The “AI” label no longer makes companies special. In today’s world, that is a fact that needs to be accepted.

Even just a year ago, if a business simply mentioned being “AI-powered” it was enough to immediately gather attention and appear innovative. Investors quickly grew excited, and media outlets were quick to pick up the next “hot story.”

Of course, that didn’t always mean that there was truth to such statements. The concept of AI washing — when companies misrepresented or even outright lied about the use of AI tools in their operations — had certainly done its share of damage to this industry while it stayed prevalent.

But today, even without such lies, the effect of AI novelty is disappearing. Every fintech company now has some kind of AI story. Compliance platforms use AI monitoring. Banks and fintechs talk about AI-driven service personalization. Chatbots and AI assistants are utilized practically by every other platform, no matter which industry we look at.

At this point, saying your company uses artificial intelligence feels almost the same as saying you have a website. People have learned to expect it almost by default. And this creates a very different communications environment.

The first wave of AI companies mostly had to convince their audience that the technology was possible. That task has certainly been accomplished. Now, the second wave faces the task of convincing people that their particular implementation of AI is trustworthy, useful, and worth the attention in a market that’s beyond overcrowded already.

That is much harder.

The conversation has changed

AI investment has exploded over the last two years. Enterprise spending on gen AI jumped from $11.5 billion in 2024 to $37 billion in 2025. That’s a whole 220% YOY increase. AI-focused startups continue to dominate venture capital conversations, to the point where nearly every technology company now feels the pressure to position itself as part of this race.

But something else happened along the way: consumers became more educated. If at first, AI sounded like something magical, now people have actually used it. They have seen hallucinations and strange outputs, and they’ve dealt with incorrect recommendations. They’ve had time to realize that AI can be useful, but also that the technology comes with its own frustrations and limitations.

As such, being “AI-powered” is no longer enough to stand out. Consumers have already moved past that stage. One of the biggest mistakes I see today is when companies still assume they have not.

Now, the conversation revolves around a much deeper point: “What does your AI actually improve for me?” For AI-focused companies vying for attention, the benefits of their specific approach are now the key battlefield where they have to win.

This is particularly important for financial and fintech companies, because financial services are built on trust. People may tolerate or even find humor in mistakes from an entertainment app, but they will not be pleased when their money or personal data are put at risk because of AI malfunctions.

The numbers clearly show this trust gap. While AI adoption continues growing, only 13% of consumers truly trust AI systems, and about 30% remain neutral rather than confident. Many people are still uncomfortable giving AI fully autonomous control over important decisions, especially in areas connected to finance or personal data.

At the same time, enterprises themselves also often contribute to the problem of trust by rolling out AI models before building the necessary structures to govern them.

A recent survey by McKinsey discovered that less than 15% of organizations obtain full security and IT approval before deploying AI agents. Or, to put it in other words, the vast majority of these systems come out without proper oversight and responsibility frameworks around them.

This very reality has now become the defining challenge of the next AI adoption phase. The market is no longer asking whether companies can use artificial intelligence. It’s asking whether they can use it responsibly. And that is precisely why I am of the opinion that AI communication from here on out needs to be very different from what we saw during the first hype cycle. It’s no longer about who shouts the loudest.

The main victory condition will be for companies to explain — clearly and realistically — how their systems work and how they benefit their users. And then they will have to continue proving that through sustainable action.

Transparency and governance are now a product feature

One important area to account for is transparency around AI limitations. Now that the broad public already has enough context and experience to understand that AI can fail, pretending otherwise would only damage a company’s credibility.

To earn trust, strong, honest communication is necessary that will openly acknowledge those points of failure. When a business wishes to present its own AI solution, it will need to explain upfront where its model works well and where its shortcomings lie. Customers should have clear expectations and understanding of the risks before they engage with the technology.

Some might think that admitting to shortcomings would be a mistake, a vulnerability. But honesty can yield more results than those people expect.

Clients are generally much more comfortable using services when they understand where the borders are. When they know how decisions are made, that safeguards exist, and that human oversight is still involved in the process, so if something goes wrong, they have someone real to talk to.

This is where competent governance enters the picture.

Be it to partners, clients, or regulators, businesses increasingly need to demonstrate that they are responsible about how they employ AI in operations. Whether decisions can be audited.

A few years ago, these topics were often hidden deep inside technical documentation, if they were brought up at all. Now, explainability of AI models is one of the biggest signals of trustworthiness that a company can project.

And honestly, I think this is healthy for the industry.

By now, AI has stopped being a mere marketing decoration and is leaning more and more toward becoming a full-on infrastructure layer in corporate operations. That means it needs to be properly managed, so that possible mistakes do not create reputational and monetary damage to countless involved parties.

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Recent evidence shows that energy cost pressures and a power grid capacity crunch risk becoming a bottleneck on the growth of the UK’s digital economy.

A report by Oxford Economics for the Nuclear Industry Association warns that growing grid capacity constraints and uncompetitive industrial electricity prices could drive data center developers overseas.

This comes as data center energy demands could increase fivefold by 2035 and data center operators face growing pressure for more sustainable energy in line with climate targets.

This is driving many data center developers to explore alternative supply sources such as flexible contracts and Corporate Power Purchase Agreements (CPPAs) which offer affordable, secure long-term power.

Yet many data center developers lack the resources to navigate these complex contracts or meet the high credit requirements.

There is an urgent need for creative new solutions to provide affordable sustainable power for our digital economy.

The energy chokepoint for the AI economy

The Government aims to make Britain the fastest AI-adopting country in the G7 and this will require accelerated data center expansion with AI data centers being prioritized for new demand connections to the grid. While this is welcome, demand-side connections will not alleviate the supply-side challenges from rising electricity costs to network capacity constraints.

Data centers have build times of 12-14 months yet large new renewable energy projects can face waits of 12-14 years to come online at a time when Britain faces rising non-commodity electricity costs such as Transmission Network Use of System (TNUoS) and Nuclear Regulated Asset Base (RAB) charges to fund new electric grid and nuclear energy infrastructure.

Ofgem has warned that data center power consumption could significantly exceed Britain’s current peak electricity consumption, risking rising energy costs.

The move towards flexible contracts

Flexible electricity contracts that allow companies to buy energy in chunks offer a potential solution to this by allowing data centers to tailor energy costs to their consumption.

Crucially, flexible contracts can be adjusted to hedge against fluctuating energy consumption for facilities such as AI data centers which have more variable patterns of energy use. This would also help avoid penalties for ramping up energy use to take on major new customers.

While fixed-price contracts can lock in long-term energy costs to offer certainty, flexible contracts enable data centers to take advantage of price fluctuations to secure cheaper power.

For example, we have a dedicated pricing team monitoring market movements round the clock. This could help facilities partially hedge against the risk of rising prices, setting a price for a portion of their consumption, while buying the rest when required to take advantage of favorable prices on the spot market.

