Category: Tech

Georgeclerk/Getty Images

It’s common for older Android phones to turn laggy and sluggish over time, which is often one of the reasons why many people start thinking about upgrading their phones. However, buying a new device can be a costly endeavor, and you need to avoid common mistakes while buying Android phones. But if you own a relatively recent Android phone and it’s physically fine, you can often extend its lifespan by tweaking a few settings, doing a bit of spring cleaning, and changing some hidden options to give it a new lease of life.

We have already covered how to fix slow animation speeds on old Android phones. But that is just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more you can do on Android, such as clearing the cache to speed up day-to-day performance. Here are four of the relatively uncommon and hidden ways to make your Android phone feel brand new.

Change the background process limit

Gaurav Shukla/BGR

If this is the first time you are reading about the background process limit, you’re not alone. It’s not a setting that you would normally see on any Android phone. It’s a special option hiding under your phone’s Developer Options. As the name suggests, it limits how many processes run simultaneously in the background. While it’s okay for a new phone with powerful hardware to run a dozen or so processes in the background and still feel snappy, older hardware is less forgiving and can make your phone lag. So, by limiting the number of background processes running at any given moment, you can boost the performance of your Android phone.

To do so, first head to Settings > About > Software Information, and tap on the Build number seven times until you see the “You are now a developer!” message on the screen. Then, head to Settings > System > Developer options > Background process limit. The limit would typically be set to Standard, but you can change it to At most 4 processes. Keep in mind, by restricting the number of background processes, you are asking the phone to kill older processes as the number of total background processes goes above four. This can result in some apps getting closed as you switch to others, thus impacting your multitasking experience.

Use running services to find troublesome apps

Tada Images/Shutterstock

Another helpful little option found in your Android phone’s developer options is Running services. It can tell you about all the services running on your phone at that moment, how much RAM they are consuming, and for how long they have been running. This can help you identify any problematic apps and processes that are either consuming too much memory or shouldn’t be running when they’re not in use. You can take these learnings to uninstall apps that you don’t need or stop those you use occasionally from running in the background.

To see running services, navigate to Settings > System > Developer options > Running services. If you want to uninstall any apps or stop them from running in the background, go to Settings > Apps, find the app, and tap on it. You’ll see the option to uninstall it and a toggle next to Allow background usage. You can disable it, but note that it may lead to delayed notifications from those apps, plus they won’t sync any data in the background. Notably, some manufacturers may disable the Running services option on their smartphones, which leaves you with uninstalling the apps as the only option.

Use lite versions or web apps

Gaurav Shukla/BGR

A few years ago, lite apps were a big thing in the Android world, as budget Android phones used to have limited RAM and storage. However, they have since become less popular as affordable phones now have a significant amount of memory and storage. Still, these apps are an excellent way to get a better experience on older phones that don’t have adequate system resources. While many companies have stopped making lite versions, you can still find Lite or Go (in the case of Google) versions for some of the most popular apps, such as Facebook, Instagram, Google, Gmail, Google Maps, Pinterest, and TikTok. Other major apps that are relatively lightweight and faster than their regular counterpart include Opera Mini and Telegram X.

In the absence of a Lite or Go version, you can use the web app of most online services. It’s easy to install a web app; all you have to do is open Chrome and navigate to the website of the service you want, and then select the Add to home screen option in the three-dot menu. If there is a proper web app available, you’ll get the Install option; otherwise, you’ll get the choice to create a shortcut on the home screen that will open the website when triggered. Web apps are pretty lightweight and use substantially fewer resources than native apps.

Remove unnecessary widgets and live wallpapers

While this is not a hidden feature of Android, you can free up critical system resources by removing live wallpapers and any rarely used widgets from your phone’s home screen. This is important because older phones have limited resources, and you don’t want to waste them on frequently updated but sparsely used widgets and live wallpapers, no matter how good they look. It’s easy to remove a widget; press and hold the widget, and you’ll see a menu with the option to remove it.

To change the wallpaper, tap and hold an empty space on your home screen, and you’ll see the various options to customize it, including changing the wallpaper. Pick a static one to replace the live wallpaper. Besides removing widgets and live wallpapers, you can also consider switching to a minimal launcher to save more resources. Minimal launchers keep things simple and often give you just a list of apps with a search function. It may seem like a big switch, but it can potentially help free up system resources.

Source

Stepan Skorobogadko/Shutterstock

The Steam Deck is a nifty little piece of tech that you can use to play games even when you’re out and about. While it’s feature-packed in itself, you can even add some Steam Deck mods and upgrades to improve its functionality further. But, like any electronic device, it’s important to take care of and clean your Steam Deck from time to time to avoid letting oil and dirt build up. This is especially important with the Steam Deck’s touch screen, which you’ll likely be messing around with a bit as you interact with your library and games. Cleaning the screen is vital to avoid scratches, as well as to make interactions smoother. While it might be tempting to grab the Windex or your standard lens cleaner to clean the touch screen, this is something that has been universally argued against across multiple forums and sites.

Instead, Valve recommends using a simple setup to keep the Steam Deck’s touch screen display clean. According to the official Steam Support Care and maintenance tips for the Steam Deck, Valve recommends that Steam Deck owners use a dry microfiber cloth to help clean the display. Additionally, if you do need to use some kind of liquid, Valve suggests using a little bit of isopropyl alcohol on the cloth and only then using it to rub the screen gently. Applying the alcohol directly to the screen can cause damage, which Valve says will not be covered by the handheld’s warranty.

