Artist’s rendering of Moment Energy’s planned Austin, Texas, gigafactory. (Moment Energy Image)
Moment Energy, a British Columbia-based startup repurposing used electric vehicle batteries, has announced a $40 million investment to help fund construction of a massive factory in Texas and more than triple its headcount.
The company, headquartered just outside Vancouver, has now raised more than $100 million in total. Moment Energy is plugging into growing demand for energy storage, which supports data centers, utilities, residential use and industrial operations.
“We are building a new generation of energy infrastructure that can be deployed rapidly, manufactured domestically and powered by existing battery resources,” said Edward Chiang, co-founder and CEO of Moment Energy, in a statement.
Moment Energy launched in 2019, co-founded by Chiang, Sumreen Rattan, Gabriel Soares and Gurmesh Sidhu, all engineering graduates from Simon Fraser University in B.C. The team’s first battery system deployment came in 2021 on Quadra Island, off the coast of Vancouver Island.
Moment Energy co-founders, from left: Gurmesh Sidhu, Sumreen Rattan, Gabriel Soares and Edward Chiang. (Moment Energy Photo)
The startup plans to break ground this year on a 200,000-square-foot gigafactory outside Austin, Chiang previously told Sustainable Biz Canada. The company expects its workforce to reach 250 once the facility is operational, up from more than 70 today.
Moment Energy is already deploying commercial projects and has customers across North America, including major tech companies and international airports.
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The company’s model capitalizes on the natural lifecycle of EV batteries, which can retain 70-80% of their original capacity after roughly 10 to 20 years of use — well past their automotive end of life. Moment Energy disassembles those batteries, tests their remaining capacity and reassembles them into stationary energy storage systems the startup says can operate for up to 30 years.
The company has also secured multiple safety certifications, which it says makes it the only provider that can deploy repurposed battery systems in the built environment “without special dispensations.”
A Moment Energy battery system. (Moment Energy Photo)
The Series B round was led by Evok Innovations, with participation from Liberty Mutual Investments, W23 Global Fund and Acario, the corporate venture capital arm of Tokyo Gas. Existing investors including Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Voyager Ventures and In-Q-Tel also joined in the round.
“Moment Energy is the only player in the EV battery repurposing industry that has proven safety and scalability are not mutually exclusive,” said Marty Reed, a partner at Evok Innovations, adding that the company is positioned to deploy energy storage systems “at enormous scale.”
Moment Energy operates in a growing field. Other companies focused on battery repurposing include Redwood Materials, which was launched by former Tesla CTO JB Straubel, and RePurpose Energy. Battery recycling players include Cirba Solutions, Ascend Elements, Li-Cycle and Ecobat — with Redwood Materials active in recycling as well.
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As it turns out, there’s far more to the humble air compressor than filling up soccer balls and getting soft car tires road-ready again. They’re also compatible with pneumatic tools, which use compressed air power rather than gas or electricity to get the job done. Stores like Harbor Freight have no shortage of these tools, and while some can get pretty expensive, plenty are easy on the wallet. That’s to say some worthwhile options stay below the $100 threshold.
If you’re interested in trying out some pneumatic tools from Harbor Freight, there are a few things to know. First and foremost, you should ensure your specific compressor can handle your tools. Certain air tools require specific air compressor sizes to function, otherwise you risk damaging your compressor, the tool, or both. Also, if you don’t have one already, you’ll want to invest in a good air compressor hose, since tools and tool kits don’t tend to come with them. Fortunately, Harbor Freight has plenty for sale at different sizes, shapes, and price points.
With your hose and air compressor, you’re ready to unlock their hidden potential. Here are some Harbor Freight pneumatic tools that are both wallet-friendly and dependable, according to those who’ve bought them.
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Central Pneumatic air ratchet wrench
Harbor Freight is no stranger to ratchets. It has ratchets of all shapes and sizes, individual sockets, and ratchet-socket kits for sale, as well as the ever-intriguing Harbor Freight 24K gold-plated ratchet. It also has pneumatic ratchets, such as the Central Pneumatic air ratchet wrench, in its inventory. It comes in two drive sizes, 1/4-inch and 1/2-inch, which come in at $21.99 and $25.99, respectively. The 1/4 in. model is advertised at providing a maximum torque of 15 foot-pounds, while the 1/2 in. version provides 45 ft-lbs. Both are marketed with a maximum speed of 150 RPM and 4-vane reversible motors.
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While the prices and promised performance are nice at first glance, how do these air ratchets actually hold up on the job? According to Harbor Freight customers, they do quite well. As of publication, 1,637 users have left reviews, amounting to a total rating of 4.4 out of five. The tool is often applauded for its durability, light weight, and small size, making it easy for tight spaces. Most also attest that it has a reasonable amount of power for light-duty jobs. Many were more than happy with how it cut down work time, too, especially compared to the average hand ratchet.
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Banks crown air stapler
Much like how it has a deep selection of ratchets, Harbor Freight sells numerous staplers at different price points. The bulk of its selection is of the pneumatic variety, though these models do tend to be expensive and soar well past $100. With that said, there are some more budget-conscious units in there worth trying that seem to deliver. For example, the Banks 18-gauge crown air stapler, which Harbor Freight lists for $39.99, seems a viable, cheaper choice. Capable of taking in a 100-staple magazine, this stapler works with 1/4-inch crown staples that range from 5/8 in. to 1 1/2 in. in length. It’s also advertised as a slim, lightweight model ideal for both repetitive work and jobs where space is limited.
