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¿Cuál es el propósito de tu proyecto? ¿Qué se requiere? Estas son algunas de las primeras preguntas que debes hacerte, y se reúnen en una recopilación o elicitación de requisitos. Este proceso conduce al diseño y desarrollo de un proyecto exitoso. Descarga esta plantilla gratuita de recopilación de requisitos para Word y asegúrate de cubrir todos los aspectos fundamentales. Esta plantilla es solo el comienzo de tu proyecto, uno que requerirá mucha gestión para mantenerse bajo control. El tipo de software que utilices será clave, especialmente si esa herramienta se integra con otras y reúne la mayoría de las funciones necesarias en un solo lugar. Si utilizas un software de gestión de proyectos como ProjectManager, podrás adjuntar la plantilla de recopilación de requisitos a tu proyecto, junto con todos los documentos de apoyo, y mantenerlos accesibles para todo tu equipo. Incluso puedes adjuntar estos documentos directamente a una tarea, asignar un responsable y una fecha límite, y luego hacer seguimiento del progreso. Después, crea un cronograma con nuestros potentes diagramas de Gantt, enlazando los cuatro tipos de dependencias de tareas para evitar sobrecostos, filtrando la ruta crítica para identificar las tareas sin holgura y estableciendo una línea base para realizar el seguimiento en tiempo real. Comienza hoy gratis con ProjectManager. /wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ES-Spanish-Gantt-CTA.jpgMás información ¿Qué es una plantilla de recopilación de requisitos? Una plantilla de recopilación de requisitos es un documento estructurado que recopila, organiza y documenta las necesidades y expectativas de las partes interesadas de un proyecto, producto o sistema. Proporciona un formato coherente para recopilar requisitos de diversas partes interesadas y capturar toda la información necesaria. Este documento ayuda a definir y aclarar el alcance del proyecto o producto, facilitando la comunicación entre el equipo de proyecto y los interesados. Los equipos de proyecto utilizan una plantilla de recopilación de requisitos para asegurarse de tener una comprensión sólida de las necesidades de las partes interesadas, lo que se traduce en resultados de proyecto más exitosos. ¿Por qué necesitas una plantilla de recopilación de requisitos? La plantilla de recopilación de requisitos es la base sobre la cual se sustenta tu proyecto. Recoge lo que se necesita y sirve como puente de información entre el usuario y el desarrollador. El usuario comunica lo que requiere y el desarrollador lo anticipa para asegurarse de que todo lo necesario en el producto esté contemplado en la recopilación de requisitos. Según el Business Analysis Body of Knowledge, un requisito es “una condición o capacidad que necesita una parte interesada para resolver un problema o lograr un objetivo; una condición o capacidad que debe cumplir o poseer una solución o componente de solución para satisfacer un contrato, estándar, especificación u otros documentos formalmente impuestos; una representación documentada de una condición o capacidad”, como se indica en las dos definiciones anteriores. /wp-content/uploads/2025/10/plantilla-de-recopilacion-de-requisitos-de-proyecto-600x397.png Por lo tanto, los requisitos recopilados deben ser comprendidos por la parte interesada o el usuario. La recopilación de requisitos es una forma de reunirlos todos en un solo lugar, donde puedan ser aprobados por el usuario o las partes interesadas y por quienes ejecutarán el proyecto. Esta plantilla de recopilación de requisitos abarca requisitos de negocio, de usuario y del sistema. Es un documento fundamental que debe completarse antes de comenzar cualquier proyecto, especialmente los de TI o desarrollo de software. Incluye todas las características y funciones de un producto y es comprensible para todos los involucrados, sin ambigüedades. De este modo, ayuda a llevar el proyecto a una conclusión satisfactoria para todas las partes. ¿Quién debe usar una plantilla de recopilación de requisitos? Cualquier persona involucrada en la gestión de proyectos, desarrollo de productos, desarrollo de software o cualquier iniciativa en la que los objetivos empresariales definidos sean esenciales puede usar esta plantilla. Beneficia a quienes necesitan un enfoque estructurado para documentar y comunicar los requisitos del proyecto, incluidos los gerentes de proyecto, analistas de negocio, propietarios de producto, desarrolladores de software, consultores, clientes y partes interesadas. ¿Qué incluye nuestra plantilla de recopilación de requisitos para Word? La plantilla gratuita de recopilación de requisitos contiene siete secciones, una para cada tipo de requisito de proyecto. Requisitos de negocio Definen los objetivos estratégicos y el propósito del proyecto. Explican qué necesidad organizacional se busca cubrir, qué beneficios se esperan y cómo se medirá el éxito. Suelen estar alineados con la visión, metas corporativas y prioridades estratégicas de la organización o del cliente. Requisitos de las partes interesadas Recogen las expectativas, intereses y condiciones planteadas por las personas u organismos involucrados. Incluyen directivos, clientes, proveedores, comunidad y autoridades. Garantizan que el proyecto considere y equilibre las necesidades de todos los actores relevantes en su planificación y ejecución. Requisitos funcionales Describen las funciones o resultados específicos que debe cumplir el proyecto o producto final. Detallan qué actividades, procesos o entregables deben realizarse para satisfacer los objetivos del negocio y las necesidades de las partes interesadas, asegurando trazabilidad y cumplimiento medible. Requisitos no funcionales Definen las condiciones bajo las cuales deben cumplirse los requisitos funcionales. Se refieren a aspectos de calidad como eficiencia, seguridad, durabilidad, facilidad de mantenimiento o estética. Establecen estándares de desempeño y fiabilidad esperados en la entrega del proyecto. Requisitos técnicos Describen las condiciones físicas, materiales o metodológicas necesarias para ejecutar el proyecto. Pueden incluir especificaciones de equipos, materiales, herramientas, métodos constructivos, o procedimientos operativos. Garantizan que el proyecto sea viable técnica y operativamente dentro de los recursos disponibles. Requisitos regulatorios y de cumplimiento Incluyen todas las leyes, normas, licencias y políticas aplicables al proyecto. Abarcan requisitos de seguridad, medio ambiente, salud ocupacional, contratación o calidad. Su objetivo es asegurar que las actividades y entregables cumplan con los estándares legales y sectoriales vigentes. Requisitos de usuario o de operación Definen cómo los usuarios, clientes o beneficiarios utilizarán o interactuarán con el producto, servicio o instalación final. Describen necesidades de accesibilidad, mantenimiento, comodidad, seguridad o facilidad de uso que garanticen una experiencia satisfactoria y eficiente. Requisitos de transición o implementación Establecen las condiciones necesarias para la puesta en marcha y entrega del proyecto. Incluyen capacitación, documentación, validaciones, pruebas, recepción de obra y procedimientos de entrega. Buscan asegurar una adopción fluida, sin interrupciones en las operaciones existentes. ¿Cómo usar nuestra plantilla de recopilación de requisitos? Nuestra plantilla de recopilación de requisitos está diseñada para ser práctica y adaptable. Todos los campos son dinámicos, por lo que si necesitas cambiar el nombre de una sección o encabezado para alinearlo con la terminología de tu organización, basta con seleccionarlo y escribir encima. También hay espacio en los cuadros para agregar filas y columnas según sea necesario, de modo que puedas detallar tu lista tanto como quieras. Ejemplos de cuándo usar una plantilla de recopilación de requisitos Veamos algunos escenarios por sector que pueden beneficiarse de un proceso de recopilación de requisitos bien ejecutado. Recopilación de requisitos en servicios profesionales En los servicios profesionales, una plantilla de recopilación de requisitos ayuda a garantizar que el proyecto esté alineado con las necesidades del cliente. Por ejemplo, si una panadería local contrata una agencia de marketing para crear un nuevo sitio web, esta plantilla puede ayudar a comprender los objetivos, desafíos y expectativas de la panadería. Permite definir el alcance del proyecto para evitar desviaciones y sirve como puente de comunicación entre la agencia de marketing y la panadería. Recopilación de requisitos en TI Dado que el sector TI es altamente orientado al cliente, también se beneficia enormemente de nuestra plantilla. En el desarrollo de software, ayuda a comprender los flujos de trabajo de los usuarios, sus puntos de dolor y las funcionalidades deseadas. Este proceso también resulta útil en las mejoras de infraestructura de red, al analizar la red existente para identificar cuellos de botella y vulnerabilidades de seguridad. La recopilación de requisitos facilita la obtención de información de las partes interesadas, fomenta discusiones colaborativas y garantiza que las empresas de TI ofrezcan soluciones alineadas con las necesidades del cliente. Recopilación de requisitos en servicios financieros En los servicios financieros, la recopilación de requisitos resulta esencial debido al estricto entorno regulatorio y la complejidad del manejo de datos. Ayuda a mejorar el cumplimiento normativo al capturar las obligaciones regulatorias y documentar cómo los procesos cumplirán con esos estándares. También contribuye a abordar estrategias de mitigación de riesgos como la detección de fraudes, la evaluación de riesgos y la recuperación ante desastres. ProjectManager para cumplir con los requisitos del proyecto Como se mencionó anteriormente, la recopilación de requisitos es solo el punto de partida que impulsa un proyecto hacia adelante. Mantenerse en el camino y alcanzar la meta con éxito requiere más que recopilar y planificar: se necesitan las herramientas adecuadas para el trabajo. ProjectManager es un software de gestión de proyectos basado en la nube, lo que significa que nuestro panel en tiempo real captura el progreso a medida que los miembros del equipo actualizan la información. Estos datos se transforman automáticamente en gráficos y diagramas coloridos, fáciles de leer y compartir. ProjectManager facilita la colaboración y ofrece diagramas de Gantt en línea para mantener a todos dentro del cronograma, además de tableros Kanban para un flujo de trabajo visual. Descubre cómo puede ayudar a tu próximo proyecto con esta prueba gratuita de 30 días. The post Plantilla de recopilación de requisitos de proyecto (descarga gratuita) appeared first on ProjectManager. View the full article