Why you shouldn’t use cleaning chemicals on your Steam Deck

David McQ/Shutterstock

With so many different cleaning chemicals out there designed specifically for windows and other clear surfaces, it can be really tempting to use them on your Steam Deck’s display, too. After all, if they work well on your window, they should work well enough on your console’s screen, right? However, this is not the case, as many screens and displays on electronics also have additional layers. The Steam Deck, for example, has different protective layers depending on which model you purchase — with the more expensive anti-glare option even having a specially designed panel that has etched glass to help reduce glare and reflections on the display. As such, putting any kind of chemical on the screen can lead to abrasions.

Part of the entire allure of Valve’s console is that the Steam Deck offers features other handhelds like the Nintendo Switch 2 never will. Anyone hoping to take full advantage of those features will likely want to protect all parts of the console and change any Steam Deck settings ruining the user experience. While keeping your Steam Deck’s screen clean is important, you’ll also likely want to invest in a good screen protector for the Steam Deck, as you can get an extra layer of protection that not only saves the screen from drops but also helps cut down on oil and fingerprint buildup.

Source

A study by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) suggests that organisations that lead in technology development are gaining a first-mover advantage when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI) and using agentic AI to improve business processes.

What is striking about BCG’s findings, according to Jessica Apotheker, managing director and senior partner at Boston Consulting Group, is that the leading companies in AI are mostly the same ones that were leaders eight years ago.

“What this year’s report shows is that the value gap between these companies and others is widening quite a bit,” she says. In other words, BCG’s research shows that organisations that have invested disproportionately in technology achieve a higher return from that investment.

Numerous pieces of research show that a high proportion of AI initiatives are failing to deliver measurable business success. BCG’s Build for the future 2025 report shows that the companies it rates as the best users of AI generate 1.7 times more revenue growth than the 60% of companies in the categories it defines as stagnating or emerging.

For Ilan Twig, co-founder and chief technology officer (CTO) at Navan, AI projects that fail to deliver value are indicative of how businesses use AI technology. Too often, AI is dropped on top of old systems and outdated processes. 

Building on RPA

However, there is certainly a case to build on previous initiatives such as robotic process automation (RPA).

Speaking at the recent Forrester Technology and Innovation Summit in London, Bernhard Schaffrik, principal analyst at Forrester, discussed how agentic AI can be built on top of a deterministic RPA system to provide greater flexibility than what existing systems can be programmed to achieve.

The analyst firm uses the term “process orchestration” to describe the next level of automating business processes, using agentic AI in workflow to handle ambiguities far more easily than the programming scripts used in RPA.

“Classic process automation tools require you to know everything at the design stage – you need to anticipate all of the errors and all the exceptions,” says Schaffrik.

He points out that considering these things at design time is unrealistic when trying to orchestrate complex processes. But new tools are being developed for process orchestration that rely on AI agents.

A strong data foundation

Boston Consulting Group (BCG) says prerequisites for the successful roll-out of AI agents include strong data foundations, scaled AI capabilities and clear governance.

Standardisation of data is a key requirement for success, according to Twig. “A big part of the issue is data,” he says. “AI is only as strong as the information it runs on, and many companies don’t have the standardised, consistent datasets needed to train or deploy it reliably.”

Within the context of agentic AI, this is important to avoid miscommunications both at the technology infrastructure level and in people’s understanding of the information. But the entire data foundation does not have to be built all at once.

BCG’s Apotheker says companies can have an enterprise-wide goal to achieve clean data, and build this out one project at a time, providing a clean data foundation on which subsequent projects can be built. In doing so, organisations are able to gain a better understanding of the enterprise data these projects require while they ensure that the datasets are clean and good data management practices are followed.

A working agentic AI strategy relies on AI agents connected by a metadata layer, whereby people understand where and when to delegate certain decisions to the AI or pass work to external contractors. It’s a focus on defining the role of the AI and where people involved in the workflow need to contribute. 

This functionality can be considered a sort of platform. Scott Willson, head of product marketing at xtype, describes AI workflow platforms as orchestration engines, coordinating multiple AI agents, data sources and human touchpoints through sophisticated non-deterministic workflows. At the code level, these platforms may implement event-driven architectures using message queues to handle asynchronous processing and ensure fault tolerance.

Data lineage tracking should happen at the code level through metadata propagation systems that tag every data transformation, model inference and decision point with unique identifiers. Willson says this creates an immutable audit trail that regulatory frameworks increasingly demand. According to Willson, advanced implementations may use blockchain-like append-only logs to ensure governance data cannot be retroactively modified.

Adapting workflows and change management

Having built AI-native systems from the ground up and transformed the company’s own product development processes using AI, Alan LeFort, CEO and co-founder of StrongestLayer, notes that most organisations are asking completely the wrong questions when evaluating AI workflow platforms.

“The fundamental issue isn’t technological, it’s actually organisational,” he says.

Conway’s Law states that organisations design systems that mirror their communication structures. But, according to LeFort, most AI workflow evaluations assume organisations bolt AI onto existing processes designed around human limitations. This, he says, results in serial decision-making, risk-averse approval chains and domain-specific silos.

