Articles by Desire Athow, Managing Editor, TechRadar Pro

Désiré has been musing and writing about technology during a career spanning four decades. He dabbled in website builders and web hosting when DHTML and frames were in vogue and started narrating about the impact of technology on society just before the start of the Y2K hysteria at the turn of the last millennium.

Then followed a weekly tech column in a local business magazine in Mauritius, a late night tech radio programme called Clicplus and a freelancing gig at the now-defunct, Theinquirer, with the late Mike Magee as mentor. After an eight-year stint at ITProPortal.com, where he discovered the joys of global techfests and transformed the publication into one of the biggest tech B2B independent publishers, Désiré moved to TechRadar Pro where he has been the editor for nine years.

He has an affinity for anything hardware and staunchly refuses to stop writing reviews of obscure products or cover niche B2B software-as-a-service providers. He is an avid deal hunter and can be found lurking around on various deals forums.

Articles by: Desire Athow

'Building AI literacy, proficiency, and fluency': how the US National Science Foundation is planning a nationwide AI workforce expansion

By Desire Athow Published 3 April 26

Exclusive NSF outlines its nationwide plan to expand AI literacy, training, and adoption for workers, businesses, and local communities.

A selection of KVM switches and docking stations on a black desk

Best KVM switch deals in 2026: Big discounts from Cable Matters, Startech, UGreen, Targus and more

By Desire Athow Last updated 2 April 26

Updated We tracked down the best Keyboard, Video, Mouse switches to find the best prices.

'Every living thing on Earth runs on the same programming language': How AI foundation models trained on DNA could transform plant biology

By Desire Athow Published 29 March 26

Exclusive How AI foundation models are moving from language into the biology of living systems and plant science.

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'A huge amount of network traffic now comes from machines talking to other machines': what rising data demand means for networks

By Desire Athow Published 28 March 26

Exclusive With AI reshaping operations, a telecom expert says networks and data centers are growing increasingly interconnected.

Businessman using a computer to backup storage data

Best cloud backup of 2026: ranked and rated by the experts

By James Capell Last updated 26 March 26

Updated We've tested and rated the best cloud backup services, to help you backup your files and folders directly to the cloud.

Holographic representation of cloud computing over open businessman's hand

Best free cloud storage of 2026: ranked, rated, and reviewed

By James Capell Last updated 26 March 26

We've tested the best free cloud storage services, to help you to back up your files, folders and other data safely and securely offsite.

Hands of robot and human connect artificial intelligence AI circuit board to virtual smart chatbot with a command for automation generate, learning technology artificial intelligence machine, AI.

'AI can be relentless in a way that a human is not': With too few experts to go around, this startup is chasing a Matrix-style idea of “copying and pasting” expertise

By Desire Athow Published 18 March 26

Exclusive With too few human experts, this AI startup is chasing a Matrix-style idea of “copying and pasting” expertise.

MacBook Neo laptop on a desk with plant in background

Exclusive: $599 MacBook Neo easily beats $1,119 Dell laptop on Windows 11 benchmarks - yes, macOS may well be the best platform ever for Microsoft's OS

By Desire Athow Published 18 March 26

Exclusive Despite running a mobile CPU and Windows in a virtual machine, the MacBook laptop excelled in single-core CPU performance.

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“People aren’t put off by ‘used’ — they’re put off by uncertainty”: How the smartphone industry can build trust in refurbished devices

By Desire Athow Published 17 March 26

Exclusive Most smartphones still work when retired, yet fewer than 10% are refurbished — how can the industry close the gap?

"We're the layer that AI needs to get things done in the real world": MeatLayer is building a marketplace where AI hires humans to do jobs

By Desire Athow Published 17 March 26

Exclusive It sounds like dystopian fiction, but MeatLayer is building a marketplace where AI hires humans.

'Data is so ubiquitous nowadays, but we’re not necessarily coming up with new ways to protect it': Researchers develop ‘negative light’ signals that hide transmissions in plain sight

By Desire Athow Published 15 March 26

Exclusive Scientists demonstrate a communications method that hides data in natural heat radiation, making transmissions invisible to snoopers.

