• 77% of Android VPNs studied fail basic accountability and transparency tests.
• These 2,666 apps have amassed over 2 billion downloads combined
• 43% of the apps lack a usable website for troubleshooting or product research.
• 63% rely on non-proprietary email addresses (such as Gmail)
• 54% of apps have a substandard or inaccessible privacy policy

If you’re looking for a VPN for your Android device, it pays to be skeptical. Exclusive research by TechRadar has found that 77% of VPNs on the Google Play Store raise significant transparency and accountability concerns. And given these apps handle your sensitive browsing data, that’s a major red flag.

Of the 3,471 Android applications that claim to protect user privacy, we found that 2,666 have significant flaws.

If you feel it is time to upgrade your shared hosting to one of the best VPS providers, Bluehost looks like a good place to start. With its managed VPS offering, you potentially get the benefit of the performance boost that comes with a VPS without the headache of supporting the website software yourself.

To find out if Bluehost’s managed VPS option is as attractive as it looks, we’ve evaluated it, comparing the plans and pricing options, the server infrastructure, and features. We also assessed performance of Bluehost VPS hosting with benchmark tools, and spent some time with its site building tools, which are aimed at anyone launching a small business website.

Even casual observers of the early childhood space likely noticed the massive push for expanding access to care and education programs over the last year, most notably with universal preschool options.

But a less splashy effort has been quietly underway for years: making kindergarten mandatory, enrolling the small percent of children holding out from the entry-level grade in order to boost their academic and emotional success.

Enrolling children in kindergarten is only legally required for families in 20 states, though every state makes it mandatory for public schools to offer the entry-level grade to students. Students in those states can also complete kindergarten in private school or through homeschool, instead.

The mandate has gained momentum slowly over several decades, most recently in California, Michigan, New Jersey and Louisiana, though only the latter two ultimately passed new laws.

But as state leaders grapple with dwindling funds for early childhood education, and with the spotlight shining on the more popular push for universal preschool, the future of mandatory kindergarten remains murky.

“I bet there are lawmakers who don’t even know it’s not mandatory,” says Hanna Melnick, director of early learning policy at the Learning Policy Institute.

The Push for Kindergarten

The purpose of kindergarten has shifted over the years. Once a haven for educational play, kindergarten classrooms now tend to emphasize academic work. Regardless, educators and experts use it as a way to identify whether students have the social-emotional, language and motor skills they need for elementary school. Plenty of studies prove that enrolling in kindergarten reaps long-term rewards, both academically and socially, particularly for lower-income and minority students.

Those benefits are often mentioned by lawmakers looking to make kindergarten mandatory.

For example, Detroit Public Schools Community District Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said in 2024 that mandatory kindergarten could decrease student absenteeism in addition to increasing student achievement. That measure failed to pass, though the state instead launched its expansive PreK for All initiative that same year.

“Any time a group of kids are being underserved, it’s not good for the kid or family,” Christina Weiland, a professor of education and public policy at the University of Michigan, says.

“But for the teacher, if students are placed in first grade and they are behind, it places more demand on teachers on how to get every kid to the same place.”

Even states without technically mandated kindergarten have workarounds. Florida, for example, does not mandate kindergarten for all students, but for a student to enroll in a public school first-grade classroom, having completed kindergarten is a prerequisite. New Jersey leaves it up to individual school districts, and some require completing the grade while others do not.

Alabama in 2024 passed legislation requiring children who did not attend kindergarten to pass the “First Grade Readiness Assessment” in order to enroll directly into first grade. The test is being administered for the first time this school year. Those who do not pass will be required to attend kindergarten.

“This new law will ensure students are truly prepared to enter the first grade,” Alabama state representative Pebblin Warren, who has pushed for this legislation since 2019, said in a statement. She added that she hoped it would help even the playing field for students and their teachers, and help with future school retention.

Comparing Costs

California’s policy history offers a case study about the push and pull between investing in mandatory kindergarten versus other public early learning programs.

In California, 5 percent of families do not enroll their children into kindergarten. That adds up to about 200,000 kids sitting out.

In 2024, a bill was put forth to legally mandate students attend kindergarten before entering first grade. As of now, 6-year-olds must attend school, and it is up to parents whether to enroll them in kindergarten or first grade.

