Technology

Screenshots and PDFs have long served as the fallback tools of digital recordkeeping. They're easy to create, straightforward to file, and for a long time, they seemed “good enough.” But in today’s regulatory environment, where agencies like the SEC and FINRA are demanding complete, contextual, and verifiable records, “good enough” is quickly becoming a liability.

As communications become more dynamic and digital interactions more complex, static captures are increasingly out of step with the needs of modern compliance, and the expectations of U.S. regulators. Recent guidance and enforcement trends make it clear: partial records or flattened archives are no longer sufficient.

Compliance professionals have always adapted to new requirements and risk environments. It’s time to ask whether our current tools still meet the moment. For many firms, that answer is starting to shift.

Digital Communications Have Changed Dramatically

Not long ago, archiving a digital interaction was relatively straightforward. You saved an email. You took a screenshot of a webpage. It was static, predictable, and mostly text-based.

That’s no longer the case. Communications happen across platforms that are constantly updating - live chat software, dynamic websites, embedded widgets, interactive forms, and more. A webpage might display differently depending on who views it, or when. A chat thread might be edited minutes later, or disappear altogether.

In other words, what you're trying to capture isn’t standing still. It’s changing in real-time, sometimes invisibly, and when it comes to compliance, those changes matter a lot. Trying to preserve that complexity with a flat image or PDF is like trying to understand body language by looking at a photograph. You get part of the picture, but not the full story.

Why Static Archives Aren’t Enough Anymore

1. They Strip Away Context: Static captures freeze a single moment. They don’t show what came before or after, or how a page or chat evolved. That’s fine - until someone asks how a user experienced a disclosure, or when a message was edited, or whether a page displayed something different two hours later. In those moments, a flat PDF cannot elaborate.

2. They Lack Authenticity: A screenshot looks official, but lacks credibility. It’s difficult to verify when it was taken, whether it shows the whole interaction, or if it’s been altered. In a legal or regulatory setting, that opens the door to doubt and risk.

3. They Don’t Scale: Modern communications move fast and in high volume. Manually capturing and filing screenshots or PDFs is time-consuming, error-prone, and unsustainable. And if you’ve ever tried to search across a thousand PDFs for a single keyword, you know it’s far from ideal.

4. They’re Out of Step with Regulator Expectations: Agencies like the SEC and FINRA are no longer content with partial records. They want full, accurate reconstructions of conversations - especially those that touch customers and investors, or include compliance-sensitive content. They’ve made that clear in recent enforcement actions focused on off-channel communications and poor recordkeeping.

5. They Don’t Capture the Brand Experience: Even outside of compliance, faithfully preserving what happened still matters. Static archives miss how users interacted with a brand, how journeys unfolded, or how dynamic elements behaved. For marketing, product, support, or legal teams, that’s a real gap. Replay delivers full, authentic re-creations of digital experiences, helping brands understand and protect the moments that matter.

What’s the Alternative? Time-Accurate, Replayable Records

A growing number of compliance teams are moving toward replay-capable archiving systems, which not only save a file or a message, but allow you to recreate the experience as it happened.

With replay, you're not capturing a still image. You're preserving a moment in time that you can revisit, navigate, and verify.

Users can...

1. Revisit a webpage exactly as a user saw it - scrollable, clickable, and live with the same styling and interactive elements.

2. Watch how a digital disclosure evolved over time, with version histories intact.

3. Overlay and compare two captures of the same site or chat to quickly spot differences, updates, or unauthorized changes.

4. Provide regulators or auditors with a full, interactive view, backed by metadata and time-stamped proof.

Replay doesn’t just meet the letter of compliance, it helps meet the spirit of transparency, accuracy, and accountability.

Why Replay is a Better Fit for Today’s Risk Environment

Replayable archives offer a number of meaningful advantages for modern compliance. They provide a more accurate record, capturing conversational nuance rather than just a snapshot of what someone happened to say at a single point in time. These records are also auditable by design: time-stamped, tamper-resistant, and rich with metadata that supports their authenticity.

