The Royal Mint has signed an agreement with Canadian start-up Excir to recover gold and other precious metals from old smartphone and laptop circuit boards.

Precious Waste Mountain

A recent assessment by the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) forum has concluded that this year’s worldwide mountain of waste electronic and electrical equipment will total an estimated 57.4 million tonnes – greater than the weight of the Great Wall of China, Earth’s heaviest artificial object. Also, an estimated 151 million or more phones a year, approximately 416,000 a day, are simply incinerated or landfilled, and that 40 per cent of heavy metals in US landfills come from discarded electronics.

More Than Ore

According to Dr Ruediger Kuehr, director of the UN’s Sustainable Cycles (SCYCLE) programme, “A tonne of discarded mobile phones is richer in gold than a tonne of gold ore.”

Dr Kuehr also claims that one million mobile phones contain “24 kg of gold, 16,000 kg of copper, 350 kg of silver, and 14 kg of palladium”.

Plans To Extract Gold At Plant In Wales

Through its agreement with Excir, The Royal Mint intends to build a plant in Wales that could reclaim hundreds of kilograms of gold and other precious metals from electronic waste such as mobile phones and laptops.

Excir has developed chemical solutions that can extract the metals from the circuit boards. Sean Millard, the Mint’s chief growth officer says that Excir can “selectively pull out precious metals with a high degree of purity,” and that although the mint currently uses the process at small scale, a new plant “would look to process hundreds of tonnes of e-waste per annum, generating hundreds of kilograms of precious metals”.

Value Vs Cost?

A kilogram of gold is worth around $55,000 at current prices so, although extracting the gold from old circuit boards sounds potentially profitable (and better for the planet). It is not yet clear, however, how much the new extraction plant and its operation would cost.

Reasons For The Electronic Waste Mountain

Some of the reasons why there has been a growth in the consumption of electronics include:

– Smaller periods between new product releases.

– Limited options for repairing broken items and lack of the ‘right to repair.’

– Fast device development e.g., mobile phones, leading to a market dependency on rapid replacement of older devices.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

As identified by the Royal Mint and Excir, recovering, recycling, and returning precious metals to the production cycle not only provides a good business opportunity but also new supplies don’t need to be mined, thereby helping the environment.

Tackling the growing e-waste crisis, however, will take a number of different measures over time, globally. Getting to a situation where there is the creation of a circular economy for electronic goods where waste is minimised, the most is made of resources, the environment and health are protected, and businesses and developing economies can still meet their demand, will take a wide variety of actions. These include legislation and having a more digital and connected world to help accelerate progress towards sustainable development goals, thereby helping emerging economies, and ensuring that less precious minerals, metals, and resources are dumped into landfill. Also, an approach that could dematerialise the electronics industry (e.g., through ‘device-as-a-service’ business models), better product tracking and take-back schemes, and entrepreneurs, investors, academics, business leaders and lawmakers working together could help make the circular economy work. Increasing the ‘right to repair’ in electronic products is another way to help tackle the crisis and help the environment going forward.

Microsoft has announced that the first preview of Android apps on Windows 11 is now available, albeit currently for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel in the U.S. Others to follow.

50 Apps To Try

Microsoft says that it has partnered with Amazon and popular app developers to curate 50 apps for those on the Windows Insiders program to test and validate across a broad set of hardware.

The apps that Windows Insiders are now allowed to try out include:

– Popular mobile games like Lords Mobile, June’s Journey, Coin Master, and more.

– Books with Kindle, or a digital comic series with Comics e.g., to swipe through on a tablet.

– Kids content such as maths, reading, and writing skills guides plus award-winning Khan Academy Kids, and Lego Duplo World.

Not Available on Windows Before

Windows 11 is the first version to allow users to use the Microsoft Store to download mobile apps that were not available on Windows before. Microsoft says that “Running Android apps and games on Windows 11 will feel familiar, effortless, and integrated.”

New Component – Windows Subsystem

The Android apps can operate in Windows because of a new component on top of Windows 11 called Windows Subsystem for Android™, which powers the Amazon Appstore and its catalogue. The Subsystem includes the Linux kernel and the Android OS based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) version 11. The subsystem comes from the Microsoft Store as part of the Amazon Appstore install. Microsoft says that more support for more APIs, capabilities, and scenarios will be added over time.