For example, we implemented a flexible contract for an energy-intensive industrial chemicals company which included a cash-out arrangement, enabling them to lock in prices when costs are low and buy power in batches days or even months ahead as needed.

There are various kinds of flexible contract options based on the degree to which companies can forecast their energy consumption. For example, ‘tolerance banding’ which guarantees a set price within a certain range or ‘band’ of electricity consumption, can provide certainty amidst unpredictable, fluctuating costs.

As data center operators become more confident in forecasting energy consumption, this can create even cheaper options such as contracts that enable them to buy every kilowatt-hour above or below expected demand.

The CPPA model

Other contracts such as CPPAs could offer data centers a secure, sustainable, affordable power supply directly from suppliers at stable cost. Private-wire PPAs involving onsite generation could enable data centers to sell surplus power back to the grid, transforming energy from a cost into a revenue stream. On site generation could also help avoid the non-commodity costs for grid electricity such as TNUoS charges that comprise 60% of electricity bills and are set to increase to fund new infrastructure.

With targets to reduce operational emissions from buildings by 76%, CPPAs also help facilities meet climate targets by providing traceable green power. As large consumers with a relatively stable long-term demand, data centers are perfectly placed to tap into this market. Amidst growing energy price volatility and security risks, fixed-price CPPAs offer the chance to lock in power prices and supplies, providing certainty and security.

The barriers to alternative contracts

Yet there are many barriers to flexible contracts and CPPAs market for smaller entities such as data centers. These contracts can be highly complex, contain stringent credit requirements and often require 10-15 year agreements. The Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme, which gives renewable developers a government-backed route to market through fixed long-term price support, can also act as a competing route to market for generators.

In some cases, this can make long-term corporate offtake agreements less attractive, particularly where developers can secure greater certainty through the CfD mechanism. For smaller customers seeking greener electricity, however, this route can offer an alternative when a direct CPPA may be harder to access.

Many data center projects are run by startups or smaller entities that lack the resources for such long-term commitments or credit requirements. Data centers also present a slightly higher credit risk than other facilities because their revenue streams are not based on a few large, long-term customers but split among many customers across the digital economy.

Opening the market to data centers

There is an urgent need for creative solutions to lower barriers to entry to the flexible contract market for smaller entities such as data centers. Security deposits or bank guarantees can help some firms meet the stringent credit requirements.

Other potential solutions include parent-company guarantees where a parent company makes a commitment to cover the cost in the event of a default or intercompany guarantees where large data center customers such as Amazon offer guarantees.

There are also solutions to simplify adoption and help CPPAs slot into existing energy use. For example, PPA import sleeving contracts, where energy is pre-purchased from a generator or utility and supplied directly to a facility through the grid, can help alleviate energy costs and security risks.

Tailoring contracts to specific energy needs

Independent partners can also help data centers optimize contracts for their specific energy needs and financial situation. Independent brokers can consolidate the process of negotiating with generators, suppliers and investors, speeding up and de-risking adoption.

Brokers can also help negotiate and monitor contracts suited to the precise profile of each data center. For example, cloud computing data centers with relatively steady, predictable demand may prefer fixed contracts whereas AI data centers processing huge amounts of data for many clients have a more variable, ‘peaky’ pattern of consumption and require flexible contracts.

Data centers can also work with partners to get live market intelligence on changing regulations or market movements. For example, we offered one client an early warning service so that they were able to minimize costs during the winter triads, half-hour periods of peak demand during the winter season.

Towards a new model of data center energy

Britain’s ability to compete in the accelerating AI race increasingly hinges on the ability to mitigate the risk of rising energy costs.

Energy security will also be critical to building truly sovereign AI capabilities for the UK. Lowering the barriers to the flexible contract market could create new opportunities at both ends, providing secure, sustainable and affordable power to unlock data center growth while unlocking vital investment in new renewable energy capacity.

Yet this will require tailored, adaptable contractual models from bespoke flexible contracts to PPAs and new ways of lowering barriers to entry including reducing complexity and stringent credit requirements. This could help provide secure, sustainable and affordable long-term power to fuel our digital economy.

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• British farms can now convert pig slurry into electricity to power AI data centers
• Powering compute generates 10x the income of selling this energy to the grid
• Cryptocurrency mining helps farms recover investment costs in just four years

One farm in Britain is now using electricity generated from pig slurry to power a small AI data center, allowing the otherwise agricultural facility to house its own decentralized hub powered by a type of renewable energy.

Among the key benefits are that the energy is both generated and consumed on-site, making it highly efficient. The process works by using an anaerobic digester to convert pig slurry into biogas, which is then converted into electricity.

The first site, within the northwest of England, is being operated by Easy Compute through its Green Compute network, which installed and manages computing hardware at farms.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure

According to the report, selling renewable power like this to the grid typically returns around 8-12 pence per kWh, or around one-third to half of the cost consumers pay per kWh at home. But Easy Compute claims that using the electricity for AI computing can actually lead to generating 10x as much income, with its largest partners reportedly earning tens of thousands of pounds per month from computing services.

Importantly, the additional income could help to offset renewable energy investments, which could partly power other farming operations. Anaerobic digesters would usually take 12-15 years to repay their cost, the company says, but this could be reduced to around four years by installing a computing network and renting out capacity to businesses on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Customers are given the choice of paying using the network’s own token to receive a 10% discount on compute credits as well as assurance that the underlying compute is powered by verified renewable energy, which could be an important consideration for those with specific ESG goals.

Does the future of data centers look less centralized, more renewable?

Green Compute also connects some of its hardware to Bittensor, a blockchain-based AI network. When demand for commercial customers falls, the farm’s computers can even switch to earning cryptocurrency to keep them financially productive around the clock, speeding up that all-important payback time.

Crucially, with hyperscale AI data centers facing increased scrutiny, local opposition and setbacks, these decentralized data centers could plug some of the emerging gaps.

“We take waste that a farm already has, turn it into clean power, and point that power at the computers the AI industry is desperate for,” CEO Josh Riddett noted.

This, of course, comes at an important time for British farming, which is currently under immense pressure from government policies to generate food and other goods with dwindling rewards. Not only can they earn an additional income stream and make their investments back on renewable energy sooner, but they can also factor this renewable energy into their regular farming operations to reduce operation costs.

“The farmer earns far more than they would from the grid - and now they can earn cryptocurrency on top, through networks like Bittensor,” Riddett added.

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Dimplex FlexBlade Multi-Directional Bladeless Fan: two minute review

Vertically aligning the fan vents makes the FlexBlade easy to store. (Image credit: Future)

Specifications

Type: Tower

Speeds: 5

Oscillation: horizontal 30, 60, or 90 degrees

Vertical tilt: each blade can rotate 180 degrees

Dimensions (H x W x D): 32.6 x 27.9 x 14.6 inches / 82.8 x 70.8 x 37cm (blades horizontal), 43.1 x 12.6 x 14.6 inches / 109.5 x 32 x 37cm (blades vertical)

Controls: power, speed, timer, plus remote control

Noise level: 36dB to 58dB

The Dimplex FlexBlade isn't your traditional tower fan, although you can use it as one. It's bladeless, Dyson-style, so it delivers smooth airflow without the buffeting of a bladed fan.