When you try to integrate AI into human-designed processes, you get marginal improvements. When you redesign processes around AI capabilities, you get exponential gains Alan LeFort, StrongestLayer

“AI doesn’t have those limitations. AI can parallelise activities that humans must do serially, doesn’t suffer from territorial knowledge hoarding and doesn’t need the elaborate safety nets we’ve built around human fallibility,” he adds. “When you try to integrate AI into human-designed processes, you get marginal improvements. When you redesign processes around AI capabilities, you get exponential gains.”

StrongestLayer recently transformed its front-end software development process using this principle. Traditional product development flows serially. A product manager talks to customers, extracts requirements and then hands over to the user experience team for design, the programme management team then approves the design, and developers implement the software. It used to take 18-24 months to completely rebuild the application in this process, he says.

Instead of bolting AI onto this process, LeFort says StrongestLayer “fundamentally reimagined it”.

“We created a full-stack prototyper role-paired with a front-end engineer focused on architecture. The key was building an AI pipeline that captured the contextual knowledge of each role: design philosophy, tech stack preferences, non-functional requirements, testing standards and documentation needs.”

As a result of making these workload changes, he says the company was able to achieve the same outcome from a product development perspective in a quarter of the time. This, he says, was not necessarily achieved by working faster, but by redesigning the workflow around AI’s ability to parallelise human sequential activities.

LeFort expected to face pushback. “My response was to lead from the front. I paired directly with our chief product officer, Joshua Bass, to build the process, proving it worked before asking others to adopt it. We reframed success for our front-end engineer around velocity and pioneering new ways of working,” he says.

For LeFort, true speed to value comes from two fundamental sources: eliminating slack time between value activities and accelerating individual activity completion through AI automation. “This requires upfront investment in process redesign rather than quick technology deployment,” he says.

LeFort urges organisations to evaluate AI workflow platforms based on their ability to enable fundamental process transformation, rather than working to integrate existing inefficiencies.

Getting agentic AI decision-making right 

Research from BCG suggests that the best way to deploy agents is through a few high-value workflows with clear implementation plans and workforce training, rather than in a massive roll-out of agents everywhere at once.

There are different models with different strengths. We want to use the best model for each task Ranil Boteju, Lloyds Banking Group

One of the areas IT leaders need to consider is that their organisation will more than likely rely on a number of AI models to support agentic AI workflows. For instance, Ranil Boteju, chief data and analytics officer at Lloyds Banking Group, believes different models can be tasked with tackling each distinct part of a customer query.

“The way we think about this is that there are different models with different strengths, and what we want to do is to use the best model for each task,” says Boteju. This approach is how the bank sees agentic AI being deployed.

With agentic AI, problems can be broken down into smaller and smaller parts, where different agents respond to each part. Boteju believes in using AI agents to check the output from other agents, rather like acting as a judge or a second-line colleague acting as an observer. This can help to cut erroneous decision-making arising from AI hallucinations when the AI model basically produces a spurious result.

IT security in agentic AI

People in IT tend to appreciate the importance of adhering to cyber security best practices. But as Fraser Dear, head of AI and innovation at BCN, points out, most users do not think like a software developer who keeps governance in mind when creating their own agents. He urges organisations to impose policies that ensure the key security steps are not skipped in the rush to deploy agentic AI.

“Think about what these AI agents might access across SharePoint: multiple versions of documents, transcripts, HR files, salary data, and lots more. Without guardrails, AI agents can access all this indiscriminately. They won’t necessarily know which versions of these documents are draft and which are approved,” he warns.

The issue escalates when an agent created by one person is made available to a wider group of colleagues. It can inadvertently give them access to data that is beyond their permission level.

Dear believes data governance needs to include configuring data boundaries, restricting who can access what data according to job role and sensitivity level. The governance framework should also specify which data resources the AI agent can pull from.

In addition, he says AI agents should be built for a purpose, using principles of least privilege: “Just like any other business-critical application, it needs to be adequately tested and ‘red-teamed’. Perform penetration testing to identify what data the agent can surface, to whom, and how accurate the data is. Track and audit which agents are accessing which data and for what purpose, and implement real-time alerts to flag unusual access patterns.”

A bumpy ride ahead

What these conversations with technology experts illustrate is that there is no straightforward path to achieving a measurable business benefit from agentic AI workflows – and what’s more, these systems need to be secure by design.

Organisations need to have the right data strategy in place, and they should already be well ahead on their path to full digitisation, where automation through RPA is being used to connect many disparate workflows. Agentic AI is the next stage of this automation, where an AI is tasked with making decisions in a way that would have previously been too clunky using RPA.

However, automation of workflows and business processes are just pieces of an overall jigsaw. There is a growing realisation that the conversation in the boardroom needs to move beyond the people and processes.

BCG’s Apotheker believes business leaders should reassess what is important to their organisation and what they want to focus on going forward. This goes beyond the build versus buy debate: some processes and tasks should be owned by the business; some may be outsourced to a provider that may well use AI; and some will be automated through agentic AI workflows internally.

It is rather like business process engineering, where elements powered by AI sit alongside tasks outsourced to an external service provider. For Apotheker, this means businesses need to have a firm grasp of what part of the business process is strategically important and can be transformed internally.

Business leaders then need to figure out how to connect the strategically important part of the workflow to what the business actually outsources or potentially automates in-house.

Source

It is an oft-asked question: “How long should we keep this data?” But the answer – in the UK at least – is not as clear cut as you might imagine.

