Technology

If you've got a Google Pixel Watch ready to update to Wear OS 5, you might want to hold off – as users are reporting technical troubles with the new software that's leaving them stuck on a blank screen and in need of a reset.

Earlier this week, Google announced that Wear OS 5 was coming to the Pixel Watch 1 and 2, which means that all three models in the lineup now support the latest software.

However, there are multiple reports that the software update is causing their watches to reboot with a blank screen, likely displaying the message "Add Tile".

Users on Reddit and Google's own support forums are reporting problems. "My pw2 is broken after installing the update. It just shows a Bluetooth disconnected icon at the bottom. Help!," said one user.

With multiple users reporting issues, you might want to hold off on this update if you can. If you've tried and have found yourself with an ailing Pixel Watch, there's a fix.

Pixel Watch Wear OS 5 woes

(Image credit: Future)

Reports from both Android Police and The Verge indicate that performing a fastboot reset might be the only solution at this time.

Google's official support when it comes to blank or frozen screens on Pixel Watch recommends a restart. To perform this, hold the crown for three seconds, scroll down, and tap Restart.

If that doesn't work, try a hard reset: Long press the crown on your watch and the side button (at the same time) for 20 seconds until the white 'G' logo appears, after which your watch should restart.

You can also try resetting your Pixel Watch from the app, simply tap System > Reset and Unpair Watch.

If you've exhausted all the less invasive options, you might want to try Reset from Fastboot. Just remember, you'll need to sign in with your most recent PIN or Google Account login, so have that information handy. To Reset from Fastboot:

1. Restart your watch by long pressing the crown and side button.
2. As soon as the 'G' logo appears, tap the upper left-hand and lower right-hand edges of the watch face screen at the same time.
3. Press the side button to scroll down.
4. Highlight recovery mode, and press the crown (You should see a 'No Command' note on the Watch).
5. Press and hold the crown and swipe up on your screen until a debug screen appears.
6. Swipe down to highlight 'Wipe data/factor reset'.
7. Swipe right, this will reset your watch and PIN.
8. Swipe right again to confirm.
9. Reset from your phone settings.

As you can see, that's a lot of hassle, so if you've not attempted the Wear OS 5 upgrade on your older Pixel Watch, maybe hold off until Google sorts this out. Otherwise, you can try Google's various official fixes for a frozen Pixel Watch.

You might also like

• Pixel Watch 3 vs Pixel Watch 2: Which Google timepiece is for you?
• Wear OS watches including the Pixel Watch 3 are now getting offline Google Maps
• The Pixel Watch 1 and 2 will soon get an upgrade to Wear OS 5

Refinance rates were mixed, but one key rate cruised higher.

If something breaks on your Google Pixel Watch 3 (or an older model), there are no repair options: you have to replace it. That less-than-ideal situation may change in time for the launch of the Google Pixel Watch 4 next year, however.

As reported by Wired, new comments from Nicole Azores – who's a manager of Government Affairs and Public Policy at Google – suggest that Google is thinking about modifying the future design of the Pixel Watch so that it can be more repairable.

"Watches and wearables are still fairly nascent, and we are thinking through how to make this repairable," Azores said at the Climate Week NYC panel hosted by Back Market. "We want to make sure that all of our products eventually become repairable."

"I think watches being so new as a category, there are some design elements that need to be considered on how we make them repairable," Azores added, though there's been no official comment from Google more broadly.

Warranties and repairs

The Pixel 9: repairable (up to a point) (Image credit: Future)

As you'll gather from our Google Pixel Watch 3 review, it's the first in the series to be available in two sizes, and the smartwatch comes with a brighter display and an improved internal processor compared to the Google Pixel Watch 2.

The Pixel Watches are covered by a warranty for a year, so you can swap them out for free replacements if something breaks that isn't your fault. You can also choose to extend that coverage with a Preferred Care plan, which costs extra.

However, if you clumsily drop your wearable and smash the screen, you can't take it to a repair shop in the same way as you can with a Pixel phone – which is bad both for users, and for the environment in terms of e-waste.

