on offer, how do you know that you're really getting the most out of your money? According to Sara Skirboll, RetailMeNot's shopping and trends expert, it's all about knowing what you want before the sales start, and being aware of what categories are most likely to offer the best bargains. 'Be ready when the festivities begin and check back often,' she told DailyMail.com.

You've just noticed a great price on an Amazon Echo Dot or Google Home Mini smart speaker. The prices are intended to make them impulse purchases, because both Amazon and Google are desperate to get their foot in the door of your home. Voice assistants and smart home automation are expected to be the next big thing in tech, and both companies know that once you experience the convenience of a smart speaker in one room, you're likely to want it in others. Before making a purchase, you really should do your homework. It all comes down to the hardware, the capabilities of their digital assistants, and the way they can do things such as play music and control other smart devices in your home.

There is a lot you can do with Alexa. Here's how you can add skills. It was every Amazon Echo owner's nightmare. Alexa, the connected speaker, really, truly, was listening in on your conservations, and behind your back, passed on the recording of a private chit-chat to someone on your Echo contact list. This actually happened this week, according to Seattle TV station KIRO, which told the story of a Portland woman's privacy gone amuck.