Still Testing

Although it’s an exciting prospect to be able to run Android apps on Windows 11, it’s important to remember that things are still very much at the testing stage (just for ‘insiders’). Those who want to see the preview in the Dev channel will need to have a Windows 11 PC (that meets the spec) set to the US region, in the Beta Channel, plus a US-based Amazon account in order to access the Amazon Appstore.

Possible To Sideload Apps

Some tech commentators have, however, pointed out that it is possible to sideload Android apps (e.g., using the Android Debug Bridge/ADB), so those who feel confident doing so don’t need to be limited to the selection of apps on the Amazon Appstore.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Microsoft is aiming for some big value-adding changes with Windows. Its partnership with Amazon and some big app developers to allow Android apps in Windows 11, therefore, should be quite appealing to users, and could create opportunities for more app developers. It also shows how there is a move towards merging of mobile and laptop devices, thereby making things more consistent for a generation that’s used to simply doing most things on their mobile. Allowing apps in Windows 11 looks likely to be well received by both home and business users and provides another way for Microsoft to compete with Apple. Many reviewers, for example, have already noted the Mac-like interface to the Windows 11 OS. Although the new feature has been announced with much fanfare, it is still in the testing stage and many businesses are still some way off from upgrading to Windows 11 anyway.

In this insight, we look at what a digital twin is, what the benefits of using one are, and which industries commonly use digital twins.

What Is It?

A digital twin is an accurate virtual model of a physical object that uses data gathered from sensors on the physical object to run simulations, study performance issues and generate possible improvements. The improvements discovered during testing of the virtual version of the object can then be made to the physical object.

Dates Back To 1960s NASA

The first use of digital twin technology dates back to NASA’s use of exact earthbound replicas of voyaging spacecraft being used for study and simulation purposes by flight crews. Fast forward a few decades and Dr Michael Grieves of the University of Michigan introduced the digital twin software concept to manufacturing in 2002.

Why Use A Digital Twin?

The reasons for using a digital twin include:

– The scale and complexity of the real object and the need to safely carry out tests without damage, disruption, and costs of having to remove/replace, get close to the object.

– Some objects may be critical to processes and/or worth enough to invest financial resources in to create a digital twin to ensure the best possible performance and add value.

– Digital twins can be used to study more issues from far more vantage points than standard simulations and have greater potential to improve products and processes.

Types of Digital Twins

Different types of digital twins include:

– Component twins/parts twins. These are used for smaller, individual component parts.

– Asset twins. These are used to study how the interaction between two or more components (known as ‘asset’) could be improved.

– System/unit twins. These are used to help improve performance by studying how assets work together in a system.

– Process twins. This is larger-scale digital twin, used to improve the effectiveness of whole systems such as an entire production facility.

Which Industries Use Digital Twins?

Examples of industries that typically use digital twins include:

– Construction (and engineering) – e.g., for buildings, bridges, and other complex structures.

– The Aerospace and automotive industries – e.g., creating digital twins for parts of turbines, automobiles, and aircraft. Also, the use of digital twins may be vital to improving the performance and safety of EV batteries, thereby helping to push the EV market forward.

– Manufacturing – to help improve efficiency, competitiveness, design customisation, predictive maintenance, shop floor matters and product development.

– Energy/power – e.g., using digital twins to help improve mechanisms for generating power and transmitting it.

– Healthcare – e.g., to improve personalised care.

– Supply chain – e.g., Optimizing warehouse design and operational performance and creating a logistics network.

– Retail – e.g., customer modelling and simulations.

The Benefits of Digital Twins

The benefits of digital twins include:

– Saving costs, time, and generating competitive advantage in production by enabling more effective research and design of products, thanks to the large amount of data that can be created about performance outcomes.

– Enabling streamlining and peak efficiency to be maintained due to being able to constantly monitor and test the digital twin.

– Better product decision-making by helping manufacturers to decide what should happen to products at the end of their lifecycle – i.e., matters relating to final processing, recycling, and choosing which product materials to be harvested.

Challenges To Digital Twin Technology

Some of the main challenges to digital twin technology include:

– Possible security issues – i.e., potential theft/compromising of the large amounts of data generated and flowing between multiple devices.

– Management of sometimes complex system of design data for digital twins perhaps amongst partners and suppliers.

– The cost and complexity may be an issue for smaller companies, thereby possibly putting them at a disadvantage to larger competitors.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Digital twin technology provides a way for businesses and organisations to gain new insights into their products, processes and systems that can drive improvements in efficiency and help to create value and innovation. Having a virtual copy that works on data from the real object offers more vantage points than standard simulations and gives businesses the opportunity to gain a much better understanding of products and systems while saving them time and money.