Beyond that, they’re easier to work with. Unlike static files buried in folders, replayable records can be indexed and searched dynamically across platforms, reducing the time and effort it takes to locate specific communications.

Perhaps most importantly, they improve the defensibility of your compliance posture. Regulators and legal teams don’t just receive an image, they can interact with a faithful reconstruction of the communication as it originally appeared and functioned. It’s a shift from passive recordkeeping to active, immersive documentation, a much stronger foundation for meeting both regulatory expectations and internal accountability standards.

Compliance is Evolving, Our Tools Should Too

Screenshots and PDFs were once enough. They were functional, and often the best available option. But the tools that served us well in a simpler digital world aren’t necessarily correct for today’s dynamic landscape.

Replay archiving isn’t just a technical upgrade, it’s a strategic one. It allows compliance teams to respond with confidence, investigate with precision, and align more closely with regulatory scrutiny, without adding unnecessary complexity.

Final Thought: Compliance Can’t Be Flat in a 3D World

In today’s regulatory environment, context and clarity aren't luxuries, but necessities. While static records might offer a snapshot, modern compliance often requires the ability to press play and experience the linear journey, first-hand.

The good news? The technology exists. And the case for using it is only getting stronger.

When it comes to compliance, seeing what happened should include seeing how it happened, and when. And for that, the PDF and screenshot era belongs in the scrapbook.

We list the best PDF merger tools.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

We've tried and tested security systems from Ring, Arlo, SimpliSafe, ADT and others to help you make an informed buying decision.

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for July 21.

• Beelink GTi15 Ultra offers vapor cooling in a chassis barely larger than a paperback novel
• A fingerprint reader and dual 10GbE ports are rare finds on any mini PC
• External GPU support solves one problem and creates three others in terms of cost and footprint

Beelink’s GTi15 Ultra mini PC has been launched with features more commonly associated with full-sized desktops.

The standout elements include dual 10Gb Ethernet LAN ports, a fingerprint reader, and support for external graphics - additions which suggest it is built for users who demand more than casual browsing or media playback, especially those looking to downsize without giving up specific performance perks.

Compared to its predecessor, the GTi14, the new GTi15 Ultra brings an Intel Core Ultra 9 285H processor, but the raw CPU performance gain is modest, about 11%, based on internal benchmarks.

Marginal CPU gains, sharper GPU contrast

Beelink’s GTi15 Ultra doesn’t emerge in a vacuum; it’s the next step in a mini PC lineage that has gradually pushed the envelope.

Earlier models like the GTi12 Ultra and GTi14 Ultra pioneered the inclusion of a PCIe x8 expansion slot for Beelink’s proprietary EX GPU dock, targeting users who wanted a compact form factor but still needed the option of a desktop-class GPU.

The bigger change, however, lies in the integrated Arc Graphics 140T, which replaces the Arc 8-core iGPU from the previous model.

Despite the branding, this shift may not result in a meaningful leap for GPU-heavy tasks.

The option to connect Beelink’s own external GPU dock certainly offers more flexibility, but not without added cost and space concerns.

With up to 64GB of DDR5 memory and a built-in 145W PSU, the GTi15 Ultra is presented as a serious machine for demanding users.

The dual 10GbE ports point toward a networking edge that could appeal to niche professional workflows, potentially making it viable as a business PC - but in most work settings, such bandwidth far exceeds actual requirements.

The same goes for vapor chamber cooling, which may help thermals but feels more like a talking point than a necessity in typical office scenarios.

Starting at roughly $655 in barebones form and climbing to nearly $880 when configured with 64GB RAM and 1TB storage, this mini PC lands in price territory occupied by capable desktops and laptops.

While the appeal of a sleek video editing PC in such a small footprint is understandable, compromises remain, especially when factoring in the limited internal GPU and dependency on external docks for full graphics performance.

Via Notebookcheck

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Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for July 21, No. 301.

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for July 21, #771.

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for July 21 No. 505.

Here are hints and the answer for today's Wordle for July 21, No. 1,493.