This stapler has a 4.7 out of five-star rating on the Harbor Freight website, with 799 of its 1,079 total ratings awarding it five stars. Reviews say it is an easy tool to use that’s effective on the job. Many reviewers have reported that staple jamming isn’t an issue, and neither is the power at which it sends staples through material, so they were able to plow through and get their work done quickly. Additionally, this stapler, being a light unit at 3 pounds, is appreciated by numerous reviewers, as is the construction quality and the price point.
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Central Pneumatic air polisher kit
To keep surfaces smooth and shiny, sometimes more than some quality rags and brushes are needed. A powered polisher can achieve these attributes, buffing out imperfections with ease and quickly. There are pneumatic polishers out there, such as the model at the heart of the Central Pneumatic air polisher kit.
At $34.99, this cast aluminum polisher features a pistol grip handle and a rear exhaust to push air and debris away from your work surface. It spins at up to 2,400 RPM. Two foam buffing pads and a single wool polishing pad are included for different polishing and buffing scenarios, though it works with 3-inch discs of the hook-and-loop attachment style.
Up to this point, the reviews for this polisher are largely positive. At 4.4 out of five stars overall, 201 of the 308 reviews gave it five stars. Even though it’s often mentioned that this isn’t a terribly large polisher, that doesn’t mean it should be overlooked. Customers frequently highlighted its power, despite its small frame and 1.53-pound weight, and its penchant for reaching tight spaces that larger buffers miss. It has served Harbor Freight customers well in cleaning up metal and plastic surfaces, and some claimed that the performance, build quality, and number of different jobs it can aid in far exceed the price point.
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Baxter professional belt air sander
More often than not, a traditional belt or palm sander will serve you just fine. However, in some cases, you’ll have to contend with tight spaces and corners where these larger sanders simply can’t reach. You could use sandpaper and try to get these areas by hand, or use your air compressor to bring in a more specialized tool. While pricey at $99.99, the Baxter professional belt air sander could help here, utilizing a 1/2-inch-wide sandpaper belt to squeeze into these tight areas. It moves at up to 16,000 RPM, you can adjust the speed with its variable speed trigger, and the rear exhaust sends the sanded material away from the area you’re working on.
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There are currently 421 reviews behind this sander, which have brought it to a 4.8 out of five overall star rating. Arguably the biggest plus Harbor Freight customers have highlighted is its versatility, as the narrowness of this tool means it can help out in a host of settings most didn’t even consider initially. It’s regarded as sufficiently fast and light, great at smoothing out wood and metal alike, and user-friendly enough when it comes to use and swapping out worn belts for fresh ones. Some also noted that it’s a tool that will endure regular use over the course of years, so while expensive, odds are it’ll prove to be a long-term investment.
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Central Pneumatic air impact hammer
When working with anything harder than wood, you need serious power in your tools. To chip away at metal and stone, typically, an impact hammer is the tool. There are numerous pneumatic tools to choose from, and the more powerful ones are full-on jackhammers or rotary hammers. With that said, the Central Pneumatic air impact hammer kit hooks up to an air compressor and uses its power to punch through metal and stone, remove seized bolts, and more, all at an operating pressure of 90 PSI. Harbor Freight has this tool listed at $24.99, and it includes a flat chisel, though it can use other standard 0.401-inch shank bits.
As far as customer reviews, this is another case of a low-price tool appearing to deliver beyond its price point. 769 reviews have put it at 4.5 out of five stars. It’s said to plow through materials like concrete and tile without issue, remove stuck and rusted bolts with relative ease, and serve its purpose in both home and automotive contexts. Even as a lightweight and rather inexpensive tool, customers note it doesn’t feel cheap or underpowered. While some admit it’s not a tool they use often, when they do need to use it, it doesn’t let them down.
Flock Safety’s reputation is in tatters, thanks in large part to its own actions. First sold as a high-tech add-on for homeowners’ associations and gated communities, it soon spread to law enforcement agencies and the cities that employ them. Promising plenty of access to an existing network of privately-owned cameras, Flock insinuated — if not actually stated as much — that cities buying its systems would have access to recordings and ALPR records gathered elsewhere in the nation.
That has largely proven to be true. Law enforcement officers with access to Flock’s camera network have used it to do things like track the movements of a Texas woman who was seeking an abortion and allowing federal officers to hunt down migrants to detain and deport.
Flock has been so bad on the PR front that national surveillance powerhouse Ring pulled the plug on its fledgling partnership with Flock following backlash to its heartwarming-except-for-all-the-dystopia Super Bowl ad.
Even before the Big Game debacle, Flock had been shedding customers. The private sector still seems as interested as ever, but cities were either turning down Flock’s overtures or terminating their contracts with the surveillance camera company.
Residents of an Atlanta suburb have been rocked by the revelation that sales employees at Flock have been accessing sensitive cameras in the town to demonstrate the company’s surveillance technology to police departments around the country. The cameras accessed have included surveillance tech in a children’s gymnastics room, a playground, a school, a Jewish community center, and a pool.
