Consumer & Gadgets news

Consumer & Gadgets

Gaps between perception and reality might be putting the brakes on electric vehicle sales in rural areas

A University of Michigan survey of 1,000 rural Michigan residents reveals a striking gap between perception and reality when it comes to electric vehicles.

Consumer & Gadgets

Could ChatGPT convince you to buy something? Threat of manipulation looms as AI companies gear up to sell ads

Eighteen months ago, it was plausible that artificial intelligence might take a different path than social media. Back then, AI's development hadn't consolidated under a small number of big tech firms. Nor had it capitalized ...

Internet

WhatsApp data reveal people often deceive themselves

How quickly we reply, how active we really are in chats—many people misjudge their own behavior. Researchers at Bielefeld University have, for the first time, used anonymized WhatsApp metadata to make such misperceptions ...

Consumer & Gadgets

10-inch folding phones are coming: Is their market ready to expand?

What if you could put a 10-inch tablet in your pocket as easily as your smartphone?

Consumer & Gadgets

Apple chooses Google's Gemini AI to power Siri

Apple will rely on Google to help finish its efforts to smarten up its virtual assistant Siri and bring other artificial intelligence features to the iPhone as the trendsetting company plays catch up in technology's latest ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Brew, smell, and serve: AI steals the show at CES 2026

AI took over CES 2026, powering coffee machines to brew the perfect espresso, a device to create your perfect scent, and ball-hitting tennis robots that make you forget it's human against machine.

Consumer & Gadgets

From sci-fi to sidewalk: Exoskeletons go mainstream

Exoskeletons are shedding their bulky, sci-fi image to become lightweight, AI-powered consumer devices that manufacturers hope will become as commonplace as smartwatches, targeting everyone from hikers to seniors seeking ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Dose of uncertainty: Experts wary of AI health gadgets at CES

Health tech gadgets displayed at the annual CES trade show make a lot of promises. A smart scale promoted a healthier lifestyle by scanning your feet to track your heart health, and an egg-shaped hormone tracker uses AI to ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Smart glasses find purpose among blind users

The actual use-value of smart glasses remains keenly debated—but less so among blind people, who are increasingly relying on the latest models to improve their lives.

Consumer & Gadgets

Cosplay and queues at Germany gamers gathering

Armor-clad warriors mixed with cosplaying Super Marios and monster hunters on Thursday, as gamers braved hours of queuing at the sector's biggest trade show, Gamescom in Germany's Cologne.

Consumer & Gadgets

Aussie kids let down by streaming algorithms, research shows

Instead of channel surfing or browsing through a TV guide, Aussie kids today navigate complex streaming platforms and their algorithms to find shows, which is influencing their viewing habits, according to a new study of ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Complicated app settings are a threat to user privacy

Default privacy settings in popular mobile apps seem like a convenience, allowing you to use a single setting to control the level of privacy—who can see which actions you take—across all of the app's functions. But default ...

Consumer & Gadgets

What are 'metacrimes?'—and how can we stop them?

The Apple Vision Pro is the newest tool for Australians to access three-dimensional, immersive online environments, also known as the metaverse. Released in Australia earlier this month, it allows users to take a (virtual) ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Navigating digital financial inclusion in Africa

As the presence of mobile phones becomes increasingly widespread in Africa, digital services have allowed for more financial inclusion among low- and middle-income countries within the continent. Through a system known as ...