There's no timeline on this change yet, and considering the lead times on new gadgets it might be optimistic to expect improved reliability in time for the Pixel Watch 4. If Google sticks to this year's schedule next year, we should see it in August 2025.

You might also like

• The new Pixel Watch 3 running tools look terrific
• Pixel Watch 3 vs Pixel Watch 2
• Your Wear OS watch will soon get a weather upgrade

Mortgage rates were varied, but one benchmark rate moved higher. Here's a picture of the housing market in coming months.

Odds are good you're forgetting to clean one of the most important parts of your air fryer. Here's what you need to know.

Ubisoft has announced that Assassin's Creed Shadows has been delayed into 2025.

After canceling a press event for the Assassin's Creed game earlier this week without comment, Ubisoft has now confirmed that Shadows has been delayed from its original November 12 release date to February 14, 2025.

The publisher shared a statement on X / Twitter, explaining that the development team needs additional time to polish the game before it's ready for launch.

"This is an ambitious addition to the franchise, a rich experience that can be lived through the eyes of two unique protagonists - but we realize we need more time to polish and refine the experience, pushing further some of our key features," the post reads.

Ubisoft also confirmed that, unlike recent Assassin's Creed installments, Shadows will launch day one on Steam alongside PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Amazon Luna.

Additionally, all existing pre-orders will be canceled and refunded as Ubisoft moves away from its traditional season pass model.

Instead, all future pre-orders will be granted the first Assassin's Creed Shadows expansion for free.

Assassin's Creed Shadows will now release February 14, 2025. pic.twitter.com/J2ah7kkytWSeptember 25, 2024

In a separate letter to investors, Ubisoft's Vice President and Executive Producer of the Assassin's Creed franchise, Marc-Alexis Côté, further explained that the delay comes after learning from the recent release of Star Wars Outlaws'.

"While the game is feature complete, the learnings from the Star Wars Outlaws release led us to provide additional time to further polish the title," Côté said.

"This will enable the biggest entry in the franchise to fully deliver on its ambition, notably by fulfilling the promise of our dual protagonist adventure, with Naoe and Yasuke bringing two very different gameplay styles."

Although Massive Entertainment's open-world Star Wars title was received well, the game underperformed in sales. The developer recently revealed its plans to update and refine the game, while also announcing a November 21 release date on Steam.

"In response to player feedback, Ubisoft’s development teams are currently fully mobilized to swiftly implement a series of updates to polish and improve the player experience in order to engage a large audience during the holiday season to position Star Wars Outlaws as a strong long-term performer," Côté added.

You might also like...

• Best Assassin’s Creed games in 2024 - every series entry ranked
• Assassin's Creed Shadows preview: a bold, beautiful, and brutal journey across Feudal Japan
• Leaker claims Assassin's Creed Invictus is a multiplayer game inspired by Fall Guys featuring multiple game modes

Apple’s iPhone chipsets are almost always the most powerful smartphone chipsets available, scoring significantly higher than Android rivals in benchmarks. However, things could be different this year – or rather early next year, as that’s when we’re expecting the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra to launch – with a new benchmark leak suggesting Samsung's top-end S25 phone could have Apple beat.

A Geekbench result for the phone was shared by leaker @UniverseIce on X, and it achieved a single-core score of 3,011 and a multi-core result of 9,706. To put that in perspective, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has an average single-core score of 2,142 and an average multi-core score of 6,693. So this would make for a huge upgrade on the current model.

Not only that, it would also likely outperform the A18 Pro chipset in the iPhone 16 Pro Max, at least for multi-core results.

Galaxy S25 UltraSnapdragon 8Gen4 for GalaxyCPU：2 x 4.47GHz+6 x 3.53GHzGPU：1250MHz pic.twitter.com/eJguFf53FvSeptember 25, 2024

There haven’t been enough tests of the A18 Pro yet for Geekbench to display its average scores, but in our own tests we found the iPhone 16 Pro Max had a single-core result of 3,386 and a multi-core result of 8,306 – that's still better than Samsung in single-core tests, but way behind the Galaxy S25 Ultra for multi-core.