Earlier this month we talked about work restaurant meals gone wrong, and here are 12 of my favorite stories you shared. 1. The mistaken identity I (F) was in my mid-30s and traveling to work with a client. He had sent up a dinner that should have included five or six of us on the project. Everyone backed out except me, which is how I found myself at a cozy, fireside table for two at a dark but excellent Boston restaurant, drinking a glass of champagne. (I was in my bubbles era…) And who should happen to be dining there but his wife’s cousin, who barged up to the table wanting to know why he was sipping bubbly with me rather than hanging out at home with his extremely pregnant wife. Awkward doesn’t even begin to describe it. 2. The tomato sauce I once worked at an English language school. The owner was from Brazil and hired a Brazilian woman she knew to cook for the faculty and staff every day. It was mostly a way to pay someone in her community, but the woman always made phenomenal food. At this stage in my life, I knew next to nothing about Brazilian culture or food. On my second or third day, I went into the breakroom and saw a crockpot of what looked like tomato soup next to some lovely, inviting rolls of fresh bread. I excitedly ladled some of the crockpot contents into a bowl, grabbed a spoon, and sat down with some of my new coworkers (who had just finished eating). I was chattering away, eating my lunch by the spoonful and occasionally dipping in pieces of bread. I noticed that my coworkers were growing silent and some were looking at me a bit awkwardly. Finally, one of them turned to our cook and said, “Ana, this is so phenomenal, I think I’m going to get seconds!” She then went over to the crockpot … and I realized, to my utter horror, that the crockpot contained meatballs in tomato sauce and the rolls were for making meatball subs. And I had just spent the past 15 minutes sitting there eating tomato sauce with a spoon like a deranged person. 3. The Arnold Palmers A new salesperson at my husband’s office took a client to lunch. The client ordered an Arnold Palmer to drink. Thinking he should match the energy of the client, the salesperson ordered a Red Bull and vodka. Every time the client got a fresh drink, so did the salesperson. When asked why he was inebriated after a work lunch, he explained the situation to my husband, who in turn explained to him what an Arnold Palmer was. (For those who don’t know, it’s half lemonade and half iced tea.) Lesson learned. Not sure if he got the account, but he certainly made an impression! 4. The cheese bread I worked for a shoestring budget faith-based nonprofit that decided to do a year-long competition where the prize was a paid meal at a Brazilian steakhouse. I went, but we did not get plus-one’s. My very pregnant wife was jealous because she loves the cheese bread they serve at Brazilian steakhouses. So I put two gallon-size plastic bags in my backpack, stuffed it under the table, and every time the server reloaded a bread basket, I dumped the whole thing into my bag. I came home a hero. The dinner was also attended by two young right-out-of-college intern men who were sharing a crappy apartment and living off ramen because they made so little. I have never seen two people absolutely gorge like those two did. I think they were getting their calories for the next two weeks. 5. The electric bagpipe machine At a farewell dinner for a beloved colleague, my company was taking up about half the restaurant. The retired founder of our company decided it would be appropriate to bring out and start up his ELECTRIC BAGPIPE MACHINE, which is a box that basically sounds like a theramin in a kilt. Everyone in the restaurant, including most of us, thought some kind of deranged fire alarm was going off. He then proceeded to distribute handouts with lyrics of comic song he’d written to the tune of the Skye Boat Song about events on a work away-weekend from before most of us worked at the company (and before I was born), and expected us all to sing along with the machine. All the poor normal people who’d just wanted a nice restaurant dinner were staring at us, and I wanted to die. 6. The hibachi place When I was a newly hired, my new group had a welcome lunch at a hibachi place, similar to Benihana, where the server cooks your food in front of you and puts on a show while doing so. The server called me “sexy lady” and squirted saki directly into people’s mouths. It was awkward and weird. Thankfully the group otherwise had normal standards of professionalism but it was a very weird first impression. That restaurant was to go to for group lunches for years. 7. The conversion A business dinner actually made me vegetarian. Early in my career, I was connected via networking to a really nice and helpful woman who helped me get an internship at her company. The week before the internship started, she invited me out for drinks and sushi with a few coworkers and outgoing interns so I could hear more about the company and get a heard start on introductions. Super nice! At the time, I didn’t eat fish (just because I didn’t like the taste) and when the waiter came around to me, I ordered the veggie roll. The woman who invited me turned excitedly to me and said, “Oh, are you a vegetarian too??” In my early-20s eagerness to please and desire to connect further with this really, really nice person, I panicked and said, “Yes!” Not only was this a weird white lie, my internship at her company started the next week so I was also locking myself into living this lie by bringing vegetarian lunches and eating vegetarian at company events for at least the next four months. This actually turned out surprisingly fine – and I’ve now been vegetarian for eight years. 8. The small amount of tapas I worked at a company that wanted to be a luxury fashion brand. They announced an all-staff party at a very posh tapas place on the beach, a few hours away from the office. The party was mandatory, so they rented buses to drive the entire company (70+ people) to the restaurant. We had an entire floor to ourselves, which included a beautiful view of the sun slowly setting over the ocean. Five hours of beachside views, appetizers, and quiet chat – what could go wrong? Somehow, the plates of appetizers ordered ahead of time were not party-sized, but tapas-sized. So “a plate of mini eclairs” meant “two eclairs on a tiny plate.” The executive team ate all the appetizers before they got to anyone else before realizing that, no, that little plate with a single mini quiche on it was the only one coming out. The waitstaff also didn’t bring water to anyone except the executive team, because it was the restaurant’s policy that only diners got water and they were the only ones who ate. People asked if they could order their own dishes and pay for them on their own, but were repeatedly told no by both the waitstaff and the head of HR. People started wandering around and attempting to leave to get food elsewhere but were dragged back by head of HR. We were all forced to sit at a single long table, without moving from our seats, without food or water, for the rest of the party. At hour 4, the waitstaff brought out three small baskets of those dry boxed breadsticks. To their credit, all the managers at the section of the table I sat at made sure their staff ate breadsticks first before they did, so the managers ate nothing. Executive staff did get a single breadstick each. This was not considered sufficient enough dining for the waitstaff to bring us water. I must have looked crazy to the guy who walked into the bathroom and saw me drinking from the bathroom sink before the bus ride. No one spoke to each other on the hours-long bus ride home. 9. The boor We were a very social office of about eight people and had two new starters in the same week. One of the new starters had made a couple of comments about being frugal before the meal, but none of us thought anything much about it. Until it came to paying and leaving. Being the highest paid person there, after everyone had pad for what they had, I left a tip. The new starter grabbed my arm with dismay and shock as we got up from the table to inform me that I’d left some money behind. I had to explain to a guy in his 30s what tipping was. 10. The rice At my first day of my first adult job, my boss took me out to lunch. She was an extremely proper, middle-aged woman who I never saw laugh but she was still very kind. We went to a local Thai restaurant, and she asked me a question as I was eating. I finished my bite and began to respond, but a rogue piece of rice shot out of my mouth and ONTO HER PLATE. She blinked, remained unfazed, and then when she took her next bite just gently pushed my single piece of feral rice to the side of her plate. 11. The knife attack When I worked in B2B services, we’d flown out to work directly with our most difficult client at their office for a few days, and they took us out for dinner at a fancy steakhouse. When the waiter brought us steak knives, he managed to fumble mine and drop it in such a way that it landed, point down, on my foot. I was wearing ballet flats so that part of my foot was completely unprotected and I straight up got shanked in the foot. It wasn’t so bad I needed urgent care or anything but it was bad enough that it was sore and needed to be kept covered for multiple days. The waiter looked like he was about to throw up due to shame/horror so I reassured him that it was okay, but I was either too reassuring or not reassuring enough because after that he just kind of pretended it didn’t happen? I had to flag down a different waiter to ask for a bandaid so I didn’t bleed on the restaurant floor. I kind of expected them to at least comp my dessert or something, but nope! Which, no skin off my nose financially because the client was paying, but I did low key feel entitled to at least a scoop of ice cream in compensation for being stabbed in the foot. 12. The dark dinner The owners of our franchise would throw a small holiday dinner for the higher level managers every Christmas (there was also a full staff one, a bit later). So, one year they decided to mix it up and, instead of the usual place, took us to an uptown steakhouse. The food was fine, but the whole place was dark. We were at a table where you could see the person across and next to you, there was one candle for every two people (think 14 people), and that was it, with some light from the windows. People were pulling out their phones to read the menu, conversations were stilted because you couldn’t see the people at the ends of table, the waiters were carrying a small lamp on every tray, and the various appetizers that were ordered for the table were basically just put down in one place and no way to get it if it was more then a person down. It wasn’t a light outage of some kind, it was just they were used to two-people tables and kind of shoved our group into a section that was mainly used for displaying seasonal items through the windows. The gifts that the owners handed out were passed out by an owner walking around the table to find the person it went to since they couldn’t see them from the head of the table. Next year it was back at the usual cafe. The post the mistaken identity, the electric bagpipe machine, and other work restaurant meals gone wrong appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

The new platform already counts two lenders as embedded partners, with the rollout coming as mortgage leaders see rising demand coming for DSCR loans. View the full article