While I can understand parents might appreciate cameras being used to protect their kids, they likely never expected that footage of their kids (sometimes clad in revealing clothing) would be used as a sales tool by Flock Safety.
The city’s own audit logs prove otherwise. From the data in this file, just since the start of 2025, 1,271 external agencies have been granted permission to view live streams. 358 external agencies have been granted access to record these streams.
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We don’t know who else has been accessing this footage, but the data makes it clear certain Flock sales reps and officials are extremely interested in footage of people in pools, gymnastic classes, and fitness centers.
One Flock employee, Randy Gluck, who lives in Raleigh and is a business development manager for their 911 products, was granted live-view access to our cameras. He looked at 54 cameras, with very strange patterns such as clicking through 5 traffic cameras on July 21st last year before settling on the Dunwoody Library camera. The Flock data does not tell us when he stopped watching that footage, but he didn’t look at anything else for two hours.
Two days later, Randy clicked through 3 private cameras at the JCC before he settled on JCC camera ‘Main Pool Right’. It was over 3 hours later before his next view on traffic cameras.
[…]
This brings me to Bob Carter – Vice President of Strategic Relations and Business Development for Flock. Bob spends a lot of time looking through both our live footage and recorded footage. Just since the beginning of last year, he has done this 185 times.
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Bob also has some interesting searches. On September 30th, 2025 – Bob looked at just one camera. This camera is in the gymnastics room of the JCC [Jewish Community Center].
A lengthy apology for all of this was given to the Jewish Community Center by none other than Flock CEO Garrett Langley. And while it’s nice to see an apology being offered, the apology doesn’t include any promises not to do this same sort of thing elsewhere, much less address the very real concerns that a number of Flock Safety employees have unfettered access to live cameras and recorded footage.
“You may have seen that questions have been raised about Flock employees’ access to security cameras near MJCCA property. While there is a lot of misinformation propagated by some of the voices making these allegations, I want to be direct and apologize for our poor judgement.”
[…]
“Because of our relationship with Dunwoody PD as a development partner–meaning we had explicit permission from Dunwoody to use their Flock system for both testing (for product improvement) and demonstration–Flock employees did occasionally access Dunwoody’s devices for those purposes,” Langley added. “I recognize that the choice to use MJCCA, rather than parts of the city, was a poor one on our part. I am cognizant of the additional, well-founded sensitivity of the Jewish community to security concerns at this time. Therefore, I would like to extend a formal apology to you and the entire MJCCA community for this poor decision. Candidly, it is because of the very real security concerns the MJCCA community is feeling that I am so proud of our partnership, and those with Jewish organizations across the country.”
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While Flock management is apparently angry that some of its employees are now being called “child predators” following the publication of these access logs, it’s apparently uninterested in curbing access or installing guidelines that might deter questionable viewing habits in the future.
As for the city itself, it doesn’t seem to care that many residents are opposed to further Flock camera use based on what’s been uncovered here. The state’s attorney general took time from his busy running-for-governor schedule to praise Flock and the mayor of Dunwoody for their continued partnership.
When something like this can’t deter cities from continuing to do business with Flock, it makes the allegedly heartfelt apology issued by the company’s CEO look a lot less heartfelt. This isn’t someone offering contrition and promise to do better to a potential customer. This is someone saying the sort of stuff that sounds like contrition but is ultimately meaningless because neither Flock nor the city government actually care what the general public thinks of them.
Website traffic from AI will surpass traffic from traditional search by 2028. Do you know that almost 70% of businesses report higher return on investment (ROI) with the use of AI in SEO? And this data shows the surging demand and usage of SEO intelligence.
But how is it different from just seo or why is there so much buzz around a separate term? Keep reading to know all about modern-day search engine optimization.
What is SEO Intelligence?
SEO intelligence is all about the process of refining your website to achieve higher rankings on the search engines by collecting, analyzing, and leveraging data related to search engine performance. It gives you a picture of how your website is doing in organic search, how it stands against the competitors, and what the strategy is to do better in search rankings.
How is it different from Normal SEO?
This is the most common confusion. Let me clarify for you.
SEO is about the basics of optimizing your website for it to rank better, and it is more about using the right keywords, improving technical seo and tailoring web content accordingly.
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Whereas SEO intelligence goes a layer deeper, it is the advancement of the basics that goes with a strategic approach. Here, it is not just about practicing seo but practicing it with the right tools, using data and analysis before deciding what seo actions will be the best for expected outcomes. It is about being precise and making data-backed decisions, and it is a proactive approach.
SEO is about execution, whereas SEO intelligence is about what & why to execute.
Why do you need Search Engine Optimization Intelligence?
These are the 8 top-most benefits of SEO intelligence:
1. Competitive Edge
When you are using the right seo tools and each of your decisions is backed by clear figures, facts, and industry insights, it helps you stay ahead of the competition. Moreover, intelligence starts with gathering data, which includes what your competitors are doing, taking note of beneficial strategies from them, and what you should avoid while learning from others’ mistakes.
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2. Data Driven Decision-making
Use of intelligence in seo processes helps you make informed decisions as you look at analysis and reports rather than playing on assumptions. You can make and maintain highly effective and high-performing plans for traffic generation.
