Technology

Commentary: The iPhone 18 Pro seems to fix almost every gripe I’ve had with my iPhone 17 Pro Max — especially for how much I travel.

When Apple officially unveiled the Apple Watch Series 12 and the Ultra 4, it claimed that its latest generation of smartwatches offered the most accurate heart rate sensing on a wearable, thanks to its redesigned Health Sensing System. Accuracy improvements aside, the new system’s advances have made it possible for Apple to introduce new Watch features like its Readiness score.

This metric looks at a myriad of watch data to determine whether you’re in optimal shape to tackle a physically or mentally demanding day. That’s accompanied by a simple prompt to put that score into context. However, this isn’t a new development for other wearable owners: if you use an Oura Ring, a Garmin watch, a Whoop or even a Google Fitbit Air, receiving a readiness score of some description won’t be new to you. So why did Apple feel now was the time to join the Readiness party?

“It’s down to the evolution and the advancements we've made in the hardware technology, which has really brought about this to be the right time,” says Craig Bolton, Director of Fitness Technologies.

“We've built many health and fitness features, and quite a few of them are related to Readiness. The Health Sensing System unlocks the ability for continuous heart rate variability and all-day heart rate measurements and that's really important and critical when we think about trying to bring a really accurate and concise and simple feature to users.”

How Readiness scores work

(Image credit: Apple)

Readiness scores can be viewed from the dedicated Readiness Watch app, Watch complication and the redesigned Health app. It looks at your sleep score, vitals data including temperature and blood oxygen, as well as your most recent workout data and training load.

Apple confirmed to us that workout data can be taken from third party apps as well as Apple’s own apps. To start seeing scores, you need to record seven night’s worth of sleep data to establish a baseline.

Unlike Oura, Google and Garmin, Apple has opted to score users Readiness on a scale of 1-10 as opposed to 1-100. Apple has its reasons for choosing a different scoring scale and it underpins how it thinks about delivering new fitness features.

“All of our features in general and particularly in the health and fitness space, we want them to be simple and intuitive,” explains Bolton. “We thought providing a score alongside a simple category saying you’re ready or to pace yourself gives that instant glanceable view. If you're waking up in the morning or throughout the day and you want to have a quick check-in, that can give you that little insight that you need.

“One of the principles that was really important to us was if you want to go deeper, there is more depth there. So you can instantly see what's driving that score up or down, tap into it to your heart's content, and dig into the various apps and features that are driving scores.”

Why HRV is key to getting you ready

(Image credit: Apple)

Readiness scores are strongly tied to Apple’s ability to continuously monitor heart rate at a much higher sampling frequency than previous watches, thanks to the new Health Sensing System. The Apple Watch Series 11 can continuously monitor heart rate every five minutes. The Series 12 and Ultra 4 can do that every five seconds. Apple says it’s this massive improvement in the fidelity of heart rate monitoring that explains why only the Ultra 4 and the Series 12 can dish out Readiness scores.

There’s another heart-related metric that’s vital and that’s heart rate variability. This is the measurement of the intervals between heart beats. It’s a measurement that again has featured on wearables for some time and has been used to better understand stress, recovery and the effect of diet and exercise on your body.

For Series 12 and the Ultra 4, Apple is introducing two HRV measurements: overall HRV and recovery HRV. It’s the latter that’s most relevant for your Readiness scores and can additionally be viewed inside of Apple’s heart app on the Watch.

“It's a critical element to this,” says Bolton. “[Recovery HRV] feeds into Readiness, but it’s also part of our Vitals experience as well. So you’re going to be able to independently look at HRV recovery through the course of the night and throughout the day and that’s providing added insight and education about what that could mean for you.

“For us, the real value here is we're taking that and we're partnering it with these other existing features like sleep and other vitals and also your activity, to give this really distilled and synthesised version of all your metrics and what they might mean for you.”

Rooted in research

(Image credit: Apple)

It will come as no great surprise that Apple hasn’t just plucked its Readiness score out of thin air. It’s a metric that’s been developed through various studies conducted by Apple. That includes Apple’s Heart Rate and Movement study, which was first announced in 2019. Data was used from the study to “tune the experience” of Readiness scores. Apple’s Heart Rate Accuracy study, which summarises the accuracy of its new Health Sensing System also played its part too. There were also additional studies conducted surveying people to understand their fatigue levels and how people felt versus what their metrics said.

“We also did some testing and studies to make sure that the Readiness feature was behaving the way it should for users,” says Bolton. “The reality is sometimes in the morning you will wake up and this may confirm exactly what your body's already telling you. In some other instances it may actually surface something that you didn't notice about before. But in terms of the underlying data, the features that provide it have been studied and there's a lot of rigour independently on each of them.”

Readiness is not just about the AM

Before Apple, Readiness scores were something you mainly glanced at in the morning. On the Watch Ultra 4 and the Series 12, Apple sees Readiness as an all-day affair. That means what happens during the day will have an impact on your Readiness score, whether that’s completing a tough workout or something has changed in your vitals data.

“So something that our new health sensing system unlocks is this continuous heart rate monitoring throughout the course of the day,” says Bolton. “This could potentially lead to us or the feature recognising that you've got an elevated heart rate throughout the course of the day and that will change your Readiness. So as you're going throughout the day there's this value that it brings as well.”

While previous takes on readiness scores have felt more fitness-centric in terms of who will find this metric most valuable, Apple believes this is something all Watch wearers can get value from glancing at.

“You might have someone who’s managing a busy week with kids, work and trying to get adequate sleep, squeezing a workout in here and there," says Bolton. “For that person, sometimes it's just going to reaffirm or confirm to them something that they already know or they're already feeling in their body that today's a good day or you're not feeling things aren't great today.

“For that same person, it may actually surface something that they're not already noticing. So they've been under some stress at work. This might give that sort of little red flag to say, hey, it might be time to recover or take it easy because of some of these metrics we're seeing.

“You don't have to be an elite athlete to get value out of this, and anyone who's wearing the watch and sleeping with it at night can get this incredible insight each day to help them get through it.”

