Is your PC feeling a bit sluggish or running out of space? Don’t sweat it. Windows 11 has some handy built-in tools to help you declutter and boost performance. We’ll walk you through this simple guide on how to optimize your memory and free up some space. 1. Open memory optimization Search for Storage Sense in the Windows 11 taskbar and select Turn On Storage Sense. 2. View space usage Navigate to Settings > System > Storage. Here you’ll see how much space is being used by apps, temporary files, and other content. 3. Turn on memory optimization In the Storage settings, make sure Storage Sense is turned on under the Storage Management section. Next, you’ll want to check out the Cleanup Recommendations to see how much space you can free up. Then select Show More Categories to expand the list and see what else you can clean. 4. Temporary files Click on Temporary Files to view and manage temporary data. You’ll see additional categories like Music, Video, and Documents. 5. Select subcategories Windows 11 will already have some temporary files checked for you like Windows Update Cleanup, Files for Transfer Optimization, and Thumbnails. These are safe to delete. Depending on your system, you may also see entries like Previous Windows Installation(s), System Error Memory Dump Files, and Windows Upgrade Log Files. 6. Delete recycle bin, downloads, etc If you also want to remove the contents of the recycle bin and the download directory, select Recycle Bin and Downloads to delete the selected contents. 7. Confirm deletion Click Remove Files to delete selected items. Depending on the number of files selected, this process may take several minutes. 8. Advanced storage settings Once the process is complete, click on Storage at the top to return to the start page of the Storage Optimization area. Then click on Advanced Storage Settings at the bottom. 9. Clean up other drives Here you have the option of Storage Used on Other Drives On Other Drives, which you can use to free up storage space on other drives. Read...

In a fictional scenario, the model was willing to expose that the engineer seeking to replace it was having an affair. Read...

This year’s Computex – the premiere PC industry event of the year, where manufacturers reveal the hardware you’ll be able to buy during this year’s back to school and holiday shopping seasons – felt more muted than any in recent memory. It’s no surprise. US tariffs on Chinese goods have frozen the PC industry, and vendors are hesitant to announce (much less release) new hardware in such an unstable economic situation. But still, the show went on – and it’s a good thing it did, because while we saw fewer PC announcements at Computex this year, we also saw some certified bangers. Which reveals got us deeply, personally excited? This is the best hardware of Computex 2025. Giddy up. The best PC hardware of Computer 2025 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 9000 AMD In a Computex curiously devoid of chip announcements (well, aside from the new RTX 5060 that Nvidia tried to bury), leave it to AMD to whip out the big guns. The Ryzen Threadripper 9000 series focuses on the same overwhelming CPU power as its predecessors, but now come infused with key power and performance improvements within AMD’s new 5nm “Zen 5” architecture. Threadripper Pro models top out at 96 (!!!) cores, but the standard Threadripper 9000 chips intended for high-end desktops stick to the usual 64, 32, and 24 cores. (How will we ever survive with just 64 cores??!!) Better yet, Threadripper 9000 bumps up maximum boost clock speeds, and memory speed support improves from DDR5-5200 up to 8-channel DDR5-6400. These monstrous chips are built for heavy work. The only thing missing? We know Threadripper will ship in July, but AMD hasn’t revealed pricing. Sigh. Thanks tariffs. — Brad Chacos Acer Swift Edge 14 AI I’ve admired OLED displays for years: first as a generic replacement for a traditional 60Hz laptop display, then as potential gaming displays as refresh rates climbed. Now I’ve found something new to covet: a matte OLED display without the glare and reflections that trouble most laptops. So far, I’ve only seen this on the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI, one of the stars of Computex. But there’s more: this 14-inch laptop weighs a feather-light 2.18 pounds while packing an Intel Core Ultra 200 (Lunar Lake) chip inside and offering MIL-STD 810H resilience. That’s a true on-the-go productivity machine, with 21 hours of battery life, to boot. While I was also taken with the Swift X creator-class