Now, there are a few things to bear in mind here. First of all, this is just one benchmark, and an early one at that, so it’s very possible that it won’t end up being representative of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra’s actual performance.

The power of Snapdragon

Plus, this is a model with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset, and it’s possible that in some regions the S25 Ultra will get an Exynos chipset instead. That’s quite likely for some models in the Samsung Galaxy S25 line anyway, based on past form.

On the other hand, many other Android phones will probably also have a Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset, so it could be that quite a few upcoming Android phones can rival or beat the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s performance.

We should have a clearer idea soon, as the likes of the OnePlus 13 and Xiaomi 15 will probably be equipped with this chipset, and those phones are likely to land before the end of the year.

You might also like

• Whoops! Samsung accidentally leaks prices for the Tab S10 Ultra and S24 FE
• Best Samsung phones: top Galaxy handsets ranked
• Samsung Galaxy S25: latest news, rumors and everything we want to see

HubSpot, one of the best CRM software providers, has augmented its customer relationship management system with a suite of artificial intelligence tools called Breeze. The company embedded Breeze across the entire HubSpot platform, showcasing how the new features, currently in Beta, could up productivity and efficiency during its Inbound conference and Fall 2024 Spotlight event.

Since, according to HubSpot's research, 90% of executives are incorporating AI into their systems, there's a lot of opportunity for Breeze and its tools to effect change. Breeze is designed specifically to expand the abilities of marketing, sales, and customer service teams with AI, despite apprehension among some in those spaces who see AI as more of a disruption than an enhancement. To bridge that enthusiasm gap, HubSpot is pitching Breeze as the easy, fast AI solution that doesn't require overhauling existing work but rather integrates with customer data to supply practical answers. 

Breeze includes several AI features that are supposed to boost CRMs and the teams that employ them. The Breeze Copilot chatbot uses AI in conjunction with a company's data and HubSpot’s Smart CRM to help with everything from summarizing and analyzing customer service interactions to researching rival companies and even designing content for ads and marketing campaigns.

The introduction of over 80 AI features across the HubSpot platform demonstrates the company’s commitment to embedding AI deeply into its services. This move reflects the growing demand for integrated AI solutions that not only make tasks easier but also help businesses achieve faster, more impactful results.

Breezy Agents

Breeze Agents are AI-powered experts designed to help users automate workflows. There are 4 variants available that can automate the implementation of strategies and deploy content. The content, social media, prospecting, and customer agents are supposed to handle the more tedious aspects of a project or supplement teams so they can focus on the bigger picture.

For instance, the content agent will compose website text, blogs, case studies, and even podcasts that match a brand's voice. At the same time, the social media agent does the same for social media posts by analyzing a company's current output and goals to engage with the desired audience. With these AI agents, marketers can maintain a strong brand presence without being bogged down by the manual work of writing and scheduling posts. The ability to generate content that’s in line with a company’s brand voice is critical, particularly as businesses seek to build more personalized relationships with their customers.

For sales teams, the prospecting agent handles research and personalizes outreach to possible clients. This agent can even time its messages to best reach someone when they are most receptive. Meanwhile, existing customers can reach out at any time to a company and encounter the AI customer agent, which will offer assistance using a company's knowledge base and website to quickly answer most standard questions, passing the customer on to a human agent only when necessary.

Assuming these tools perform to the level HubSpot claims, these and similar features developed by rivals, will likely become widely adopted and standardized among CRMs.

You Might Also Like

• Check out our list of the best CRM for small businesses
• Read our full HubSpot CRM review to learn more about HubSpot 
• 6 interesting facts about how web designers are using AI

Hello and welcome to our live rolling coverage of PS5 Pro pre-orders and 30th Anniversary Collection pre-orders.

New hardware launches are one of the most exciting things to cover and experience in gaming, and the PS5 Pro pre-order launch is no different. I'm as excited as the next PlayStation fan about the new console

The team and I will be keeping a close eye on stock levels of 'regular' PS5 Pro pre-orders today, as well as the latest on the PlayStation 30th Anniversary Collection pre-orders. Demand is likely to be high, so if you're planning on getting in on the action we wish you the best of luck.