The design is very flexible, enabling you to use it as a T-shaped floor fan, a vertical pedestal fan, or any angle in between. Air comes out of two wide vents, and those vents can be rotated 90 degrees in either direction so that you can have wider airflow or cool two areas simultaneously. That could be useful in shared spaces such as offices, although as the fan's stand isn't telescopic, one of you will get a cool back while the other gets cool legs.

The FlexBlade looks like it'll be extremely powerful but the strength of airflow drops off quickly with distance, so at full power with both blades pointing forward it felt like a breeze at three meters. It's fairly quiet, though, and delivers similar airflow and noise levels to our trusty Dyson Hot+Cool fan.

This isn't the most powerful floor fan we've tested by any means but it does move a decent amount of air and that flexible design makes it useful for multiple applications, such as the bedroom at night and home office or living room during the day.

The FlexBlade is very wide in horizontal mode but you can angle it through 90 degrees. (Image credit: Future)

Dimplex FlexBlade fan review: price and availability

• Launched June 2026
• UK only
• £199.99 (about $160 / AU$230)

With fortunate timing, the FlexBlade launched during a month of record-breaking heat in the UK. The Dimplex FlexBlade Multi-Directional Bladeless Fan launched in the UK in June 2026 with a recommended retail price of £199.99 (about $160 / AU$230). It isn't currently available in Australia, and Dimplex doesn't sell its home cooling products in the US.

I'm writing this as more really hot weather is toasting the UK, so I need to temper my usual buying advice with the fact that for many people the only criteria for a fan right now are 'will it cool me down?' and 'is it in stock?', to which the answers are yes and at the time of writing, yes. But I would point out that Dimplex dropped the price to just £123 for Amazon Prime Day 2026, so if you're not reading this in sweltering temperatures you can expect similar discounts in the cooler months when demand sags.

Value for money: 4/5

The two vent arms can be manually rotated independently to blow air in two directions (Image credit: Future)

Dimplex FlexBlade fan review: design

• Horizontal and vertical adjustment
• Horizontal oscillation
• Simple but effective controls

I can't talk about the design of the Dimplex FlexBlade without addressing the elephant in the room, or rather the Shark: the Shark TurboBlade cooling fan, which seems to have inspired Dimplex's designers. Both have a propeller-esque T-shaped design with two independent, rotatable bladeless vents. Both can pivot from horizontal to vertical mode. Both project air up to 20 meters. Both have a magnetic remote control. Both have a quiet sleep mode. And both have multiple speed settings: 10 for the Shark and five for the Dimplex. I think the Shark is a little nicer looking, more flexible thanks to its telescopic pole and less top-heavy — the Dimplex wobbles a bit when you touch it — but it's also £50 (about $70 / AU$100) more expensive when it's not in the sales.

The FlexBlade arrives in six parts: the main motor unit, a two-part riser with a heavy base, and the two vents. It's simple and quick to put together – the only tool required is the provided Allen key for securing the base — and the remote attaches magnetically to the top of the unit so it's always handy.

The FlexBlade can be angled horizontally, vertically or in between, and it oscillates up to 90 degrees. (Image credit: Future)

Controls are kept to a minimum on the fan itself: power/speed, oscillation and timer. The remote is simple too, with the addition of dedicated speed up/down buttons, a full speed button and a sleep mode button to put the fan into its lowest power state overnight.

The T-shaped, two-vent design delivers a lot of flexibility. You can't adjust the 1.1m height of the main motor unit but you can position the two blades vertically, horizontally or in between, and you can rotate them independently up to 180 degrees to push air in two opposite directions at once. The rotating blades are a little stiff but not awkwardly so. The blade adjustments are manual but the fan itself can oscillate automatically, delivering horizontal oscillation of 30, 60 or 90 degrees.

Design: 4/5

The on-board controls are simple: timer, power/speed and oscillation.Future

The illuminated dots on the front show the current fan speed. There are five settings.Future

Dimplex FlexBlade fan review: performance

• Oscillation and adjustable vents
• Quieter than similar rivals
• Best experienced reasonably close

The Dimplex promises airflow in excess of 6m/s with a 20-meter range and 90-degree sweep, but at full power with both blades pointed directly at me from three meters away it felt like a very mild breeze. At that distance and with the blades arranged vertically the remote control was very hit and miss.

The FlexBlade comes with a straightforward remote control. (Image credit: Future)

The Dimplex is a bit quieter than the Shark – Dimplex's figures say it's 36dB at its lowest setting and 58dB at full pelt, compared to the Shark's 40dB to 66dB – but it still gets loud at higher fan speeds with the telltale whoosh we've come to expect from bladeless fans. It's not Dyson hand dryer loud at full power, though; it's more like a hair dryer on a very low setting.

I compared the Dimplex's airflow to two other room fans: a Dyson Pure Hot + Cool and a Meaco Sefte 10-inch air circulator. Both the Dimplex and the Dyson are bladeless and moved air a similar distance with similar noise levels, although the Dyson's wider diffusion mode made its output quieter at the expense of focused air. But the Meaco was quieter than both and delivered significantly stronger airflow across a large living room.

Performance: 3/5

The FlexBlade has a magnetic perch to keep the remote handy. (Image credit: Future)

Dimplex FlexBlade fan review: should you buy it?

Value	Previous Prime Day pricing suggests that the list price is a little high.	3/5
Design	It looks very like a Shark, but it's well made and feels solid; controls are straightforward and the flexible airflow is clever.	4/5
Performance	Not as powerful as it looks, and venting in two directions reduces airflow in each direction.	3/5

Buy it if...

You like to share

Unlike traditional fans the FlexBlade can cool in two directions simultaneously with or without oscillation.

You like planes

The twin-blade design resembles a propellor or wings, and arranged vertically it looks like something from a space programme.

You need flexibility

It's easy to direct air exactly where you need it to go.View Deal

Don't buy it if...

You want all the airflow

Bi-directional venting inevitably mean splitting the output in two.

Your space is big

An air circulator is likely to do a better job cooling large rooms and similarly big spaces.

You like a bargain

The Dimplex FlexBlade was much cheaper during Prime Day 2026.

Dimplex FlexBlade fan review: also consider

Meaco Sefte 8in Portable Air Circulator

The Shark TurboBlade is the closest rival in terms of this kind of design. But if you don't need the bi-directional air of the Dimplex or Shark I'm an evangelist for Meaco's Sefte table and pedestal air circulators, of which I've bought three so far for my family. They're astonishingly quiet, very powerful and oscillate both vertically and horizontally to really move air around the room.

