Consumer & Gadgets news

Consumer & Gadgets

Amazon ends little-used privacy feature that let Echo users opt out of sending recordings to company

Amazon is ending a little-used privacy feature that let some users of its Echo smart speaker prevent their voice commands from going to the company's cloud.

Consumer & Gadgets

Young Chinese women find virtual love in 'Deepspace'

Rafayel's girlfriends went all out to celebrate their lover's birthday, renting malls across China for parties, decorating high-speed trains with his photos, and even staging a dazzling drone show.

Consumer & Gadgets

Leap of faith for Ubisoft with 'Assassin's Creed' set in Japan

Packing familiar formulas into an all-new Japanese setting, "Assassin's Creed Shadows" is the latest big-budget game from developer Ubisoft that is staking its future on the title.

Consumer & Gadgets

Streaming, surveillance and the power of suggestion: The hidden cost of ten years of Netflix

This month marks a decade since Netflix—the world's most influential and widely subscribed streaming service—launched in Australia.

Consumer & Gadgets

YouTube influencers: Gaming's best friend or worst enemy?

YouTube influencers are shaping the gaming industry in unexpected ways, and a new study in the journal Marketing Science uncovers the surprising truth: Although influencers can drive massive engagement with video games, they ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Security is just a side quest: Insights from the video game industry

The video game industry is a constantly changing market worth billions. In a qualitative interview study with industry experts, CISPA researcher Philip Klostermeyer from the team of CISPA Faculty Prof. Dr. Sascha Fahl investigated ...

Consumer & Gadgets

What is the 'digital gender gap?'

Digital technologies, such as the internet and mobile phones, have spread widely, and become integral to many parts of our lives. Yet women continue to lag behind men in digital access in many countries.

Consumer & Gadgets

The impact of app crashes on consumer engagement

High-profile mobile app crashes reveal how life can be upended when an app freezes abruptly or shuts down. The Sonos app crash in May of last year left users of the wireless multi-room sound systems unable to do things like ...

Consumer & Gadgets

AI-generated ad slogans may rival those made by experts

How do AI-generated ad slogans compare to those created by professionals? New University of Minnesota research suggests that the pros tend to connect better with consumers, but AI tools may perform just as well by adopting ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Scientists study the hidden cost of Netflix's autoplay

Autoplay, a feature that automatically begins the next episode or movie without user input, has become a staple of modern streaming platforms like Netflix. But how much is this convenience truly costing us in terms of control ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Here's how to maintain healthy smartphone habits

What is the first thing you do in the morning after you awaken? Many people immediately check their phones for notifications of messages, alerts and social media updates by their social ties.