Often the core principle that dictates retention period compliance is all about what can be reasonably justified – and that you have carefully decided and written down as policy how long you must keep data for, based on a reasonable assessment of the purpose of its processing and retention.

That said, there are recommendations for retention periods for many types of data, based on law and regulation in particular industry sectors.

What are the key laws and regulations in the UK that dictate data retention periods and the recommendations that affect data retention? Here, we look at the key elements of data retention policy, how software tools can help, and who supplies them.

What laws and regulations affect UK organisations?

UK organisations’ data compliance is governed by numerous laws and regulations.

Core to these are the UK equivalent of GDPR, as enacted by the Data Protection Act (2018), and guidance and directives from the Information Commissioners Office (ICO).

Beyond that, there is company law, employment law, health and safety law and so on, all of which come with requirements about data retention.

What data retention periods do UK laws and regulations specify?

It’s hard to overstate the importance of the Data Protection Act to data protection and retention practices in the UK – but, importantly, it does not specify precise retention periods.

Having said that, the core requirement is that organisations must establish reasonable policies and schedules around each category of data they process.

So, for each category they must show:

• For what purpose they process the data;
• How long the data must be kept for that purpose;
• What legal or regulatory requirements stipulate a retention period;
• That they have in place a periodic review mechanism to check whether data must still be retained.

And while reasonable, documented practices around processing and retention are key, numerous recommendations for how long to keep data do exist.

Common recommendations include:

• Six years from the end of the financial year for company records subject to the Companies Act 2006, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) tax laws, the VAT Act 1994, payroll and wages under HMRC guidance, and personnel files from the date of employment ceasing under Employment Rights Act guidance.
• Three years for health & safety accident records.
• Up to 40 years for hazardous exposure cases under COSHH guidance.
• 10 years after cases close or court orders cease for client records in legal firms.
• 12 years or more for contracts and deeds under the Limitation Act and contract law.
• Six or seven years for employee records that might be subject to claims.

NHS guidance specifies eight years after conclusion of treatment or the patient’s death for adult hospital records, 10 years for GP records, and 25 years after the birth of the last child for maternity records.

In financial services, the Financial Conduct Authority says records must be kept for five years from their creation, while anti-money laundering law specifies five or 10 years of business transaction data be kept.

For personal data, in any category of sensitive data – even for archiving for research or historical purposes – the guidance is all about what can be reasonably justified, that policies and review procedures exist and that appropriate levels of caution are applied.

What are the key elements of a data retention policy?

The key action organisations need to undertake is to create a data retention policy that lists:

• Categories of data held;
• The purpose for holding each category of data;
• How long it should be held, with reference to any legal or regulatory obligations regarding the data retention period;
• If there is no minimum set then documented justification is key;
• What to do with the data after its retention period expires, such as deletion or anonymisation – that is, so GDPR no longer applies.
• At the time it expires to build in checks that no litigation, complaint or other procedure means it should be kept for longer, and;
• Regular reviews of the policy.

What are the key features of software tools that can help with data retention?

Numerous software tools exist that can build on an organisation’s data policy to help track and manage data, and alert staff and leadership about decisions that need to be made.

Key functionality in tools that can help with data retention include:

• Being able to define categories and types of data and assign retention periods, based on policy.
• Automating retention period events, such as providing alerts when a retention period is over, plus deletion workflows and archival transitions.
• Logging full traceability of data through its lifecycle, including when it passed through key stages and personnel responsible during those changes.

It’s clear these functions map more broadly onto data management in general, so it’s likely you will want them to integrate with systems like document management, email archives, file servers, possibly even a physical records inventory.

Metadata support is a useful area of functionality that can help you know what data you hold, where it is, how long it’s been kept, its risk classification, and so on.

Who provides software that can help with data retention?

Cleardox AMS by ClearData Group manages archived records with automated destruction notifications when retention dates expire.

iGMapware is a software-as-a-service application aimed at records, data retention and metadata management that can help create retention schedules, map information assets and govern when data should be disposed of.

Iron Mountain’s Retention Policy Management Platform helps organisations manage retention and privacy obligations, implement schedules and ensure data is disposed of when no longer needed.

Zebsoft compliance management software is a UK-based platform that helps organisations map personal data, define retention periods, manage policy, consents, and subject access requests that includes workflows and audit trails around retention and deletion.

Source

Skynesher/Getty Images

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

USB ports are built into just about every tech device these days, and they’re still one of the main ways we connect all our gadgets. We’ve discussed how you can use your TV’s USB ports to power streaming devices — and the types of gadgets you can plug into your phone’s USB ports — but what exactly can you do with the USB ports on a treadmill? Beyond charging a phone or power bank, there are a few other ways to turn the USBs on our fitness devices into true workout companions and entertainment portals

Whether you’re a regular treadmill runner or simply looking for the right motivation to get back into exercising, we’ve come up with four ways to use your treadmill’s USB port to level up your workout. From powering convenient workout accessories to onboarding critical software updates for your machine, these tips are meant to make every workout more rewarding.

Stay cool with a USB-powered fan

Sweating is a natural part of the workout process, but that doesn’t mean you have to like it. If you’re feeling you could do with a bit of a breeze to help cool you down while you’re running on the treadmill, you could invest in a small USB-powered fan. There are several models designed to grip and clamp to the arms and other chassis sections of your treadmill, and one of our top recommendations is the Gaiatop Mini Portable Stroller Fan. Available in six colors, the fan has a 2,000-milliamp rechargeable battery built in. When fully charged, you’ll get between 3.5 to 10 hours of performance — depending on which of the three settings you choose.