3. Optimized Content
Gives you an understanding of what type of content will work best for your target audience and platform. Better-aligned content leads to higher engagement rates.
4. Enhance User Experience
It is not only about your website performance on search engines, but also how the website treats users or visitors. Intelligent data gives a view of how your site is utilized by visitors and what can be improved in usability and navigation.
5. Higher Conversion
It is a seo process at core, and the purpose of seo is to rank your website higher, which indeed will increase footfalls and consequently conversion rates. Now adding intelligence to basic seo makes these increments much higher.
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6. Long-term Results
Applying intelligence while working on seo magnifies the power and scope of expansions. The combination of seo intelligence, search intelligence, product, and market intelligence fosters a holistic and all-rounded strategy.
When you are constantly monitoring your website and using analytics, you can make real-time decisions and improvements, avoiding the piled-up work. This helps to stay effective for a longer period of time as seo keeps working in the background, offering you organic results.
7. Cost Effectiveness
This seo practice allows businesses to focus on high-intent keywords, avoiding budget wastage on irrelevant traffic. Also, it avoids guesswork and works on data, resulting in a higher ROI, allowing savings on paid advertising. It reduces Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC).
8. Increased Online Visibility
Focusing beyond keywords and page loading speeds seo intelligence supports in spotting new opportunities by working on user intent, identifying low difficulty keywords, and optimizing SERP features and artificial intelligence. As you deal with data and more in-depth information throughout the process, it automatically improves the technical health of the website and assists in building topical authority.
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What are the Key Elements of SEO Intelligence?
Source: Roaring Studios
While working with this format of seo you need to adhere to the following metrics for it to really work as desired:
Keyword intelligence to focus beyond just search volume and understanding why and what is being searched for behind those searched words or phrases.
Competitor analysis is one of the most important elements for staying ahead in keyword rankings, backlinking plans, and grabbing new opportunities.
Content intelligence to understand what your audience is looking for and what works and what does not. Paying attention to this ensures user needs and web authority.
SERP tracking is essential for staying updated on new features and AI overviews.
Backlink Intelligence makes you aware of the relevance of referring domains supporting strong site authority.
Predictive analysis is another key aspect that really defines a strong implementation of intelligence, as it helps forecast trends and what is going to happen next with a proactive approach in strategies.
Best SEO Intelligence Tools 2026
Before you choose a seo intelligence tool, look at the factors such as automation, data accuracy, prediction capabilities, and scalability to understand whether the tool really meets the needs of intelligence or not.
1. Clearscope
It is one of the best choices for editorial teams wanting to improve content quality. It offers advanced content grading and checks, ensuring the content is SEO-optimized and human-friendly.
Clearscope bags a strong client base of YouTube, IBM, Adobe, Deloitte, and more.
Helps you measure visibility across Google and AI chatbots.
It not only helps in finding keywords but also gives a holistic view of the next high-impact topic for you to spark and own the online conversation before your rivals do.
Offers content analysis for the entire site and individual pages for prebuilt content views or custom ones.
Some limitations are that it has limited automation, no AI writing at scale, a steeper learning curve, and is expensive for small teams.
2. Frase
Best used for SERP based content briefs and FAQs, and it is a much more economical option to Surfer and Clearscope. It talks about being an all-in-one solution for an intelligent seo process.
Companies like Thomson Reuters, Under Armour, Coursera, Hennessey, and more are the clients held by Frase.
That said, Frase claims to avoid patchwork, the old tradition if seo that requires separate tools for research, writing, optimization, and more. It does it all together by utilizing its 80+ skills.
Offers AI search tracking, content optimization, and integration across tools and platforms.
Some fallbacks are shallow optimization compared to Sufer or Clearscope, and constrained scalability for large teams.
3. Market Muse
It is best suited for big publishers, enterprise sites, and content-heavy SaaS brands. Topical authority and content strategy are strong points of Market Muse by Siteimprove.
Their clients include Orbit Media Studios, ON24, Sumo Logic, and more.
Helps by providing personalized difficulty solutions. Offering a tailored roadmap for creation and updates in minutes.
You can best use it to expand the authority of your website that you already have.
Competitor analysis helps identify gaps and overlooked opportunities. You can also leverage link recommendations, quality analysis, and brief optimization.
It lacks somewhere because it is a killer for small blogs, has a steep learning curve with required training, and is also expensive.
In a Nutshell
If you really want to succeed in your search engine optimization, you need to adapt SEO intelligence. Because it will not only tell you to ‘do it’ but will make you understand why, what, and how to do it in a much more effective and efficient way. The process has some important elements, including prediction, content optimization, backlinking, and more, as I have mentioned.
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We also discussed some of the best tools for a robust seo intelligence strategy. So you have got it all, what is seo intelligence, its importance, how to practice, what are the best ways and tools you can use. Get going and boost your website ranking and business.
It shouldn’t be any surprise that NFC and similar RFID implementations are capable of providing power to a receiver, since this is after all how RFID tags can work without a battery. The question is more whether you can do more with NFC than just briefly power some low-power circuitry to spit out some data. This is the topic of a recent [Denki Otaku] video.