From our estimates, we're now only about 45 minutes or so away from PS5 Pro pre-orders opening fully in the UK at PlayStation Direct - so the first thing we can give you is this PlayStation Direct UK link to get into the virtual waiting room.

As well as giving you the latest on the stock situation of both the new console and the Anniversary collection we'll also be sharing some reminders about what makes the machine exciting and what we're hoping it'll mean for games going forward.

It looks like PlayStation Direct in the UK updated their site early this morning to place folks in a temporary waiting room - it's not quite a live queue though as that has been paused - we think it'll go live again at 10am and that's when you'll be assigned a position in the queue for real and the rolls of the dice begin.

(Image credit: Sony/PlayStation)

As well as the regular PS5 Pro pre-orders happening today, remember there's the PlaysTation 30th Anniversary Collection pre-orders happening today so you could bag yourself a special edition Pro (if you're lucky as there's only a select number of them) or a wicked cool DualSense with that excellent retro styling.

(Image credit: Future)

Remember, if you're not too keen on the eye-watering price of the PS5 Pro or still haven't got your hands on one of Sony's latest consoles, then you should still consider the PS5 Slim. It comes in significantly cheaper than the PS5 Pro, at $499.99 / £479.99, but can play all of the same games. Of course, you sacrifice some overall performance and lose out on the newest features, but that doesn't mean that it's not a great option for most players.

The PS5 Slim also comes with a disc reader out of the box, which is not present on the PS5 Pro and needs to be purchased separately. Unfortunately, there aren't that many amazing PS5 Slim deals right now, but you can see where to secure one below.

PS5 Slim: $499.99 at Best Buy
The PS5 Slim is a great option if you want to avoid the PS5 Pro pre-order madness. Stock is a bit slim right now, but it is currently available in its disc drive model at Best Buy in the US and Amazon in the UK.

UK price: Amazon - £469View Deal

(Image credit: Sony) UK PS5 Pro Pre-orders should be open now!

OK, it has now turned 10am and pre-orders have been confirmed to be live via PlayStation's social media accounts. Has anyone had any luck yet? If not, keep trying and be patient - it's likely to be a low burn for a while as the queue takes effect...

It's not every day that an audio legend brings back one of its most iconic names and while also charting brand new territory. But that's what Ruark Audio is doing with its R610 Music Console and Sabre-R bookshelf speakers. And while the looks and name of the speakers echo Ruark's greatest hits, and the music player has a design harking back to the stereo music centers of the 1970s, this new system and speakers are anything but old-fashioned. 

Let's start with the speakers. The original Sabre loudspeakers were introduced way back in 1985 with a combination of clever drive units and gorgeous cabinet work, and these new Sabre-Rs follow in that tradition. They come with 26mm silk dome tweeters with neodymium motors, 14cm natural fibre cone woofers with 30mm 4-layer voice coils and long-throw motors, and you can choose between Fused Walnut and Satin Charcoal lacquer. The price is £599 (about $800 / AU$1,170) per pair.

(Image credit: Ruark) An all-in-one streamer

The R610 Music Console is a first for the brand, an all-in-one music streamer with twin 75W Class D amplifiers and all the connectivity you could ask for: Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect, AirPlay 2 and Google Cast; DAB/DAB+/FM and internet radio; hi-res audio support up to 32-bit/384kHz; HDMI with eARC; a moving magnet RIAA phono input; aptX HD over Bluetooth; and a TOSLINK optical digital input. A matching CD drive will be launched shortly.

The player is powered by a modern switch mode power supply that provides dedicated and optimized powerlines to the motherboard and amps. Audiophile-grade components are used throughout, including Burr-Brown DACs, and according to Ruark it "is controlled and dynamic – but most importantly, it delivers a delightfully natural sound that makes music all the more enjoyable." The Ruark Audio R610 has a recommended UK selling price of £1,200 (about $1,600 / AU$2,340) and once again is available in Fused Walnut or Satin Charcoal lacquer.