• Check Point warns scammers spoof airline customer support on social media to steal payment data
• Hundreds of fake accounts created daily, luring frustrated passengers into private chats or forms
• Campaign active since 2024; mirrors earlier fake support scams seen during crypto wallet fraud

Scammers are now posing as customer support for airlines, tricking already frustrated customers into sharing payment details and possibly losing money, too.

People who have had poor experiences flying would often vent their frustration on social media, be it X, Facebook, Instagram, or any other platform. They would tag the company and demand help, or at least an explanation. However, according to new research from security experts Check Point, the airline’s social media department is not the only one monitoring these complaints - hackers do it, too.

Not only are they monitoring the channels, they are actively preparing to hop in and talk to the customers.

Years-old campaign

Every day, hundreds of new social media accounts are created - some are built to spoof the airlines themselves, others are built to look as if they’re used by the airlines’ customer support or similar department. When the customer leaves a post or a comment, the criminals swoop in, publicly apologizing for the inconvenience, and offering assistance in a different, private channel. Sometimes those are the platform’s DMs, and sometimes it is WhatsApp or a different platform entirely.

The end result differs from case to case. Sometimes, the criminals would try to get the victims to share their personal and payment information and would later try to make a wire transfer. In other instances, the crooks would prepare a fake form for the victims to fill out, possibly creating a database for later use.

Check Point doesn’t know exactly when the campaign started but found some of the impersonation accounts dating back to before 2024, with the majority being created either in 2024, or later. “This suggests that the activity has accelerated over the past two years. The campaign remains highly active, with hundreds of new accounts appearing daily and new scam techniques continuing to emerge,” they said.

However, we can confirm that this type of fraud has been around for a lot longer than that. Fake customer support scams were rampant on X even in 2021, during the crypto ICO craze, during which crooks were taking advantage of people losing access to their wallets, or making transactions towards nonexistent wallet addresses in the same way.

MobLand season 2 makes its debut on Paramount+ very soon — and, if you've read my five-star review, you'll know that you're in for an absolute treat.

In short, it's a chaotic masterclass in storytelling. Season 2 picks up Conrad's (Pierce Brosnan) feud with Kevin (Paddy Considine) as it ramps up a notch, embroiling new 'fixer' Frankie (Johnny Flynn) in their mess. Frankie is acting on behalf of the Harrigan's arch-rival Kat (Janet McTeer), who is trying to take control of London from a distance.

This leaves Harry (Tom Hardy) having to clean up even more mess than before, particularly considering his and Jan's (Joanne Froggatt) impending divorce. On top of that, daughter Gina (Teddie Allen) has gone missing.

Just another average day with this lot, eh? Even with the above onslaught of drama, one thing that's still not sunk in after two years of watching is just how much deadly, explicit swearing there is. Weaponised by a former James Bond and a Dame, no less.

With so many See You Next Tuesdays flying about — I did count, and there's four from Conrad in season 2 episode 1's opening six minutes — I asked the young cast members if it's any less surreal watching Brosnan and Mirren at work.

As it turns out, they're much more at ease with the insults than I am... but they're all leading to something even more unhinged.

'You ain't seen nothing yet'

"I think I'm so used to it," Mandeep Dhillon, who plays Seraphina Harrigan, told me, before Allen added: "I think I feel desensitised to it. We get so much, and then when we're doing the extra takes for scenes, it's like a second language."

Anson Boone, who plays grandson Eddie Harrigan, interjected: "I'm desensitised to the swearing, but not the fact that I'm in scenes with them. That is still mad to me. I was a little boy who would watch them in films, and to think that I'm now playing a family with them is still a bit mental."

Watch any episode of MobLand and you won't see a trace of being starstruck in Boone's performance. However, you will notice that Eddie and his grandmother Maeve (Mirren) have a fairly bizarre relationship.

While they rarely cross paths, their time together is charged with an underlying chemistry that borders on Oedipus levels of uncomfortableness. According to Boone, the outlandish swearing is only a gateway for more of those scenes this season... and they go even further.

"Keep tuning into season 2 because things just get weirder and weirder," he teased. "You ain't seen nothing yet. In season 1, we were all getting to know each other, so to then come back for season 2, you have that added level of comfort. We're all pals now.

"It's so exciting when you get to read a really meaty, shocking or strange scene... and then getting to play that out with a national treasure like Dame Helen Mirren is surreal, but amazing."

If I could sum up what's to come in three words, meaty, shocking and strange is also what I'd choose. Without giving anything away, keep your eyes particularly peeled for episode 3.

• ArenaNet says Guild Wars 3's ancient Orr setting will interest longtime lore fans and newcomers
• Studio head Colin Johanson says the game is "very much for our fans" who are invested in the game's lore
• He adds that the game is also for new players, and they won't need to play the first two games to understand what's going on

ArenaNet has confirmed that Guild Wars 3 takes place 1000 years before the first Guild Wars game in the ancient land of Orr, which it believes will interest both hardcore fans and new players.

Speaking at an exclusive preview TechRadar Gaming attended at Gamescom, where we saw a guided presentation exploring the game's new momentum system, studio head Colin Johanson shared additional details about the game's setting, where players are a Veil Warden.

Johanson explained that much of Guild Wars' history and lore originates from ancient Orr, and he knows fans "care deeply" about it and have been asking ArenaNet for more, so it felt like a natural direction for the sequel.

"Some of the themes from Guild Wars 1 all tie back to moments in this timeline before the gods disappeared from the world," he said. "In Guild Wars 2, the ruins of Orr are raised from the bottom of the ocean by a giant undead dragon, and players get to visit the remains of what Orr was 1000 years in the future, and players have been asking us for over a decade to see what Orr was like before the gods left, before it was destroyed, and so this is very much for our fans to give them something to get excited about."

However, while Guild Wars' setting might seem lore-heavy, the studio head confirmed that "it's also for new fans" and that newcomers won't need to play the first two games to understand what's going on.

"This period of time has about two pages of recorded history that we've ever released outside of the studio," Johanson said. "We have a lot more internally that we haven't shared, but our fans have only seen a tiny amount of info about what actually happened in this timeline and setting, which means it's the perfect time for new people to come join the Guild Wars franchise because you don't have to have played Guild Wars 1 or Guild Wars 2 to understand what's going on in the story."