Unfortunately the big ones are sold out and apparently won't be back in stock until October 2026. However, there is an eight-inch rechargeable model with a list price of £79.99 (about $110 / AU$150) that's in stock at the time of writing. It pushes air up to 17 meters and runs as quietly as 27dB.View Deal

Dimplex FlexBlade fan review: how we tested

I tested the FlexBlade for a week at my home in Scotland during July 2026's UK heatwave. Scotland escaped the worst, because while England boiled the temperatures here were milder, peaking at 27ºC / 80.6ºF. That's hot enough to need a powerful fan but not so hot that I was crawling into my freezer or taking cold showers fully clothed.

I work from home in a long downstairs room that gets sunshine from both directions during the day, and that means it's often warmer inside than out – especially in the evening, as UK homes are typically made to retain heat rather than reflect it. I tested the FlexBlade as a daytime fan in my living room/office and as a bedroom fan overnight to see if it could keep me cool during the day, cool my family in the evening and help me sleep better at night.

First tested July 2026

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• Tornyol's drone tracks mosquitoes by their wingbeat and takes them down mid-flight
• Can autonomously patrol areas of up to 5 acres
• Preorders are open with a refundable $100 deposit, ahead of a targeted 2027 US launch

Tornyol, a San Francisco-based startup backed by Y Combinator, has built an autonomous micro-drone whose sole purpose is finding mosquitoes and flying straight into them. Forget spray, swatters and stinky citronella candles that go out halfway through your al fresco dinner — this propellered assassin can keep your yard bug-free all on its own.

Or at least, that's what its makers claim. Tornyol's drones use ultrasonic phased-array sonar — the same basic principle behind a car's parking sensors — paired with smartphone-grade microphones and custom signal-processing software. The system listens for the specific wingbeat frequency of a mosquito, distinguishes it from harmless insects like bees, and then closes in for a mid-air kill, using its whirring propellers as the business end. In other words, the mosquito is chopped to bits.

The company says its base station carries a 380-microphone array capable of tracking targets in real time to a distance of around 8m, with future planned drone versions likely to bring that sensing ability onto the aircraft itself.

Each drone flies for around five minutes at a time before heading back to its base station to recharge, a process Tornyol says takes about 30 minutes. The idea is a relay of short, targeted flights rather than a drone loitering in the air all evening. A single unit is pitched as capable of covering up to five acres (over 20,000 square meters).

As for safety, Tornyol cites the drone's tiny size and shrouded propellers as proof that it's safe to have buzzing around family and pets.

You can reserve one right now for a refundable $100 deposit. Once the drone is ready to ship, you'll be given a choice between an ongoing $50-a-month subscription or a one-off payment of $1,100 to own the hardware outright. A US launch is pegged for 2027, but availability everywhere else is TBC, pending local drone and pest-control regulatory approval — which, given what this thing actually does, may take a while.

It's pitched as being about more than backyard convenience, too. Tornyol frames its tech as a public health boon: mosquitoes are linked to roughly 700,000 deaths a year worldwide through diseases like malaria and dengue, and the company claims its approach could eventually slash the cost of mosquito control.

Right now, though, the achievements are more modest: on July 14, Tornyol co-founder Alex Toussaint posted a video of the drone's first confirmed "air-to-air kill": a moth, in a curtained-off test area, rather than a mosquito in the wild.

A post shared by Interesting Engineering (@interestingengineering)

A photo posted by on

Here's the buzzkill

So: a small, autonomous, AI-guided drone that identifies living targets and kills them on sight, patrolling your garden 24/7. What could possibly go wrong?

I'll admit that my sympathy for the mosquito is limited. Few people are going to find issue with a device that quietly thins out a blood-sucking insect responsible for ruining many a summer evening. If Tornyol's drones work as advertised and stay in their lane, this is about as palatable a "killer robot" as killer robots get.

But that's the thing about a system built to autonomously identify a target by sound and eliminate it: the target list is a software decision rather than a hardware one. Tornyol's own marketing boasts of distinguishing mosquitoes from "beneficial" insects like bees — which suggests the drone's kill criteria are, by design, adjustable. Currently it's tuned to a mosquito's wingbeat, but what's stopping a future firmware update — or a different customer altogether — from retuning it for something else?

And once you're comfortable with an autonomous hunter-killer aircraft policing the back garden, the scope creep writes itself. Mosquitoes today. Flies tomorrow, probably without much complaint either. But mice? Rats? Pigeons? Those are bigger, warmer-blooded and considerably more sympathetic targets, and if we're talking about robots that hunt and kill creatures on your property, where does the line get drawn — and by whom?

Tornyol's engineers appear to be solving a real problem, and it's a no-brainer to root for a tool that could put a dent in a global killer like malaria. But there's something dystopian about killer domestic robots too, and this is a solid first step to putting them in our homes.

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• The UK has the second-highest energy costs and planning environments in a study of 10 countries
• Britain also ranks ninth out of 10 in terms of overall network quality
• VodafoneThree wants networks to be seen as critical national infrastructure

VodafoneThree has argued that the UK is falling behind the rest of Europe in its mobile infrastructure because of regulations, which make it hard for companies like itself to invest heavily in the right areas at the right time.

According to the report, the UK is being set back by pressers from all angles, including high energy costs for running mobile infrastructure, expensive property and site costs, planning delays, restrictive policies and even competition from mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs).

More broadly on a global scale, the UK is also falling behind countries like Singapore, South Korea, the US, Norway, Australia, Germany and Hungary.

VodafoneThree slates UK mobile network regulatory landscape

Of the 10 specific countries studied in the company's analysis, VodafoneThree revealed that the UK has the second-highest energy costs and second-most burdensome planning environment. The UK ranks ninth on the scale of 10 countries for overall network quality.

"Bringing the UK’s investment environment up to the standard of our international peers could help to support public services, eliminate digital divides and enable communities to thrive," Networks Director Andrea Dona wrote.

The report warns that the UK could fall behind peers in terms of digital public services, national resilience and economic growth if the landscape doesn't improve, which is why it's working with the UK Government "to examine the barriers holding back our mobile networks."

One of the biggest changes that could impact the landscape is a shift to recognize mobile network operators are providers of critical national infrastructure, so that they're protected against some cost fluctuations such as energy costs.

"Fast, reliable and quality mobile networks are a fundamental driver of economic growth and prosperity," Dona concluded.

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• The Garmin Cirqa is a rumored screenless smart band, like a Whoop or Google Fitbit Air
• It's been the subject of a few unofficial leaks, and has been posted on Garmin's site in error before
• Another recent now-deleted post on Garmin's Romanian website has added fuel to the rumors

The Garmin Cirqa smart band is all but confirmed at this point. For months now, we've seen leak after leak about Garmin's Cirqa fitness tracker, and while we don't know too many details, it's seemingly a screenless smart band designed to compete with the likes of Whoop and the Google Fitbit Air.