Although both Qi and NFC use electromagnetic induction, they differ in the frequency and correspondingly the maximum power that they can deliver to a receiver. For NFC this is around a Watt, with the used NFC module supporting up to 250 mW, which already sets the rough scope of what one can expect from an NFC-powered device. That said, an NFC transmitter and receiver can be significantly smaller than those for Qi due to the much higher frequency.
An additional benefit of NFC is that it offers more freedom to the user in its protocol in terms of user data, which is useful for applications where you don’t just want to power a device. In the video an MCU and IMU are powered along with an OLED display, which demonstrates wireless charging as well as data transfer of the IMU data to a second MCU.
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The benefits of NFC over Qi would thus be the smaller antenna size, and depending on the used NFC implementation also charging and data transfer at the same time.
The first India’s Favorite Smartphone awards, powered by Flipkart, just wrapped up. And what a stellar night it was. Instead of the usual jury picks, this one was decided by people. Users voted for their favorite smartphones, and the results are actually pretty interesting. If you missed it, here’s everything you need to know.
Cameras Segment Winners
There was a time when smartphone cameras were just okay. Good enough to take photos in the day, but once the light subsided, so did the quality. Well, that’s not the case anymore. Different smartphone makers excel at various things. Portrait photography, for instance, is clearly a battleground. Phones like the vivo V60 (Best Smartphone for Portraits Under ₹40,000) and the Google Pixel 10 (Best Smartphone for Portraits Above ₹40,000), which won in their respective segments, show how much brands are focusing on skin tones, edge detection, and that DSLR-like look.
Selfies have also made a comeback as a serious category. With devices like the Motorola Edge 60 Pro (Best Smartphone for Selfies between ₹20K – ₹30K) and OPPO Reno14 5G (Best Smartphone for Selfies between ₹30K – ₹40K), it’s clear that front cameras are no longer an afterthought, especially in a creator-first world. Still, the most important thing when it comes to smartphone photography is nighttime shots, and here the vivo X200T took the night photography crown in the above 40K budget. Unsurprisingly, it was Apple that bagged the best video award with the iPhone 17 Pro Max. On the other hand, the best videos award in the 30K-40K segment was won by the vivo T4 Ultra.
Rounding up the camera section, the best smartphone for photography between the 20K-30K was the Motorola Edge 70 Fusion. The same award, but between 30K-40K, was awarded to the vivo V60e. Last but not least, the overall best flagship phone for camera was OPPO Find X9 Pro.
Battery & Performance Winners
For all the talk about AI and cameras, most people still care about two things: battery life and performance. That’s exactly why budget battery champs like the realme P4 Lite 5G (Best Battery Life Smartphone under ₹10K) and realme P4x 5G (Best Battery Life Smartphone between ₹10K-₹20k) matter. These aren’t flashy devices, but they solve a real problem: getting through the day without constantly looking for a charger.
Gaming, on the other hand, has become its own category entirely. Phones like the OPPO K13 Turbo 5G (Gaming Smartphone of the Year Between ₹20K-₹30K) and POCO X8 Pro Max (Gaming Smartphone of the Year Between ₹30K-₹40K) highlight how performance today isn’t just about benchmarks, it’s about sustained performance, thermals, and real gameplay stability.
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Beyond gaming, the other thing that makes or breaks the phone is the software experience. While most phones today have good software, the winner in this category was absolutely clear: Nothing. The Nothing Phone (4a) and CMF by Nothing Phone 2 Pro swept the stage, winning the best software experience both under the ₹20K and ₹30K categories.
But if you just want the best overall performance and a mix of software and gaming, then the iQOO Neo 10R 5G is the way to go in the ₹20K-₹30K category. Build quality is also getting more attention. Devices like the vivo T5x and Motorola Edge 60 Fusion stand out for their in-hand feel and durability. That’s something buyers are starting to notice more than before.
Value & Design Awards
Despite all the innovation happening at the top end, the core of the Indian smartphone market hasn’t really changed. Categories like Best Value 5G and Best All-Rounder exist for a reason. Phones like the Moto G57 Power 5G (Best Value 5G Smartphone Between ₹10K-₹20K) and realme P4 Power 5G (Best All-Rounder Smartphone ₹20K-₹30K) aren’t trying to be the best at one thing.
Smartphone design has remained the same for the better part of a decade. But Nothing has been changing that trend slowly but surely, with unique designs and lighting. As expected, the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro won the Chromatic Disruption Award. On the other hand, the Motorola Edge 70 Fusion took home the Color Material Finish (CMF) award. At the same time, the iPhone 17 Pro winning for trendsetting design is a reminder that consistency and familiarity still carry a lot of weight.
The Samsung Galaxy S26 series (Capture the night right award) being recognized as the “Smartest Smartphone” says a lot about where things are going. It’s less about raw power now and more about how intelligently a device can adapt and assist. Similarly, phones like the vivo X300 Pro (Future of Smartphone Photography) show how AI is playing a bigger role in photography, not just enhancing images, but defining how they’re captured in the first place.