Shares of stocks linked to agriculture, soybeans and cooking oil are are up on Wednesday after President Donald The President said that the U.S. was considering “terminating business with China having to do with Cooking Oil and other elements of Trade” as retribution against Beijing for refusing to buy American soybeans. Pinnacle Food Group Limited (PFAI) shares were up over 77%, Sadot Group Inc. (SDOT) was up over 87%, and Australian Oilseeds Holdings Limited (COOT) rose over 260% at the time of this writing in midday trading on Wednesday. Pinnacle Food Group Limited sells smart farming solution services, Sadot Group is a Texas-based global food supply chain company, and Australian Oilseeds Holdings has grown to be the largest cold pressing oil plant in Australia, pressing GMO-free conventional and organic oilseeds. This marks the latest chapter, and second week, in The President’s ongoing trade and tariff war with China, which reignited October 9 with restrictions on rare earth mineral exports, vital for U.S. chipmakers and the tech and defense industries. Last week, The President said he was putting 100% tariffs on Chinese goods after Beijing added five American subsidiaries of a South Korean shipping company to its sanctions list. “I believe that China purposefully not buying our Soybeans, and causing difficulty for our Soybean Farmers, is an Economically Hostile Act,” The President said Tuesday on his social media platform Truth Social. “We can easily produce Cooking Oil ourselves, we don’t need to purchase it from China.” China responded that its position on tariffs remains the same: A trade war is in neither country’s interest. The latest row comes ahead of The President’s scheduled meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding my work at Lifehacker as a preferred source. Finding a pair of headphones or earbuds that meets your needs exactly—whether you’re using them at the gym, while working from home, or even when showering—doesn’t have to mean shelling out a ton of money. The best of them can be really expensive, yes. But if you're a patient shopper, you can usually find a good deal—and I don't mean waiting around for Black Friday. Here are the best deals, discounts, and sales you can find on earbuds and headphones right now. I'll be regularly updating this story with the best offers, but given these prices can change at any time, I would advise you not to wait if you spot one that fits your needs and budget. On-Ear Bluetooth Headphone, Black Marshall Major V $99.99 at Amazon $159.99 Save $60.00 Get Deal Get Deal $99.99 at Amazon $159.99 Save $60.00 Bluetooth Wireless Headphones - Target Certified Refurbished Refurbished Beats Studio Pro $139.99 at Target $349.99 Save $210.00 Get Deal Get Deal $139.99 at Target $349.99 Save $210.00 Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds, Reduce Noise by Up to 98%, Ultra Long 50H Playtime, 10H Soundcore by Anker Space A40 $42.74 at Amazon $79.99 Save $37.25 Get Deal Get Deal $42.74 at Amazon $79.99 Save $37.25 JBL Tune Buds $49.95 at Amazon $99.95 Save $50.00 Get Deal Get Deal $49.95 at Amazon $99.95 Save $50.00 50-Hour Battery Life, Audio, Hybrid Noise Cancelling (ANC), All-Day Comfort Sennheiser Accentum Headphones $106.84 at Amazon $189.95 Save $83.11 Get Deal Get Deal $106.84 at Amazon $189.95 Save $83.11 Apple AirPods 4 Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds $118.99 at Amazon $179.00 Save $60.01 Get Deal Get Deal $118.99 at Amazon $179.00 Save $60.01 SEE 3 MORE The Marshall Major V are $60 offStylish, long battery life, and booming bass: That's what you can expect from the Marshall Major V headphones, currently $99.99 (originally $159.99). While you'll find other headphones with more features on this list, these ably cover all the basics, and offer a comfortable fit and a classic '80s look. Read more about these headphones. The Beats Studio Pro are 51% offBeats headphones are known for their style and compatibility with Apple devices. Both of these points hold true for their flagship headphones, the Beats Studio Pro, which are currently more than half off, at $139.99 (originally $349.99) if you shop Target for a refurbished pair. They came out in 2023 and earned a "good" review from PCMag, which praised their sculpted sound, comfort, premium accessories, and spatial audio with head tracking. Anker Space A40 are 44% offYou can still get very good ANC earbuds even if you're not willing to shell out the big bucks. The Soundcore by Anker Space A40 are $44.99 (originally $99.99) and give you as many features and even better ANC than some high-end pairs, without the excessive price tag. The main area where these earbuds fall short is in capturing your voice when making calls, but if you're on a tight budget, the Soundcore by Anker Space A40 are a good choice. JBL Tune Buds are 50% offAnother good pair of earbuds for cheap, the JBL Tune Buds are currently going for $49.95 (originally $99.95) after a 50% discount. They're also ANC earbuds and have a Smart Ambient feature so you can hear your surroundings as well. You'll get 48 hours of battery life with the case, and four microphones to be able to be heard clearly over the phone. If you prefer a deep and thumpy sound signature, go for the JBL Tune Buds over the Anker Space A40. Sennheiser Accentum Headphones are 33% offThe Sennheiser Accentum have offered great value since their release in 2023. But for $127.35 (originally $189.95), they're even better. They offer aptX and aptX HD support for better audio quality over Bluetooth, ANC, and USB-C wired audio. They're also light and comfortable, which means they'll feel good across their impressive 50 hours of battery life. The AirPods 4 with ANC are $60 offApple users, take advantage of this deal. Right now, you can get the latest AirPods with ANC for $118.99 (originally $179.99), a record low price according to price-tracking tools. This price makes the budget-friendly version of the AirPods 4 without ANC irrelevant, since they're $117 (originally $129). Apple added a live translation feature to the ANC model when iOS 26 rolled out earlier this year. This ANC version also has a charging case with a built-in speaker, so you can locate it with Find My if you ever misplace them. This is a great price for the latest AirPods. Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now Apple AirPods Pro 2 Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds — $197.00 (List Price $249.00) Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge 256GB Unlocked AI Phone (Titanium JetBlack) — $819.99 (List Price $1,099.99) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $319.00 (List Price $349.00) Blink Mini 2 1080p Indoor Security Camera (2-Pack, White) — $34.99 (List Price $69.99) Ring Battery Doorbell Plus — $149.99 (List Price $149.99) Blink Video Doorbell Wireless (Newest Model) + Sync Module Core — $34.99 (List Price $69.99) Ring Indoor Cam (2nd Gen, 2-pack, White) — $79.99 (List Price $99.98) Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K (2nd Gen, 2023) — $29.99 (List Price $49.99) Shark AV2501S AI Ultra Robot Vacuum with HEPA Self-Empty Base — $359.89 (List Price $549.99) Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023) — (List Price $139.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

Google Ads is rolling out a major policy change around how advertisers can use prescription drug terms, marking one of the biggest shifts in healthcare ad regulation on the platform in years. What’s new. Starting Oct. 29, Google will restrict the use of prescription drug terms in ads, landing pages, and keywords, with different rules depending on location. In the U.S., Canada, and New Zealand: advertisers may promote prescription drugs if compliant with local laws. Certification is now required to keyword-target prescription terms, applying to online pharmacies, telemedicine providers, and pharmaceutical manufacturers. Everywhere else: Promotion of prescription drugs is banned. Only non-promotional uses (e.g., public health notices, academic research) are allowed. Certain certified businesses may still keyword-target these terms. Enforcement begins Oct. 29, and Google will ramp up over four to six weeks. Advertisers will receive a seven-day warning before any account suspension. What they’re saying. There have been either mixed or unhappy reactions to this update from the industry. “Pretty wild Google Ads update! You now must be certified to keyword target prescription drug terms. Keywords used to be fair game — this is a big shift, especially for mass tort advertisers.” said Anthony Higman, founder and CEO of AdSquire: “How does this even work with broad or phrase match? Even if you avoid a drug name, won’t AI or PMax variants still trigger it?” replied Google Ads Coach, Jyll Saskin Gales SEM strategist Abby Nelson found the update ironic: “We used to need LegitScript certification just for mentioning prescription terms on a landing page. Now broad match pulls in drug terms like Botox — and ads are still getting approved.” Why we care. Advertisers may face higher compliance costs and stricter oversight. Healthcare marketers will need certification before targeting any drug-related keywords. Legal advertisers could see disruption in campaigns tied to pharma or mass tort cases. Bottom line. Google’s tightening grip on healthcare ads marks a new era of compliance-first marketing, where even keyword targeting isn’t safe without the right certification. First seen. The update was first spotted by Higman when he shared the above letter he got from Google on LinkedIn. View the full article

Scott Bessent says Washington will retaliate if Beijing proceeds with policy on rare earths and critical mineralsView the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding Lifehacker as a preferred source for tech news. Coros launched a new version of its Apex watch today, the Apex 4. Like the Nomad released earlier this year, it has a MIP screen, an action button for shortcuts, and maps with street names. How does the Apex compare to other Coros watches? Coros has three watch lines besides the Nomad: the Pace, Apex, and Vertix. I’ve written about the Pace 3 and Pace Pro, both of them solid watches that rival Garmin features at a lower price. (I swapped my Garmin for a Coros for a month this summer; you can read my thoughts on that here.) Compared to the Pace line, Apex has more rugged materials and is billed as an adventure watch. It has features geared toward skiing and mountain climbing, in addition to the usual running and fitness capabilities. Both this Apex model and the one before it have sapphire glass and offline mapping. The Apex 2 only has single-band GPS, while the Apex 2 Pro has dual-band like the new Apex 4. What’s new in the Apex 4?Before the Apex 4 were the Apex 2 and 2 Pro. (Yes, Coros skipped the 3.) Compared to them, the new Apex 4 adds: A speaker and microphone The ability to log voice pins that get tied to locations (enabled by that microphone) Trail and street names on the maps An action button that can be programmed for shortcuts, instead of a dedicated backlight button Faster map rendering More accurate elevation readings Battery life is similar to the Apex 2 Pro, with 24 days of daily use or 17 hours of activity tracking in all-systems mode. The Apex 4 is $479 for the 46 mm size, and $429 for the 42 millimeter size. For comparison, the Apex 2 Pro is $449 and comes in a 46 millimeter size, and the Apex 2 is $349 and 43 millimeters. View the full article