Now it's reportedly leaked yet again. As spotted by Gadgets and Wearables, a recent update to Garmin's Romanian website, on the page explaining a feature called Health Status, mentions the Garmin Cirqa smart band (styled 'CIRQA') as a compatible device.

Health Status is a feature that combines five core metrics — heart rate, heart rate variability, respiration, skin temperature and pulse ox — to give an overview of your general health. It's a feature on most of the best Garmin watches now, so it's unsurprising that the Cirqa would be getting it.

The reference to Cirqa was reportedly swiftly deleted, but not before a screenshot was captured.

In January, Garmin posted the Cirqa on its own website, including color options (black and French Gray), before swiftly deleting it. It seems this has happened again. Add in other recent leaks, and you can see why it's basically confirmed at this stage.

The screenless 'focus wearables' category is having a moment. We've already seen the launches of the Oura Ring 5, Whoop competitors such as the Polar Loop (as seen in the image above, alongside the Whoop MG and Amazfit Helio Strap), and most recently the Google Fitbit Air. It makes sense that Garmin, one of the leading names in fitness tracking, wants in on the action while the category is still on the up.

I don't think a launch can be far away at this point, and I'll be keeping my ear to the ground for more Cirqa news as it breaks.

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Spoilers for Heartstopper Forever ahead.

It's a mammoth task to bring a beloved IP like Heartstopper to a close, but creator Alice Oseman has done an incredible job with the new Netflix movie, Heartstopper Forever.

If you're bummed out because we're not getting a full fourth season, don't be. As Nick (Kit Connor), Charlie (Joe Locke), and the gang all brace before going their separate ways to university, a feature film actually reflects their growing maturity and crises of confidence much more fittingly.

As our favorite friends brace themselves before heading their separate ways to start university (and more, but more on that later), emotions are running high.

But do our beloved relationships survive the final farewell, and what is everyone planning to do next? Here's the full Heartstopper Forever ending breakdown that you're looking for.

Do Nick and Charlie stay together?

(Image credit: Netflix)

Yes... but that isn't without its challenges. We start Heartstopper Forever with Nick and Charlie as besotted and in love as they always have been, with the others gently roasting them as being the "perfect couple" while their own relationships experience problems.

But while Charlie embraces his newfound self-confidence through becoming Head Boy at Truham Grammar School, Nick is having a tougher time with his emotions. He's decided that he wants to put Leeds University as his first choice on his application, and the thought of drifting apart from Charlie is weighing on his mind.

Nick starts to close himself off from Charlie, not fully explaining why he's not feeling 100%. Charlie is left at a loss, only wanting to support Nick in the same way he's always felt supported in return. This all comes to a head at a house party, where the boys get into an argument.

As Charlie tells Tori (Jenny Walser), Nick is trying to prevent a future problem that hasn't presented itself yet... Charlie just doesn't know exactly what that problem is. At the party, Nick complains that Charlie has been avoiding him the whole night, with Charlie responding that he thought Nick might want some space to talk through uni and future plans with his friends.

Nick, slightly drunk, lashes out by saying that the pair could probably use some space. "So you want to break up then?" Charlie asks, with Nick replying, "Well, it sounds like you want to break up." With communication between them coming to a halt, that's exactly what happens.

(Image credit: Netflix)

Cue endless moping while keeping to themselves. Charlie stops eating and refuses to get out of bed, with Elle (Yasmin Finney), Isaac (Tobie Donovan) and Tao (William Gao) all staging an intervention by taking Charlie to Truham Pride. All goes well until Charlie spots Nick talking to a girl on the dance floor at a local gay club.

From Nick's perspective, he's just looking for friends. Just like Charlie, he's been unable to shake off the breakup, telling mum Sarah (Anna Maxwell Martin) that everything that has happened is his own fault, believing that it's too late to be fixed.

The day of Truham Pride, Imogen (Rhea Norwood) introduces him to a friend, who offers to hook him up with someone if he wants a rebound. He refuses and moves away, which is when Charlie spots him.

Days later, Charlie leaves a pack of printed disposable photos at Nick's door, asking him to meet at the beach. Charlie tells him that he thought that the pair could always talk to each other, but somewhere along the line, their communication has broken down.

Nick says that he envies the way that Charlie can express himself, as he often doesn't understand how he's feeling half of the time. The two make amends, promising to always look after each other. From there, it's back to being as loved-up as ever, just in time for the Truham prom.

What about Elle and Tao?

(Image credit: Netflix)

Elle and Tao are the relationship that doesn't survive Heartstopper Forever, as the pair get into an argument about their future plans. Elle wants to move to Berlin to become an artist, having a go at Tao for not frequently planning to visit.

Tao says that he can't afford it, with their argument made worse by a drunk Nick claiming that everything with Charlie is perfect (hint: we know that's not true).

The pair agree to a truce to help Charlie out of his funk post-breakup, and appear friendly at Truham prom. They have "one last dance" before things change for good, and are noticeably emotional at the thought of being apart.

However, there's a silver lining on the horizon. In the very last scene of the pair, we see Elle at an art exhibition in Berlin, with Tao arriving to surprise her.

What's next for the gang after they finish school?

(Image credit: Netflix)

Let's start with Nick and Charlie. While Charlie stays local, Nick gets into Leeds. The final scene shows Charlie going to stay with Nick for the weekend, being introduced to all of his new friends, clubbing, and getting pancakes for breakfast.

They're ready to write a new chapter in their relationship, and as they say, they feel as if they're "different" from typical teen romance... they're in it for the long haul.

Elle and Tao are accounted for, but it's Tao's video project at prom that lets us in on what's to come next for the rest of the gang. Tara (Corrina Brown) has asked girlfriend Darcy (Kizzy Edgell) to go interrailing across Europe with her, deferring their places at uni for at least a year.

Tori has a more skeptical answer, telling Tao that she will "do nothing, then die." However, things are going well with boyfriend Michael (Darragh Hand), having figured out the rhythm of their relationship.

Sahar (Leila Khan) tells Tao that the band, Queer Intentions, has broken up, but she's going to try a solo music career and see what happens.

Don't miss this epic Heartstopper Easter egg

Just as Nick gets on the train to Leeds, he walks through the carriage and passes a young woman reading at a nearby table.

If you're a Heartstopper fan, you'll know that this is Alice Oseman, creator of the original graphic novel series. She's also acted as the showrunner of seasons 1-3. She's also written the script for Heartstopper Forever.

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Boox Go 10.3 Gen II Lumi: One-minute review

As far as epaper writing tablets go, Boox has some of the most versatile options thanks to their Android-based operating systems, and the Boox Go 10.3 (Gen II) Lumi is arguably the best of them despite its rather mouthful of a name — I’m just going to call it the ‘Lumi’ from here on in.