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Full List of Winners
Category
Winner
Best Smartphone for Portraits (₹30,000 – ₹40,000)
vivo V60
Best Smartphone for Portraits (₹40,000 & above)
Google Pixel 10
Best Smartphone for Selfies (₹20,000 – ₹30,000)
Motorola Edge 60 Pro
Best Smartphone for Selfies (₹30,000 – ₹40,000)
OPPO Reno14 5G
Best Smartphone for Night Photography (₹40,000 & above)
vivo X200T
Best Smartphone for Videos (₹30,000 – ₹40,000)
vivo T4 Ultra
Best Smartphone for Videos (₹40,000 & above)
Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max (Silver)
Best Smartphone for Photography (₹20,000 – ₹30,000)
Motorola Edge 70 Fusion
Best Smartphone for Photography (₹30,000 – ₹40,000)
vivo V60e
Best Smartphone for Photography (₹40,000 & above)
OPPO Find X9 Pro
Best Battery Life Smartphone (Under ₹10,000)
realme P4 Lite 5G
Best Battery Life Smartphone (₹10,000 – ₹20,000)
realme P4x 5G
Gaming Smartphone of the Year (₹20,000 – ₹30,000)
OPPO K13 Turbo 5G
Gaming Smartphone of the Year (₹30,000 – ₹40,000)
POCO X8 Pro Max
Best Software Experience (₹10,000 – ₹20,000)
CMF by Nothing Phone 2 Pro
Best Software Experience (₹20,000 – ₹30,000)
Nothing Phone (4a)
Best Build Quality Smartphone (₹10,000 – ₹20,000)
vivo T5x
Best Build Quality Smartphone (₹20,000 – ₹30,000)
Motorola Edge 60 Fusion
Best Performance Phone (₹20,000 – ₹30,000)
iQOO Neo 10R 5G
Lifestyle Creator of the Year
Sejal Kumar
Pop Culture Creator of the Year
Baccha mat bolna
Visual Storyteller of the Year
Ankur Agarwal
Entertainment creator of the year
Danny Pandit
Best Value 5G Smartphone (Under 10,000)
vivo T4 Lite 5G
Best Value 5G Smartphone (₹10,000 – ₹20,000)
Moto g57 Power 5G
Best Emerging 5G (₹10,000 – ₹20,000)
Samsung F70e
Best All-Rounder Smartphone (₹10,000 – ₹20,000)
vivo T5x 5G
Best All-Rounder Smartphone (₹20,000 – ₹30,000)
realme P4 Power 5G
Tech Creator of the Year
Rajeev Makhni
India’s Most Trusted Tech Creator
Tech Burner
Review Master of the Year
Beebom
Fastest Growing Tech Creator
RJ Abhinav and Techs Venom
Smartest Smartphone (₹40,000 & above)
Samsung Galaxy S26 Series
Best Designed Smartphone (₹30,000 – ₹40,000)
Nothing Phone (4a) Pro
Best Color Material Finish (CMF) I I Chit chat will happen here
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It’s the age-old question: repair or replace? It’s something you see drivers wrestle with all the time, but what about homeowners? When your home’s heating and cooling system runs into trouble, it’s worth asking yourself whether paying for another repair or investing in a full replacement is the more affordable option. That’s where the $5,000 rule comes into play. If your HVAC’s not passing the seasonal routine maintenance check, you can use this basic calculation to weigh the short-term cost of repair against long-term value of replacement.
It’s this simple: multiply the age of your HVAC system by the estimated repair cost. If the total exceeds $5,000, the consensus among technicians is that replacement would actually be the more cost-effective option. For example, a 12-year-old unit in need of a $500 repair would give you a total of $6,000. In that case, replacement may be the smarter financial move. (Alternatively, if the unit was installed nine years ago or less, the math suggests it’d make more sense to just repair.) It’s not an exact science, of course, but it’s just meant to help you make your mind up.
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Why the rule might not be as reliable anymore
Kunakorn Rassadornyindee/Getty Images
The $5,000 rule is based on the idea that most HVAC systems only operate effectively for about 10 to 15 years — 20 if you’re lucky. That’s true of all major air conditioner brands. After that, you can reasonably expect performance to decline and efficiency to drop, not to mention needing more frequent repairs. With the $5,000 rule, homeowners have a reasonable threshold to help them know when repairs might not make sense financially anymore.
That said, the $5,000 rule might not be as reliable as it once was. HVAC replacement costs have gone up by a lot, and newer systems could end up with bills in the range of $10,000 or more. And while HVAC units are getting more efficient, they’re also getting more advanced. That means the cost of repair goes up, too. If you’re not sure which direction to go, you can always ask a trusted HVAC technician to make it make sense for you. Have them break down the cost of replacement vs. repair and weigh your options from there.
The programme will deliver enhanced national datasets, policy briefings, peer-reviewed academic outputs and a flagship WDC report designed to inform decision makers and the wider public.
The Western Development Commission (WDC) and Atlantic Technological University (ATU) will partner to examine how remote and hybrid work is reshaping Ireland’s economy, communities and quality of life.
The two-year project, which is called Connected Futures: The Economics of Remote and Hybrid Work in Ireland and its Impacts on Wellbeing, Mobility, and the Local Economy, is funded under the TU Rise programme.
Dr Aisling Moroney from WDC’s policy analysis team will spearhead WDC involvement in the research. The ATU side of the operation will be led by Dr Amaya Vega, Dr Sinead Keogh and Dr Michelle Queally, from the Department of Enterprise and Technology in the Faculty of Business, and post-doctoral researcher Dr Salim Khan.