Robotaxi pioneer Waymo plans to expand to London next year, marking the company’s latest step in rolling out its driverless ride service internationally. Waymo said Wednesday that it will start testing its self-driving cars on London streets in the coming weeks—with a human “safety driver” behind the wheel—as it seeks to win government approval for its services. In a blog post, Waymo said it will “lay the groundwork” for its London service in the coming months. The company said it will “continue to engage with local and national leaders to secure the necessary permissions for our commercial ride-hailing service.” Waymo’s self-driving taxis have been operating in the United States for years, and currently serve the cities of Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Austin. This year, the company made its first moves to expand internationally by teaming up with local partners in Japan for testing, though no launch date has been set for commercial service there. The company began as a secret project within Google and was then spun out from the tech giant. Waymo will have to follow new U.K. regulations on self-driving cars that pave the way for autonomous vehicles to take to the country’s roads. They require self-driving cars to have a safety level “at least as high as careful and competent human drivers” and meet rigorous safety checks. The company will be able to take part in a pilot program for “small-scale” self-driving taxi and bus services that the government plans for spring 2026. Waymo will also have to stick to rules from Transport for London, the city’s transport authority, which oversees licensing for its famous traditional black cabs as well as other taxi operators like Uber. View the full article

Microsoft Bing now supports the data-nosnippet HTML attribute. This gives brands and businesses more control over what content appears in search results and AI-generated answers, including in Copilot. Why we care. This gives you more control over how your content appears in Bing’s search results and AI answers. You can protect paywalled or experimental sections and shape how your brand is represented in AI summaries. How it works. The attribute lets webmasters mark sections of a page to exclude from snippets or AI summaries, without affecting indexing or ranking. Bing still crawls and ranks the page, but omits the marked content from previews. Use cases. You can: Hide premium or subscriber-only text. Exclude comments, ads, or disclaimers. Keep outdated promotional content or A/B test copy out of snippets. Zoom out. Bing finally joins Google in offering the data-nosnippet HTML attribute. In 2024, Microsoft Principal Product Manager Fabrice Canel said there were “no plans to provide support for this in the near future.” Bing’s announcement. Bing Introduces Support for the data-nosnippet  HTML Attribute  View the full article

U.S. quantum computing firm D-Wave Quantum has struck a deal with a company called Swiss Quantum Technology (SQT) to bring D-Wave’s Advantage2 quantum computer to Europe. The deal, which amounts to €10 million ($11.63 million), will see D-Wave’s quantum computer deployed in Italy, where it will play a role in supporting the Italians’ efforts toward large-scale digital transformation, D-Wave announced on Wednesday. It will be part of a joint effort—collectively called the “Q-Alliance”—between D-Wave and IonQ, another American quantum computing company. In its announcement Wednesday, D-Wave said little about what SQT does, and scant information about the company is accessible online. A rep for D-Wave described it as “a Swiss company that has been established to focus on quantum hybrid applications and research” when contacted for comment by Fast Company. Shares of Palo Alto, California-based D-Wave rose after the announcement and were up around 1.29% in early-afternoon trading. The stock has had an astounding run since last year, growing more than 4,235% over the last 12 months as excitement around quantum computers—seen by many experts as a transformative technology—has hit fever pitch. “A very important day” D-Wave’s CEO, Dr. Alan Baratz, said during a short live-streamed announcement on Wednesday morning that it’s “a very important day for Italy, for the Q-Alliance, and for D-Wave as we are now bringing one of the world’s largest quantum computers to the region.” The announcement comes after D-Wave made waves earlier this year by announcing that it had achieved “quantum supremacy,” knocking out computations that would have taken roughly one million years to solve on a traditional, classical computer. Accordingly, Baratz said that D-Wave’s Advantage2 is “the only quantum computer in the world that’s been able to solve an important, useful, real-world problem that could not be solved classically”—referring to the quantum supremacy announcement, which involved D-Wave’s quantum computer simulating the properties of magnetic materials. “This is what everybody [in the quantum industry] has been aspiring to,” he said, “and that’s been achieved.” D-Wave’s quantum computing technology is already being used in other parts of the world. A police department in Wales, for instance, is using it to predict and analyze police force deployments. Ford Otosan, a Turkey-based auto manufacturer representing a joint effort between Ford and Koç Holding, is using D-Wave tech as a part of its assembly process. And in Japan, a cellphone carrier is using it to improve its network performance. D-Wave announced the general availability of its Advantage2 in May of this year. News that it’s bringing one to Italy may be seen as more evidence that the quantum industry is set for a breakout—despite skepticism from some tech leaders who have contended that practical use cases are still years away. View the full article