I was already a fan of the original model, calling the reMarkable dupe a pleasure to use in my Boox Go 10.3 review — and by just adding a light and making the battery consumption more efficient, the Chinese ereader maker has made the Gen II model better.

Despite the screen being a touch slower than I’ve experienced with other devices like the 2024 and 2025 Kindle Scribes, the light adds a lot of contrast to the screen, making it easier to read on, whether that’s an ebook or a handwritten note. Now, I have to mention that there is a Gen II without a frontlight as well but, in my opinion, having the screen lit up just makes the epaper writing tablet that much more usable in any situation. With a frontlight, it also becomes a true Kindle Scribe alternative — again, thanks to its Android-based OS that gives the user access to the Google Play Store.

However, the aforementioned slow display is a disappointment as every time I woke up the Lumi to read or write, there would be a couple of screen refreshes (clearly marked as ‘Rendering’ when directly waking up to the native library application) before it settled down. Page turns, though, are fine but, again, Amazon’s 2025 Kindle Scribes are just that little bit faster at this as well. Long story short, screen performance doesn’t seem to have improved over the Gen I Go 10.3.

While I can live with the slower screen, I can’t fathom why Boox would retire the stylus that came with the original Go 10.3 as it was a lot better than the supplied InkSense Plus pen. The new stylus isn’t as smooth to write with, and is heavier, detracting from the all-important writing experience.

So as much as I’d love to say the Lumi is an improvement over its predecessor — and it is in a couple of ways — it just seems like Boox has taken two steps forward (with the frontlight and battery life) but one step back with the stylus.

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

Boox Go 10.3 Gen II Lumi review: price & availability

• Announced March 2026
• List price: $449.99 / £429.99 / AU$729
• Available directly from the Boox Shop and third-party retailers

With the addition of the frontlight, the price of the Boox Go 10.3 (Gen II) Lumi is a lot higher than the launch price of the original Go 10.3 — you’re looking at shelling out $449.99 / £429.99 / AU$729 for the former, which is about $70 / £50 / AU$120 more than what the latter was when it was released in 2024.

That’s quite steep, although considering how expensive every bit of tech is getting thanks to RAM shortages, I’m not really surprised. It’s still competitively priced considering the 3rd-generation Amazon Kindle Scribe (2025 release with frontlight) retails for $499 / £449.99 / AU$849 for the 32GB flavor, while you get double the storage with the Lumi. Throw in the versatility of Android and it’s arguably better value (even compared to any of the reMarkables), but given its overall performance and user experience compared to the competition, I’d be hesitant to recommend it.

If the frontlight isn’t important, you can opt for the Gen II version without it, which will set you back $419.99 / £399.99 / AU$689. Prices for both Boox Gen II devices include the InkSense Plus stylus and a magnetic sleep case.

• Value score: 4 / 5

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

Boox Go 10. Gen II Lumi review: specs

Display type:	Undisclosed E Ink Carta HD panel
Screen size:	10.3 inches
Resolution:	300ppi
Processor:	2GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 690
Frontlight:	Yes (warm and cold)
Storage:	64GB (non-expandable)
Battery:	3,700mAh
Speaker:	Dual (stereo)
Water protection:	None
Software:	Android 15
Connectivity:	Wi-Fi (2.4GHz + 5GHz); Bluetooth 5.1 USB-C
File support:	20 document, 4 image, 2 audio
Dimensions:	235 x 183 x 4.8mm (9.3 x 7.2 x 0.19 inches)
Weight:	364g (without case and stylus)

Boox Go 10. Gen II Lumi review: design & display

• Good-looking, lightweight epaper tablet, but clunky stylus
• 10.3-inch E Ink display with good contrast
• Textured rear panel adds good grip

With its eggshell-white body and metallic trim, I thought the first-gen Boox Go 10.3 was a pretty tablet, so I’m glad to see that the Gen II version hasn’t been changed — except for a slightly more textured rear panel that affords a little more grip, which is important for a slim device like the Go series slates. I should note here that both Gen II Go 10.3 tablets are identical physically but, without LEDs on the unlit version, it’s about 14g (0.5oz) lighter.

While the slimness doesn’t make for fantastic ergonomics, the Lumi weighing only 364g is, in fact, lighter than the Gen 1 model that tipped the scales at 375g without screen lights. It is about 0.2mm thicker than the previous Go 10.3, but that’s neither here nor there.

It’s still a beautiful device and, despite the thinness, there are dual speakers on either side of the USB-C port on the bottom edge, as does a mic. The only button is for power/sleep on the top edge. There’s no microSD tray here, though, for additional storage. One larger bezel allows plenty of room for your hand, although holding such a slim device, no matter how light, isn’t necessarily ergonomic. If you add in the sleep case, however, it just becomes heavier.

Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar

Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar

Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar

I should talk about the case here, really quick — it’s a faux suede cover that unfortunately comes with the removable flap that I utterly detest. The brown suede material starts to lose its luster within days of use, so I can’t attest to its longevity, but I can’t fathom why Boox has to make the magnetic flap removable. This has been the case with the last few Boox devices I’ve tested and I find it rather annoying — the magnet is quite strong and the flap tends to entirely come away when you unfold it to close the case or secure the stylus to the side of the tablet.

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

Speaking of which, the magnetic hold of the stylus is good but, as with nearly every such device, it’s not strong enough to keep the pen secure during travel, so you do need to depend on the case.

Boox has also changed the pen, now offering the InkSense Plus stylus that has a thicker tip that just isn’t as smooth as the previous stylus. It’s also slightly heavier than the older pen, which makes it feel clunky in the hand that, in my opinion, doesn’t lend itself well to controlled mark making on the screen. And as I’ve discussed elsewhere, the stylus can make or break the user experience for epaper tablets. Sadly Boox is moving away from using EMR support on its screens (just like reMarkable), so you can’t use a third-party pen on the Lumi.

Boox hasn’t revealed what E Ink screen technology it’s using here, but the 10.3-inch display isn’t bad, with a 300ppi resolution. It’s not as yellow (warm) as I’ve seen on other Boox devices and the frontlight’s incremental adjustments for both brightness and temperature are excellent, adding wonderful contrast to the text or writing on the screen that makes the Lumi a far better reading tablet than its predecessor.

• Design & display score: 4 / 5

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

Boox Go 10. Gen II Lumi review: Software

• Runs a custom Android 15-based operating system
• A relatively clean user interface, but it takes getting used to
• Plenty of good native apps, but access to the Google Play Store makes it very versatile

Where the original Go 10.3 released in 2024 was using Android 12, the Lumi (and its cheaper sibling) have been upgraded to Android 15, although the software is a very trimmed-down custom version of Google’s operating system. You still get unfettered access to the Google Play Store, so you can, in theory, use any Android app, but e-ink tablets weren’t meant for streaming content or playing games on.