If your Gmail account has filled up with old emails that look like they may take some time to delete, here’s how to quickly set up a filter to delete them automatically.

– Open Gmail, click on the ‘Settings’ (top right), and select ‘See all settings.’

– Select ‘Filters and Blocked Addresses,’ and ‘Create a new filter.’

– In the pop-up box, type older_than:X on the “has the words” field. X is the timeframe for deleting old messages, d is days, w is for weeks, m is for months, and y is for years. For example, to set the time frame to be four years, change the X to 4y.

– Select ‘Create filter’ and select ‘OK.’

– Check the box next to the ‘Delete it’ option and ‘Also apply filter to.’

– Select ‘Create filter.’

– Emails older than the date you specified will now be automatically deleted.

In Apple’s new “Building a Trusted Ecosystem for Millions of Apps” white paper, it describes the threat posed by ‘sideloading’ on its App Stores. Here’s what you need to know.

Sideloading

Sideloading normally refers to transferring a file between two local devices without the use of the internet e.g., by connecting your computer to a smartphone or tablet. The threat that Apple is referring to, however, is the sideloading of apps and alternative app stores on iOS – thus allowing developers to distribute apps outside of the App Store, through direct downloads or third-party app stores / the ability to install iPhone smartphone that does not come directly from the Apple-controlled iOS App Store.

Pressure

Apple is currently facing pressure from regulators and some developers to support sideloading. Also, Apple does not currently allow third-party app stores to be downloaded from its own App Store and is under investigation in the EU, UK, and US over its App Store policies, awaiting the outcome of a legal battle with Epic Games relating to allegedly unfair terms set by Apple.

Arguments For Sideloading

Some of the arguments for allowing sideloading are that:

– It’s a way to tackle a monopoly (e.g., Apple’s) and give developers more freedom, improve competition, plus it could help developers to implement alternative business models and make the platform even more attractive.

– It gives users greater choice and perhaps pay lower prices for some apps.

– Apple may not be able to guarantee absolute security of the apps in its official store anyway.

Arguments Against Allowing Sideloading

Some of main arguments that Apple has given against allowing sideloading are:

– It would cripple the privacy and security protections that have made iPhone so secure, and expose users to serious security risks, such as mobile malware (i.e., adware, ransomware, spyware) plus banking and other credential-stealing trojans that masquerade as legitimate apps.

– Developers and advertisers could be harmed by the mobile malware attacks that allowing sideloading would enable (e.g., through piracy, intellectual property theft, and loss of advertising revenue).

– Developers could be harmed by the proliferation of fake, copycat, and pirated apps.

– Even if sideloading were limited to third-party app stores only, more harmful apps could reach users because it would be easier for cybercriminals to target them.

– Users would have less information about apps up-front, with less control over apps after they download them onto their devices

– Being made to remove protections against third-party access to proprietary hardware elements and non-public operating system functions could undermine core components of Apple’s platform security that protect the operating system and iPhone data and services, thereby making it easier for cybercriminals to spy on users’ devices and steal their data.

– Users could be forced to sideload an app they need, or duped into sideloading e.g., by mimicking the appearance of the App Store, or by suggesting free or expanded access to services or exclusive features.

– Apple has spent a long time investing in (and creating) industry-leading security protections for its iPhone App Store.

– According to Apple, most threats are predominantly present on platforms that support sideloading.

– Malware-infected mobile apps put all stakeholders in the mobile ecosystem at risk.

– Governments and international agencies worldwide along with cybersecurity experts warn against the risks posed by downloading apps from third-party app stores:

– For the full list (and explanation) of Apple’s objections to the idea of having to support sideloading, see Apple’s white paper (pdf) here: https://www.apple.com/privacy/docs/Building_a_Trusted_Ecosystem_for_Millions_of_Apps_A_Threat_Analysis_of_Sideloading.pdf

Others Allow It

Google’s Android already allows apps to be installed that don’t come directly from its official store, as do computing platforms. Also, Apple’s MacBooks and Microsoft Windows-powered laptops and desktops have allowed it.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

The pressure on Apple to allow sideloading relates essentially to antitrust /anti-competition arguments. Some developers and others are objecting to what they see as Apple’s anti-competitive rules and Apple’s controversial app review process, and some developers have consequently dismissed many of the arguments that Apple presented in its recent white paper. Few would argue that Apple does have a generally good reputation over the security of its products and services, and individual and business users would clearly see the value in decisions made by Apple that would help protect the privacy and security of their data, but users also want choice, and app developers want more freedom. One threat on the horizon for Apple on this matter is that new EU regulation of digital markets could possibly force Apple to enable sideloading.