Or, you could ditch worrying about a battery altogether and connect the fan to your treadmill’s USB port for constant power. The fan’s brushless motor operates quietly and efficiently, and the bendable grips make it easy to attach it to the arms of most treadmills and other workout tech. You’ll also be able to rotate the fan head a full 360 degrees horizontally and up to 210 degrees vertically.

Elevate the atmosphere of your workout zone

No one wants to exercise in a space that doesn’t smell welcoming. That’s where the Fusmli USB Essential Oil Diffuser can elevate your treadmill’s surroundings. Setup is quick and incredibly user-friendly: just remove the lid, add water up to the max fill line, drip in a few drops of your favorite essential oils, and you’re ready to go. Small enough to fit in most treadmill cup holders, the diffuser includes a 39.3-inch USB-C to USB-A cable for flexible placement and easy power access. Once powered on, the diffuser offers 6–8 hours of continuous mist, helping keep your workout area feeling fresh and relaxing.

You can also cycle through seven LED ambient lighting modes with a simple tap, making it easy to match the mood to your workout — whether you’re going high-intensity or winding down with a cool-down walk. Just two things to keep in mind: Depending on where your treadmill’s USB port is located, you may want a USB extender for better cable routing. The diffuser also requires at least 1 amp of power, so make sure your treadmill’s USB port is rated 5V/1A or higher to ensure proper performance.

Light up your treadmill routine

Costarossi/Getty Images

Want to add a splash of illumination to your treadmill routines? Should your equipment have a USB port, there’s a decent chance you’ll be able to invest in a few different USB-powered lighting products. This might be as simple as something like this Acorol 5V LED Light Strip — which can be draped on or around your workout gear — or as unique as a mood lamp you can stick in your at-home gym to keep up the good vibes. If you like the idea of the latter, this Northern Lights Wave Projector should be a top consideration. It supports numerous lighting scenes and up to 16 color options, and even comes with a remote for customizing your light show.

You’ll want to make sure your treadmill’s USB port supplies enough power to keep the mood light turned on. You might also want to pick up a USB extender if you plan on positioning the device away from your treadmill. If your treadmill has a built-in console that’s big enough to support a book or magazine, you could also use the Gritin Rechargeable Book Light to brighten up pages. This particular model can be used while connected to a USB charging port, and it even features three color temperatures.

Stay on top of software updates

Artistgndphotography/Getty Images

Treadmills and other types of fitness gear go beyond calorie-counting and rep tracking — they’re often loaded up with the kinds of software you’ll find on everything from mobile phones to smart TVs. For instance, the very Peloton Bike sitting in this writer’s office runs on a modified version of Android. From Bluetooth connectivity and streaming app support to built-in training tools and diagnostic settings, your treadmill has plenty to keep track of, which means you’ll want to make sure you’re staying on top of its software updates.

While a majority of these updates can be easily downloaded and installed from your treadmill’s onboard screen, you may also be able to manually download updates from the manufacturer onto a USB flash drive. In the case of the Life Fitness lineup, the manufacturer recommends using a 16GB USB thumb drive, with all unzipped files stored directly on the drive’s root directory (not in a folder). Once you plug the drive into the treadmill’s USB port, the update should begin automatically and may take up to 45 minutes to complete. You can even take this route to sideload apps and streaming services like Netflix onto your Peloton device. Do keep in mind that not all update processes are the same, and even if your treadmill has a USB port, that doesn’t mean it’s designed to upload external data.

Source

Peshkov/Getty Images

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Computer monitors and television screens have only grown in complexity and fidelity as the years have gone by. Liquid-crystal displays, better known as LCDs, have brought with them a much greater breadth of resolution and color complexity compared to Cathode Ray Tube monitors of the past. However, if there were one sector where CRT monitors had a point in their favor, it was ease of cleaning. Modern computer monitors and television screens need to be cleaned carefully, as both excessive force and harsh chemicals can damage them permanently.

While cleaning an LCD monitor is more of a chore than wiping down the solid pane of glass or plastic of a CRT monitor, it’s not especially complicated either. Keeping your monitor clean of gathered-up dust and the occasional smudge is, more often than not, as simple as gently wiping it down with a soft, LCD-ready microfiber cloth. When the cloth alone is not enough, you can use monitor-safe products to boost your cleaning power without damaging your display’s surface.

A soft microfiber cloth is your first and foremost tool

Andreypopov/Getty Images

Whether you need to clean up a spontaneous mess on your monitor or are just engaging in some weekly upkeep, your first and foremost tool should always be a soft, clean microfiber cloth. A regular cleaning rag is abrasive and may have stray bits of lint stuck to it; trying to clean your monitor with it is more likely to cover it in scuffs and scratches than anything else. A lint-free microfiber cloth is designed specifically to clean and capture particulates without scuffing delicate surfaces, which makes it great for wiping computer screens and cleaning mobile devices like iPhones. You can get these special cloths in packs at your local electronics store, or you can opt for the MagicFiber’s Microfiber Cleaning Cloth 6-Pack on Amazon.