He continued: "Everyone's going to learn it all together, and if you're a big Guild Wars fan, you'll know what some of the species are and some of the characters or some of the locations. But for the most part, everybody is on equal footing."

Guild Wars 3 doesn't have a release date yet, but a beta is scheduled for Fall 2027. The game is launching on PC and PlayStation 5.

• 58% of UK businesses say security and privacy are major barriers to AI adoption
• Customers and partners are also demanding that companies go sovereign
• Sovereignty should cover data transmission as well as residency

One in two UK enterprises now want greater control over their most sensitive data, per new IDC findings commissioned by Expereo, with nearly a third (29%) of Britain's businesses now considering digital sovereignty either a top or high priority.

To this tune, more than a quarter (27%) now rank digital sovereignty as one of the leading drivers behind the tech investments going forward.

And it's all in relation to artificial intelligence, because more than half (58%) of the organizations surveyed said security and privacy remains one of the biggest barriers to AI adoption.

UK orgs want more control over their data before they invest in AI

"Digital sovereignty is increasingly being driven by a desire for greater control over how data moves across cloud, network and AI environments," Expereo CEO Ben Elms wrote. A similar number (56%) of tech leaders worry that AI could create new security risks for their business.

Expereo argues that sovereignty means much more than just where data is stored, but that it also covers how it moves between networks and clouds, calling for greater transparency and visibility across this too.

And it's not just leadership concerns that a driving this push for sovereignty, because a quarter (26%) of the orgs surveyed also said that customers and partners are adding pressure to localize data.

More broadly, while 33% of organizations globally consider digital sovereignty a high or top priority (slightly ahead of the UK), reasons differ by region. In Europe, IDC's data found that regulations like GDPR are major drivers, while the US is more focused on national security.

Despite this, AI is a uniting factor globally, as Elms concludes: "As AI adoption accelerates, this visibility will become an increasingly important part of helping organisations maintain control, manage risk and operate confidently across many jurisdictions."

• Google Translate now has an offline mode for Live Translations
• This only works between English and ten other languages
• It also only works on Pixel 11, Pixel 10, and Pixel 9 series phones

Live Translate is a feature that has the potential to break down language barriers, by letting you speak to someone in your native language and have it automatically translated to theirs. But while this Google Translate feature is undoubtedly useful, it’s also so far been held back a bit by a need for an internet connection. That though, is now changing.

As spotted by Android Authority, Google has started rolling out an offline mode for Live Translate, which could be hugely beneficial, since this feature will probably mostly be used when abroad, where data costs can be higher, and network connectivity can potentially be less reliable.

But even if you’re traveling somewhere that has widespread mobile coverage and affordable pricing, it’s still reassuring to know an internet connection won’t be required to effectively communicate with the locals.

Limited languages and phones

(Image credit: Google / Android Authority)

Of course, there are some restrictions here. First, offline Live Translate currently only works between English and French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Russian, and Swedish. So that leaves out a lot of languages, and also means that English has to be one of the two languages being spoken — you can’t for example get offline live translations between French and German.

The other major limiting factor is that for now at least, offline Live Translate is only coming to the Google Pixel 11 series, Pixel 10 line, and Pixel 9 series. So if you have an older Pixel or a phone from another brand, you’re currently out of luck.

All of which means that the vast majority of people won’t be able to benefit from this, so hopefully it’s a temporary restriction.

Then again, iOS already has a Live Translation feature of its own which can be used offline, and Samsung Galaxy phones also have a similar feature with offline functionality, so there are other options from the biggest rival brands.

Still, Google’s Live Translate feature isn’t exclusive to Pixels, so it would be nice to see this offline upgrade make it to other phones too.

• The Philips Hue Bridge Pro has increased in price by at least 40%
• Hue Essential multi-packs have also gone up in price
• However, a new software update supports 'Bridgeless Sync' for some devices

Philips Hue has had quite an illustrious few weeks, it’s just launched over a dozen new smart lights and accessories, but the latest product price hike could tarnish the company’s insane run of new announcements — and the Philips Hue Bridge Pro has received quite a shocking increase.

In the US, the Philips Hue Bridge Pro, a hub that unlocks advanced control features for the best smart lights, has risen in price from $99 to $139 — an increase of roughly 40%. In the UK, the Bridge Pro is £129.99 in the Philips Hue Autumn Glow-Up sale, up from its launch price of £79.99. That's an increase of around 35% (though the device is currently discounted to £90.80 on Amazon).

According to 9to5Google, the price changes rolled out in August, but it’s not just the US and UK that are bearing the brunt of these increases.

Eurozone regions are also affected, with the Philips Hue Bridge Pro spiking from €99 to €149. The device was €89 at launch and increased to €99 euros in March, so the latest change marks the second European price hike this year, and a total price increase of 51%..

Other Hue products that have been hit by unexpected prices as well. As spotted by Hue Blog, multi-packs of Hue Essential lamps and spotlights have shot up to €69.99 from their previous €59.99 price point. It’s not ideal, but at least these increases aren’t as substantial as the Bridge Pro.

The most frustrating part is that the Philips Hue Bridge Pro, together with the Hue Essential devices, are relatively new products that were only released last year. But with the rising cost of manufacturing and memory alike, it was only a matter of time before Philips Hue succumbed to this upheaval.

It's not all bad news...

(Image credit: Signify)

Philips Hue’s latest stunt is quite the kick in the teeth if you were just about to embark on your new smart home journey with the brand.

However amid the price hike chaos, a new software update supports ‘Bridgeless Sync’ for Philips Hue lights with the Hue Play Screen Sync TV camera and Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 4K.

What that means is that both devices can now communicate with a single Hue light via Bluetooth without the need for a Bridge or Bridge Pro hub. Additionally, the new camera-based Screen Sync system works with any TV source, removing the need for a HDMI Sync Box.

Ultimately, this removes a handful of tedious steps and significantly reduces the price for setting up your own Hue ecosystem. It also comes in handy if you want to seriously upgrade your TV viewing, but aren’t too concerned about having the entire Hue smart home experience.