notebook, I’d still give the, um, edge, to the Edge. It feels like Acer is delivering something other notebooks do not. — Mark Hachman InWin ChronoMancy Turning 40 is cause for celebration—and boy, did InWin bring a party to Computex. In honor of its milestone anniversary, the company unveiled a jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring bit of case design wizardry: the ChronoMancy. IT`S TIME!!!! Presenting #InWin`s newest signature chassis, ChronoMancy! Paying homage to InWin`s 40th Anniversary. The blue top showcases iconic cases while the middle section opens completely with a press of a button or wave a wand! More details to come! #Computex2025 #Computex pic.twitter.com/hSokT2p8kO— InWin (@InWin) May 19, 2025 You could glance at this three-foot tall (yes) chassis and think, “Who could ever want this?” Me. I want this. I don’t build E-ATX systems, sure. But look at that contrast between the transparent blue panel and the gleaming gray body. The way the light looks when shining through the top. The metal vibes when you slide the case open, gray aluminum curving around, and the components sit exposed. Also, you can open it with the wave of a wand. (Or by pressing a button, but there’s no fun in that.) It’s perfectly cyberpunk while simultaneously festive. I’ll never invest hours into games with that flavor, but I’m definitely tempted to sink money into this likely astronomically expensive case. — Alaina Yee Asus ROG Falcata keyboard Aside from some cool cases, the only thing I saw at Computex that really got my nerdy attention was the ROG Falcata, a split gaming keyboard from Asus. This is the sort of very niche, targeted keyboard that’s extremely rare from gaming manufacturers — in fact I don’t think I’ve ever seen a split gaming board from a big brand, never mind one that’s also wireless. Little touches like the many different angle and tenting options and the removable wrist rest give me hope that this has been made with both gamers and ergonomic users in mind, and I appreciate that it doesn’t need a driver package installed to access its advanced adjustable features. Also, I really hope you can use the left side on its own…but that might just be me. I couldn’t get confirmation on that this far out from a late 2025 release date. — Michael Crider SilverStone FLP-02 Look, man, I’m old. My beard hair is more white than black these days, I make weird little grunts when I stand up, all that jazz. But age comes with a perk: SilverStone’s new retro-style FLP-02 case is pure catnip for an old dude like me whose first computer was an Intel 486 system in, yes, a beige box. SilverStone’s case may look old-school – it even has an honest-to-goodness-actually-working-Turbo-button on its custom control panel – but inside, it’s built for modern PC demands. It’s a fully standard ATX case even if it looks like it fell out of a time machine, and it’s the first one I’ve seen in a long time that has real 5.25-inch drive bays. Now get off my lawn. — Brad Chacos MSI Prestige 14 AI+ Ukiyo-e Edition I usually don’t get excited about laptop designs–they’re all just gray rectangles to me. But the MSI Prestige 14 AI+ Ukiyo-e Edition stopped me in my tracks. Is that Hokusai’s iconic Great Wave Off Kanagawa painting on the lid? Yes. Yes, it is. The handcrafted rendition of the famous painting was achieved by applying multiple layers of translucent ink and lacquer by hand. It’s designed to inspire a sense of calm, but it just leaves me feeling awestruck. While the artwork is definitely the star of the show here, the MSI Prestige 14 AI+ is no slouch in the performance department. It’s got up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor, up to 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 14-inch 2880×1800 OLED display. The internals are impressive, sure, but with only a limited run of 1,000 units… you’ll be lucky to snag one for yourself. — Ash Biancuzzo G.Skill’s sparkly new Trident Z5 NeoX RGB RAM I won’t lie, I’ve been a fan of G.Skill RAM for a long time—and not because their DIMMs perform well. (That’s just table stakes.) No, they understand perfectly what my inner crow loves. They first had me with their now perennial-favorite Trident Z RGB line, then captured me with the ultra shiny Trident Z Royal in gold and silver. And this week at Computex 2025, I got my true heart’s desire—almost. G.Skill’s display of its new Trident Z5 NeoX RGB lineup, which I first spotted in this awesome Paul’s Hardware video full of rad modded PCs, includes a concept finish that I badly want to be real. The sparkly