Consumer & Gadgets news

Consumer & Gadgets

Video game play gets frisky at CES gadget gala

Video game play met romantic intimacy in a corner of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) on Thursday—but it hasn't always been smooth sailing for sex toys at the Las Vegas gadget extravaganza.

Consumer & Gadgets

E-Power hits the slopes: new wave of snow sports emerges

Following in the footsteps of electric scooters on land and wakeboards at sea, young entrepreneurs are bringing electric power to snow travel with self-propelled skis and all-terrain skates.

Consumer & Gadgets

A smart ring with a tiny camera lets users point and click to control home devices

While smart devices in homes have grown to include speakers, security systems, lights and thermostats, the ways to control them have remained relatively stable. Users can interact with a phone, or talk to the tech, but these ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Logging off life but living on: How AI is redefining death, memory and immortality

Imagine attending a funeral where the person who has died speaks directly to you, answering your questions and sharing memories. This happened at the funeral of Marina Smith, a Holocaust educator who died in 2022.

Consumer & Gadgets

TVs get smarter as makers cater to AI lifestyles

Dazzling televisions that routinely star at the Consumer Electronics Show opening here Tuesday are getting ever smarter with an eye toward being at the heart of AI-centered lifestyles.

Consumer & Gadgets

Homes talk and tables walk at AI dominated CES

Home appliances that do chores, cars that know your favorite cafe, and robot pets aiming to please are among artficial intelligence-infused offerings at the Consumer Electronics Show opening Tuesday.

Consumer & Gadgets

Seven advances in technology that we're likely to see in 2025

In the grand scheme of things, 45 years is not a long time. Back in 1980, it would take me three weeks to run a computer program, written in the programming language Cobol, that worked using punched cards. Each card represented ...

Consumer & Gadgets

EU universal charger rules come into force

EU rules requiring all new smartphones, tablets and cameras to use the same charger came into force on Saturday, in a change Brussels said will cut costs and waste.

Consumer & Gadgets

Why is it so hard to type in Indigenous languages?

When it comes to digital access and internet technologies, some languages are still more equal than others. Speakers of majority languages, who type in English or text in Korean, assume their message will be transmitted accurately. ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Bias in AI amplifies our own biases, finds study

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems tend to take on human biases and amplify them, causing people who use that AI to become more biased themselves, finds a new study by UCL researchers.

Consumer & Gadgets

Amazon's new fees on sellers likened to 'kick in the gut'

Amazon.com Inc. merchants have found themselves caught in an economic vice. Earlier this year, the e-commerce giant rolled out changes to the fees its charges them—essentially shifting more of its operating costs onto the ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Apple apologizes for iPad 'Crush' ad after backlash

Apple apologized on Thursday after an ad for its latest-edition iPad caused an uproar for showing an industrial press crushing objects linked to human creativity, infuriating artists.

Consumer & Gadgets

iPad 'Crush' ad causes uproar amid AI anxiety

An ad for the new iPad Pro caused an uproar Wednesday for showing an industrial-sized hydraulic press crushing objects linked to human creativity—such as a record player and trumpet—into a sleek tablet.

Consumer & Gadgets

Data privacy in the post-Roe era

In 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade—ending the constitutional right to an abortion—privacy advocates warned women against using smartphone apps to track their periods.

Consumer & Gadgets

A view of a room with VR and AI for the field of interior design

Bringing together virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) could lead to significant advancements in the field of interior design, according to research published in the International Journal of Information and ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Report finds e-bike incentives are worth the investment

Electric bicycle rebates have exploded in popularity in North America as transportation planners try to get people out of their cars and into healthier, more climate-friendly alternatives. However, there is limited understanding ...