THREE’S COMPANY

You often have to multitask. Why shouldn’t your phone? Researchers at Dartmouth and two Canadian schools—the Universities of Waterloo and Calgary—have built a new three-in-one smartphone, with a trio of screens nestled into a single, 3-D-printed case. The primary phone, with the largest display, can monitor, control app access and share the screen with two smaller peripheral handsets. Powered by a custom version of Google’s Android operating system, the unit is designed so a parent can, say, check work email while the kids watch YouTube and mine Bitcoin. The early version is ungainly, but the developers are finessing its looks and functionality (for diversions such as multiplayer games). We all dislike sharing our sacred devices, but this nascent contraption points one possible way toward a more communitarian friendsand-family smartphone future.