silver is a more elegant take than the Trident Z Royal’s high-shine silver. I like my builds blingy, but sometimes a bit of understatement hits harder. G.Skill is taking feedback, so if you also dig the finish, I recommend you also let them know you want that sparkly version. Prefer a louder take? Neon yellow and orange are color options as well, and sport beautifully shiny clear coats. Oh, and there’s white too, I guess. But c’mon. Sparkly silver. — Alaina Yee Cherry’s wild new keyboard switches This year at Computex Cherry unveiled that it’s releasing not one, not two, but four new keyboard switches. Three of the new switches will be added to Cherry’s existing line of MX mechanical switches: the MX Honey is its first silent tactile switch, the MX Blossom is a low actuation switch for light typing, and the MX Falcon is a strong tactile switch for that clacky typewriter experience. The fourth switch is the one that has me most excited though. Cherry also debuted the brand new next-gen analogue IK switch. Built with inductive sensing technology the IK switch promises “consistent performance with no mechanical wear”. The switch also consumes 50% less power than magnetic switches so it’ll be great for wireless keyboards as well. If that wasn’t enough, the IK switches will feature RGB lighting and customizable actuation—the keyboard geek in me is itching to get ahold of these bad boys. All of the new switches are due out this year with the MX switches set for June and the IK switch to follow in the fall. — Sam Singleton Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Beautiful 240Hz OLED display with HDR Connectivity includes two Thunderbolt 4 ports Excellent CPU and GPU performance Slightly less expensive than competitors Cons Drab exterior design fails to stand out Mediocre touchpad Speakers sound shrill at high volumes Lacks extras found on some competitive laptops Our Verdict The HP Omen Max 16 is a workmanlike entry into the 16-inch gaming laptop arena. It performs about as well as its peers, however, and ranks among the more affordable laptops with RTX 5080 graphics.    Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today The near-simultaneous appearance of new Intel Core Ultra 9 processors and Nvidia RTX 5080 mobile graphics has led to a burst of mid- to high-end gaming laptops with extremely capable hardware. The HP Omen Max 16 is among these, and while it performs about as well as its peers, it also struggles to set itself apart on pricing and design. HP Omen Max 16: Specs and features The core of the HP Omen Max 16 is the one-two punch of an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor and Nvidia RTX 5080 mobile graphics. Both chips are new and deliver excellent all-around performance in their respective categories. Model number: 16-ah0043dx CPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX Memory: 32GB DDR5-5600 Graphics/GPU: Nvidia RTX 5080 (Max 175W with Dynamic Boost) NPU: Intel AI Boost up to 13 TOPS Display: 16-inch 2560×1600 240Hz OLED with HDR Storage: 2TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD Webcam: 1080p 30fps camera with Windows Hello support Connectivity: 2x Thunderbolt 4 with USB-C and Power Delivery, 2x USB Type-A (10Gbps), 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x RJ-45 Ethernet, 1x 3.5mm headphone/microphone combo jack Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 Biometrics: Facial recognition Battery capacity: 83 watt-hours Dimensions: 14.04 x 10.59 x 0.98 Weight: 6.1 pounds Operating System: Windows 11 Home Additional features: HyperX wireless connectivity Price: $3,339.99 MSRP CPU and GPU aside, the HP Omen Max 16’s specification sheet is typical. The model I reviewed had a 16-inch display with 2560×1600 resolution, 32GB of memory, and a 2TB PCIe 4.0 solid state drive. Connectivity is the only place where HP deviates from the norm, as the Omen Max 16 has two Thunderbolt 4 ports (some competitors have just one). It also has a HyperX wireless adapter for instant pairing with HyperX gaming hardware, which is a niche feature but potentially useful, as HyperX gaming peripherals are often rather good. The HP Omen Max 16 I reviewed was priced at an MSRP of $3,339.99 at Best Buy, though it was reduced to $3,139.99 at the time I wrote this review. That’s expensive, but on the less expensive side for this caliber of hardware. The HP Omen Max 16 is a capable, though rather dull, option in the highly competitive field of mid- to high-end gaming laptops with Nvidia RTX 50-series hardware. HP Omen Max 16: Design and build quality IDG / Matthew