California’s proposal made it through the state House and Senate before Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the bill, pointing toward the $268 million it would cost annually as too high a price tag.

However, starting in the 2022-2023 school year, similarly to in Michigan, Newsom approved California’s transitional kindergarten program, which sought to increase access to public education programs for 4-year-olds. In the most recent budget, Newsom proposed $1.8 billion in additional funding for expanding the state’s transitional kindergarten program, which effectively serves as universal pre-K.

Financial cost is one big factor as officials weigh which kinds of early learning programs to support. Sometimes the pain of big upfront bills seem to outweigh the potential longer-term payoff for society, says Emma Garcia, a principal researcher at the Learning Policy Institute.

“I feel like sometimes the argument used against it is, ‘Oh, it costs a lot and the effects fade,” she says. “But it’s what society gains from the early investment.”

There’s also the political “costs” of passing new regulations mandating participation in school.

“Offering a service tends to be fairly popular; requiring it tends to be less so,” Sarah Novicoff, a research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, says. “It’s all about questions of priorities, about what the state particularly thinks will make change in the most impactful way and there’s trade-offs to all these things.”

Today’s political climate favors “parental choice,” both in the ideological sense of parents knowing what is best for their children, and in the literal sense via school vouchers.

“Family choice has always been embedded in any child care policy,” Jade Jenkins, an associate professor of education at the University of California Irvine who has studied the effects of mandatory kindergarten since 2015. “And with the conservative sentiment dominating the landscape these days, which is parental choice and the push toward educational choice for school-aged children, nationalizing or any kind of early childhood educational mandates are further off.”

It’s not obvious that even families who do participate in kindergarten always value it fully, at least according to attendance records. According to the American Enterprise Institute, 1 in 3 California kindergarten students were chronically absent, or missed 10 percent or more of a school year.

If families put less stock in kindergarten, it might be because of the reality that, in many places, only half-day programs are available. According to the Education Commission of the States, a nonprofit tracking education policy, only 16 states and Washington D.C. require schools to offer all-day kindergarten options, with the remainder mandating half-day offerings.

Without that all-day offering, many parents are left in the lurch for half of the work day.

“It’s not just about parent choice: They offer half day, and you often have to pay for full day [care], which is a real access problem where policies could make a difference,” Weiland says. “A push toward offering full day is probably more meaningful, at least on the equity side.”

Potential Wins and Roadblocks

It turns out that the two policy ideas — offering universal pre-K and mandating kindergarten — may lead to the same place. Some experts posit that expanded pre-K could help place students on the elementary public school track earlier.

After all, Weiland says, “I’ve never heard of doing universal pre-K and then not kindergarten; that’s not too much of a common path, at least.”

That seems especially likely in areas like Washington, D.C., and Boston, where universal preschool programs are embedded in public school settings (as opposed to offered at standalone centers or in-home programs).

“In a mixed-delivery system, we have no reason to believe this would make me stay in public school, but in places like Boston where it’s highly regarded in the public schools, we have found they are somewhat more likely to stay in public schools,” Jenkins says.

And that could help in a small way with the enrollment issues schools have encountered since the pandemic. While school enrollment rates for 5-year-olds are high — 84 percent across the country, according to the National Center for Education Statistics — they began dipping postpandemic, down 6 percent for 5-year-olds from 2019 to 2021.

These days, education leaders are also worried about longer-term demographic and birth rate changes primed to hurt schools, such as “the fertility cliff and the enrollment cliff,” Jenkins says. For institutions that are funded based on a per-pupil method of calculation, that means fewer dollars.

Weiland pointed toward states like Vermont, Maine and West Virginia that have all been hit particularly hard with enrollment dips and had to close down schools.

“We have these school enrollment crises, where the birth cohorts are getting smaller, and it doesn’t make great financial sense for kindergarten classrooms to go under-enrolled,” she says. “That could have some political momentum to increase enrollment numbers.”

For schools trying to stay open, every additional kindergartener helps.

If you were betting on Samsung finally baking built-in magnets into the Galaxy S26 series this year, well — you lost. For the second year running, Samsung has skipped native Qi2 magnetic hardware across the entire S26 lineup.

No MPP (Magnetic Power Profile), no satisfying snap onto your wireless charger. Just a phone that sits on a pad and hopes for the best with alignment. The reason? Space, apparently.

