Consumer & Gadgets news

Consumer & Gadgets

What influences trust when conversing with chatbots?

Whether on your bank's website or your telephone provider's help line, interactions between humans and chatbots have become part of our daily lives. But do we trust them? And what factors influence our trust? Researchers ...

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

Beyond step counting: Wearable tech promises medical-grade data

Wearable devices have come a long way from counting steps or heartbeats, with new tech offering the ability to track blood oxygenation, glucose levels and blood pressure, though its reliability remains a matter of debate.

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

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

Samsung returns to top of the smartphone market: Industry tracker

Samsung regained its position as the top smartphone seller, wresting back the lead from Apple as Chinese rivals close the gap on both market leaders, industry tracker International Data Corporation (IDC) reported Monday.

Consumer & Gadgets

Why won't some people use a smartphone? And is that difficult?

In a world where more and more services and social interaction are based on mobile apps, a smartphone has become close to a necessity. Despite this, some people avoid smartphones and instead use a dumbphone—a traditional ...