• Yahoo Japan is betting big that mandatory AI use can unlock workplace innovation
• The company’s plan starts with automating 30% of daily tasks, like meetings and documents
• Internal tools like SeekAI will handle expenses, research prompts, and summarizing meeting notes

Yahoo Japan is taking a bold step by requiring all 11,000 of its employees to integrate generative AI into their daily work, aiming to double productivity by 2028.

The company, which also operates LINE, plans to make AI tools a standard part of tasks like research, meeting documentation, expense management, and even competitive analysis.

The idea is to shift employee focus from routine output to higher-level thinking and communication by letting AI handle the groundwork and create continuous innovation.

Targeting the 30% first

The rollout begins in the more universal aspects of office life: areas like searching, drafting, and routine documentation, which Yahoo Japan estimates take up about 30% of its employees’ time.

The company has already developed internal tools like SeekAI to manage tasks such as expense claims and data searches using prompt templates.

AI will also be used to help create agendas, summarize meetings, and proofread reports, thereby giving staff more room to concentrate on decision-making and discussion.

This move might seem extreme, but it follows a broader trend of companies trying to harness AI as a productivity tool rather than just a cost-cutting one.

Yahoo Japan's strategy assumes that automation is not just an efficiency tool but a workplace standard, but there is growing evidence that treating AI as a complete replacement for human workers may be shortsighted.

A recent report by Orgvue claims, more than half of UK businesses which replaced workers with AI now regret that decision. This speaks to a crucial distinction: while AI can support and streamline, it often falls short in areas requiring nuance, empathy, or real-world context.

In this light, Yahoo Japan’s model, one that promotes AI as a support layer rather than a substitute, might prove more sustainable.

This is certainly a sign of things to come, and from my perspective, generative AI is not here to erase jobs, even although there are reports of people losing jobs to AI in some regions.

AI should only shift what jobs look like by removing repetitive tasks and freeing up space for critical thinking and creativity, where human input remains indispensable.

Yahoo Japan’s approach, if implemented with care and flexibility, might help shape that shift in a more inclusive and less disruptive way.

Via PC Watch

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• Aokzoe mini PC flaunts a red rocket button with no clear functional explanation
• Branding overwhelms the chassis, with buzzwords replacing useful technical or design explanations
• The processor has real muscle, but the product’s direction feels uncertain and unfocused

Aokzoe has announced its first mini PC powered by AMD’s new Ryzen AI Max+ 395 APU will soon be launched globally.

The company has remained vague about key technical details, but the announcement has stirred attention for its daring design and ambiguous branding.

The mini PC has been previewed with terms like “AI PC,” “A IPC,” and “Hypermind Drive” emblazoned across its surfaces, leaving its final name uncertain.

Design choices raise questions about purpose and practicality

This device is visually striking with a design that flaunts aggressive angles, bright highlights, and an unexplained red “rocket” button, which feels like a custom or programmable function button, possibly for performance mode.

Mini PCs often lean toward understated forms, but Aokzoe has taken the opposite approach.

Branding is everywhere, with large text and graphics dominating the chassis, raising doubts about whether this machine is intended as a functional business PC or a flashy collector's piece.

Speculation has intensified due to the inclusion of the Ryzen AI Max+ 395, a high-end Strix Halo APU.

This processor is part of AMD’s push into AI-enhanced computing and has only recently started appearing in compact desktops.

Although it holds appeal for demanding tasks like content creation, the lack of detailed specs from Aokzoe makes it difficult to gauge whether this mini PC can realistically serve as a capable video editing PC or handle long work sessions typical in business settings.

At this point, the hardware’s potential seems to outpace the product’s clarity.

Nevertheless, from the official images, the front panel of this device includes a USB4 or Thunderbolt port marked with a lightning bolt icon just before the red “rocket” button.

Next is a full-sized SD card reader, a USB-C port, two USB-A ports (likely differing in speed), and a 3.5mm audio jack for headphones or microphone use.

The company will officially confirm the specs of this device intermittently through social media, avoiding formal release timelines or performance benchmarks.

While a global release has been promised, prospective buyers have little more than renderings and vague labels to assess.