Before you start cleaning, power off and unplug your monitor, both for safety and to put any errant particles in sharper contrast with the dark screen. With a dry microfiber cloth in hand, gently swipe along the surface of the screen in a light, circular motion. Don’t put pressure on the cloth as you go, as pressing into the screen can damage it, much like pressing your bare finger against it. The cloth should pick up any loose bits of dust and wipe away smudges with just a few quick passes.

If you need stronger cleaning, use a small amount of water

Pressmaster/Getty Images

If your computer screen has a more stubborn mark stuck to it, such as a fingerprint from an overenthusiastic user, the microfiber cloth may not be enough to completely get rid of it. In such a case, you may need to add a cleaning solution to boost your removal power.

Before anything, you must avoid using any household cleaners for this process, such as Clorox, bleach, Windex, or hand sanitizer. These harsh chemicals are very likely to damage your monitor’s sensitive screen. Rather than intense chemicals, your first choice should be simple, clean water. A single, quick spritz of water onto your microfiber cloth will usually be sufficient to remove annoying smudges. Don’t completely soak the cloth; if you get too much water on your screen, it can seep into the edges of the monitor and damage the internal circuitry. For the same reason, never spray water directly onto the monitor.

If you absolutely have to use some kind of chemical cleaner, make sure it’s specially formulated for use on electronic screens. Like with microfiber cloths, you can find options like EVEO’s Screen Cleaner Spray Kit on Amazon and at your local electronics store. Again, a quick spritz onto the cloth should be all you need. Just swipe the cloth along the surface of the screen in that same gentle manner, and the smudges should come right off.

Source

DenPhotos/Shutterstock

In life, true perfection is often hard to achieve, even if you are a company that has hit a $4 trillion market valuation like Apple. While sales of the iPhone continue to see impressive growth, not everything about the device is going to deliver an absolutely flawless performance. In fact, if you ask the internet, some features are outright terrible.

Searching the endless sea that is the web, some of the worst iOS features according to users include Apple Intelligence & Siri, Image Playground, Freeform, and the Journal app. When it comes to these apps and features, it’s not just a matter of many of them offering poor performance, but some of them outright confuse users regarding their purpose.

Of course, just because the internet doesn’t like something is no reason to take it as gospel. Though the list below contains the worst of the worst currently available from Apple, that doesn’t mean you won’t find the good within them. Contrary to popular opinion, features like Apple Intelligence and Journal may have something to offer you. Moreover, depending on your outlook, you may hope Apple gives some of these features better treatment than it currently does.

Apple Intelligence & Siri

Tada Images/Shutterstock

Considering artificial intelligence, in general, may be one of the most polarizing advancements to hit tech in quite some time, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Apple Intelligence –- the company’s own flavor of artificial intelligence for its devices – has plenty of critics and naysayers. While some features within Apple Intelligence offer good functionality –- such as the powerful writing tools you can use –- it’s what Apple has done to its virtual assistant that causes the most offense.

Perhaps one of the most egregious problems with Apple Intelligence is that many are convinced it has made interactions with Siri worse. Several users across Reddit note that Siri often has a hard time comprehending exactly what’s being said, sometimes causing it to pause and think for several seconds as it does its best to understand. Users also complain that it takes them multiple tries just to get Siri to respond to them, and even then, getting it to perform a requested action may be a challenge.

Though Apple Intelligence has gotten smarter since Apple moved from iOS 18 to iOS 26, many are still annoyed by Siri relying so heavily on ChatGPT when answering questions or during interactions. Moreover, the feature being limited to primarily newer Apple devices –- such as the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max and later models –- isn’t helping matters. Considering Siri may soon lean on a custom version of Google Gemini, it seems even Apple is aware of its virtual assistant’s shortcomings.

Image Playground

Introduced in iOS 18.2 alongside a wealth of other features, Image Playground is a tool that has plenty of individuals online irate about their experience with this app. Much like Apple Intelligence, a lot of how you feel about it is going to depend on your feelings regarding artificial intelligence in general. Nonetheless, Image Playground has a lot of promise and potential, though its aspirations may be a bit too large for its current capabilities.

On paper, Image Playground sounds promising. Simply enter a prompt for something that you want to create, and then Image Playground will choose from multiple styles –- such as Sketch, Illustration, and Animation –- to generate an image of your idea. Apple even incorporates ChatGPT to add more styles –- such as Oil Painting, Vector, and an “Any Style” -– and you can add or remove prompts from your central image for even more creations.

While the concept itself is rather cool, the results often produced by Image Playground can certainly leave a lot to be desired. For many, Image Playground is little more than a toy, with many unable to see viable use cases outside of potentially creating yourself a new profile picture, and even then, it’s rather obvious that it was generated by AI. Though there’s quite a bit from iOS 18 that’s worth trying, even in iOS 26 Image Playground can still use a bit more polish.

Journal

DenPhotos/Shutterstock

Just like when trying to land a job, first impressions for apps can mean a great deal too. Though the Journal app has gone through several rounds of updates since it first saw release, many have already abandoned it for other journaling apps due to its initial problems, making it a feature that could definitely use some reimagining on Apple’s end. Or, at the very least, the company could promote it a little more to remind users it exists, and has evolved.

Released with iOS 17.2 alongside an improved iPhone autocorrect and other features, Journal allows iOS users to capture their thoughts and feelings throughout the day using text, photos, videos, audio, and more. The app can provide suggestions and writing prompts, and can even guide you to journal certain moments based on information found on your device. With a focus on wellbeing and mindfulness, the Journal app also allows you to record your state of mind at any given time and save it to the Health app thanks to the Journal features introduced in iOS 18. The app also saw additional improvements in iOS 26, including expanding the app to Mac and iPad.