According to Ruark MD Alan O'Rourke, “Early in 1984, my father and I were laying the foundations of Ruark and launched our first Sabre loudspeakers to great acclaim in 1985. Forty years on, the revival of analogue formats and an ever expanding world of music streaming means it’s the right time for Ruark to return to its roots with the Sabre-R. What’s more, our new R610 Music Console allows music lovers to build an entire system that looks every bit as beautiful as it sounds.”

(Image credit: Ruark)

We're inclined to agree with them about the looks, even if the sound will have to wait to be judged. We saw this in the flesh at the Munich High-End show, ahead of its official reveal, and it's a lovely thing (although the dull lighting of a trade-show floor perhaps doesn't do it any favors in the image at the top of the article). But with those stark, clean lines and especially in the two-tone wood of the darker finish, it's very retro-chic. And yes, you can choose to just buy the streamer/amp and pair it with some of the best stereo speakers, but… you'll want the combo package, won't you? Of course you will.

No release date was given, and we don't know yet if they'll be released outside the UK.

You might also like…

• Pro-Ject's affordable new T1 EVO turntables are ideal to get serious about vinyl without breaking the bank
• Finally, hi-res Bluetooth on your iPhone: this cheap, tiny dongle adds aptX Adaptive and LDAC to any USB-C device
• I love the look of Technics' new wireless stereo speakers – but especially the weird microfiber covering

Extended hours after the pandemic have put pressure on pilots in India, who are working longer hours without rest, but monitoring technology to help curb overworking is glitchy and hard to find.

The Pager Protocol podcast went up hours after exploding pagers and two-way radios killed dozens and injured hundreds in Lebanon last week. How did it do it? Lots of artificial intelligence tools.

There has never been more demand for exceptional business-consumer interactions than today: 80% of customers say their experience with companies is as important as their products or services. But the public’s definition of exceptional has heightened, too.

Companies have an hour window to resolve customer service tickets if they wish to meet their customer’s expectations for quality service. According to the 2024 HubSpot State of Customer Service report, 21% of customers expect their ticket to be resolved immediately, while 23% expect it to be fixed within an hour.

Agents must find ways to respond to an average of 17,630 support requests each month — roughly one hundred tickets per hour, for the standard 9-5 worker. AI chatbot support is lightening the load by automating low-complex tickets, analyzing customer sentiment, and generating personalized responses, all with the supervision of experienced customer service personnel.

Let’s explore three main benefits of how AI live support can enhance the customer experience.

Round-the-clock readiness

Customer service bots perform better than agents when they are faster while accurate, meaning customers prioritize speed to resolution over human interaction. The answer, then, lies in finding the tasks chatbots can resolve accurately.

Low-complex tasks that save customer service agents hours of time include:

Automating note-taking and post-call processing: Transcripts and call summaries logged in the customers’ profiles allow agents to keep track of the customer’s interactions with the company, prevent them from repeating information, and ensure all key information is available to resolve the matter at hand. Agents can also provide their full attention to the customer on the call without worrying about jotting down the information.

Assist agents as they type: Predictive typing and automated response generation are made possible with large language models (LLMs). These chatbots can digest written and audible context and suggest appropriate answers for the agent to review, accept, or edit.

Self-service options: AI can provide immediate answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) and guide customers through troubleshooting steps, empowering them to resolve issues independently at any time of day.

By investing in LLMs and developing service bot capabilities, companies can speed up response times, boost satisfaction, and improve user journeys.

Tailored customer experiences

Using AI in live chat allows you to offer personalized interactions with your customers, and provide a more consistent level of quality care.

Say a disgruntled customer voice notes or types a frustrated message to a customer service representative: My parcel is not here, AGAIN. LLMs, fine-tuned with sentiment analysis tools, can identify the use of uppercase and negative adverbs to recognize the tone of the message. In seconds, they can flag an automated verification to investigate previous interactions with the customer and their loyalty to the brand and make an executive decision to offer an apology, a replacement delivery, or a discount.