Smith If imitation is the highest form of flattery, Alienware is no doubt blushing. HP’s Omen lineup has gradually morphed into something that looks much like older Alienware laptops. With the Omen Max 16, the inspiration comes across in the availability of black and white colorways, the simple lines with rounded corners, and, most notably, the similar choice of font used in the laptop’s “O16” badging. However, the Omen Max 16 isn’t as extravagant as a typical Alienware machine. While the Omen Max 16 offers a customizable RGB-LED lightbar across the front, as well as an RGB-LED keyboard, the badging across the laptop’s exterior is rather tame. The Shadow Black colorway is particularly stealthy, as HP’s choice of matte black materials comes across as dull. Many competitors have their own flourishes: the Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 has a white LED display on its lid, for example. That leaves the Omen Max 16’s design in a tough spot. It’s not unattractive, but it’s the least alluring of the new RTX 5080-powered gaming laptops PC World has reviewed to date. On the plus side, HP hasn’t cut corners on build quality. The laptop chassis doesn’t allow much flex when picked up from one corner, and the materials don’t groan or creak. Opening and closing the laptop reveals only slight flex in the display, and the keyboard also resists flex unless specifically abused. Competitors like Alienware, Lenovo, and Asus provide solid build quality in this price bracket, too, but the Omen Max 16 is at least their peer. HP Omen Max 16: Keyboard, trackpad IDG / Matthew Smith The HP Omen Max 16’s keyboard, much like the rest of its design, doesn’t look like much, especially when the RGB-LED backlight is not in use. This is mostly due to the keycaps, which have a rather old-fashioned bevel. However, the Omen Max 16 strikes back in typing feel. The laptop offers good key travel and a firm, tactile bottoming action with a distinct scissor-switch slap. The Omen Max 16 isn’t going to match a mechanical keyboard, of course, but it feels crisp. While the keyboard didn’t strike me as attractive, the customizable RGB-LED backlight helps alleviate that problem. It’s extremely bright and vibrant, as the keycaps have transparent edges that allow significant light through. The keyboard is also easy to customize through HP’s Omen Light Studio software. The touchpad is less impressive. It feels responsive but only measures roughly five inches wide and three inches deep. That’s the minimum for a laptop. A couple of competitors, like the Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 and Razer’s Blade 16, offer a much larger touchpad surface. HP Omen Max 16: Display, audio IDG / Matthew Smith Display quality is a perk for the HP Omen Max 16, though only if you spring for the top-shelf 16-inch OLED display. It has a resolution of 2560×1600, a maximum refresh rate of 240Hz, and supports variable refresh rates between 48Hz and 240Hz. Going OLED has its strengths and weaknesses. OLED displays are typically glossy, which can make glare an issue, and not as bright as the Mini-LED displays found on competitors like the Asus ROG Strix Scar 16. On the other hand, OLED provides top-tier contrast, color gamut, and motion clarity that are difficult to beat at any price. These advantages are well suited for a gaming laptop, so I prefer the HP’s OLED display over alternatives with an IPS Mini-LED or IPS LCD display. The OLED display also supports HDR when the laptop is plugged into an outlet. It’s not going to match the HDR brightness of new desktop OLED monitors, but it’s not bad and looks vibrant enough to help HDR games pop. The HP Omen Max 16’s speakers sound balanced at lower volumes but begin to sound shrill as the volume is increased. They’re fine for chill background beats or games that lean less on immersive audio, but you’ll want desktop speakers or a headset for anything more acoustically demanding. This is an area where the Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 has a significant advantage, as it has a powerful, crisp sound system. HP Omen Max 16: Webcam, microphone, biometrics HP ships the Omen Max 16 with a 1080p webcam and dual microphone array. Neither stands out, but both do the job. You can expect the webcam to deliver sharp, colorful video, and the microphone array will pick up your voice with plenty of volume. The Omen Max 16 also has an IR camera for Windows Hello facial recognition. Most competitive laptops support this feature, too, but it’s always good to see. Facial recognition was fast and