Effective messaging documents are crucial for clear communication and brand consistency. By utilizing seven fundamental templates, you can streamline the messaging process and guarantee your content resonates with your target audience. These templates include core messaging statements, brand messaging frameworks, and audience-specific messaging matrices, among others. Each serves a unique purpose, enhancing customer engagement and adapting to market shifts. Comprehending how to implement these templates can greatly improve your messaging strategy. Let’s explore each one in detail. Key Takeaways Create a core messaging template to outline your brand’s value proposition and unique selling points succinctly. Develop a messaging matrix template to organize key messages by audience segments and communication channels for tailored messaging. Utilize a product messaging template to clearly communicate features, benefits, and target audiences while highlighting unique selling points. Implement a customer experience mapping template to identify touchpoints and messaging needs at each stage of the customer journey. Design a centralized resource template for easy access to updated messaging materials, ensuring consistency across all channels. Core Messaging Statements Core messaging statements are vital for any brand looking to communicate effectively with its audience. These statements serve as foundational building blocks, summarizing your value proposition and unique selling points in one or two concise sentences. To create an effective core messaging statement, make certain it aligns with your brand’s mission, vision, and values. This alignment helps convey your essence as you resonate with your target audience. Regularly refining these statements is important, as they must adapt to market changes, customer needs, and competition. Utilizing a messaging document template can streamline this process, providing you with messaging guidelines to guarantee consistency and clarity across all your marketing efforts. Keep your statements clear and direct, focusing on what matters most to your audience. Brand Messaging Effective brand messaging is crucial for establishing a clear and recognizable identity in the marketplace. It helps convey your brand’s promise and resonates with your target audience. To create effective brand messaging, focus on these key components: Tagline: A concise representation of your brand’s personality that evokes emotional responses. Value Proposition: Clearly articulate both functional and emotional benefits to differentiate from competitors. Messaging Pillars: Develop 3-5 key selling points that reinforce your value proposition. Consistency: Guarantee messaging aligns across all channels to build trust and recognition. Storytelling: Use a structured narrative to engage your audience and improve their connection to your brand. Messaging Matrix When crafting your messaging strategy, a messaging matrix serves as an invaluable tool to streamline your communication efforts. It organizes key messages by audience segments and communication channels, guaranteeing your messaging resonates with each group. Typically, your matrix will include columns for target personas, messaging pillars, value propositions, and preferred channels. Here’s a basic example of a messaging matrix: Target Personas Messaging Pillars Young Professionals Innovation and Flexibility Small Business Owners Cost Efficiency Nonprofits Social Impact Tech Enthusiasts State-of-the-art Technology Health-conscious Consumers Wellness and Lifestyle Regularly updating your messaging matrix based on feedback guarantees your strategies remain relevant and effective, streamlining your content creation process. Persona Messaging When you focus on persona messaging, you’re creating customized strategies that resonate with your audience’s specific needs. By comprehending their demographics, interests, and pain points, you can craft messages that truly connect. This approach not just improves engagement but likewise boosts your conversion rates, making your marketing efforts more effective. Tailored Messaging Strategies Customized messaging strategies, particularly persona messaging, focus on crafting specific messages that resonate with distinct customer segments. By identifying and comprehending your target personas, you can create customized communications that engage effectively. Here are key components to reflect on: Develop detailed buyer personas, including demographics, behaviors, and motivations. Create a clear value proposition for each persona, addressing their unique challenges. Incorporate relevant use cases that demonstrate practical benefits. Use relatable examples to improve connection and comprehension. Regularly revisit and refine your messaging based on feedback and market trends. Understanding Audience Needs How well do you really comprehend your audience’s needs? To create effective messaging, you should develop detailed profiles of your target audience segments, known as personas. These profiles include demographics, behaviors, and pain points. By grasping these aspects, you can identify the specific challenges and motivations that influence purchasing decisions. Tailoring your messaging based on these personas guarantees that your communications resonate with your audience, improving engagement and connection. Utilize insights from customer surveys and focus groups to create accurate buyer personas. Regularly refine and update these personas based on market trends and customer feedback. This practice keeps your messaging relevant and impactful, eventually leading to better outcomes in your marketing efforts. Product Messaging Effective product messaging is essential for clearly communicating the value of your offerings to potential buyers. A well-structured product messaging template organizes key messages about features, benefits, and target audiences. To create effective messaging, consider these elements: Define your unique selling points to stand out from competitors. Use customer testimonials and case studies for social proof and credibility. Align sales and marketing teams to guarantee a unified voice in communications. Regularly review and refine your messaging to stay relevant. Focus on clear, concise language that resonates with potential buyers. Product Messaging Map A Product Messaging Map is vital for aligning your brand’s core messages with your target personas. By mapping out key messages and visualizing customer experiences, you can clearly identify how your product addresses specific pain points. This approach guarantees that your communication is consistent and customized to different audience segments, streamlining your messaging strategy. Mapping Brand and Persona Creating a Product Messaging Map is essential for aligning your brand’s messaging with the specific needs of your target personas. This strategic tool helps guarantee your marketing communications resonate effectively. By evaluating the relationship between brand, persona, and product messages, you can clarify how each element supports your overall goals. Consider these key components: Value Proposition: Define what makes your product unique. Core Messaging: Establish clear, concise messages customized to each persona. Differentiators: Highlight what sets your brand apart from competitors. Target Pain Points: Address the specific challenges your personas face. Iterative Improvements: Use market feedback to refine your messaging continuously. With this map, you’ll improve consistency and build trust with potential customers. Key Message Alignment Aligning key messages within your Product Messaging Map is crucial for ensuring that all communication reflects your brand’s values and speaks directly to your audience. This strategic tool helps you organize key messages across different audience segments, providing a coherent view of your product’s value propositions. By including sections for brand messaging, persona insights, and product details, you can see how each element interacts with your overall messaging goals. This process allows you to identify gaps and tailor your content to meet specific buyer personas. Consistent messaging across marketing channels improves brand recognition and builds trust. Regular updates to your Product Messaging Map keep your messaging relevant and aligned with evolving market trends and customer expectations. Visualizing Customer Journeys To effectively visualize customer experiences, it’s vital to utilize a Product Messaging Map that clearly outlines the interactions customers have with your brand. This map not only aligns your brand, persona, and product messages, but also highlights fundamental touchpoints throughout the customer experience. Here’s what you should focus on: Identify key customer personas to tailor your messaging. Map out stages of the customer experience, from awareness to purchase. Highlight specific needs and pain points at each stage. Look for messaging gaps that may cause inconsistencies. Regularly update the map based on customer feedback and market trends. Tips for Implementing Your Messaging Framework Implementing an effective messaging framework requires careful attention to detail and consistency across all communication channels. Start by creating style guides that outline your messaging standards and formats. This consistency helps everyone stay on the same page. Conduct regular audits to spot discrepancies in messaging, adjusting your strategies to align with the framework. Establish a centralized repository for messaging materials, ensuring team members can easily access the latest updates. Provide training sessions to equip your team with the knowledge to communicate core messages effectively. Finally, set periodic evaluations to review and update the framework, keeping it relevant and aligned with your evolving business goals and market conditions. This structured approach will improve your messaging effectiveness. Frequently Asked Questions How Do I Determine My Target Audience for Messaging? To determine your target audience for messaging, start by analyzing your product or service. Identify key demographics, such as age, gender, and location. Research their interests, needs, and pain points through surveys or market analysis. Create buyer personas to represent these groups, helping you visualize who you’re addressing. Finally, test your messaging with different segments to refine your approach based on their feedback, ensuring your communication resonates effectively with the right audience. What Is the Importance of Tone in Messaging Documents? The tone in messaging documents is vital as it shapes how your audience perceives your message. A consistent tone guarantees clarity and builds trust, making your content more relatable. Depending on your audience, you might choose a formal or informal tone. This choice affects engagement levels, so consider your audience’s preferences and expectations. How Often Should I Update My Messaging Templates? You should update your messaging templates regularly to guarantee they remain relevant and effective. A good rule of thumb is to review them every six months. Nonetheless, if there are significant changes in your audience, industry trends, or your organization’s goals, update them immediately. Consistent reviews help you maintain clarity and effectiveness in your communication, providing you with the best chance to connect with your audience and meet your objectives. Can I Customize Templates for Different Campaigns? Yes, you can absolutely customize templates for different campaigns. Start by identifying the unique goals and target audiences for each campaign. Modify the language, tone, and visuals to align with those specifics. Incorporate any relevant data or insights that resonate with your audience. Furthermore, make sure your templates reflect the campaign’s branding and messaging strategy. By tailoring each template, you improve relevance and effectiveness, ultimately increasing engagement and achieving better results. What Tools Can Help Create Messaging Documents Effectively? To create effective messaging documents, you can use various tools. First, consider word processors like Microsoft Word or Google Docs for drafting. For visual elements, Canva or Adobe Spark can improve your documents. Collaboration tools like Trello or Slack help streamline feedback. Project management software, such as Asana, keeps your tasks organized. Finally, templates from platforms like HubSpot can save time and guarantee consistency in your messaging across different campaigns. Conclusion Incorporating these seven crucial templates into your messaging process will improve clarity and consistency. By developing core messaging statements and utilizing brand frameworks, you can effectively communicate your value. Furthermore, employing messaging matrices and product outlines helps tailor your approach to different audiences. Don’t forget to map customer experiences and maintain a style guide for uniformity. Following these steps will guarantee that your messaging resonates with your target personas and adapts to changing market conditions. Image Via Envato This article, "7 Essential Templates for Effective Messaging Documents" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Effective messaging documents are crucial for clear communication and brand consistency. By utilizing seven fundamental templates, you can streamline the messaging process and guarantee your content resonates with your target audience. These templates include core messaging statements, brand messaging frameworks, and audience-specific messaging matrices, among others. Each serves a unique purpose, enhancing customer engagement and adapting to market shifts. Comprehending how to implement these templates can greatly improve your messaging strategy. Let’s explore each one in detail. Key Takeaways Create a core messaging template to outline your brand’s value proposition and unique selling points succinctly. Develop a messaging matrix template to organize key messages by audience segments and communication channels for tailored messaging. Utilize a product messaging template to clearly communicate features, benefits, and target audiences while highlighting unique selling points. Implement a customer experience mapping template to identify touchpoints and messaging needs at each stage of the customer journey. Design a centralized resource template for easy access to updated messaging materials, ensuring consistency across all channels. Core Messaging Statements Core messaging statements are vital for any brand looking to communicate effectively with its audience. These statements serve as foundational building blocks, summarizing your value proposition and unique selling points in one or two concise sentences. To create an effective core messaging statement, make certain it aligns with your brand’s mission, vision, and values. This alignment helps convey your essence as you resonate with your target audience. Regularly refining these statements is important, as they must adapt to market changes, customer needs, and competition. Utilizing a messaging document template can streamline this process, providing you with messaging guidelines to guarantee consistency and clarity across all your marketing efforts. Keep your statements clear and direct, focusing on what matters most to your audience. Brand Messaging Effective brand messaging is crucial for establishing a clear and recognizable identity in the marketplace. It helps convey your brand’s promise and resonates with your target audience. To create effective brand messaging, focus on these key components: Tagline: A concise representation of your brand’s personality that evokes emotional responses. Value Proposition: Clearly articulate both functional and emotional benefits to differentiate from competitors. Messaging Pillars: Develop 3-5 key selling points that reinforce your value proposition. Consistency: Guarantee messaging aligns across all channels to build trust and recognition. Storytelling: Use a structured narrative to engage your audience and improve their connection to your brand. Messaging Matrix When crafting your messaging strategy, a messaging matrix serves as an invaluable tool to streamline your communication efforts. It organizes key messages by audience segments and communication channels, guaranteeing your messaging resonates with each group. Typically, your matrix will include columns for target personas, messaging pillars, value propositions, and preferred channels. Here’s a basic example of a messaging matrix: Target Personas Messaging Pillars Young Professionals Innovation and Flexibility Small Business Owners Cost Efficiency Nonprofits Social Impact Tech Enthusiasts State-of-the-art Technology Health-conscious Consumers Wellness and Lifestyle Regularly updating your messaging matrix based on feedback guarantees your strategies remain relevant and effective, streamlining your content creation process. Persona Messaging When you focus on persona messaging, you’re creating customized strategies that resonate with your audience’s specific needs. By comprehending their demographics, interests, and pain points, you can craft messages that truly connect. This approach not just improves engagement but likewise boosts your conversion rates, making your marketing efforts more effective. Tailored Messaging Strategies Customized messaging strategies, particularly persona messaging, focus on crafting specific messages that resonate with distinct customer segments. By identifying and comprehending your target personas, you can create customized communications that engage effectively. Here are key components to reflect on: Develop detailed buyer personas, including demographics, behaviors, and motivations. Create a clear value proposition for each persona, addressing their unique challenges. Incorporate relevant use cases that demonstrate practical benefits. Use relatable examples to improve connection and comprehension. Regularly revisit and refine your messaging based on feedback and market trends. Understanding Audience Needs How well do you really comprehend your audience’s needs? To create effective messaging, you should develop detailed profiles of your target audience segments, known as personas. These profiles include demographics, behaviors, and pain points. By grasping these aspects, you can identify the specific challenges and motivations that influence purchasing decisions. Tailoring your messaging based on these personas guarantees that your communications resonate with your audience, improving engagement and connection. Utilize insights from customer surveys and focus groups to create accurate buyer personas. Regularly refine and update these personas based on market trends and customer feedback. This practice keeps your messaging relevant and impactful, eventually leading to better outcomes in your marketing efforts. Product Messaging Effective product messaging is essential for clearly communicating the value of your offerings to potential buyers. A well-structured product messaging template organizes key messages about features, benefits, and target audiences. To create effective messaging, consider these elements: Define your unique selling points to stand out from competitors. Use customer testimonials and case studies for social proof and credibility. Align sales and marketing teams to guarantee a unified voice in communications. Regularly review and refine your messaging to stay relevant. Focus on clear, concise language that resonates with potential buyers. Product Messaging Map A Product Messaging Map is vital for aligning your brand’s core messages with your target personas. By mapping out key messages and visualizing customer experiences, you can clearly identify how your product addresses specific pain points. This approach guarantees that your communication is consistent and customized to different audience segments, streamlining your messaging strategy. Mapping Brand and Persona Creating a Product Messaging Map is essential for aligning your brand’s messaging with the specific needs of your target personas. This strategic tool helps guarantee your marketing communications resonate effectively. By evaluating the relationship between brand, persona, and product messages, you can clarify how each element supports your overall goals. Consider these key components: Value Proposition: Define what makes your product unique. Core Messaging: Establish clear, concise messages customized to each persona. Differentiators: Highlight what sets your brand apart from competitors. Target Pain Points: Address the specific challenges your personas face. Iterative Improvements: Use market feedback to refine your messaging continuously. With this map, you’ll improve consistency and build trust with potential customers. Key Message Alignment Aligning key messages within your Product Messaging Map is crucial for ensuring that all communication reflects your brand’s values and speaks directly to your audience. This strategic tool helps you organize key messages across different audience segments, providing a coherent view of your product’s value propositions. By including sections for brand messaging, persona insights, and product details, you can see how each element interacts with your overall messaging goals. This process allows you to identify gaps and tailor your content to meet specific buyer personas. Consistent messaging across marketing channels improves brand recognition and builds trust. Regular updates to your Product Messaging Map keep your messaging relevant and aligned with evolving market trends and customer expectations. Visualizing Customer Journeys To effectively visualize customer experiences, it’s vital to utilize a Product Messaging Map that clearly outlines the interactions customers have with your brand. This map not only aligns your brand, persona, and product messages, but also highlights fundamental touchpoints throughout the customer experience. Here’s what you should focus on: Identify key customer personas to tailor your messaging. Map out stages of the customer experience, from awareness to purchase. Highlight specific needs and pain points at each stage. Look for messaging gaps that may cause inconsistencies. Regularly update the map based on customer feedback and market trends. Tips for Implementing Your Messaging Framework Implementing an effective messaging framework requires careful attention to detail and consistency across all communication channels. Start by creating style guides that outline your messaging standards and formats. This consistency helps everyone stay on the same page. Conduct regular audits to spot discrepancies in messaging, adjusting your strategies to align with the framework. Establish a centralized repository for messaging materials, ensuring team members can easily access the latest updates. Provide training sessions to equip your team with the knowledge to communicate core messages effectively. Finally, set periodic evaluations to review and update the framework, keeping it relevant and aligned with your evolving business goals and market conditions. This structured approach will improve your messaging effectiveness. Frequently Asked Questions How Do I Determine My Target Audience for Messaging? To determine your target audience for messaging, start by analyzing your product or service. Identify key demographics, such as age, gender, and location. Research their interests, needs, and pain points through surveys or market analysis. Create buyer personas to represent these groups, helping you visualize who you’re addressing. Finally, test your messaging with different segments to refine your approach based on their feedback, ensuring your communication resonates effectively with the right audience. What Is the Importance of Tone in Messaging Documents? The tone in messaging documents is vital as it shapes how your audience perceives your message. A consistent tone guarantees clarity and builds trust, making your content more relatable. Depending on your audience, you might choose a formal or informal tone. This choice affects engagement levels, so consider your audience’s preferences and expectations. How Often Should I Update My Messaging Templates? You should update your messaging templates regularly to guarantee they remain relevant and effective. A good rule of thumb is to review them every six months. Nonetheless, if there are significant changes in your audience, industry trends, or your organization’s goals, update them immediately. Consistent reviews help you maintain clarity and effectiveness in your communication, providing you with the best chance to connect with your audience and meet your objectives. Can I Customize Templates for Different Campaigns? Yes, you can absolutely customize templates for different campaigns. Start by identifying the unique goals and target audiences for each campaign. Modify the language, tone, and visuals to align with those specifics. Incorporate any relevant data or insights that resonate with your audience. Furthermore, make sure your templates reflect the campaign’s branding and messaging strategy. By tailoring each template, you improve relevance and effectiveness, ultimately increasing engagement and achieving better results. What Tools Can Help Create Messaging Documents Effectively? To create effective messaging documents, you can use various tools. First, consider word processors like Microsoft Word or Google Docs for drafting. For visual elements, Canva or Adobe Spark can improve your documents. Collaboration tools like Trello or Slack help streamline feedback. Project management software, such as Asana, keeps your tasks organized. Finally, templates from platforms like HubSpot can save time and guarantee consistency in your messaging across different campaigns. Conclusion Incorporating these seven crucial templates into your messaging process will improve clarity and consistency. By developing core messaging statements and utilizing brand frameworks, you can effectively communicate your value. Furthermore, employing messaging matrices and product outlines helps tailor your approach to different audiences. Don’t forget to map customer experiences and maintain a style guide for uniformity. Following these steps will guarantee that your messaging resonates with your target personas and adapts to changing market conditions. Image Via Envato This article, "7 Essential Templates for Effective Messaging Documents" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Octopus Energy, EDF and E.On executives challenge Labour’s pledge to reduce energy costsView the full article