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With institutions based across the west and northwest, ATU is well positioned to explore how evolving working patterns are impacting people and enterprises across the country. The new partnership aims to “build on that foundation and move the conversation forward again”, according to the pair.
The research will provide the Government and stakeholders with information on local spending, sustainable mobility, wellbeing, digital infrastructure, commuting behaviour and the long-term future of regional communities.
The programme also plans to deliver enhanced national datasets, policy briefings, peer-reviewed academic outputs and a flagship WDC report designed to inform decision makers and the wider public.
Commenting on the partnership, Dr Orla Flynn, the president of ATU, said, “Remote and hybrid work have fundamentally reshaped how we live, work and connect, particularly in regional and rural Ireland.
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“By combining ATU’s research expertise and regional reach with the WDC’s leadership in this area, the Connected Futures initiative will generate evidence-based insights to support national decision-making, strengthen communities and ensure that the benefits of new ways of working are shared across all regions of the country.”
Allan Mulrooney, the CEO of the WDC, added, “Ireland changed how it works almost overnight. The challenge now is understanding what that means for communities, for businesses and for regional growth.
“This partnership with ATU is about building that evidence, grounded in real data and lived experience, and ensuring remote and hybrid work deliver meaningful benefits across the country, not just in a small number of locations. That evidence will help Government, agencies and employers take the right next steps and ensure Ireland remains ahead of the curve.”
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Experts from TCS and Rent the Runway discuss how AI is impacting the ever-evolving cyber space.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has the power to impact careers in the cybersecurity sector in a number of ways. From the potential to reduce workload and ease burnout, to increasing jobs displacement and affecting the uptake of new skills, it is fair to say that the use of organisational AI has its pros and cons.
For Rehan Jaddi, the vice-president of engineering and chief information and security officer at Rent the Runway, the rapid adoption and integration of AI represents a key cybersecurity challenge.
He said: “While AI presents tremendous opportunities for innovation and efficiency, it also introduces new and complex risks. To address this, we are proactively developing a comprehensive AI governance and risk management framework. This isn’t just about blocking threats, it’s about enabling the business to innovate securely.”
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To mitigate risk and ensure best practice, he explained Rent the Runway works to define risk tolerance to guide AI adoption strategy, establish clear principles and policies for the ethical and secure use of AI, evaluate and implement new security technologies designed to protect AI systems, adapt IT and security teams’ skillsets to meet the demands of this new landscape and take a strategic and proactive stance to safeguard data.
It is a risky landscape at points, agreed Jennifer Scott, the head of cybersecurity delivery and operations at TCS’ global delivery centre, Letterkenny.
“While the advent of AI has the potential to significantly mature and improve security operations centres and security information and event management capabilities, it can also have an adversarial impact, enabling attackers to more easily find gaps, expose and precipitate human error,” she said.
“Human error and susceptibility to AI-driven vishing and phishing attacks is therefore a growing challenge. User education about AI-enabled vishing and phishing remains extremely important in preventing potential high-cost compromising of client systems.”
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Sturdy security skills
Of the skills and qualifications most suited to a cybersecurity role in modern-day organisations, Scott said that particularly at TCS, experts skilled in incident management, threat hunting and forensics are in high demand.
“OT security is also in growing demand,” she said. “Industry recognised certs in demand include OSCP (offensive security certified professional), CISSP (certified information systems security professional) and CISM (certified information security manager).
Jaddi noted that while the demand for traditional cybersecurity skills remains high in 2026, Rent the Runway is increasingly looking for professionals with a blend of technical expertise and business acumen.
He said the most sought-after qualifications in the organisation today fall into three main categories, which are AI and machine learning security, cloud and application security, and risk management and communication.
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In AI and machine learning security, Jaddi explained as AI is further integrated into workplace operations, Rent the Runway needs qualified experts who understand the unique vulnerabilities of machine learning models and are equipped with the skills needed to build security into the entire AI life cycle.
“With the proliferation of SaaS applications and our cloud infrastructure, we need professionals who can secure our data and applications in a distributed and dynamic environment,” he added. “This includes expertise in container security and identity and access management.”
Jaddi is of the opinion that it is no longer enough for an employee to be a technical expert in their field. Rather, security professionals are operating in a space where they need to be able to translate complex technical risks into business terms, communicating effectively with stakeholders across the organisation.
“Ultimately, we’re looking for security leaders who can think strategically and act as partners to the business, enabling innovation while protecting the organisation.”
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If you’ve been paying any attention to the renewable energy space, you’ll know that generation isn’t really the problem anymore. Solar panels are cheap, and wind turbines are everywhere. The problem is matching generation with demand—sometimes there’s too much wind and sun, and sometimes there’s not enough. Ideally, you could store that energy somewhere, and deploy it when you need it.
The answer everyone keeps reaching for is lithium-ion batteries, and they work just fine. However, there’s a competing technology that’s been quietly scaling up in the background—the vanadium flow battery. It has some unique advantages that could see it rise to prominence in the world of large-scale grid storage.