Meta has a new proposition for anyone who looks at Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp and thinks they could use a little more artificial intelligence. Meta One, launched this week, packages additional features with expanded access to some of the company’s most compute-intensive AI tools.

Pay $7.99 a month for Core and you can generate more images and videos, use Instagram’s AI Restyle tools more often and generally enjoy a larger serving of Meta AI. Premium costs $19.99 and provides even more tokens.

The core Meta experience remains free, while subscriptions allow the company to build specialized or expensive features for people willing to pay for them.

Horror author Joe Hill had another idea, posting on the Meta-owned Threads: “That’s sweet, so pay a fee, get more AI, pay nothing, get a little less AI. Can we work out a deal where you pay ME and I get no AI at all?”

It is a very good joke. It may also be an unexpectedly good piece of product strategy.

Post by @joe_hill View on Threads

A lot of companies have settled on the assumption that more AI is inherently worth more money. Chatbot subscriptions offer higher limits and access to more capable models. Meta One follows the same logic by adding AI generation behind its Core and Premium tiers, though the bundles include plenty of non-AI extras too.

But while some people may want more AI and are prepared to pay for it, it's not a universal desire. Hill’s response gets at the other half of the equation, where the people who increasingly encounter AI inside products they already use would quite like a large, clearly labeled switch that makes it disappear.

The premium feature nobody is selling

There is an important distinction here between choosing AI and receiving AI. Opening ChatGPT because you want help planning a vacation is an active decision. Finding AI summaries sitting above your search results or AI buttons suddenly appearing inside software you already use, is something else entirely.

The evidence suggests consumers understand that distinction perfectly well. A Pew Research Center study last year in 2025 reported that 59% of American adults felt they had little or no control over how AI was used in their lives and 55% wanted more control. That fits with a Gartner survey from this year showing that 50% of U.S. consumers would prefer to buy at businesses that do not use generative AI in consumer-facing content.

That hardly amounts to a mass rejection of artificial intelligence. People use ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Meta AI because those tools can be genuinely useful, and there is clearly a market for subscriptions that make them more capable. The resistance seems less about AI existing than about losing the ability to decide when it enters the room. Gartner found something similar in customer service this year. Half of customers said generative AI could make service interactions easier, yet 87% considered access to a human agent essential when companies used AI. People can appreciate the robot while still wanting an emergency exit from the robot.

Tech companies have done this before. Advertising was once simply part of using many online services. Eventually companies realized the absence of advertising was itself valuable enough to sell. Meta already offers subscriptions without ads on Facebook and Instagram in the UK and Europe, although those plans were introduced in response to regulatory requirements. In the UK, Meta charges £2.99 a month on the web or £3.99 through iOS and Android for its ad-free option, but doesn't offer the option in the US or Australia.

Meta minus AI

(Image credit: Shutterstock/Poetra.RH)

There would be something faintly absurd about paying a technology company to remove a technology it added in the first place. Unfortunately, anyone who is currently paying for YouTube Premium to escape commercials will recognize the business model immediately.

An AI-light subscription could remove generated content from recommendations, hide AI assistants and shortcuts, and otherwise keep AI tools away unless deliberately summoned. Apple Intelligence already has a feature like it, in that it can be switched off systemwide, and Microsoft lets Copilot users disable features including personalization and memory. These controls are imperfect, but their existence recognizes the appeal of an off switch to many consumers.

None of this means Meta One is a bad idea. For someone who frequently generates images, edits Instagram Stories with AI or wants Meta’s more advanced creative tools, $7.99 could be perfectly reasonable. Meta says its early testing showed real demand, and a subscription is arguably a better way to offer computationally expensive generative features than pretending unlimited AI costs nothing.

The mistake would be assuming that the only direction people want AI to move is upward. AI companies are currently fighting over who can provide the most capable model and the highest usage limits. Enthusiasm makes sense when hundreds of billions of dollars are being spent on AI infrastructure.

Eventually, though, AI may become distasteful enough to enough people to make its absence worth paying for. Meta One is built around the proposition that customers will pay to receive more AI. The most successful premium AI feature might end up being as simple as a switch labeled “Off.”

The EcoFlow Solar Generator Delta 3 Classic bundle with solar panel charging is tailor-made for off-grid independence and emergency home backup.

• Best for: Those who want a high-capacity portable power station with fast charging, substantial output, and the option to recharge using solar energy.

• The deal: The EcoFlow Solar Generator Delta 3 Classic with 220W Solar Panel is $698.99 (was $999) at Amazon.

• Why it matters: You get a 1,024Wh LFP battery with 1,800W continuous output, plus a 220W bifacial solar panel. It can reach 80% charge in 45 minutes using AC power and provides sub-10ms UPS switching.

Solar Generator Delta 3 Classic with 220W Solar Panel: was $999 now $698.99
EcoFlow's Delta 3 Classic has a 1,024Wh LFP battery, 1,800W output, 45-minute 80% charging, sub-10ms UPS switching and includes a 220W bifacial solar panel and solar charging cable for off-grid power.View Deal

Why we recommend it

We've had exceptional experiences testing the EcoFlow Delta line of power stations, which have proved reliable, fast-charging units. The 1,800W continuous output is great for high-draw devices and appliances, while the included 220W solar panel is designed for off-grid independence. Long-lasting LFP battery cells also ensure more than 10 years of daily use.

For more options, take a look at our roundup of the best portable power stations.

Price context & historical value

Amazon has cut the price of this EcoFlow Delta 3 Classic bundle from $999 to $698.99, giving you a $300.01 saving of about 30%. It's a decent discount, although not the cheapest we've seen it. The bundle fell as low as $509 last year, making today's deal $189.99 more expensive than its previous low.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the EcoFlow Delta 3 Classic solar bundle if...

You want a reliable, high-output emergency and home backup system with solar panel charging.

❌ Skip the EcoFlow Delta 3 Classic solar bundle if...

You need a fully portable power station for charging small devices around the home, as this one weighs in at 42.1 pounds.