Based on the context of the message, AI can offer tailored solutions to customer inquiries and adapt its language and tone to match the customer's preferences and communication style.

Customer service agents can also program chatbots to respond instantly with on-hold messaging, and rate the severity of the sentiment based on internal values. For example, if a particular customer has had multiple issues, the high severity could trigger the bot to connect the customer directly with an agent.

Anticipate customer needs

The more agents know about their customers, the better and more proactive their support can be. AI helps agents extract insights from each conversation, and the more customers interact with chatbots, the more companies will be able to cater to their needs.

Imagine an online customer has viewed several pairs of jeans, and added one pair to the cart, but hasn't checked out. Based on this behavior, the chatbot could anticipate the customer's potential needs and offer proactive assistance, such as, "Looking for the perfect top to go with those jeans? Check out our new arrivals!" or, "Need help finding the right size? Our size chart can help!" If the customer has purchased similar items in the past, the chatbot can better match items to their style, or even coordinate new items with previous purchases. If the customer responds, perhaps, “Hey, I like the blue one, do you have more like those?” These preferences can be saved for future interactions.

By better understanding the customer’s needs with AI, companies can improve response accuracy, take on more complex tasks, and even predict what customers need before they raise a ticket.

Customer service teams are stretched to meet overwhelming ticket volumes each hour and offer the same patience and high-quality care. AI live support offers a much-needed solution by automating routine tasks, enhancing agent efficiency, and providing data-driven insights. Agents who are free from mundane responsibilities can prioritize delivering quality customer interactions. Moreover, as AI capabilities expand and data collection grows, the potential for hyper-personalized and predictive customer care becomes increasingly attainable.

We've listed the best help desk software.

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

Consumers order groceries online and receive an immediate confirmation. Shoppers see an ad for a shirt and order it with a few clicks. A money transfer app can send to a friend via a mobile device, within seconds.

With instant access permeating every aspect of consumer life, people now expect the same rapid speed and smooth experience in business-to-business payment technologies. But the reality is that most B2B payments are slow, cumbersome, and unintuitive, highlighting the need for change. Surprisingly, while consumers operate in an instant reality, businesses are often burdened with mailing paper checks, waiting for slow ACH payments, and making costly international payments.

As businesses increasingly see consumer-to-business tech operating quickly and seamlessly at home and in stores, they are demanding that B2B tech provides the same simple experience.

“Fundamentally, payments are becoming more instant, frictionless, and embedded within customer journeys – hence invisible. PayTechs will continue to drive transformation,” Ernst & Young noted in a report. Now, there is a need in the market for the ability to do business payments as effortlessly as consumer ones.

Latest trends in consumer payments

First, just look at the latest trends in consumer payments.

After analyzing how consumer payment behavior changed during the pandemic, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta said the adoption of electronic peer-to-peer payment apps such as PayPal, Venmo, and Zelle increased. “Consumers who worked exclusively from home during COVID made significantly higher shares of their payments online or through mobile devices and were less likely to use cash at all compared with those who worked at least partly in person,” the report said.

In 2023, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco confirmed the continued change and released a report stating that the percentage use of cash in payments had declined from 31% in 2016 to 18% in 2022. Over that same period, the use of mobile payment apps increased from 10% to 13% of payments.

According to McKinsey’s 2023 Digital Payments Consumer Survey, in the three and a half years since the pandemic’s beginning and despite a return to in-person commerce, gains in digital payments have been sustained and, in some cases, accelerated even further.

But with business payments, organizations often use one or more methods such as ACH payments (in the United States), wire transfers, credit card processing, and paper checks. These can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks to process because the amounts are far higher than most C2B payments, many occur across international borders, and there are often approvals to get and security checks to pass.

That’s not all. Users of B2B payments face many additional challenges. For one, it is time-consuming to reconcile invoices and payments coming from many different sources over various time frames. The mismatch between the time small and medium-sized businesses receive payments and the time they need to pay can cause cash flow problems, making it challenging for businesses to pay their vendors, especially when one company prefers a wire transfer but the payer wants to use a credit card.