That said, nearly every Boox device comes pre-loaded with native apps that are quite good in their own right and have been improved over time as well, making them more streamlined than before. That’s not to say the UX is easy — if you’ve never used a Boox device before, it will take time to wrap your head around it all as there are still little adjustments that are hidden in sub menus.

What’s different with the Go series compared to other Boox tablets is the home screen navigation — the main menu is arranged vertically on the left, with the Library being your default view. You can change the main menu items in Settings, though, either adding or removing applications.

Customizing the user experience has never been Boox’s problem, which means you can choose between several options for System Display or Gestures, and even tweak individual native apps as you see fit — even the NaviBall is optional to use and can be configured to trigger a plethora of functions.

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

The Control Center hasn’t changed much over the last couple of years, but I’m still not sure access to an AI assistant is necessary on an e-ink device, but perhaps some power users would appreciate it.

As always, you can sign into a fair few cloud services, including Google Drive and Dropbox, get full support for EverNote and OneNote, or download any other productivity application you might need, but keep in mind that not all third-party apps will be optimized for this device.

One of the things I really like about Boox’s premium note-taking tablets is OTG (on the go) support. This means I can plug in an external hard drive or portable SSD directly into the USB-C port to transfer files. In fact, it’s what I predominantly use even though BooxDrop is a handy app for cloud transfer. I don’t even bother signing into my Google Drive account on a Boox these days.

There really isn’t very much to complain about from a software standpoint — it’s the writing experience that takes a tumble here.

• Software score: 4.5 / 5

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

Boox Go 10. Gen II Lumi review: User experience

• Good screen contrast with lights makes for a lovely reading experience
• The supplied pen, however, isn’t as nice as the older version for writing

A device might look lovely and come with the nicest software, but ultimately its user experience determines its value. And that’s the case with the Go 10.3 Gen II Lumi — it does a lot right, like its reading experience is lovely, but its main functionality of writing is a little bit of a letdown.

Reading

Like I said, reading on the Lumi is lovely — the frontlight makes the text stand out, adding contrast where previously, on the Gen 1, it was disappointing. Page turns are quick enough too with the screen quite responsive to taps and gestures.

And yet I feel it’s a little slow for an epaper tablet that was released in 2026. For example, every time I woke up the Lumi during my months-long testing, it took a while to ‘render’ an ebook from its native library app.

Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar

Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar

Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar

It very much seemed like it was refreshing the app twice before finally rendering the page. On the other hand, the 3rd-generation Kindle Scribe released in 2025 takes a second or two to open but doesn’t flicker or ‘refresh’ the page — it’s a lot smoother on waking up. As are the Kobo Libra Colour and Kindle Paperwhite from 2024.

Boox doesn’t reveal what E Ink screen tech its using, but other than its slight slowness on waking up, I can’t complain about the reading experience. All books and images rendered on screen have been sharp and clear, particularly with the frontlight on.

Writing

The same kind of contrast with the frontlight on is available on the Notes app too where handwriting looks sharp and clear on screen. However, the physical act of writing on the Lumi isn’t as good as it has been on the Gen 1 because Boox decided to change the stylus.

The previous pen had a thinner nib that moved over the screen quite well. The new InkSense Plus stylus is heavier and the slightly thicker tip feels like it needs to be dragged to make a mark — it feels clunkier in comparison.

Boox has also stepped away from using EMR screens, which means you can’t swap that pen out for another. I tried using one of Boox’s own older pens (used to be supplied with the Note series) and it didn’t work. That’s a real shame as writing is the Lumi’s principal function and the experience of doing so is disappointing.

Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar

Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar

Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar

The native Notes application, though, is full featured — in fact, for the average user it’s probably overkill — and would be ideal for students, teachers and researchers.

• User experience score: 3.5 / 5

Boox Go 10. Gen II Lumi review: Performance

• Generally good performance except on waking up
• A lot of ghosting visible, especially in the Notes app
• Exceptional battery life for an Android device

The Lumi's overall performance is a mixed bag. While it uses a better chipset (Qualcomm Snapdragon 690) compared to the original Go 10.3 (Snapdragon 680), it hasn't really made much of a dent in the speed with which the Lumi performs the tasks at hand.

That's not a complaint — it's an observation. However, Amazon's newest Kindle Scribes are just that much faster at things, like page turns are so quick they barely register that they've moved and the lag between pen input and the mark on screen is barely discernible. On both counts the Lumi is just that smidgeon slower that you can notice if you use it side by side with the 2025 Kindle Scribe (3rd generation).

The slow waking up of the screen is also something that has bothered me, and I've already mentioned how disappointing the writing experience is, but I'm also surprised at how much ghosting there still is on Boox devices, including the Lumi, something Amazon has managed to completely eliminate on its Kindles. You'll be able to notice the ghosting on nearly every single image I have in this review (including in the gallery below).

Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar

Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar

Where the Lumi really shines (pardon the pun) is with battery life. It still uses the same 3,700mAh battery pack that was in the Gen 1 model and yet whatever software adjustments Boox has made has pushed battery life to weeks rather than days. It's the first Android digital notebook I've used to have such an impressive battery life, one that can match the Kindle Scribes, albeit dependent on use.

In my case, an hour of reading and 30 minutes of writing per day gave me 17 days of use with frontlight at medium brighness and a similar warmth setting, plus Wi-Fi on at all times (but not Bluetooth). Using cloud services and didn't make any dent on the battery usage, although excessive online browsing did drain a little extra but not by all that much.

Topping up was average, with the 3,700mAh pack going from 19% to full in just under two hours when plugged into a wall charger via a high-quality USB-C cable.

• Performance score: 3.5 / 5

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

Should I buy the Onyx Boox Go 10.3 (Gen II) Lumi

Attribute	Notes	Score
Value	It's cheaper than the 3rd-gen Kindle Scribe, but you'll get better performance elsewhere	4 / 5
Design & display	It's a beautiful device with reMarkable 2 vibes, and a frontlight makes a world of difference. However, the display just seems to lack the oomph factor I've seen in newer epaper tablets.	4 / 5
Software & apps	With an Android-based software allowing for versatility, and a nicer user interface than previous Boox UIs, it's hard to fault the Lumi. It's not perfect, but it ain't bad.	4 / 5
Writing & productivity	It's fantastic to read on, with brilliant contrast when the light is on, but the supplied pen is a major letdown when it comes to writing.	3.5 / 5
Reading	Without a frontlight, it's not the ideal ereader	3.5 / 5
Performance	On its own, the Lumi performs well for most users, but it's hard to give it full praise when there are faster E Ink displays being used on competitive digital notebooks, but the battery life is the best for an Android epaper tablet.	3.5 / 5

Buy it if...

You want a thin, light digital notebook with frontlight

There are more epaper writing tablets without a frontlight now than with, and trust me when I saw that can make a difference to usability, especially at nighttime and in bright sunlight.