• Shop generators and portable power devices at Amazon

How customers discover products and information is constantly changing.

Search engines, social media and marketplaces like Amazon and Ebay, previously shaped how consumers discovered brands. But now AI-driven Large Language Models (LLMs) form another layer of that ecosystem, with more than 50% of online adults having used generative AI to find answers to questions, according to Forrester.

Thanks to LLMs, people can go beyond traditional search to ask questions and compare options through natural conversation, often before they ever visit a website.

What do businesses need to know to adapt in the face of that influence?

Discovery is becoming conversational

For what felt like forever, keywords shaped digital discovery. Customers would type a short query into a search engine and receive a list of links. But LLMs have changed that dynamic, enabling people to solve their needs in a more detailed and natural way.

Instead of a simple search for “best running shoes” consumers may now ask what products they need for marathon training, whether certain shoes suit a specific foot type, how they compare with alternatives, and where to buy them.

This changes the role of the search interface. Rather than sifting through a page of results themselves, users are increasingly comfortable letting AI narrow the field for them before they decide where to go next.

Consumers are already using AI tools for practical research and purchase-related decisions. We found informational (39%) and transactional (37%) prompts account for more than three-quarters of LLM usage.

And AI is not just acting as a neutral directory of options. 70% of LLM responses position a single brand as the primary recommendation.

Increasingly, people are being handed a single, curated recommendation rather than a page of results to compare themselves.

Intent starts to form before consumers reach the open web

LLMs are not just impacting discovery, but changing where research and purchase intent develop.

Historically, organizations have relied heavily solely on search queries, clicks and browsing behavior to understand user searches. But conversational AI introduces another signal, in the form of the questions people ask even before they know what to search for.

Consider a shopper comparing skincare ingredients, a traveler planning a family itinerary, or a business buyer evaluating software vendors. All reveal more context through their conversations than through simple keyword queries.

According to Gartner, consumers are using AI to research and compare products, but only 11% of consumers said they would be willing to let AI make purchase decisions on their behalf.

So while the final transaction may still happen on a retailer’s website, app or a physical store, the research and decision-making process is beginning much earlier, inside an AI conversation.

Meanwhile, AI-influenced journeys often reach their highest conversion point after five to six prompts, with 75–85% of those journeys converting within two weeks. Consumers rely on AI to narrow choices, test assumptions and build confidence, before moving to the open web.

That has implications for how organizations understand demand, but also how they understand and speak to the consumers driving it.

First, it may mean less traffic arriving directly on their website - but the users who do land there after an AI conversation are likely to arrive with a clearer understanding of the product, and a higher likelihood to purchase.

Second, it changes the nature of the signals organizations can learn from.

Traditional search data tends to be brief and transactional, while AI conversations are longer, more exploratory, more emotive, and reveal more about what people are trying to understand before they buy. Looking at both the questions consumers ask and the responses they receive offers a richer picture of how purchase decisions take shape.

Different models mean different pictures of the consumer

It's not just the type of data that's different, but its consistency.

Different LLMs draw on different sources, weighting information and signals in different ways. A company that appears frequently in one may barely register in another, in fact brand recommendations can vary by as much as 27 percentage points across ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity.

But a lot of what's marketed as AI consumer insight isn't based on real consumer behavior.

Often AI insight is built by taking top search terms, feeding them into a model, and treating the output as a proxy for what consumers think or want. This AEO or GEO-style focus understands the model but not the consumer.

A more useful approach starts with real consumer behavior; looking at what people actually ask, how they phrase it, and what they're trying to work out. All observed directly and not inferred from a model's output.

Defining success in an AI landscape

As AI becomes another discovery layer, organizations will need to broaden how they measure digital performance. Search rankings, website traffic and conversion rates will remain important. But they won’t tell the full story.

The way consumers research and decide has become more layered, playing out across search, social, marketplaces and now AI conversations, often before a brand ever sees a website visit.

Understanding that shift means going beyond how a model behaves to understand how people actually think, ask and choose. For businesses to succeed in this new era, the key is not simply having the biggest dataset, but having the one that offers the most complete picture of consumer intent, and understanding what that reveals about the opportunity ahead.

We've featured the best AI chatbot for business.

This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to 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/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

The manufacturing sector is predicting a shortfall of 1.9 million manufacturing jobs over the next 10 years. As industry moves towards autonomy, trusted measurement will be essential for assessing the quality of the decisions these technologies make. From optimizing production lines and validating critical infrastructure to enabling scientific discovery, organizations continually rely on data to guide decision-making.

Metrology plays a critical role here. It provides the accurate measurement data that many workers and automated systems use as a foundation to make more informed decisions. As precision measurement technologies combine advanced sensors, software, and analytics, they enable organizations to optimize processes in real time.

In a world where microscopic inaccuracies can have consequences at scale, trusted measurement not only assures quality but is also a strategic capability that underpins safe, efficient, and data-driven industries.

From sport to science

Trusted measurement is the backbone of high-performing industries. In the background, it enables some of the most complex processes, and this takes place across a number of sectors.

Motorsport offers a clear illustration. Teams from the factory to the track rely on trusted measurement data to make informed engineering decisions. In fact, a 1mm difference in ride height can determine both performance and regulatory compliance.

Precision ensures every part of the car complies with regulations, but it also ensures that thousands of individual components can work together to unlock significant gains. In a sport where races are won by milliseconds, confidence in measurement equates to confidence in performance.

The same principle applies in scientific research. Where scientists are exploring the fundamental building blocks of our universe, discoveries of particles would not be possible without intricate technical and engineering work. Precision measurement provides assurance that every observation and experiment is built on accurate data.

Importantly, whether in motorsports or science, better decisions begin with better measurement. However, measurement spans the entire workforce and plays a valuable role in supporting the shifts many organizations are grappling with.

The era of automation

As experienced engineers retire and manufacturers contend with persistent skills shortages, organizations can no longer rely solely on manual inspection to maintain quality. Instead, digital measurement technologies are helping organizations preserve consistency while simultaneously scaling productivity.

By enabling faster, more reliable inspections and identifying issues before they disrupt production, precision measurement allows fewer specialists to oversee increasingly complex operations.