Be that as it may, many users still take umbrage with the app, especially when comparing it to Apple Notes. Though Journal has more of a focus on an individual over the Notes app, users also complained about the lack of features upon release. While the app has received updates, those that did give it a try when it first released have likely soured on the experience.

Freeform

Ascannio/Shutterstock

If the suite of apps available directly from Apple were a family, Freeform would be the black sheep. Launched with iOS 16.2, this collaborative app has plenty to offer users, but for some on the internet, they’re not even entirely sure what the app actually does.

One of the biggest setbacks Freeform has is that users can often misunderstand its actual functionality. Taking a look on Reddit, several users confuse the app for a drawing app, which is pretty far from accurate. If you’re unfamiliar, Freeform is a collaborative tool that allows users to create and share their own canvases for idea generation and brainstorming. While it does have some drawing capabilities, Freeform actually offers a lot more. With options like adding media such as video, audio, images, PDFs, and more, Freeform is more akin to a vision board rather than a traditional drawing app.

As useful as Freeform tries to be, users across Reddit either forget about it or mistake it for something else, making it an app that could definitely use some more love from Apple, as the actual application offers decent functionality for something that’s free directly from the company. Even if there are better free productivity apps for the iPhone, Freeform suffers more from being potentially swept under the rug over anything else.

Source

Services provided by accountants can help small business owners manage cash flow better, a study commission by Intuit QuickBooks has reported, but the role of accounting is changing as more technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) are embedded into accounting software packages.

The study, conducted by Chris Brauer, director of innovation in the Institute of Management Studies (IMS) at Goldsmiths, University of London, Symmetry Research and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), noted that there is a substantial opportunity for both SMEs and accountants to drive meaningful economic impact.

Based on a survey of 4,000 small and mid-sized businesses, the study reported that 71% of the businesses polled agree that professional accounting services improve cash flow management, which makes both current and future business decision-making run more smoothly. In addition, 73.1% said that using professional accounting services has strengthened their financial reporting, and this alone has offered increasing opportunities to get bank loans or government grants.

Around 80% of SME leaders who have used an accountant said it has had either a moderate, significant or transformational effect on their financial literacy. Accountants can also serve an integral role as strategic financial advisors, counselling on business planning, tax compliance and financial management. Among the challenges facing the accounting profession is that the trajectory AI is taking may well remove much of the work they need to do in terms of how small business owners manage their finances. 

Marianna Tessel, executive vice-president at Intuit, believes the way AI changes business is just getting started, adding: “We’re just at the beginning, at the first few innings of what will be possible with AI and how people use AI.”

According to Tessel, AI is an accelerant in everybody’s work: “We were talking to a lot of small businesses about how they use AI for all sorts of elements of their work. It’s an accelerant, but also it’s a disruptor.”

Tessel believes conversational AI powered by a custom large model changes human computer interaction and this is something Intuit has begun doing, with a custom LLM based on open source technology, which, she said, can handle queries extremely cost effectively. This potentially has an impact on the role of an accountant.

Aaron Patrick, head of accounts at the UK-based cloud accountancy firm Boffix, said: “If we’re really honest, accountants and bookkeepers are starting to become less relevant.” However, for Patrick, there is now an opportunity for accountants and book keepers to become business advisers and start helping clients by showing value to their clients.

“Niche expertise is becoming a game changer for accountants. By specialising in specific sectors [such as] e-commerce, we can offer tailored advice that directly impacts a client’s success. Coupled with proactive communication, we’re not just checking boxes anymore – we’re building long-term relationships where we actively help SMEs make strategic decisions, thrive, and grow.”

For Intuit customers, this opportunity is made possible through its $12bn acquisition of MailChimp in 2021. The developer of QuickBooks used the acquisition as an opportunity to re-engineer its applications as a new platform.

In October, Intuit launched Intuit Accountant Suite, an AI-native platform, which the company claims provides accounting firms with the tools they need to scale and manage their clients, firms and teams, all in one place.

Discussing how the technology that is built into the new Intuit platform changes the role of an accountant, Patrick said: “We now have an opportunity to understand why sales has gone up or why expenses has gone down.”

According to Patrick, the new Intuit platform provides access to data silos: “As accountants, we’re going to have the opportunity not only to be able to tell the story based on the numbers, but understand what’s happened with the CRM system, such as assess how a company’s marketing is going.”

Source

buradaki/Shutterstock

Mobility in space continually cements itself as important in this modern era of space exploration, with satellites like Starlink, Amazon’s upcoming Project Kuiper, the International Space Station, and more in orbit. Moving spacecraft and maintaining things in the various orbits around Earth is an increasingly complex and busy field. Now, a young startup called Portal Systems looks to disrupt that industry by offering an alternative power source: sunlight.

Portal Systems was founded in 2021 by Jeff Thornburg, an Air Force vet who’s worked for Amazon, SpaceX, and NASA. It boasts that its spacecraft, called Supernova, will be highly maneuverable, able to deliver payloads, and rapidly respond to changing needs. It also will be able to perform maintenance and remove debris. Driving all of this is a solar propulsion system.