The challenge of international payments

Everything is even more challenging with international payments. A large, international wire transfer generally costs a lot more than processing a credit card at the local supermarket, and that causes international business payments to eat away at margins, in addition to being slow and cumbersome.

Indeed, the G20 has been implementing a roadmap to increase the speed of international payments. The top three priorities are to improve payment system interoperability and extension, legal and regulatory supervisory frameworks, and data exchange and messaging standards. The G20 wants 75% of cross-border payments to be credited to the beneficiary within an hour. Of course, such plans take a long time to come to fruition.

Closing the gap between business payments and consumer payments is a necessity. After all, small business owners behave as consumers and have similar expectations. Hence, the ongoing “consumerization of B2B payments” is a trend that has taken off, especially since the pandemic. B2B payments are becoming as seamless and fast as C2B ones.

The real value is in not just making payments more quickly. The real payment revolution is enabling a business to make a payment using any method it wants – and for the receiving business to get the payment any way it wants. The former could use its business credit card, and the latter could receive the payment directly in their bank account. Or anything else. For example, businesses could pay vendors in monthly installments while the vendor receives the payment immediately thus solving cash flow challenges.

Flexibility

It is the same flexibility that consumers have always had. When people pay for something in a store, the cashier will usually say, “Cash or card?” Just imagine that the business world is that simple. These are the things that people see every day in their lives as consumers, and the B2B payment industry is catching up.

In addition to flexibility, small businesses need simplified, intuitive payment gateways and workflows. Small business owners often spend more time on admin tasks than on driving the growth of their business so automating these tasks should be a priority to increase productivity and efficiency. Same as consumers, the usability bar for business owners is much higher than it used to be when it comes to the tools they leverage.

Now is the time for businesses to assess the innovation enabled by PayTechs. As Ernst & Young wrote in the referenced report: “There is a significant opportunity to transform payment offerings to deliver better customer experiences, simplify back-end infrastructure in order to keep up with the pace of change, and leverage PayTech innovations to benefit both business and consumers.”

We've listed the best merchant service.

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

The EU has revealed over a hundred companies have signed up to its new Artificial Intelligence Pact, including tech giants such as Microsoft, Google, and Vodafone.

The pact outlines a commitment to three core actions. The first is to adopt a governance strategy to encourage the deployment of AI in the organization and to work towards future compliance with the AI Act.

Secondly, the firms agreed to identify and map AI systems which are likely to be classified as high-risk under the AI Act, these are the systems with the highest impact on people's lives, like critical infrastructure, employment services, and law enforcement.

A temporary measure?

Finally, the pact outlines a commitment to promote AI literacy and awareness amongst staff, to ensure responsible and ethical development.

As a voluntary pledge, the pact is not legally binding, and companies who don’t adhere will not face a penalty. Notably missing from the list was Meta - but the firm has said it is open to future discussions.

However, the pact is a precursor to the previously mentioned AI Act, which is set to be introduced in 2026, and will be the largest legal framework for AI in the world.

In 2026, it’s expected AI platforms will have to comply with copyright laws or face fines of up to 7% of global turnover. Systems identified as ‘high risk’ will have to adhere to strict requirements, like activity logging, cybersecurity, and risk-mitigation systems.

Big Tech has been the target of significant new EU legislation in recent times, with both the Digital Service Act and the Digital Market Act looking to curb the powers of tech firms and introduce stricter privacy regulations.

The EU has proved it isn't afraid of handing out huge penalties to the organisations that don’t comply with regulation, with companies like Apple simply opting not to roll out AI features in the EU over ‘regulatory uncertainties’.

More from TechRadar Pro

• Check out our pick for the best firewalls around
• US government agency confirms it was hit by major ransomware attack
• Take a look at our picks for the best small business apps

Security researchers have exposed a vulnerability which could allow threat actors to store malicious instructions in a user’s memory settings in the ChatGPT MacOS app.

A report from Johann Rehberger at Embrace The Red noted how an attacker could trigger a prompt injection to take control of ChatGPT, and can then insert a memory into its long-term storage and persistence mechanism. This leads to the exfiltration of the conversation on both sides straight to the attacker’s server.