The facts remain, however, that competitors allow it, although this can, as Apple argues, sometimes lead to issues. For example, in 2019, a Security researcher discovered that 24 apps available for download in the Google Play Store contained contain ‘Joker’ malware.

Whether or not Apple does eventually allow sideloading, most of us (particularly Android users) are already aware of the fact that we need to be cautious when choosing apps to download. To minimise the risk of falling victim to damage caused by fake or malicious apps, users can check the publisher of an app, check which permissions the app requests when you install it, delete apps from your phone that you no longer use, and contact your phone’s service provider or visit the high street store if you think you’ve downloaded a malicious/suspect app.

Microsoft’s LinkedIn will be replaced with a “no social feed” version in China after criticism from the US that it has been complicit in the censorship of posts and profiles from Western journalists.

Accusations From Home

The accusations that LinkedIn appeared to be appeasing and complicit with the Chinese Communist Party and its censorship rules can be traced back to June. After Bing showed no results for a search for the key phrase “Tank Man” on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, and censorship notifications were sent to journalists, Republican Senator (Florida) Rick Scott suggested that Microsoft was actively censoring American journalists on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.

Also, LinkedIn has blacklisted the accounts of several journalists, one of whom had previously written a book about China’s treatment of Tibetan refugees.

Since 2014

Microsoft launched a “localised version” of LinkedIn in China back in 2014 with the hope of getting into the vast Chinese market, which, at the time was the second-largest and one of the most important economies in the world. LinkedIn aimed to link what equated to one in five of the world’s knowledge workers with the rest of LinkedIn’s 277 million members in over 200 countries and territories, thereby enabling Microsoft to take a huge competitive leap forward.

Challenging Operating Environment

The recent accusations from the US, however, coupled with an admission by LinkedIn senior vice-president Mohak Shroff that “We’re facing a significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements in China” have forced a change for LinkedIn. In a blog post, Mr Shroff also alluded to the hurdles of censorship and compliance with Chinese Communist Party Rules, saying “While we’ve found success in helping Chinese members find jobs and economic opportunity, we have not found that same level of success in the more social aspects of sharing and staying informed. We’re also facing a significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements in China.“

LinkedIn To Be Replaced With ‘InJobs’

The replacement for the failed, localised version of LinkedIn is due to be launched later in the year. LinkedIn says that ‘InJobs’ will be a “standalone jobs application for China” that will not include a social feed or the ability to share posts or articles.

Was Censorship A Requirement From The Beginning?

When LinkedIn launched in China back in 2014, it said “As a condition for operating in the country, the government of China imposes censorship requirements on Internet platforms” and that “extending our service in China raises difficult questions”.

Punished In March

LinkedIn had its new user registration suspended back in March by the Chinese regulator, allegedly for failing to censor political content.

Other big (US based) tech companies have also encountered serious setbacks and criticism when trying to break into the Chinese market. For example, Google faced criticism after announcing that it has been developing a censored version of its search engine to run inside China.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Recent years have seen poor political and diplomatic relations between the west and China, particularly with the US restrictions on doing business with Chinese companies introduced during the Trump presidency. This has had an impact on many businesses who trade with China, and the big tech companies are finding that in order to get a piece of the vast Chinese market, they must face difficult challenges and compromises. These include pressures not to deal with a regime that has been accused of human rights abuses, the tightening grip of Chinese government and regulator rules, competition with favoured Chinese companies, challenges posed by the country’s heavily controlled internet, and perhaps being forced to censor their own platforms according to local rules in order to stay in operation within the country. For example, as well as recent accusations that LinkedIn censored journalists, Amazon’s Audible service and Apple’s China-based store have both had to remove apps in mainland China for reading the holy books of Islam and Christianity which has, of course impacted on the makers of the apps as well as generating potentially awkward publicity for Amazon and Apple. For Microsoft, however, the solution to remaining operational in China, staying on-side with authorities has simply been to chop off the worries that the social platform could cause and stay with a re-named, more government-friendly service. Clearly, while the Chinese government maintains a strong grip on the Internet and other platforms that could present conflicting views, and while relations with China and the west remain relatively poor, this is unlikely to be the last difficult decision that a big tech company will have to make about the way forward (or not) for its future in China.