Supernova will use mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto a thermal battery. That thermal energy can then be harnessed by a proprietary 3D-printed integrated heat exchanger and thruster (Portal Systems calls it a HEX thruster). Ammonia then passes through the HEX thruster, expanding from the absorbed heat, and being used to maneuver the satellite. Portal Systems believes this process will make Supernova an innovative game changer in inter-orbit mobility. There are plans for a 2026 launch, and while this isn’t the first time sunlight has been considered as a power source for spacecraft, not everyone agrees that this is the future for space.

The ambitious plans of Portal Systems

Adventtr/Getty Images

Portal Systems sees itself as meeting three distinct needs in space. First, it will work with commercial operators for orbital maintenance and servicing. Second, it will further scientific endeavors through delivering payloads and repositioning craft in orbit. Third, it will contribute to national security efforts by monitoring orbits for potential threats and responding to them quickly. This might become increasingly important in the future since, even though Russia’s rocket engine development is struggling, the country has plans to create its own international space station and separate itself from space collaboration.

Portal Systems believes its technology and business plan puts it in an ideal place to accomplish these goals. It has an 8,000 square foot research and development site in Washington state. It has $20 million in venture capital funding to support its mission. It’s partnered with leaders in the industry including the United States Space Command, the Aerospace Industry Association, the United States Space Force, and more. It also has plans to complete a 50,000 square foot manufacturing by the end of 2026, enabling Portal Systems to produce one spacecraft per month. That’s quite the lofty goal. 

Portal’s new HEX thruster is potentially better than traditional spacecraft engines because it uses solar heat instead of combustion to create powerful, efficient thrust. Thus, it can move between orbits quicker than chemical or electric systems. By heating a simple, storable propellant inside a 3D-printed heat exchanger, it can undertake long missions without running out of fuel. 

Opinions about solar technology for spacecraft

Naratrip Boonroung/Getty Images

Thornburg believes this technology is the future for space. Some agree, citing this move by Portal Systems offers a variety of benefits including better deep space exploration due to ongoing propulsion energy from the sun, easier transportability of craft to far locations like the moon or Mars, and lower risk of in-space collisions due to the high maneuverability goals of Supernova.

Others aren’t so sure. Solar thermal propulsion would just be another type of propulsion system used in space, and not necessarily something that disrupts the way the industry functions. There is also the problem of this deviating from the standard. Space exploration is an extremely expensive endeavor. If something goes wrong, the company can lose massive amounts of money. Though some loss is just considered part of the risk, like Starlink satellites falling from the sky before making it to orbit, this type of propulsion might still worry those that are more risk-averse.

Portal Systems certainly has a lot to prove. Though the company is young, its rapid timeline for an operational satellite puts the spotlight on it. Come 2026, we’ll see if this solar thermal propulsion system can do everything it’s claimed it will be able to. If so, the next era of space mobility will be an exciting one.

Source

The UK’s fastest growing technology startups and scaleups lack of women in top positions, according to research.

Consultancy Think & Grow’s recent study, Breaking and remaking the next generation of high-impact boards, found that only 12% of the fastest growing startups in the UK have a female CEO, chair or founder, and 36% have no women on their boards.

But those at the top of these organisations know it is important to have diversity on boards and in the C-suite, with 94% of board members and those at the top of UK tech companies saying diversity on a board is integral to a company’s success.

Jonathan Jeffries, CEO and co-founder of Think & Grow, said: “Most senior decision-makers at UK tech companies recognise the importance of board-level diversity, but many scale-up companies are failing to leverage the opportunities this brings.

“Successful companies need to think about diversity in corporate governance from day one, the founders who prioritise inclusion early can build boards that see around corners, solve problems faster and understand a broader range of markets and people.”

The lack of women not only in the technology sector in general, but in decision-making positions in tech, is an ongoing concern, with now defunct Tech Talent Charter finding that women made up only 21% of senior tech leaders in the UK within its signatories in 2024, and Frank Recruitment Group finding that women only made up a quarter of CIO positions in FTSE 100 companies last year.

Think & Grow’s research found that women make up only 18% of board roles within UK technology scaleups, though diversity at board level gets better depending on company size and revenue. Scaleups with revenue exceeding £50m, or scaleups founded in the past five years, have more women at board level. In FTSE 350 technology firms, women make up 41% of board directors.

It is an FCA requirement that boards in larger listed organisations must have a minimum of 40% representation, but the same cannot be said of C-suite representation, with only 12% of FTSE 350 companies having either a female CEO or chair – the same as in the UK’s fastest growing scaleups.

There are women in other roles in FTSE 350 technology firms that indicate diversity is improving – women hold senior roles such as chief operating officer, chief financial officer or senior independent director in 72% of these companies, and 80% have at least one woman in a senior leadership position.

But women only make up 28% of these roles overall, despite approximately a third of senior leadership acknowledging diversity at the top of companies contributes towards better customer representation, problem solving and positive company culture.

While the recent Lovelace report found that 60% of its respondents claimed they were struggling to find their way into leadership, Think & Grow’s research found that 93% of senior leaders and board members believe progress has been made in this area in the past five years.

As well as encouraging startups to think about diversity at their beginnings before they grow larger, Jeffries stated that not doing so can stand in the way of future success: “There is a clear correlation between diverse boards and strong corporate performance, yet many UK tech companies are failing to appoint board members with diverse backgrounds and expertise, which risks curbing growth.”

Source