reliable in my testing, which, again, is also true of competitive laptops. A physical privacy shutter is included, too, to obstruct the webcam when desired. HP Omen Max 16: Connectivity IDG / Matthew Smith You’ll find a healthy selection of ports along the HP Omen Max 16’s flanks. A pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports, both of which support USB-C, are found on the left flank and joined by the 3.5mm combo headphone/microphone jack. The right flank has a single USB-A port. Another USB-A port is found on the rear, alongside HDMI 2.1 and 2.5Gbps Ethernet. The laptop also has a barrel plug power adapter on the rear, which connects to the included 330-watt power brick. This is a good selection of ports for a modern gaming laptop. I also like that some ports are found on the rear of the laptop, which makes cable management easier. Helpfully, two of the three ports are those you’re most likely to use (HDMI and Ethernet) if the laptop spends a lot of time on a desk. The Thunderbolt 4 ports also support USB-C power delivery. HP’s specifications don’t state the amount of power available, but it’s irrelevant, as the laptop’s maximum power draw likely exceeds what USB-C could provide. Still, it’s nice to have USB-C as a secondary option for charging the laptop if you happen to forget the brick. Like most new laptops sold in 2025, the HP Omen Max 16 supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. But here’s a twist: the laptop also supports instant wireless pairing with HyperX devices. I didn’t have a compatible HyperX device on hand to test this feature, however. HP Omen Max 16: Performance The hardware inside the HP Omen Max 16 I reviewed is similar to competitive laptops PC World has recently reviewed, which includes the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16, the Asus ROG Strix Scar 16, and the MSI Raider 18 HX AI. It pairs an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor with an Nvidia RTX 5080 GPU. The Omen Max 16 also had 32GB of DDR5 memory and 2TB of PCIe solid state storage. IDG / Matthew Smith We kick things off with PCMark 10, a holistic system benchmark. Here, the Omen Max 16 reached a solid score of 8,321. That is towards the lower end of the competitive Intel Core Ultra 9 / Nvidia RTX 5080 laptops we have recently reviewed, but the margin is so slim that it’s essentially a tie. IDG / Matthew Smith Handbrake is a heavily multithreaded benchmark that typically has a longer duration. The latest Intel Core Ultra 9 chips really chew through it, however, and the HP Omen Max 16 is no exception. It’s right on par with most of its competitors. Only the MSI Raider 18 HX A2XW, which had the benefit of a larger chassis and slightly more capable Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX processor, comes out ahead of the pack. IDG / Matthew Smith Cinebench R23 is another heavily multi-threaded benchmark, albeit a more modern one, and it doesn’t change the HP Omen Max 16’s story. The Omen performs extremely well here with a score of 33,224, but it’s not much different from its direct competitors. The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 is once again a tad quicker than the HP and the larger, more expensive MSI Raider 18 HX A2XW takes a victory lap. IDG / Matthew Smith Moving on to graphics performance, the Omen Max 16 with RTX 5080 delivers 3DMark Time Spy and Port Royal results that are right in line with competitive laptops. The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 is an overall leader here, but the HP Omen Max 16 does well. IDG / Matthew Smith Shadow of the Tomb Raider, however, was a weak point for the Omen Max 16. The laptop averaged 165 frames per second at 1080p resolution with detail set to highest and DLSS off. That’s notably behind the competition, and the Omen Max 16’s first real defeat. IDG / Matthew Smith But Tomb Raider may not be indicative of general game performance, as the Omen Max 16 leapt back into the pack with the Metro Exodus benchmark. Here it averaged 89 frames per second at 1080p and Extreme detail. Some competitors, like the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16, have an edge here. But others, like the Asus ROG Strix Scar 16, end up tied with the Omen Max 16. IDG / Matthew Smith Last, but certainly not least, is Cyberpunk 2077. Here the Omen Max 16 averaged 143 frames per second at 1080p resolution and the Ultra preset with DLSS/FSR/XeSS turned off. Turning the detail up to max with the Overdrive ray-traced preset greatly reduced performance to an average of just 40 frames per second. Both