For now, it's difficult to say if the product is serious about computing or simply playing with bold visuals and buzzwords.

Although Aokzoe’s approach is not unique, other brands such as GMKtec and Aoostar are also introducing Strix Halo-based systems.

The likes of HP Z2 Mini G1a, GMKTEC EVO-X2, AOOSTAR’s NEX395, and many more have already been announced.

But these devices are usually not cheap, often selling between the $1500–$2000 price range.

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• Two new Garmin watches seem to be imminent
• We might get a cheaper Forerunner this Tuesday
• The Venu 4 could follow the recently launched Venu X1

It looks like there are going to be two new contenders for our list of the best Garmin watches in the very near future, with one official tease and one unofficial leak pointing towards new devices in the coming days and weeks.

To start with what we've heard directly from Garmin, the company has posted a teaser for a new watch arriving on July 22 (this coming Tuesday). The outline of the wearable suggests we're looking at a new Forerunner model.

Well-known tipster the5krunner says it's unlikely that this is an existing model launching in China. It's more probable that it's a China-specific Garmin, or it's a completely new model that's going to be launching globally.

Over at Garmin Rumors, the thinking is that the "1XXX" on the teaser image could refer to the price of the upcoming watch, in yuan. If that guess is right, then we'd be looking at a relatively affordable Forerunner compared to the rest of the series.

The Venu 4

The Garmin Venu X1 (Image credit: Garmin)

As for the less official news, Garmin Rumors (via Notebookcheck) has spotted the first ever mention of the Garmin Venu 4 in the documentation accompanying the Garmin Golf app. Garmin hasn't said anything about this watch, but it looks like it might be on the way.

Earlier this year the Garmin Venu X1 was launched, but based on this new information, that wasn't the true successor to the Garmin Venu 3 – although the brief mention we have of the Venu 4 doesn't tell us too much about it.

Given what Garmin has been doing with its other flagship wearable refreshes, there's a good chance the Venu 4 will come with a brighter screen, an updated user interface, a flashlight, and some additional health features and fitness metrics.

However, there have been no other leaks or rumors to date to give us any hints about what's coming. As soon as Garmin makes either of these smartwatches official, we'll of course bring you all the details on TechRadar.

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• AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9995WX workstation CPU has 96 cores and 192 threads
• It is set to go on sale with an expected priced of around $13,000
• Zen 5-based Threadripper offers 26% gain over predecessor but costs 30% more

The AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9995WX could be the most expensive desktop CPU ever listed at retail, with a rumored price of $13,000.

This price point is more than double that of AMD’s own EPYC 9655, a 96-core data center chip which can be found for just over $6,100.

Built on the Zen 5 architecture and using a 4nm process, the 9995WX targets workstation professionals who need extreme performance in AI, media, design and engineering workflows.

30% price hike

The chip features 96 cores, 192 threads, and a base clock of 2.5 GHz, boosting up to 5.4 GHz. It supports up to 144 usable PCIe lanes and 8-channel DDR5 ECC RAM running at 6400 MT/s.

There’s also 128MB of L3 cache. While the specs are aimed at users with heavy workloads, the high cost puts it in a niche category. No cooler is included and a dedicated graphics card is required.

The 9995WX is part of the new Threadripper 9000 series, with AMD skipping the 8000 line entirely.

It offers a generational improvement over the Zen 4-based 7995WX, including a reported 26% performance gain.

Even so, the price increase over the previous generation is steep, sitting at 30% higher than the 7995WX.

While this could be justified for some niche professionals, it narrows the market to those with extremely specialized needs.

Preorders are expected to open on July 23, with listings appearing on B&H Photo Video and other retailers.

Although AMD has not confirmed final pricing, Videocardz notes patterns across multiple stores point to a consistent number near $13,000.

The rest of the lineup includes 24-core to 64-core models, with price hikes ranging from 4% to 17% over previous generations.

Intel currently lacks a direct workstation-class competitor in this category, and with AMD pushing core counts and prices even higher, the gap remains wide.