'People don’t trust bad AI voices': listeners rated a Chinese startup's synthetic voices higher for trust and realism than those from Microsoft, Google, and Amazon

By Desire Athow Published 11 March 26

Exclusive Listeners rated a Chinese startup's AI voices more realistic and trustworthy than those from Microsoft, Google, and Amazon.

A Three 1000GB data SIM from Scancom on a blue background next to a TechRadar badge that reads 'Don't Miss'

'An incredible deal': Grab a 1000GB monthly preloaded 5G data SIM valid till November 2027 for just £68 thanks to Three and Vodafone

By Desire Athow Published 10 March 26

Pay less than £3 per month till November 2027 and get 5G connectivity on the cheap.

“We intend to launch our first end-to-end commercial DNA Data Storage solutions before the end of 2026”: Biomemory outlines its DNA storage roadmap after Catalog deal

By Desire Athow Published 7 March 26

Exclusive French DNA storage pioneer Biomemory has acquired rival Catalog, and told us where it sees the technology in the years ahead.

“Rewriting the blueprint, not removing bricks”: Multiverse Computing says it can shrink large AI models and cut memory use in half

By Desire Athow Published 4 March 26

Exclusive Multiverse launches compressed OpenAI language model designed to cut memory needs and lower AI infrastructure costs.

No, the sub-$500 PC market will not disappear by 2028 - Au contraire, I expect it to thrive. Here's why

By Desire Athow Published 3 March 26

The sub-$500 PC market is huge and yet Gartner wants us to believe that it will disappear within 100 weeks.

Dell PowerEdge R820 on a blue background next to a black TechRadar badge that reads 'Don't Miss'

RAM shortage? Australian outfit sells server with 1TB RAM and four Xeon CPUs for $1200 — Decade-old powerhouse has rare Intel SSD, two redundant 1.1kW PSUs and is worth thousands more in parts

By Desire Athow Published 25 February 26

This Dell PowerEdge R820 probably cost one hundred times more when it went on sale back in the early 2010s; it is an absolute bargain, a true one-off.

“The AI data centers of 2036 won’t be filled with GPUs”: FuriosaAI’s CEO on the future of silicon

By Desire Athow Published 21 February 26

We talk AI hardware, data centers, Nvidia’s dominance, and the future of inference chips with June Paik, CEO and co-founder of FuriosaAI.

Best software product key finder of 2026

By Desire Athow Last updated 17 February 26

Updated We list the best product key finder software, to make it simple and easy to find your product keys for software installed on your computer.

Best Free Proxies of 2026: All the Biggest Providers Tested and Ranked by the Experts

By Benedict Collins Last updated 9 February 26

We list the best free proxies, to make it simple and easy to select a proxy server that is free to use while also providing you with more safety online.

Hacker with malware code in computer screen. Cybersecurity, privacy or cyber attack. Programmer or fraud criminal writing virus software. Online firewall and privacy crime. Web data engineer

Best Malware Removal in 2026: Expert Reviews and Recommendations

By Benedict Collins Last updated 4 February 26

Updated We've tested all the best malware removal software to help you remove viruses, trojans, and ransomware, as well as protect your computer from further infections.

Best Android box of 2026: Our top picks for TV, gaming, and more

By Stefan Ionescu Last updated 23 January 26

Buying Guide We compared all the top Android boxes you can get right now.

'Windows Mobile is back, sort of': US startup packs THREE OS in one smartphone in most exciting mobile release I've seen in years

By Desire Athow Published 21 January 26

NexPhone promises to unify three operating systems into one device.

Best Dropbox alternative of 2026

By Desire Athow Last updated 19 January 26

We list the best Dropbox alternatives, to make it simple and easy for you to work both online or offline by safely securing your data with a cloud storage service.

There are 37 AMD Ryzen AI MAX+ 395 mini PCs in the world right now: here's where you can buy them from $1500

By Wayne Williams Last updated 12 January 26

There are 31 AMD Ryzen AI MAX+ 395 mini PCs in the world right now, here's where you can buy them.

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