From then on, the prompt is stored as ‘memory persistent’, so any future conversations with the chatbot will have the same vulnerability. Because ChatGPT remembers things about its users, like names, ages, locations, likes and dislikes, and previous searches, this exploit presents serious risk for users.

Staying safe

In response, OpenAI had introduced an API which means the exploit is no longer possible through ChatGPT’s web interface, and has also launched a fix to prevent memories from being used as an exfiltration vector. However, researchers say that untrusted third-party content can still inject prompts that could exploit the memory tool.

The good news is, whilst the memory tool is automatically turned on by default in ChatGPT, but can be turned off by the user. The feature is great for those who want a more personalized experience using the chatbot, as it can listen to your wants and needs and make suggestions based on the info - but clearly there are dangers.

To mitigate the risks from this, users should be alert when using the chatbot, and particularly look at the ‘new memory added’ messages. By reviewing the stored memories regularly, users can examine for any potentially planted memories.

This isn't the first security flaw that researchers have discovered in ChatGPT, with concerns over the plugins allowing threat actors to take over users' other accounts and potentially access sensitive data.

More from TechRadar Pro

• Take a look at some of the best AI chatbots for business
• Telegram says it will provide user data to authorities in major policy shift
• Check out our pick for best monitors

Here's how to clean your AC unit to make sure it's running most efficiently.

SteelSeries has announced its first-ever set of true wireless gaming earbuds and their features really look like they could offer a one-and-done solution for anyone scouting for the best gaming earbuds for their setup this year.

Taking on the likes of Sony's Inzone Buds and PlayStation Pulse Explore earbuds, the Arctis GameBuds pack a bunch of premium features to offer a compelling package.

SteelSeries is pushing this earbuds package as one that's not just great for gaming but one that'll drop into your day-to-day lifestyle too, offering something you can use anywhere for music, work, TV, and entertainment and so on.

(Image credit: SteelSeries)

Leading the feature set is the inclusion of neodymium (6mm) drivers that are tuned to SteelSeries' trademark high quality, providing "intense 360-degree audio" according to the brand. Complementing this is Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) powered by a four-microphone system designed to increase your immersion in your gaming sessions. 

A third audio-focused feature - and following in the footsteps of the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5 wireless gaming headset - is compatibility with the mobile companion app. This will work much like the Nova 5 app, and will offer more than 100 presets for games as well as some helpful display and option features that can all be chosen and changed on the fly. This is done in combination with the on-board button which is more like a laptop pad press as opposed to other earbuds' touch-based controls.

The GameBuds also share the Arctis line's recent penchant for multi-platform compatibility, with the buds working across all major platforms, consoles, and devices. However, if you want the maximum compatibility offered by the buds then the Xbox model - like headsets of recent times - is the one to go for.

Rounding out the feature set are dual-connectivity with Bluetooth 5.3 and 2.4Ghz, a claimed battery life of 40+ hours (10 hours per use, and three charges stored in the case), wireless charging - itself housing Qi wireless charging capabilities, and an ergonomic design that was built from more than 62,000 ear scans.

Coming at the perfect time to potentially pair with a PS5 Pro, an iPhone 16, or a new Xbox console, the GameBuds seem to offer a very fulsome and compelling package that could rival some of the best in the game. 

The Arctis GameBuds are available for pre-order today, September 26, at SteelSeries' own website - the same day as PS5 Pro pre-orders start - and will hit retailer shelves on October 29. The GameBuds will launch at $159.99 / £159.99 / AU$169.99.

Stay tuned for our full SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds review coming soon.

(Image credit: SteelSeries) You might also like...

• Best PS5 headsets in 2024 - hear better on PlayStation 5
• PS5 Pro specs: how powerful the new PlayStation 5 console is, and how it compares to the PS5
• PS5 Pro vs PS5: comparing specs, design, dimensions, features, and more

Here are some hints, and the answers, for the Sept. 26 Strands puzzle, No. 207.

Here are some hints and the answer for Wordle No. 1,195 for Thursday, Sept. 26.