Federal Reserve Governor Stephan Miran said the economic standoff with China could increase market volatility, further necessitating the central bank to move its policy stance to neutral. View the full article

Elon Musk‘s lawyers will urge the Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday to restore his $56 billion pay package from Tesla, as one of the biggest corporate legal battles enters its final stage nearly two years after a lower court judge rescinded the Tesla CEO’s record compensation. The outcome could have substantial consequences for the state of Delaware, its widely used corporate law, and its Court of Chancery, a once-favored venue for business disputes that has recently been accused of hostility towards powerful entrepreneurs. The January 2024 Court of Chancery ruling striking down Musk’s pay has become a rallying cry for Delaware critics. Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick ruled that the Tesla board lacked independence from Musk when it approved the pay package in 2018 and that shareholders lacked key information when they voted overwhelmingly in favor of it. As a result, she applied a demanding legal standard and found the pay unfair to investors. The defendants, current and former Tesla directors, denied wrongdoing and said McCormick misinterpreted the facts and the law. Musk is not expected to attend. Companies switch legal homes After the Musk pay ruling, large companies, including Tesla, Dropbox, and the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, switched their legal homes to Texas or Nevada, where courts are friendlier toward directors. Delaware lawmakers responded to the corporate departures, a trend known as “Dexit,” by overhauling its corporate law. If Musk loses the appeal, he will still reap tens of billions of dollars in stock from the electric vehicle company, which agreed in August to a replacement deal if his 2018 plan is not restored. The company said the replacement award was meant to retain and focus Musk, who said earlier this year he was forming a new U.S. political party, on transitioning Tesla to robotics and automated driving. Tesla is now incorporated in Texas, where it is far more difficult for a shareholder to challenge board decisions. Tesla’s board last month proposed a $1 trillion compensation plan, highlighting confidence in Musk’s ability to steer the company in a new direction, even as Tesla loses ground to Chinese rivals in key markets amid softening EV demand. The five justices on Delaware’s high court will consider the appeal of the pay ruling as well as the $345 million legal fee that McCormick ordered Tesla to pay to the attorneys for Richard Tornetta, who held just nine Tesla shares when he sued to block the pay deal. The court typically takes months to rule. Tesla estimated in 2018 that the stock options plan would be worth $56 billion if the company met operational and financial goals, which it did. Because the stock continued to appreciate, the options are currently worth closer to $120 billion, by far the largest executive compensation ever. Musk is the world’s richest person with a fortune of around $480 billion, according to Forbes. The defendants have argued that McCormick erred in finding social and business ties to Musk compromised their independence and said Tesla shareholders were informed of the economic terms of the pay deal before they approved the plan. The directors said she should have reviewed the pay package under the “business judgment” standard, which protects directors from second-guessing by courts. The directors have long argued the pay package performed as hoped – it focused the attention of Musk, a serial entrepreneur, and he transformed Tesla from a startup into one of the world’s most valuable companies. Several months after McCormick’s ruling, Tesla received shareholder approval a second time for the plan, which McCormick rejected as legally invalid. Tesla is also appealing that decision. —Tom Hals, Reuters View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding Lifehacker as a preferred source for tech news. I love going to a reformer Pilates studio for a (pricey) workout but I also love staying home to work out on my own. In the end, it just depends on my mood. Good news for people like me: Tonal is rolling out reformer-style Pilates with its new update. If you have the at-home weight training device or are considering getting one, this could be major for you. Even if you're not someone who wakes up on a Saturday morning excited to go trade $65 for 45 minutes on the reformer—or you've never even tried Pilates at all—this is nice because it can allow you to give it a whirl from the comfort of your home, using the same device you use for more traditional strength training. Led by yoga and Pilates instructor Kristin McGee, the classes are broken down by experience level and, like all Tonal workouts, customized to your strength. How Tonal's Pilates classes feelI got to test out the new Pilates offering last week, which was exciting because I don't have a Tonal machine (yet, since I'm planning to get one) but also daunting because, well, I don't have a Tonal machine. I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew, broadly, that these are digital devices you stick to your wall, calibrate, and work out with basically like you would with your gym's cable machine. They use magnetic resistance to increase and decrease the weight that you're pulling on. Tonal 2 $4,295.00 at Tonal Learn More Learn More $4,295.00 at Tonal First, I did a few regular lifting exercises so the machine could determine how strong I am. Any user will do these same four exercises to get a baseline. From then on, the machine will set up all weights for all exercises to align with what that person can do, progressively increasing the weight over time as the user gets stronger. Then it was Pilates time. The big difference between the new Pilates offerings and the traditional strength training on Tonal is the same difference you find when you compare using a cable machine to using a reformer: With the Pilates moves, the resistance gets harder as you push or pull, whether because of the springs on the reformer or the settings on the Tonal. I did some leg circles, some hundreds, and a handful of other standard Pilates moves—and besides the fact I was laying flat on the floor and interacting with a big digital machine, it did feel pretty similar to using a reformer. The Tonal Pilates specsThis program won't be out officially for Tonal users until Nov. 17, but you can order your loop attachments now. Made in partnership with Pilates Loops, they cost $100 and are similar to the straps you get on a standard reformer. There's a long loop, a short loop, and a knot you can grab farther down, depending on the exercise you're doing and how intense you want it to be. Beyond the loops, no further equipment upgrade is necessary—software updates will hit Tonal 1 and Tonal 2 machines in November. The Pilates upgrade will work with the digital weight technology that comes along in all the equipment and will go up to 10 resistance levels. The machine makes small adjustments as you work through the moves, which are presented and demonstrated by McGee, so if you're having a hard time or something is too easy, the adjustments are automatic. Tonal did already offer mat Pilates classes and while I love those, they're not quite the same as fighting against a machine custom-built for the struggle, which is why I still find myself trekking to a studio a few times a week even though I have access to mat Pilates classes through YouTube, Peloton, and my gym. The addition of this programming adds a more in-depth option for anyone looking for a workout that's easy on the joints, engages the core, and boosts mobility and balance. A Tonal 2 costs $4,295 and a monthly membership runs you $60. View the full article