You want the versatility of the Google Play Store on your digital notebook

It's not the only Android-toting epaper writing tablet, but it's well priced compared to some of the competition.

Don't buy it if...

You'll be doing a lot more writing than reading

The Lumi's main function is as a writing tablet and, given the disappointing stylus supplied with it, it's hard to recommend when there are competitors offering a better experience.

You want the best performance out of your digital notebook

It's not that the Lumi is bad; it's just that there are better options out there that have more responsive screens with next-to-no ghosting.

You need plenty of storage

64GB is a very good amount of storage that you'll get on the Lumi, but power users with large files saved on the device might need more, and there's no microSD card tray here. For that, I'd recommend Boox's Note series over the Go.

Also consider

I like the Lumi, but I don't I love it. If, like me, you'd be keen to check out other options, the two below are the ones I'd recommend, both of which are cheaper but aren't Android based.

Amazon Kindle Scribe (2nd gen)

It might have been succeeded by the 3rd-gen Scribe that's bigger and better, but it's still available to buy and still makes for an excellent e-ink writing tablet with a lovely screen and, importantly, regularly discounted now since it's an older model.
Read our full Amazon Kindle Scribe (2024) review for more details

reMarkable Paper Pure

It's not as full featured as an Android-based epaper writing tablet, but this reMarkable offers you a distraction-free slate to unleash your creativity. It's essentially the reMarkable 2 in a new body with 32GB of storage.
Read our in-depth reMarkable Paper Pure review to learn more

How I tested the Onyx Boox Go 10.3 (Gen II) Lumi

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

I've tested a range of ereaders and epaper writing tablets for TechRadar, so I'm well suited to compare the Boox Go 10.3 (Gen II) Lumi with its competitors.

As with all such devices I've previously tested, the first thing I did with the Lumi was to sign into the Google Play Store and down the Kindle and Kobo apps. I then used OTG support to transfer ebooks to the device directly from a portable SSD via the USB-C port, but I also used BooxDrop and cloud transfer from Google Drive to test various services.

The Lumi then became my daily ereader and note taker for 4 weeks, using it an average of 2-3 hours a day to read and write. I'm not an artist, so drawing was out of the question.

Out of curiosity, I also downloaded Geekbench 6 to benchmark the CPU (the app is available on the Play Store). I sideloaded a few MP3 files to test the onboard speakers.

Read more about how we test

[First published July 2026]

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The disclosure-to-exploit window used to be measured in weeks; for weaponized vulnerabilities, it now runs in hours. Out-of-cycle patches that used to be exceptional have become routine across enterprise environments of meaningful size.

This pattern now has a name. You might have heard it already: the Patch Apocalypse. Sounds a bit dramatic, but the impact warrants the drama.

It describes something measurable — software flaws are being discovered, disclosed and weaponized faster than most patch management programs were built to handle.

Several factors are converging at once. Frontier AI models are accelerating vulnerability research — Anthropic's Project Glasswing and comparable initiatives have produced thousands of high-severity findings in compressed timeframes.

Attackers are using the same class of tooling to reverse-engineer patches far faster than previously thought possible. Public disclosures are arriving on shorter cycles.

For any team responsible for keeping production systems patched, this all translates to a backlog that grows faster than the available maintenance management windows can drain it. And “drain” is the right word here, because that’s also the impact on the team: it’s very, very draining.

This is far from an anecdotal observation. The workforce cost is already visible.

Recent UK data shows what’s happening at the personnel level: 42% of UK IT professionals report high levels of stress from their jobs, and 76% say that stress is affecting their physical and mental health. 30% report difficulty concentrating, 35% report trouble sleeping and 30% report increased anxiety and depression.

Why traditional patching is breaking down

Patch management was built around predictability. Vendor releases on a known schedule. A defined maintenance window. Manual testing in a staging environment. Communication, approval, deployment, verification.

The model worked when most enterprise software was released on predictable monthly or quarterly schedules, when threat actors needed weeks to weaponize a disclosed CVE, and when out-of-cycle patches were rare enough that a program could absorb them without restructuring. When those scenarios change, the model’s validity changes.

Two structural changes have done most of the work:

Volume is the first. When a single AI model can autonomously surface thousands of high-severity vulnerabilities across major operating systems and browsers — as Project Glasswing did within weeks of its April launch — the downstream effect is more CVEs arriving sooner, with public patches available, all flowing into the same backlog the IT team was already trying to clear.

Velocity has compounded that. Attackers have access to the same class of capability. Patches can be reverse-engineered in as little as 72 hours, sometimes far less. Any system unpatched in that window is exposed to working exploits.

Combine the two, and a patch program that was already running near capacity has to absorb a step change in volume, with shorter deadlines and less predictability about when the next critical disclosure will land. That’s a lot of pressure, and it’s what’s driving the stress data up.

Automation is taking center stage

As an operating model, automation is far better-equipped to survive a Patch Apocalypse than previous iterations. Three important principles underscore the model’s efficacy:

1. Continuous, risk-based triage. The CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list is the non-negotiable top tier. An Exploit Prediction Scoring System threshold appropriate to the environment can drive priority for everything else. Below that threshold, work waits for the maintenance ring.

2. Automated test and deployment rings. The test cycle has to compress to fit the exploit window. Even with top-tier skills and best intentions, a human checklist cannot move at that speed. The familiar sequence — test ring, early-adopter ring, broad production, mission-critical — has to be instrumented and capable of running without manual coordination at every stage.

3. Closed-loop verification. A patch isn’t deployed until the install is confirmed on every endpoint, and a CVE isn’t closed until a rescan confirms it. Compliance evidence is produced as a byproduct of the workflow, not assembled from a spreadsheet the week before an audit.

Industry data points in the same direction. 67% of IT professionals say AI tools and automation will free up their time for more interesting, fulfilling work. 66% say the same tools will help them provide better service to end users. Less than one in three organizations report having fully embedded automation in their IT workflows.

Who’s paying the cost

Any cost considerations regarding patch programs need to take the human cost into account. A patch program running on legacy assumptions will absorb the Patch Apocalypse by burning out the team running it. The stress figures are showing the early signs. The downstream cost includes attrition, error rates, lost productivity and the slow erosion of the institutional knowledge that holds a program together.

On the other hand, programs where automation runs the workflow have the potential to absorb the same volume without requiring the team to absorb it personally. Continuous prioritization, instrumented rings and verification embedded in the workflow take variable, manual work out of the critical path.

Two-thirds of IT professionals see AI and automation as a route to better work — fewer frantic escalations and more time on the problems that need human judgement.

The Patch Apocalypse is very much here, and is poised to reach every program. Is the workflow underneath built to absorb the impact? If not, consider the whole scope of what — and who — is at stake.

We've reviewed and ranked the best endpoint protection software.

This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

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