And precision measurement addresses more than just efficiency. In sectors such as aerospace, automotive, and medical manufacturing, safety isn’t optional so getting components right the first time is essential. Safety instruments use precise data to track ground instability or the structural deformation of buildings, triggering alerts for rapid incident response, in turn, protecting workers in hazardous environments.

Precision measurement has therefore evolved from an engineering support function into a strategic capability that helps organizations maintain safety across the board as well as competitiveness among growing workforce pressures.

Another option for organizations looking to address these challenges is accelerating investment in AI tools and autonomous systems, which further increases the need for trusted measurement data that those technologies can rely on.

Building trust in AI-driven industry

Trusted measurement has always been imperative, and that hasn’t changed. But as AI and automated systems continue to make decisions that were once the responsibility of experienced engineers, including adjusting production processes and inspecting components, the data fed into these models is so significant. These decisions are only as reliable as the data they are built upon.

Without accurate, robust measurement, AI can amplify errors at scale, leading to unnecessary downtime, wasted materials, and compromised quality. Precision measurement provides the confidence these intelligent systems need to make reliable decisions.

Today, precision measurement is delivered through highly sophisticated sensors, software, AI, and connected data, all working together to create a trusted digital understanding of the physical world. As industries become increasingly autonomous and data-driven, precision measurement is no longer an option to ensure accuracy. It is a non-negotiable capability that unlocks the full potential of AI and the shift toward autonomous systems.

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• Spain’s data protection agency (AEPD) reported its first breach carried out by an autonomous AI agent
• Agent chained multiple attack stages: accessed public files, scanned systems, exploited a flaw, and modified data
• AEPD urged businesses to factor AI‑driven attacks into risk assessments, stressing faster response and stronger identity controls

A Spanish company was apparently hit with a data breach conducted by an autonomous AI agent.

Earlier this week Francisco Pérez Bes, president and deputy of the Spanish data protection agency (AEPD) published a new article on the agency’s blog, saying it “received the first notification of a personal data breach in which the incident was reportedly carried out using an artificial intelligence agent powered by a well-known large language model.”

As per Pérez Bes, the agent first used the target’s “publicly accessible files”, through which it was able to log into its system. From the inside, the agent then started scanning for vulnerabilities and after finding one, used it to modify personal data and gain access to invoices.

A call to action

The author stresses that there is very little known about this incident and that a thorough investigation is currently ongoing. He pointed out that the attack doesn’t imply the AI model or the provider’s infrastructure were compromised or malicious by design, but said that the attack was “significant from a data protection perspective,” since the AI agent was used to chain together multiple stages of the attack.

For Pérez, the attack is a call to action - businesses need to rethink how they assess and manage security risks. He claims businesses need to “explicitly account for AI-assisted and AI-driven attacks when assessing the risks associated with personal-data processing,” and need to reassess their response times.

“Procedures designed around manually executed attacks may not be sufficient when an AI agent can analyze multiple assets at once, test different avenues of attack, and rapidly adapt its behavior based on what it finds.”

He also stressed the “growing importance of digital identities and credentials,” since an AI agent with an account or an API key “can operate at machine speed and move across different services before an organization has time to detect the anomalous activity.”

Via The Register

It has been over a year since the European Accessibility Act (EAA) came into effect, and many organizations are still discovering gaps in the accessibility of their digital services. While websites, mobile apps, e-commerce platforms and digital banking services may meet recognized accessibility requirements, technical conformance alone does not always guarantee an accessible user experience.

People using assistive technologies can still encounter barriers such as confusing workflows, unclear error messages, or content that is difficult to interpret with screen readers.

Accessibility is increasingly viewed as an indicator of digital quality, rather than just a compliance obligation. Yet, making sure that digital experiences work for everyone requires more than good intentions. It depends on assessments, audits and real-world testing to validate accessibility in practice.

This challenge is especially significant for technology companies, where accessibility cannot be addressed by focusing on a single website or application. Instead, it must be managed across portfolios of products, development teams and release cycles.

This requires a continuous approach to accessibility, underpinned by a comprehensive accessibility ecosystem that combines assessments, audits, automated testing and insights from people with disabilities throughout the software development lifecycle.

Accessibility assessments and audits

Improving accessibility begins with understanding where barriers exist and how they affect users. Accessibility assessments provide a high-level view of accessibility risks, helping organizations identify priority issues early and determine where additional investigation is needed.

These assessments can combine automated tools with targeted manual reviews of designs and/or products to offer guidance on where organizations should focus their accessibility efforts for impactful quality improvement.

Accessibility audits take this process a step further. They provide a comprehensive evaluation of digital products against recognized standards such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.2) and the EAA, documenting accessibility issues, their severity and recommended remediation steps.

Unlike assessments, audits systematically evaluate entire products or services to validate conformance and propose a clear remediation roadmap. They may also go beyond websites and applications to include customer-facing digital content such as PDFs, presentations and other documents that are subject to accessibility legislation.

Together, assessments and audits establish a foundation for an effective accessibility program. However, simply demonstrating technical compliance does not necessarily guarantee a positive user experience. Individuals using assistive technologies may still encounter barriers that automated checks and standards-based testing cannot detect.

Therefore, audits should form part of a more comprehensive accessibility strategy, complemented by expert evaluation and feedback from people with disabilities.

Why real-world insights matter

Automated accessibility testing tools have become an important part of modern software development. They quickly identify common coding issues, such as missing alternative text, inadequate color contrast and incorrect heading structures, helping teams resolve straightforward problems earlier in development.

These tools also integrate easily into CI/CD pipelines, making them an effective way to catch basic accessibility issues before software is released.

AI is expanding what these tools can do. It can help recognize patterns, group similar issues and recommend possible fixes, thereby reducing repetitive work for development teams. However, AI cannot replace human judgement; machine-generated fixes may be inaccurate, address only superficial issues or create a false sense of accessibility if the underlying user experience has not been properly evaluated.

Indeed, even with these advances, automated testing has its limits. As the W3C notes, “web accessibility evaluation tools cannot determine accessibility, they can only assist in doing so.” They cannot determine whether link text makes sense out of context, whether keyboard focus follows a logical order or how someone using a screen reader experiences a user journey.