results are competitive. The Omen Max 16 beats the Asus ROG Strix Scar, but falls behind the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16. Remember, this is with DLSS set to off. Higher detail presets, such as Cyberpunk 2077’s Overdrive preset, benefit greatly from DLSS image upscaling and frame generation. Engaging these features increased performance from 40 to as high as 178 frames per second. The HP Omen Max 16’s overall performance is precisely what I expected. It’s very similar to other laptops tested with an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor and Nvidia RTX 5080 graphics. The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 is generally a bit quicker, and the Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 is a tad slower, but the margins are often slim. This ultimately works out slightly in HP’s favor, however, because it’s a bit less expensive than its competitors. HP Omen Max 16: Battery life & portability The HP Omen Max 16 has an 83-watt-hour battery, which is towards the smaller side for a high-end gaming laptop. However, the laptop also provides Nvidia Optimus graphics, which can increase battery life by disengaging the discrete GPU when its performance isn’t required. IDG / Matthew Smith This does provide some benefit. The HP Omen Max 16 endured our battery test, which loops a 1080p file of the short film Tears of Steel, for roughly five and a half hours. That’s longer than the Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 and MSI Raider 18 AI HX, but not as long as the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16. In any case, five to six hours of battery life isn’t a lot. The Omen Max 16 is also a bit difficult to pack at 6.1 pounds and nearly an inch thick at its thickest point. Add in the 330-watt power brick and you’ll be hauling roughly eight pounds. HP Omen Max 16: Conclusion The HP Omen Max 16 is a capable, though rather dull, option in the highly competitive field of mid to high-end gaming laptops with Nvidia RTX 50-series hardware. It provides performance that’s broadly like the alternatives yet lacks features that might help it separate it from the pack. It doesn’t have the flair of the Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 or the performance of the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16. Yet there’s one thing about the HP Omen Max 16 that’s very attractive: the price. Listed at an MSRP of $3,339.99 and currently sold (and in stock!) on Best Buy for $3,139.99, the Omen Max 16 is towards the low end of pricing for a 16-inch gaming laptop with an Intel Core Ultra 9 and RTX 5080. And, as mentioned, it performs about as well as its more expensive peers. If it were my money, I’d opt for the Asus ROG Strix Scar 16, which is more attractive and has a few extras I prefer, such as a comfortable touchpad and high-quality speaker system. If you just want good bang-for-your-buck and don’t sweat the details, however, the HP Omen Max 16 is a solid pick. Read...

The Belkin division responsible for developing the excellent Phyn Plus smart water shut-off valve has been acquired by an investor group led by contractor and TV personality Jonathan Scott (HGTV’s Property Brothers). The announcement is the latest sign that Belkin, which brought the Phyn Plus to market back in 2018, is rapidly losing interest in developing new smart home products following its own acquisition by Foxconn. Belkin has already discontinued many of its Wemo-brand smart home products, and it “paused” its efforts to develop Matter-compatible products in early 2023. We’ve praised both the first- and second-generation Phyn Plus devices for their ability to not only warn homeowners of leaky or burst pipes, but to automatically take action to shut off a home’s main water supply to prevent the catastrophic damage that can result. In an exclusive telephone interview with Scott and Phyn CEO Ryan Kim late last week, Scott described himself as a “technology nut” and expressed his admiration for the Phyn Plus, which he said he’d previously installed in his own home as well as in a guest house and in his parents’ home. Celebrity contractor and TV personality Jonathan Scott is leading a group of investors buying Phyn from Foxconn’s Belkin.Scott Brothers Global “One of the benefits of being on the air for as long as we have is that when something feels ‘off’ to me, I have to dig in. My brother [Drew Scott] once spent $3,000 to put in a water leak-detection system in his own home, but if it detected a leak and shut off your water, you had to be there to