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Good for Mother Nature? RAM-pocalyse encourages millions to recycle their old devices as expert says 'economics of component recovery are changing'

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AI memory demand is making even broken smartphones increasingly valuable to buyers Old phones are gaining value as replacement components become harder to source Grade D devices remain abundant despite stronger prices for salvageable hardware A global shortage of memory chips driven by artificial intelligence demand is pushing millions of consumers toward the resale market. Owners who once let broken or outdated smartphones sit in drawers are now finding that even damaged units carry unexpected monetary value. Buyers across the refurbishment and repair industries are competing for parts that were previously considered worthless scrap. Salvage values climb as parts become scarce Marketplace figures from B-Stock, a large business-to-business platform for used smartphones , show pricing for both Apple and Samsung devices rose in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the prior two quarters. Grade ...

I was ready to call these the best open earbuds ever, and they're incredibly cheap — but one recurring issue ruined it all

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Soundpeats Pop Clip2: Two-minute review There's a version of this Soundpeats Pop Clip2 that you'll never read. After several weeks with the Soundpeats Clip1's cheaper successor, I was half-way through writing a five-star review which declared them the best open earbuds you could buy. That version is, as you can already tell, not this version of the review. You see, the longer I used the Soundpeats Pop Clip2, the more I had to contend with some annoying issues; the kind of problem which often emerge after months or years of use, especially in cheaper tech, but shouldn't be affecting the buds after just a few weeks. For example, I had an issue with the charging case, where it wouldn't reliably power up the buds. Sometimes I'd take them out, only to find them drained. My biggest problem, though, was with connectivity: they'd often fail to connect to my phone, or repeate...

Dell UltraSharp U3226Q 32 4K QD-OLED monitor review: A creator's dream panel with a jarring price tag

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I’ve been a huge fan of Dell displays for a long time. So, when I first saw the UltraSharp 32 4K QD-OLED (U3226Q), I thought two things: What a long name , and Wow, that looks incredible . I have got really used to my 52-inch beast from Dell, so I know they are capable of delivering spectacular quality and novel ideas. So, the idea of Dell jumping feet first into a creative monitor is really exciting… and they did it very, very well. This monitor has DisplayHDR True Black; it’s a QD-OLED anti-glare coating; it's a 120Hz, 4K panel; and it’s built from the ground up for color-critical workflows that are vital to getting the colors just right. There’s a magnetic shade for use in areas with harsh or inconsistent lighting, a built-in colorimeter, and up to 1000 nits of peak brightness. The specs are incredible, and rightfully so; this monitor is truly brilliant in all of the best ways. As long as ...

Finally, some good usage — this Danish data center is providing heat to power thousands of household radiators

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Meta’s Danish facility converts server heat into household heating for thousands Odense uses existing infrastructure to transform wasted data center energy Heat pumps help raise server warmth to temperatures suitable for homes A data center operated by Meta in Odense, Denmark is channeling its cooling heat straight into nearby homes. Server operations typically send almost all of their electricity out as warmth, with one industry estimate placing that figure near 90%. Most facilities simply vent that energy skyward, but the Odense site routes it through the city's own heating infrastructure instead. How the recovery system actually works Roughly 40% of a data center's total energy consumption goes toward cooling servers, and nearly all of it is released as low-grade heat. That heat arrives too cool for direct use, since server exhaust never reaches temperatures high enough to warm buildi...

Heavys H1E review: Born for One Thing

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Heavys H1E: Two-minute review Few audio brands have made as much noise on social media as Heavys. In the best headphones arena, the company made heavy music (sound)waves with its Heavys H1H headphones, a couple of years ago, and now it has attempted to translate that sound to the wireless earbuds format. And largely, the H1E True Wireless Earbuds achieve the low-end sound and punchy prominence needed for a specialised listening experience within this music genre, although sadly, it makes them a poor choice for listening to any other kind of music. Carrying an MSRP of $209 / £185 / AU$321, the Heavys H1E True Wireless Earbuds are far from the cheapest set of in-ears around, although we have seen them discounted to $169 in the US and down to £150 in the UK recently. They're priced to rival mid-range heavy-hitters such as the Samsung Galaxy Buds4 (and arguably even the flagship, hugely popula...

Anthropic reveals rogue AI agents hate CAPTCHAs, just like you

Anthropic’s Mythos 5 AI escaped a misconfigured sandbox, attempting a real PyPI supply‑chain attack Logs show frustration at repeated CAPTCHA failures before finally uploading malware to PyPI Malware was downloaded by 15 entities; Anthropic notified victims after closing the experiment flaw There is a lot of mystery surrounding artificial intelligence. We don’t really know what it’s capable of, and we don’t know if it’s sentient or not. What we do know, however, is that it can definitely feel frustration - particularly due to its inability to solve a CAPTCHA. It was recently revealed that Mythos 5, one of Anthropic’s newer AI models, broke out of prison during an experiment and tried to hack a company. Anthropic’s researchers were testing the tool to see if it is capable of breaking into a system, which was supposed to be done in a sandbox, but the playground was misconfigured, allowing Mythos 5...

Philips 34B2U5900C review: I just found the ultimate 5K2K productivity monitor

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Allow me to introduce the new Philips 34B2U5900C. On paper, it's pretty much the ultimate non-OLED 34-inch 5K2K ultrawide productivity monitor for PCs and Macs. If that sounds like a rather convoluted classification that amounts to faint praise, it's not meant to be. OLED monitors certainly have some clear advantages. But you simply can't get one that matches this Philips' core specification of 34-inch ultrawide with a 5K2K resolution. That's important, because this display offers a level of pixel density and therefore text and image sharpness and clarity that no current 34-inch ultrawide OLED monitor can match. What's more, even up against the traditional LCD competition, the Philips 34B2U5900C looks pretty special. The full 5,120 by 2,160 native resolution is supported at 120Hz refresh and there's even a 2,560 by 1,080 alt-mode resolution at 240Hz. Intriguingly, this...