A reader writes: I manage a team of five younger professionals (all between the ages of 25 to 30). I have noticed that each of them prefers to communicate with me almost exclusively by text message or through the chat feature in our collaboration software. Conversations by phone, video, or in-person only happen when I initiate them. When I initiate an in-person conversation or phone call, my employees don’t seem opposed and typically are very engaged, but if left up to them it seems like all of the interaction with me would be via text or chat. In my own career, I’ve always valued being able to talk one-on-one with my manager, whether it’s during a formal meeting or impromptu. Is the preference my employees show for engaging with me by text or chat generational or should this be warning sign that my team does not view me as approachable or doesn’t place much value in one-on-one time with me as a manager? I answer this question — and two others — over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here. Other questions I’m answering there today include: Screening out bigots in interviews How to unfriend someone who I have to fire The post my younger employees prefer communicating by text appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

ChatGPT performs a search in nearly one-third of prompts and averages more than two searches per query, each about 5.5 words long (roughly 60% longer than the typical Google search), according to a new study from marketing agency Nectiv. Why it matters: ChatGPT isn’t just answering questions – it’s searching like a power user. The model relies on longer, more specific, and more commercial-style queries than Google’s average searcher. That means SEOs could have more influence over ChatGPT’s answers, especially for local, product, and buying-intent searches where the model leans most heavily on external data. By the numbers. Some key findings from the report: Search frequency: 31% of prompts triggered at least one search. Fan-out depth: ChatGPT averaged 2.17 searches per prompt, maxing out at four. Query length: 5.48 words on average – 77% of all the queries were 5 words or longer. Industries: ChatGPT searched most for local intent (59%); least for credit cards (18%) and fashion (19%). Top patterns. ChatGPT favored review-based, fresh, and comparative content. These were some of the most common search terms: Reviews (702 instances) 2025 Features Comparison What they’re saying. Chris Long, co-founder of Nectiv, wrote: “What’s important to understand is that when ChatGPT uses search, SEOs have much more control over the information that’s presented. This is ChatGPT is basically a wrapper for search engines. So if we can figure out how often and what the LLM is searching, we’re going to have an easier time optimizing for it.” About the data. 8,500+ ChatGPT prompts were analyzed across nine industries using Nectiv’s AI Tracker to identify when the model performed external searches. They then extracted and aggregated the resulting 2,600+ search queries to uncover patterns in frequency, length, and intent across nine verticals. The study. New Data Study: What Queries Is ChatGPT Using Behind The Scenes? View the full article

A startling message came over the radio from an air traffic control tower near Los Angeles less than a week into the federal government shutdown: “The tower is closed due to staffing.” Without enough air traffic controllers to guide planes into and out of Hollywood Burbank Airport, the tower went dark for almost six hours on Oct. 6, leaving pilots to coordinate their movements among themselves. Flight delays averaged two-and-a-half hours in one of the first visible signs that the shutdown was already taking a toll on the nation’s aviation system. Since the shutdown began Oct. 1, the Federal Aviation Administration has reported controller shortages in cities across the U.S., from airports in Boston and Philadelphia, to control centers in Atlanta and Houston. Flight delays have spread to airports in Nashville, Dallas, Newark and more. And already there has been an increase in unscheduled absences among security screeners at some airports. The union representing Transportation Security Administration employees says the absences haven’t yet caused major disruptions, but it warned longer lines at security checkpoints could soon become a reality after workers received their final paychecks over the weekend. Experts and union leaders say the disruptions are a stark reminder that the aviation system is already stretched too thin by chronic understaffing and outdated technology. They warn the cracks in the system could rapidly deepen the longer the shutdown drags on and critical aviation workers are without their regular paychecks. “It’s like having a drought the year after you had a drought,” Greg Raiff, CEO of Elevate Aviation Group, told The Associated Press. Problems have persisted for years These concerns aren’t new. In 2019, the aviation system buckled under the weight of a 35-day government shutdown — the longest in U.S. history — during President Donald The President’s first term. Around the three-week mark, air traffic controllers, many of them working up to 60 hours a week, sued the government over their missed paychecks. One terminal at the Miami International Airport was forced to close because security screeners were calling out sick in large numbers. Some even quit altogether. “Here we are so many years later, and the problems have not been addressed,” said aviation attorney Ricardo Martinez-Cid, a Florida Bar-certified expert on aviation law who regularly represents crash victims. “Now we’re in a worse position when we had been put on notice. We had the opportunity to address it.” Since then, the country has faced repeated warnings. In January, a mid-air crash over the Potomac River involving a commercial jet and a military helicopter killed 67 people. A series of equipment failures and radar outages this year also highlighted the need for upgrades. Controller shortage at a ‘critical’ point Before the latest shutdown, both the FAA and TSA were already dealing with staffing shortages. That includes a shortage of about 3,000 air traffic controllers. Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, has said staffing levels have reached a “critical” point, the lowest in decades. The shortage is so severe that even a few air traffic controllers missing work can disrupt operations at already understaffed facilities. “And on top of that,” he said, “they’re working with unreliable equipment.” The shutdown began just as the FAA was starting to make some progress on addressing the shortage of controllers and modernizing the outdated equipment they rely on that keeps disrupting flights when it malfunctions. The agency says it topped its goal of hiring 2,000 controllers this year after streamlining the application process at its academy in Oklahoma City, but it will take years still to eliminate the shortage. And it had just begun looking for companies to help oversee a $12.5 billion effort to overhaul its aging and complex technology systems. Now, the shutdown is delaying those long-needed efforts. And union leaders say the staffing shortages may be worse by the time the government reopens. Shutdown could increase gaps in staffing Johnny Jones, secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees chapter representing TSA workers, expressed concern that the shutdown could drive even more security screeners to leave the agency, especially given the uncertainty that the workers already have faced this year. That includes the The President administration’s attempts to revoke their collective bargaining rights. Daniels, meanwhile, warned it could stoke fear among newer controllers and trainees who might reconsider the career entirely to avoid working in future shutdowns. It’s a long-standing concern. In 2019, after the 35-day shutdown ended, a congressional committee hearing dug into the impacts on air travel. “All of these air traffic controllers and aviation safety professionals were used as pawns in a political fight that had nothing to do with aviation. This is wrong and must not be allowed to happen again,” warned the union leader representing air traffic controllers at the time. At the hearing, there were also bipartisan calls for reform to keep the FAA funded “without interruption, even when the rest of the government shuts down,” as one lawmaker put it. Stories were shared of controllers and TSA agents taking on extra jobs to pay rent, mortgage and other bills despite working longer shifts to fill the gaps in staffing. Lawmakers and industry officials who testified agreed: The shutdown made the aviation system less safe. “We implore all involved, please heed not only our warnings but the entire stakeholder community’s warnings. This vicious budgetary cycle of stops and starts with little to no stability or predictably has simply got to stop,” said Nick Calio, then-president and CEO of Airlines for America, an industry trade group representing airlines including Delta, United and Southwest. And yet the system remains vulnerable to shutdowns seven years later, Martinez-Cid said. “We’re long overdue for a wake-up call.” Associated Press transportation reporter Josh Funk contributed to this report. —Rio Yamat, AP Airlines and Travel Reporter View the full article