Samsung didn’t include wireless charging magnets due to “space constraints”

At the Unpacked event, when asked why the Galaxy S26 still misses out on magnets, a Samsung executive told Digital Trends that it was probably due to space constraints. They didn’t go deep into the engineering process behind it all, but ruled out that there were any thermal concerns behind the decision.

So the internals are just too busy to fit a ring of magnets. Sure, Samsung. We believe you. I’d say that Google’s decision to finally include wireless magnetic charging on the Pixel 10 series — dubbed Pixelsnap charging — gives the series a clear edge in terms of daily charging convenience.

Here’s where things get genuinely better — on paper, at least. Wireless charging speeds are up across the lineup: the S26+ now tops out at 20W, and the Ultra goes all the way to 25W Qi2. The base S26 is still stuck at 15W, but the jump for the two bigger models is real and welcome.

Faster wireless charging — on supported models — is a bit confusing

The catch? Those faster speeds come with strings attached. Specifically, a magnetic case. Without one, your phone is limited to whatever the Qi spec’s Extended Power Profile allows — which is 15W, full stop.

Anything beyond that sits in Magnetic Power Profile territory, and that standard physically needs magnets to lock alignment and pull higher wattage from the charger. No magnets on the phone means no alignment means no extra speed (via 9To5Google).

Samsung’s own 25W wireless charger is itself a magnetic puck, which tells you everything — it barely works without a magnetic case in the picture.

At least you get new magnetic cases and charging gear

To Samsung’s credit, the company isn’t leaving buyers stranded. It launched a fresh lineup of first-party magnetic cases alongside the S26 series — silicone options with Qi2 magnets built inside, a transparent patterned “Rugged” variant, and a returning clear case.

Samsung also dropped a new Magnet Wireless Charger (a slim 4.4mm Qi2 puck with a fabric USB-C cable, currently on sale for $34.99 from $49.99) and a 5,000mAh magnetic power bank with a kickstand.

Third-party brands like Belkin, ESR, and dbrand have piled in too, with magnetic S26 cases that bring full MagSafe-style snap-on functionality to the table.

Is it a little absurd that you need to buy a case just to use a charger at full speed? Absolutely. But at least the ecosystem around that workaround is now genuinely good.

Xiaomi has unveiled one of the slimmest magnetic power banks we’ve seen, measuring just 6mm thick and weighing 98g.

The new Xiaomi UltraThin Magnetic Power Bank 5000 15W is designed to snap onto compatible smartphones. At the same time, it remains barely noticeable in your pocket.

Despite its card-like profile, the power bank packs a 5,000mAh battery. Xiaomi uses a high energy-density silicon-carbon cell with 16% silicon content, alongside a large graphite cooling sheet. This helps keep the design thin without sacrificing everyday usability. It’s small enough to sit flush against the back of a phone. Yet it is substantial enough to provide a meaningful top-up.

New York Attorney General Letitia James sued video game developer and publisher Valve Corporation for using game loot boxes to facilitate illegal gambling activities among children and teenagers.

Valve operates Steam, one of the largest digital game distribution services in the world, offering access to thousands of games for millions of users worldwide. At the time this article was published, Steam was reporting over 29 million players online, with nearly 7.5 million playing a game.

Attorney General James said the gaming giant is violating the state’s gambling laws by offering players the opportunity to win random virtual prizes that can be exchanged for real money, in a process described as being similar to a slot machine.

“Illegal gambling can be harmful and lead to serious addiction problems, especially for our young people,” said James. “Valve has made billions of dollars by letting children and adults alike illegally gamble for the chance to win valuable virtual prizes. These features are addictive, harmful, and illegal, and my office is suing to stop Valve’s illegal conduct and protect New Yorkers.”

The lawsuit targets loot boxes in Counter-Strike 2, Team Fortress 2, and Dota 2 that award players with random items, such as weapon skins or character accessories. However, the odds of winning rare items are allegedly deliberately skewed by Valve to make them far more valuable, leading the total value of market items to balloon to an estimated $4.3 billion as of March 2025, according to Attorney General James.

Some individual items (such as AK-47 skins) have even fetched prices of over $1 million, making Steam accounts a frequent target for hackers and scammers.