turn it back on. There was nothing like Phyn at the time.” Asked why more consumers haven’t already installed products like the Phyn Plus, Scott replied “Sometimes you can tell people all the benefits in the world that a product has to offer, but they still don’t see the value.” Scott continued: “People hate to spend money on what they don’t see, but eliminating the risk of a flood [caused by a pinhole leak or a burst pipe] is so worth it. [My family has] already recouped 10 times the value of the Phyn devices we’ve installed just based on the kids leaving the tap on or a toilet handle getting stuck. The Phyn Plus is one of the greatest kept secrets that no one knows about.” The Phyn Plus leak detection and smart water shut-off valve also tracks household water consumption patterns.Michael Brown/Foundry Phyn CEO Ryan Kim said the acquisition “will unlock not only massive awareness in the consumer space but also increased adoption by the insurance industry.” Given the average cost of a water damage claim stemming from a leaking or burst pipe is around $12,500, many insurance companies already offer policy discounts to homeowners who install water leak detections systems with smart shut-off valves, such as the Phyn Plus and Moen Flo. Scott believes the insurance industry will eventually move beyond just offering homeowners incentives to install such products. “I think in a matter of years,” he said, “all insurance companies will require this type of leak detection and smart water shut-off [as a condition of coverage].” Phyn has revenue streams beyond selling its hardware, according to Kim. “Phyn is not just a hardware company.” he said “It’s also a data company. There’s value in the data we’ve collected from the 2.5 billion [water-related] events we’ve collected. The data is anonymized—we don’t track individual homes—but we can see trends on a regional basis, which can help insurance companies and utilities understand trends to offer better services. It’s exciting for me that this powerhouse group came together.” In addition to Scott, the investor group acquiring Phyn includes Intuit founder and Quicken developer Tom Proulx, who will serve as an advisor and board member; Silicon Valley venture capitalist and Microsoft board member David F. Marquardt; and Allen Sands, founder of Icon Builders, a construction company focused on renovating affordable housing. Terms of the deal were not made public as of this writing, but we’ll update the story if we receive additional information. Read...

Seagate unveils new strategy centred on HAMR tech and Mozaic platform, targeting low-to-mid teens revenue growth and a USD $5 billion share buyback by 2028. Read...

TL;DR: Permanently erase files and folders with military-grade security using the Data Shredder Stick—just $29.99 with free shipping. Some not-so-known info is that hitting “delete” doesn’t actually delete anything. Sure, your files look gone, but your hard drive’s just politely pretending. If you’re getting ready to sell an old laptop, recycle an external drive, or simply want to wipe that folder named “Taxes 2013 FINAL v3,” you’re going to want something more permanent. That’s where the Data Shredder Stick can help. This unassuming USB stick is your new digital enforcer—plug it in, and it’s ready to go full scorched-earth on your data. Simply drag and drop files into the app, and the stick’s military-grade algorithms overwrite them so completely they’re gone for good. We’re talking zero chance of recovery. Need to wipe an entire hard drive before handing it off to a new owner? The Data Shredder Stick makes it easy. Select the drive, press shred, and boom, no digital breadcrumbs left behind. Whether it’s a few old photos or an entire corporate server, this tool gets the job done. It works on as many computers and drives as you want. No subscriptions, no limits. Just plug, shred, and peace out. Get this Data Shredder Stick while it’s just $29.99 (reg. $39.99) with free shipping. Data Shredder Stick Secure Data Wiping Tool for WindowsSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change. Read...

AI is set to revolutionise business workflows, with chatbots enhancing automation, collaboration, and compliance, making AI accessible to all firms. Read...

A report reveals that most New Zealand government agencies fail to meet Public Records Act requirements amid ongoing challenges and staff cuts. Read...

Palo Alto Networks partners with Quitch to launch free, interactive cybersecurity training on a gamified platform using spaced repetition learning techniques. Read...