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

An AI system that offers emotional support via chat

The rapid advancement of natural language processing (NLP) models and large language models (LLMs) has enabled the development of new use-specific conversational agents designed to answer specific types of queries. These ...

Consumer & Gadgets

'Urban mines': How to unlock our electronic junk's potential

Instead of developing new mining infrastructures, what if we recovered the metal deposits contained in the electronic objects we no longer use, such as smartphones or computers? There are very good reasons for focusing on ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Robot dogs and flyng cars: mobile gadget highlights

Tech companies showcased countless connected gadgets at the world's biggest wireless telecom fair, the four-day Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which wraps up on Thursday.

Consumer & Gadgets

Smartphone makers bet on AI to boost sales

Smartphone makers are packing their latest devices with flashy new artificial intelligence tools such as real-time voice translation and advanced photo editing in efforts to reignite consumer demand.

Consumer & Gadgets

Q&A: Facebook turns 20—where does it go from here?

Deep down, Facebook is not entirely unlike many brilliant, high-potential 20-year-olds. Its appeal is clear. Its performance is generally very strong, if not outstanding. Yet it's still subject to occasional lapses in judgment ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Five reasons to heat your home using infrared fabric

Imagine heating your home from the ceiling, not from underfloor heating or radiators. Once installed like wallpaper, hi-tech infrared fabric emits heat in a similar way to the sun's rays. This could be a logical way to add ...