The Juice That Stores Juice
Flow batteries are chemically simple, but mechanically complicated. They use pumps to flow electrolyte from massive tanks through cell stacks to generate electricity. This means they are very easy to scale in capacity – just add bigger tanks, and you’ve got a bigger battery. Credit: Kavin Teenakul, CC BY-SA 4.0
Flow batteries are beautiful in their simplicity, storing charge in huge tanks full of liquid electrolyte rather than in gel-like materials sandwiched between solid electrodes as per a regular battery. Specifically, two big tanks of vanadium ions, typically dissolved in sulfuric acid. By pumping the electrolyte through a cell stack where the electrochemical reaction happens, you generate electricity. Getting more power is as simple as adding more cell stacks, while increasing the battery’s capacity is as simple as getting bigger tanks full of more electrolyte. The two variables are almost entirely decoupled, which is an extremely elegant property for a grid-scale storage system. It makes right-sizing the system a cinch, it’s simply a matter of scale. These batteries also have the property of surviving tens of thousands of charge cycles without damage, and lifespans measured in decades.
The chemistry itself works out quite tidily. Both the positive and negative electrolyte use vanadium, just in different oxidation states. The positive side hosts VO2+ and VO2+ ions, while the negative side works with V²⁺ and V³⁺ ions. These solutions are pumped through a cell, either side of a permeable membrane that allows proton exchange. When the battery is being discharged, electrons leave the anode electrolyte and are transferred through the external load to the cathode electrolyte; this is balanced by the transfer of protons across the membrane. During charging, the opposite occurs.
A neat side-benefit of this is that because the battery uses the same element on both sides of the membrane, cross-contamination between the two tanks — an inevitable consequence of some ions sneaking through the membrane over thousands of cycles — doesn’t actually kill the battery. The electrolyte merely needs to be rebalanced and normal operation can resume. This single-element trick also means the electrolyte has a very long service life. It doesn’t degrade in the way an electrolyte in a regular battery might. A well-maintained vanadium flow battery can run for ten to twenty years with minimal capacity loss, and at end of life, that vanadium electrolyte still has value. It can be sold, recycled, or reprocessed as needed. Meanwhile, the electrodes in the cell stack and the pumps and machinery that moves the electrolyte around can be serviced or replaced as needed. It’s a very different scenario compared to lithium-ion cells, where recycling the raw materials involves great mechanical and chemical complexity.
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There is a complexity gain versus traditional batteries, in that moving all the electrolyte around requires mechanical pumps that in turn draw power to operate. These batteries are also not particularly compact, nor efficient in terms of energy-to-volume ratio. However, these problems are offset with the ease of scaling and maintaining them.
Deployment
An aerial view of a flow battery installed by Rongke Power in Hami, in northwest China. Credit: Rongke Power
In the real world, vanadium flow batteries are starting to hit the big time. The largest example in the world is a Chinese project, consisting of a 200 MW battery in Jimusaer, with a total capacity of 1000 MWh, built by Rongke Power. The second largest installation, installed in the city of Ushi in 2024, has a capacity of 700 MWh and can discharge 175 MW to the grid, and was constructed by the same firm. These batteries are comparable in power output to the Victorian Big Battery, a lithium ion installation that outputs 300 MW at peak, but far larger in capacity, as the Australian installation tops out at just 450 MWh by comparison. These installs build upon a previous effort to install a 100 MW battery in Dalian with 400 MWh capacity, along with smaller projects in Shenyang and Zongkyang that operate at sub-10MW levels. The batteries are intended to be used to support grid stability in their local grids. They also have grid-forming capabilities, which means that the flow battery can be used to do a black start, helping to bring traditional thermal generation units online in the event of a total grid collapse.
Australia has also been leaping to adopt vanadium flow battery technology, too. The country is well known for having a huge install base of rooftop solar, which has created a difficult-to-control grid at times. The abundance of sunlight and solar generation during the day has lead to huge peaks where power prices at times turn negative, and the goal is to add storage so that this power can be stored for more effective use over longer time periods.
The vanadium flow battery installation in Port Pirie, South Australia, operated by Yadlamalka Energy. Credit: Yadlamalka Energy
In South Australia, a small project has proven the viability of vanadium flow batteries in local conditions. The Co-Located Vanadium Flow Battery Storage and Solar project in Neuroodla was installed by Yadlamalka Energy, and combined photovoltaic generation and storage into a single site. The project’s goal was to demonstrate the value of vanadium flow batteries for providing both simple energy storage and frequency control services to the grid. It’s a relatively small installation, of just 2MW output and 8MWh capacity, paired with 6MWp of solar panels on site. The build was located adjacent to the Neuroodla substation for easy connection to the grid. The project faced some challenges in terms of power derating during the hottest local conditions, and with some limitations on power deployment and energy trading based on the inverter capabilities at the site. Ultimately, though, the project was able to generate serious revenue even with its limited capacity, thanks in part to energy price volatility in the local market as solar peaks and troughs occurred on a regular basis.
Over in Western Australia, sights are being set much higher. The state government has put out an expression of interest for a 50 MW, 500MWh vanadium flow battery to be installed in Kalgoorlie. The project is backed by $150 million in government funding, and hopes to offer a mighty 10-hour discharge capability to the grid. The project hopes to be up and running by 2029, relying on locally-produced vanadium to fill the tanks.
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