STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep. It's hard to look away from a smartphone now that it's a computer and game center. Luckily, your phone can help. The Singapore Straits Times reports three students won funding for a smartphone app. It prompts you to look at the people you're with. When you meet somebody, you put your phones together. The longer you resist that urge to touch it, the larger an apple tree grows on the screen. You trade the apples for rewards later when you're back on your phone. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.