While automated tools can highlight symptoms, they lack the human context needed to understand the full impact on usability.

This is why effective accessibility programs combine automated testing with manual expert reviews and testing by people with disabilities who rely on assistive technologies every day. Together, these approaches provide a more complete understanding of how people experience digital products, helping organizations identify accessibility barriers that automated testing alone may miss.

Building an accessibility ecosystem

Organizations should view accessibility as an ongoing capability rather than a one-off project with a fixed endpoint. Instead of depending solely on periodic audits, they need to create an accessibility ecosystem that integrates inclusive practices throughout the development process.

An effective ecosystem brings together developers, designers, accessibility specialists, automated testing tools and people with disabilities in a continuous feedback loop. By including accessibility considerations in planning, design, development, testing and release, organizations can identify and address barriers throughout the development process.

This reduces the effort required to resolve accessibility issues and helps avoid delays that can happen when problems emerge during final compliance checks.

How Microsoft moved beyond compliance

Several technology companies have already built accessibility ecosystems based on these principles. Microsoft, for example, has applied these principles at scale across its Cloud & AI portfolio, which includes more than 1,000 products.

Rather than treating accessibility as a compliance exercise, the company adopted inclusive design research by involving people with disabilities throughout the product lifecycle. As of 2024, this initiative has helped more than 50 product teams improve the inclusivity of products such as Azure and Power Apps, while changing the focus from simply meeting accessibility requirements to creating digital experiences that work well for everyone.

Cisco shifted accessibility left

Since 2022, Cisco has adopted a similar approach with Webex by embedding accessibility and inclusive design throughout the software development lifecycle. By involving individuals with disabilities earlier in the design and testing process and creating continuous feedback loops across development teams, Webex was able to resolve accessibility challenges sooner.

This approach also built greater empathy, collaboration and organizational understanding around inclusive product development.

Progress Software reduced accessibility issues by 60%

Progress Software has been following a comprehensive accessibility program for its client collaboration platform ShareFile since 2023. By combining expert accessibility reviews, testing by people with disabilities and AI-assisted code evaluation, the company reduced accessibility issues by more than 60 per cent year over year.

This investment in accessibility also strengthened customer retention and helped secure new business, reflecting the growing importance of accessibility in software procurement decisions.

Accessibility as a measure of software quality

The EAA has intensified the focus on digital accessibility, but its influence extends beyond just compliance, encouraging organizations to make accessibility an integral part of software development.

Assessments highlight accessibility risks, audits validate compliance with recognized standards, and real-world testing reveals how individuals using assistive technologies experience digital products in practice. Collectively, these activities provide organizations with the evidence and insights required to improve accessibility throughout the development process.

For organizations creating complex digital products, accessibility has become an important indicator of software quality. By embedding accessibility into everyday development practices, organizations can deliver digital experiences that are more inclusive and usable for everyone, while also reducing the cost and complexity of addressing accessibility barriers later in the development process.

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• VodafoneThree says it takes up to 3.5 more years to relocate a mast after the warning period
• So-called 'functional not-spots' affect one in five London high streets, costing billions
• The solution involves earlier planning involvement and slicker processes

VodafoneThree just accused London's network infrastructure planning rules of costing around £7.4 million in economic output every single day, the equivalent of £2.7 billion annually, because of Notices to Quit (NTQs).

These legal notices from landowners demand that mobile operators remove equipment from properties, and are typically issued during construction, renovation or demolition, giving operators just 18 months to take action.

However the company argues that replacing a lost mobile site takes on average five years from start to finish, thus NTQs create a 3.5-year shortfall.

VodafoneThree wants more flexibility around Notices to Quit

However, the company insists that external pressures are behind the current five-year timescale for new connections to go live. Instead, VodafoneThree says that "outdated planning processes and the complexity of securing a new site and relevant permissions" are to blame.

The network operator goes on to describe affected areas as 'functional not-spots' – rather than total black-out not-spots in rural areas, it says even London can be affected by areas of week, suboptimal connectivity even though they're technically covered by a signal. According to the report, one in five London high streets have a functional not-spot.

"When that infrastructure is removed before replacements are in place, local communities can face years of reduced connectivity which ultimately costs London billions in economic output," Chief Networks Officer Andrea Dona summarized.

And with redevelopment happening at such a rapid pace nowadays, it warns that up to 60 National Rail, Underground or Overground stations could be affected by an NTQ at any given time.

Looking ahead, VodafoneThree wants developers and planners to involve mobile operators at the earliest stages possible so that they can get the ball rolling on securing future locations sooner.

"We welcome the growing recognition of NTQs as an issue and support efforts to ensure connectivity is considered from the earliest stages of the planning process," Dona concluded.

OpenAI launched ChatGPT Images 2.5 last week, bringing all sorts of impressive upgrades to the way it generates images. The company says the latest model will bring us “sharper details, faster generation, more precise editing, and better tools for creating and sharing.”

We’ve already identified the new features of ChatGPT Images 2.5 you’ll actually use, like Sketch for turning quick drawings into polished images, templates for things like posters and better editing tools.

But it’s not all good news. We’re still a little disappointed by the presence of telltale noise patterns in some of its creations. TechRadar writer Eric Hal Schwartz described the problem well: “Everything gets a gritty, sandy look, and nothing looks clean for some reason.”

What I’m most interested in isn’t necessarily how good ChatGPT’s new image capabilities are, but whether they can realistically pass as genuine photos.

Is this real or AI?

I’ve written before about how I love to comb through the r/isthisAI subreddit, where people post suspicious images and ask everyone else to help them work out whether they’re real.

It’s fascinating but also concerning when you see the number of scams, fake viral posts and completely fabricated people that are now floating around online.

So yes, ChatGPT Images has improved. But has it reached the point where AI images are becoming genuinely different to distinguish from real ones?

The jury’s still out. I think we’ll need a bit of time to experiment ourselves and for r/isthisAI to fill up with new images.