This latest Threadripper generation extends AMD’s lead in ultra-high-end desktop processors, at least for now.

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Chomp into 20 hours of new specials.

Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Sunday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Sunday, July 20 (game #1273).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,100 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1274) - hint #1 - VowelsHow many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1274) - hint #2 - repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.

Quordle today (game #1274) - hint #3 - uncommon lettersDo the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1274) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 0.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1274) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• K

• S

• P

• F

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1274) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1274, are…

• KNEED
• SNAIL
• PINTO
• FEAST

After an easy ride with my first three guesses I was undone by a silent letter.

Without an S and seeing no other letters that could precede the letter N, I had presumed that it would have to start with a vowel so opted for “ended” – but ended up regretting it due to my neglect of the letter K. Sneaky.

Daily Sequence today (game #1274) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1274, are…

• MINER
• CRUST
• GRAPE
• ROBIN

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1273, Sunday, 20 July: GRACE, COUNT, EGRET, GIANT
• Quordle #1272, Saturday, 19 July: EARLY, CLICK, TRITE, SPREE
• Quordle #1271, Friday, 18 July: CINCH, FOYER, FUDGE, TAFFY
• Quordle #1270, Thursday, 17 July: CRESS, TABOO, POWER, HATER
• Quordle #1269, Wednesday, 16 July: UNCLE, NADIR, REMIT, BROOM
• Quordle #1268, Tuesday, 15 July: VILLA, FLECK, TIGER, CRANE
• Quordle #1267, Monday, 14 July: SURGE, PIZZA, PAPER, POPPY
• Quordle #1266, Sunday, 13 July: KAYAK, DECRY, RUDDY, HATER
• Quordle #1265, Saturday, 12 July: WREAK, NANNY, CLASP, STAIN
• Quordle #1264, Friday, 11 July: LAPEL, DRAIN, FROND, GROSS
• Quordle #1263, Thursday, 10 July: CROSS, WHEEL, UNDID, PENCE
• Quordle #1262, Wednesday, 9 July: SHIRE, SIXTH, SINGE, IMAGE
• Quordle #1261, Tuesday, 8 July: PLIED, PRANK, GAWKY, OXIDE
• Quordle #1260, Monday, 7 July: DROLL, TRUCE, TWIRL, SINCE
• Quordle #1259, Sunday, 6 July: AMPLY, SPAWN, EXTOL, RIDGE
• Quordle #1258, Saturday, 5 July: HAVEN, SNAKE, DREAM, TORUS
• Quordle #1257, Friday, 4 July: FAVOR, SKUNK, GAWKY, FLUFF
• Quordle #1256, Thursday, 3 July: DANCE, EYING, GLAZE, EGRET
• Quordle #1255, Wednesday, 2 July: INANE, SCOUR, ELITE, ULCER

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Sunday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, July 20 (game #770).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #771) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• FREEZING
• FOOT
• EXTRA
• CONTRACTION
• ICING
• SHRINKAGE
• CONDENSATION
• MELTING
• POSSESSIVE
• YADA YADA
• BONUS
• REGIFTING
• FESTIVUS
• QUOTE
• GRAVY
• VAPORIZATION

NYT Connections today (game #771) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Something on top
• GREEN: States of water
• BLUE: Jerry and friends
• PURPLE: A punctuation mark in common

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #771) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: ADDITIONAL PERK
• GREEN: PHASE TRANSITIONS FOR LIQUIDS
• BLUE: CONCEPTS FROM "SEINFELD" 
• PURPLE: WHAT ' CAN INDICATE

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #771) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #771, are…

• YELLOW: ADDITIONAL PERK BONUS, EXTRA, GRAVY, ICING
• GREEN: PHASE TRANSITIONS FOR LIQUIDS CONDENSATION, FREEZING, MELTING, VAPORIZATION
• BLUE: CONCEPTS FROM "SEINFELD" FESTIVUS, REGIFTING, SHRINKAGE, YADA YADA
• PURPLE: WHAT ' CAN INDICATE CONTRACTION, FOOT, POSSESSIVE, QUOTE

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

I interpret the idiom ‘it’s all GRAVY' as meaning that being alive and healthy is already fantastic and whatever else life brings you is a bonus. Other people may interpret it as an endless supply of free gravy or possibly that everything tastes like gravy, but either way it's a positive thing. Well, unless you don’t like gravy.