The lawsuit also highlights the potential harm to children, as they may be drawn into loot box purchases to win rare items and boost social status within gaming communities. “Children who are introduced to gambling are four times more likely to develop a gambling problem later in life than those who are not,” according to research cited in the Wednesday press release.

Attorney General James has asked the court to permanently bar Valve from operating loot box features in the state, to require the company to return all profits generated by the practice, and to impose fines for the alleged violations.

In January 2025, Genshin Impact developer Cognosphere (aka Hoyoverse) agreed to pay $20 million to settle a U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lawsuit over unfair marketing of loot boxes to minors, obscuring the actual costs. andmisleading the players about the odds of winning prizes.

BleepingComputer reached out to a Valve spokesperson for comment, but a response was not immediately available.

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ASUS gaming laptops have been the cream of the crop for some time now, as evidenced by my review of last year’s Zephyrus G14 and Strix G16. Building on that momentum, the Taiwanese laptop maker has announced its 2026 Creator lineup in India under the campaign “Built for Originals.” The new portfolio expands ASUS’s AI-powered laptop range with three key models: the ProArt GoPro Edition (PX13), the limited-edition ROG Flow Z13-KJP in collaboration with KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS, and the 2026 TUF Gaming A14. Here’s everything you need to know about them.

ProArt GoPro Edition (PX13)

The ProArt GoPro Edition (PX13) is made for people who need serious editing performance on the move. It runs on the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor with up to 50 TOPS NPU and supports up to 128GB LPDDR5X memory. Up front, you get a 13-inch 3K touchscreen display with 100% DCI-P3 color coverage and Pantone validation, along with stylus support. ASUS has also added a dedicated GoPro hotkey for faster editing workflows, along with creative tools like ASUS DialPad, StoryCube AI for media organization, and MuseTree for AI-assisted idea mapping.

Weighing just 1.39 kg and featuring a 360-degree hinge, the PX13 is clearly built for portability. Buyers also get a hard-shell carry case and modular memory foam packaging designed to securely store GoPro accessories. As part of the launch, ASUS is offering a GoPro MAX2 bundle (worth ₹62,500) at a 35% discount for ProArt GoPro Edition buyers. The bundle includes the GoPro MAX2 360 camera, extension pole, two Enduro batteries, and a 64GB SanDisk microSD card.

ROG Flow Z13-KJP

The ROG Flow Z13-KJP is a limited-edition 2-in-1 gaming device created in collaboration with KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS and artist Yoji Shinkawa. Inspired by the Ludens sci-fi aesthetic, the device features CNC-milled aluminium, carbon fiber detailing, custom keycaps, laser-etched vents, and themed packaging. Under the hood, it packs an AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor with Radeon 8060S graphics and up to 128GB of LPDDR5X unified memory. The 13.4-inch 2.5K ROG Nebula display supports a 180Hz refresh rate, 3ms response time, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, and 500 nits brightness.

Advanced vapor chamber cooling and dual Arc Flow fans should help sustain performance in its compact chassis. Buyers will also receive a complimentary PC game code for DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH, redeemable via Armoury Crate. Pre-orders begin at 12 PM on February 26, 2026, with availability starting March 4. ASUS is also offering a 2-year warranty extension and 3 years of accidental damage protection (worth up to ₹27,299) for ₹1 as a pre-order benefit. The ROG Flow Z13-KJP starts at ₹3,79,990.

TUF Gaming A14 (2026)

The 2026 TUF Gaming A14 is positioned as a portable performance machine for entry- to mid-level creators and gamers. It is powered by the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 392 processor with Radeon 8060S graphics and integrates a 12-core Zen 5 CPU with RDNA 3.5 graphics. It comes with 32GB LPDDR5X unified memory and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, with an additional 2280 NVMe slot supporting up to 2TB expansion. The 73Wh battery supports fast charging and Type-C charging for better portability.

Despite its power, the laptop weighs just 1.48 kg and measures 1.69 cm thin. The 14-inch 2.5K display features a 165Hz refresh rate, 3ms response time, 100% sRGB coverage, and AMD FreeSync Premium support. The device is MIL-STD-810H certified and includes ports such as USB 4 and a microSD card reader. The TUF Gaming A14 starts at ₹1,79,990 and will be available via ASUS Exclusive Stores, ASUS eShop, Flipkart, Amazon, Croma, Reliance Digital, and other retail outlets.

Pricing & Availibility