But in the meantime, I’ve been interested in the way Redditors have responded to the new image capabilities. Especially one thread about asking ChatGPT to make the most realistic human image possible.

The Redditor who started the thread shared the resulting image of a young woman. And, at least at first glance, there’s very little about her that screams AI to me.

Can you actually tell which photos are AI now?

I decided to experiment with ChatGPT Images myself, especially with prompts like the Reddit thread in which I tried to get the chatbot to make the most realistic-looking images.

To make the comparison feel as fair as possible, I went through photos from my own travels this summer and picked some I was happy to share. I then asked ChatGPT to create extremely realistic images with similar subjects, settings and compositions.

For some, that meant asking for a realistic photograph of a blonde woman. For others, I recreated the kinds of ordinary travel photos sitting in my camera roll, which was meals in restaurants, boats in harbors and scenes from walks.

Importantly, I wasn’t trying to make spectacular AI art, I really wanted the opposite. Images that were boringly believable.

Take the quiz below to see if you can guess which are the real photos of my travels this summer and which are ChatGPT-generated.

Is that gritty, sandy look still enough to give the AI ones away? Can you focus less on the faces and spot strange details in the backgrounds? Or have we reached the point where your first instinct simply isn’t reliable anymore?

Take the quiz and tell me how you get on in the comments below.

These new pods churn out frothy milk for coffee-house style drinks with the push of a push.

Here are the answers for today’s NYT Mini Crossword puzzle for Sept. 17, 2026.

• Report finds 57% of UK organizations opted to extend legacy system use rather than replace the tech
• This is despite almost half of UK businesses are scaling AI
• Meanwhile, over three quarters of UK businesses have gone over budget on modernization, with over two thirds have paused or abandoned the process

Does technological progress necessarily mean replacing old gear? New research from Ensono claims businesses are keeping hold of legacy tech, with older systems extended and upgraded to support modern applications.

This is happening while businesses scale their AI use, focusing budgets on affordable upgrades for existing PCs, laptops, and servers on one hand, and embracing AI on the other. It’s a balancing act, one that is being managed by around 52% of businesses – 57% in the UK, and 48% in the US.

However, the driving factor for this reliance on older tech may not be smart budgeting and foresight. Across the US and UK, 61% of businesses have been forced to pause, scale back, delay, or even completely abandon IT modernization in the past two years.

IT modernization?

Ensono’s second annual State of IT Modernization Report seems to point to a change in how IT modernization is achieved: rather than replacing old tech, businesses are upgrading. The takeaway is that IT budgets are dictating a focus on AI spending, so where possible PCs, laptops, and some lower-end servers are increasingly being upgraded with faster, higher capacity storage and RAM.

Other key statistics in the report include the news that 71% of IT modernization projects have exceeded budgets, with workflow challenges (33%) and limitations with existing infrastructure (28%) among the roadblocks to an ROI on AI spending.

Underpinning all of this is the growth in decision makers declaring that AI is accelerating modernization, up from 39% last year to 54%.

Rediscovering legacy systems

Budget demands seem to be driving the reliance on older tech within organizations striving to keep up with AI modernization.

“AI is expanding the possibilities for modernization, enterprises are discovering that legacy systems, like the mainframe, are intensely powerful, reliable and efficient sources of computing that can now be augmented and made more agile thanks to AI," noted Brian Klingbeil, Chief Strategy Officer at Ensono.

This means that IT leaders are being forced to decide what needs to be preserved, and where to use AI investment wisely.

“These systems contain decades of data and business logic that drive many businesses,” says Klingbeil. “The advantage will go to organizations that understand their environments well enough to distinguish what should be replaced vs. what should be augmented, and embrace new modernization methods that simply were not available even 18 months ago."

• Salesforce UK&I CEO pushes her skilling "mission" across the country
• Salesforce doubles down on UK&I recruitment and upskilling goals
• Jobs could be repatriated back to the UK from abroad

Salesforce’s UK&I CEO has doubled down on her company’s commitment to investing in skills training and upskilling of young people.

With the UK recently seeing a change in Prime Minister, Zahra Bahroloumi was asked in a media roundtable attended by TechRadar Pro what her outlook for the future looked like.

“Irrespective of government, we are committed to, and very active to the skilling of people,” Bahroloumi said, “we're not stopping, we remain true to our mission, and we remain active and true to our customers, irrespective of government”.

Closing the AI literacy gap

Bahrololoumi has long been a key voice in promoting skills training in the UK, using her company’s influence and scale across the country to push a number of key initiatives.

In June 2026, she outlined the Salesforce’s “incredibly bold” vision for the UK, which includes $6 billion investment committed to the country through 2030, and its role in backing the UK government’s aim to train 10 million UK workers by 2030.

Alongside Bahrololoumi, Paul O’Sullivan, SVP Solution Engineering and Salesforce UKI CTO also looked to outline how Salesforce’s future Trailblazer program is “closing the AI literacy gap”.

O’Sullivan noted how Salesforce is going through “a surge of hiring”, including doubling the size of its forward-deployed engineer team in the UK.

“We are not just looking to attract the best possible talent to come and join Salesforce, we’re also heavily investing in our apprenticeship scheme, doubling down on our graduate opportunities, and aiming to double the size of the team in the next six months,” he noted.

“This is our opportunity to reinvest in the next generation.”

Looking forward, Bahrololoumi was keen to promote the role of the UK in the AI-enabled and augmented future, noting that while the country was, “an empowered market”, there was still potential for more growth.

“We need more talent,” she added, “I feel so confident, and we’ve got the evidence and the proof points that this technology and our platform can work and automate jobs, and augment jobs, and expand human capacity in an organisation effectively.

“But I would like to see more jobs being repatriated from offshore and low-cost locations and jobs being created back in the UK - so I would like to see a stronger drive around automation and repatriation.”

Bahrololoumi gave the example of when there 300 jobs in a low-cost location, outside of the UK - “why can I not create a hundred jobs in the UK and still do 300 plus worth of capacity?”

“That’s something we’re really focused on, because we’ve got the capability to do that now… but I think we've got the opportunity now to create jobs in the UK,” she concluded, “we're on a mission.”