Anyway, I digress. Today’s gift from Connections was the wonderful CONCEPTS FROM “SEINFELD” including, in my opinion, its crowning achievement in creating a public holiday for “the rest of us”. An excuse for me to watch a couple of classic episodes in my lunch hour.

Fortunately, I had the other three groups quickly completed before I had to even contemplate the purple foursome.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Sunday, July 20, game #770)

• YELLOW: MOVE TO THE MUSIC BOP, BOUNCE, GROOVE, SWAY
• GREEN: INHALATION DRAG, DRAW, PUFF, PULL
• BLUE: MARTINI SPECIFICATIONS DRY, GIN, SHAKEN, TWIST
• PURPLE: ___WORD BUZZ, CROSS, LOAN, PASS

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Sunday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Sunday, July 20 (game #504).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #505) - hint #1 - today's themeWhat is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… I fold!

NYT Strands today (game #505) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• BANK
• BRINE
• FLOW
• SHIFT
• TURBO
• WHEY

NYT Strands today (game #505) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 7 letters

NYT Strands today (game #505) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: left, 4th row

Last side: right, 5th row

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #505) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #505, are…

• KITE
• FROG
• FISH
• CRANE
• BUTTERFLY
• SPANGRAM: ORIGAMI

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 2 hints

It took me until my fourth word, which was CRANE, to understand the significance of “I fold!”. After that it was a case of finding a letter-O close to an edge and connecting ORIGAMI.

Despite this moment of revelation, today’s search didn’t get any easier – mainly because a crane is the most obvious shape you can make, but also because hundreds of items can be created by folding a square piece of thin paper.

Thankfully, FLOWER and BUTTERFLY were easy to spot, but even though there were only five letters left I still struggled to see HEART (trying “earth” first – maybe you just screw the paper up into a ball).

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Sunday, July 20, game #504)

• WRAP
• BIKINI
• SARONG
• TRUNKS
• SANDALS
• SWIMSUIT
• SPANGRAM: BEACH ATTIRE

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

• More folding iPhone details have leaked
• We have more hints about pricing and battery capacity
• The phone could launch next year

We're getting closer and closer to the foldable iPhone being a real rather than a rumored device, and new leaks suggest that the handset is going to set two records for Apple's smartphone series to date.

These leaks come from tipster Dingzhuo Digital and Mydrivers (via Wccftech). Bear in mind that we are relying on Google Translate here – and that nothing is certain until Apple makes the device official (which will probably be next year).

First up, the folding iPhone is apparently going to have the largest battery of any iPhone to date, with this leak putting the capacity at 5,000-5,500 mAh. For comparison, the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max that launched last September packs in a 4,685 mAh battery.

We'll have to see how that works out in terms of actual battery life between charges. The foldable iPhone will of course have two screens that need powering, and a larger screen to light up when unopened (which could be 7.74 inches, corner to corner).

Paying the price

The latest Samsung foldable: the Galaxy Z Fold 7 (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

The second part of this leak is the pricing of this device, and it's no surprise that the foldable iPhone is set to be the most expensive iPhone in history – far exceeding the starting price of the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which is set at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,149.

This leak puts the price at more than 15,000 yuan in China. That works out as $2,090 / £1,560 / AU$3,205 with a rough currency conversion at today's rates, but those are unlikely to be the final figures Apple settles on internationally.

Previous rumors have put the price of the folding iPhone somewhere between $1,800 and $2,500, depending on which tipsters and analysts you want to believe. Whatever the final figure ends up being, you're certainly going to have to pay a lot for this phone.

Before we get the folding iPhone though, we're going to get the iPhone 17 series, which will include the iPhone 17 Air in place of the iPhone 16 Plus. If Apple sticks to its usual schedule, we should see those handsets in September.

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