Amazon has announced a game-changing initiative for healthcare with the introduction of Amazon Pharmacy Kiosks, launching in select One Medical offices across the Greater Los Angeles area starting December 2025. These kiosks are designed to streamline the process of obtaining medications, enabling patients to pick up prescriptions almost immediately after their medical appointments. For small business owners in the healthcare sector, this development not only provides insights into consumer behavior but also highlights potential opportunities and challenges as it reshapes patient care. With nearly one-third of prescriptions in the U.S. never filled, often due to access challenges, the introduction of these kiosks addresses a critical need for more convenient medication access. “We know that when patients have to make a separate stop after seeing their doctor, many prescriptions never get filled,” said Hannah McClellan, Vice President of Operations at Amazon Pharmacy. By placing kiosks at the point of care, Amazon aims to eliminate the traditional barriers associated with getting prescriptions filled, thus improving medication adherence. The Amazon Pharmacy Kiosks will be strategically located in urban centers such as Downtown LA, Beverly Hills, and West Hollywood. Small business owners operating in these areas, especially those within the health and wellness space, should pay attention. The kiosks are expected to significantly enhance patient experience. According to Dr. Andrew Diamond, Chief Medical Officer at One Medical, “The ability to know a patient is leaving our office with their medication in hand—especially for conditions requiring immediate treatment like infections—can make a meaningful difference in their care journey.” The kiosks work by integrating Amazon’s logistics expertise with One Medical’s clinical capabilities. Patients will create an Amazon Pharmacy account, schedule an appointment, and have their prescriptions sent to the kiosk location. At checkout on the Amazon app, they can select kiosk pickup. The process is designed for convenience: a QR code generated at checkout allows for quick scanning at the kiosk, ensuring prescriptions are available almost instantly. For small business owners in healthcare and pharmacy, the implications of this innovation are significant. They may need to consider how it affects patient expectations regarding service speed and convenience. The presence of these kiosks could drive competition in urban areas where traditional pharmacies may already be struggling to meet demand. In addition, partnerships may emerge between local physicians and Amazon Pharmacy, potentially reshaping how patient referrals and medication management are handled. However, challenges could accompany this shift. Small business pharmacies may experience increased pressure to offer more rapid service and could need to rethink their business models to include additional technology and convenience services. The daunting threat of losing clientele to a tech giant like Amazon may drive some pharmacies to innovate within their own operations, creating new customer loyalty programs or integrating more advanced technologies. The kiosks also open up a conversational space about the healthcare landscape. As Amazon focuses on customer-centric healthcare, many providers might feel nudged to enhance their offerings, exploring urgent care services or even telehealth as complementary businesses. The future of pharmacy might also push smaller players to foster collaborations that leverage technology to meet consumer demand for faster service. As healthcare continuously transforms through technological advancements, small business owners should watch the progress of Amazon Pharmacy Kiosks closely. While the immediate benefits of improved medication access for patients are clear, the long-term consequences for local businesses are still unfolding. For further details about Amazon Pharmacy Kiosks and participating locations, visit Amazon Pharmacy Kiosks. Understanding this initiative could provide valuable insights for small business owners looking to adapt to an evolving healthcare environment. Image via Amazon This article, "Amazon Launches Pharmacy Kiosks to Enhance Patient Access" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Amazon has announced a game-changing initiative for healthcare with the introduction of Amazon Pharmacy Kiosks, launching in select One Medical offices across the Greater Los Angeles area starting December 2025. These kiosks are designed to streamline the process of obtaining medications, enabling patients to pick up prescriptions almost immediately after their medical appointments. For small business owners in the healthcare sector, this development not only provides insights into consumer behavior but also highlights potential opportunities and challenges as it reshapes patient care. With nearly one-third of prescriptions in the U.S. never filled, often due to access challenges, the introduction of these kiosks addresses a critical need for more convenient medication access. “We know that when patients have to make a separate stop after seeing their doctor, many prescriptions never get filled,” said Hannah McClellan, Vice President of Operations at Amazon Pharmacy. By placing kiosks at the point of care, Amazon aims to eliminate the traditional barriers associated with getting prescriptions filled, thus improving medication adherence. The Amazon Pharmacy Kiosks will be strategically located in urban centers such as Downtown LA, Beverly Hills, and West Hollywood. Small business owners operating in these areas, especially those within the health and wellness space, should pay attention. The kiosks are expected to significantly enhance patient experience. According to Dr. Andrew Diamond, Chief Medical Officer at One Medical, “The ability to know a patient is leaving our office with their medication in hand—especially for conditions requiring immediate treatment like infections—can make a meaningful difference in their care journey.” The kiosks work by integrating Amazon’s logistics expertise with One Medical’s clinical capabilities. Patients will create an Amazon Pharmacy account, schedule an appointment, and have their prescriptions sent to the kiosk location. At checkout on the Amazon app, they can select kiosk pickup. The process is designed for convenience: a QR code generated at checkout allows for quick scanning at the kiosk, ensuring prescriptions are available almost instantly. For small business owners in healthcare and pharmacy, the implications of this innovation are significant. They may need to consider how it affects patient expectations regarding service speed and convenience. The presence of these kiosks could drive competition in urban areas where traditional pharmacies may already be struggling to meet demand. In addition, partnerships may emerge between local physicians and Amazon Pharmacy, potentially reshaping how patient referrals and medication management are handled. However, challenges could accompany this shift. Small business pharmacies may experience increased pressure to offer more rapid service and could need to rethink their business models to include additional technology and convenience services. The daunting threat of losing clientele to a tech giant like Amazon may drive some pharmacies to innovate within their own operations, creating new customer loyalty programs or integrating more advanced technologies. The kiosks also open up a conversational space about the healthcare landscape. As Amazon focuses on customer-centric healthcare, many providers might feel nudged to enhance their offerings, exploring urgent care services or even telehealth as complementary businesses. The future of pharmacy might also push smaller players to foster collaborations that leverage technology to meet consumer demand for faster service. As healthcare continuously transforms through technological advancements, small business owners should watch the progress of Amazon Pharmacy Kiosks closely. While the immediate benefits of improved medication access for patients are clear, the long-term consequences for local businesses are still unfolding. For further details about Amazon Pharmacy Kiosks and participating locations, visit Amazon Pharmacy Kiosks. Understanding this initiative could provide valuable insights for small business owners looking to adapt to an evolving healthcare environment. Image via Amazon This article, "Amazon Launches Pharmacy Kiosks to Enhance Patient Access" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Productivity drives profitability as never before. By CPA Trendlines Research The Rosenberg Survey Go PRO for members-only access to more CPA Trendlines Research. View the full article

Productivity drives profitability as never before. By CPA Trendlines Research The Rosenberg Survey Go PRO for members-only access to more CPA Trendlines Research. View the full article

Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding my work at Lifehacker as a preferred source. Sometimes, Apple hosts grand presentations to announce new products and services. Other times, the company simply drops the news on a random Wednesday morning. This Wednesday morning is one such example: Following a preview on social media, Apple has announced the M5 chip, as well as three products that will kick off this new era of Apple silicon: the M5 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pros, and Vision Pro. The M5 chip The big news that unifies all updated Apple products today is the M5 chip. As the name might imply, this is the company's fifth generation of Apple silicon, its custom system on a chip (SoC). Apple is selling M5 as a chip optimized for AI. The company says the new 16-core Neural Engine delivers both performance and efficiency boosts for AI processes. That means Apple Intelligence features should be faster and more accurate, though I'm not sure that's enough to get me to use it. In addition, the chip's 10-core GPU has a dedicated "Neural Accelerator" in each core, which offers over four times peak GPU compute over the M4 chip, and six times the compute of M1. Apple specifically touts the improvements for the new 14-inch MacBook Pro and iPad Pro, which can now take advantage of "accelerated processing" for AI tasks, like running diffusion models and large language models. In other graphics gains, M5's GPU and enhanced shader cores can be up to 30% faster than M4 and up to 2.5 times faster than M1. It comes with Apple's third-gen ray-tracing engine, which offers a boost for any process that uses ray tracing to calculate lighting effects. Those improved graphics means the new Apple Vision Pro can render 10% more pixels as well as handle refresh rates up to 120Hz. M5's unified memory now has a bandwidth of 153GB/s, a nearly 30% jump over M4 and over 2x boost over M1, according to Apple. All devices running M5 can access the entire memory pool at once, which Apple says makes it possible to run larger AI models entirely on-device. That's great news for privacy for anyone using AI on these MacBooks, iPads, or Vision Pro. Users can configure M5 to come with up to 32GB of RAM. MacBook Pro Credit: Apple Apple did something interesting with its M5 kickoff for the Mac: It started only with the 14-inch MacBook Pro. If you want a 16-inch MacBook Pro with M5, you'll need to wait. This new 14-inch MacBook Pro comes with all the new performance gains that Apple advertises for the M5 chip, with some unique benefits as well. Apple says this machine has up to 24 hours of battery life, which, if true, would be huge: You could work two full 12-hour days before needing to find a charger for your MacBook. M5 also brings upgrades to the SSD in this MacBook Pro, which Apple says will help in professional workflows like importing RAW images to exporting huge video files. Other than that, this is the same 14-inch MacBook Pro that you otherwise know by now. You get the Liquid Retina XDR display with a 12MP Center Stage camera, HDMI port, SD card slot, and three USB-C ports, in either silver or black. It even starts at the same $1,599 price as the M4 MacBook Pro, for the model with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. iPad Pro Credit: Apple Like the new MacBook Pro, the iPad Pro looks unchanged, save for the new M5 and its performance gains. But there's a little more under the hood here than just the new chip. Apple says the cellular iPad Pro models get the company's C1X modem, which can offer up to 50% faster cellular data performance. If you opt for the cellular iPads, that's good news, though I always opt for the wifi-only model, and use my iPhone as a hotspot. To each their own. In addition to the C1X, these new iPads also get the N1 chip, which supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread. Apple says N1 supports better performance on 5GHz networks, and boosts performance of features including AirDrop and Personal Hotspot. Apple says the 256GB and 512GB iPad Pros here start with 12GB of RAM. That's 4GB more than the M4 iPad Pros, which started at 8GB each. You'll also notice faster charging speeds on these new iPads: Apple says with the right adapter, such as the company's new dynamic power adapter, you can reach 50% battery in about 30 minutes. These iPads also now support external displays running at up to 120Hz. Vision Pro Credit: Apple The M5 chip is even coming to a refreshed Vision Pro. Apple's mixed-reality headset might not be the success story the company wanted, but it hasn't abandoned the device, either. To the contrary, this Vision Pro has a few upgrades here in addition to M5's performance, efficiency, and AI gains. As mentioned above, the new Vision Pro can now render 10% more pixels across its micro-OLED displays than the previous generation can. It can also boost the refresh rate to 120Hz when needed, which should help sell the virtual reality illusion, including when working with virtual displays. But it's not just about the technology, here. Apple has upgraded the Vision Pro's headband—specifically, the Dual Knit Band. Apple says this band should be more comfortable, with "3D-knitted" upper and lower straps. The lower strap in particular provides a counterweight, which should help take some of the pressure off the user when wearing it. Unfortunately, this strap is a separate $99 purchase. Like the current Vision Pro, this model starts at $3,499 for 256GB of internal storage. All of these devices are available for pre-order starting today, and will be available in stores on Oct. 22. View the full article