Electronics

Nintendo's Switch 2 is bigger and better than its predecessor of eight years past as the video game developer pushes to bring its brand into "a new era" where social experiences are at the forefront.... Read more

Consumers who want to submit a complaint to an agency such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau face a task that, for some, can be daunting: they must fill out a form that requires them to explain the issue, clearly and convincingly, in their own words. Those who are not... Read more

Big appliances, like washing machines, ovens and refrigerators, are a major investment for many households. Consumers hope that these appliances will last for decades. More and more, however, people have the perception that these big-ticket items might not be lasting as long as they once did.... Read more

Nintendo fans excited over the upcoming Switch console said Thursday they were disappointed by the high price tag, as US tariffs bite.... Read more

Nintendo has announced a June 5 launch date and $449.99 price tag for its latest gaming console, the Switch 2, which will introduce interactive chat and screenshare functions to connect gamers.... Read more

Insights from a new study focused on widening the use of eye-tracking as a control method for mobile devices could offer a sharper view of the smartphones of the future.... Read more

Meta Platforms Inc., ramping up work on a deluxe version of its popular smart glasses, plans to include hand-gesture controls and a screen for displaying photos and apps.... Read more

Gaming giant Nintendo is set to unveil the successor to its phenomenally popular Switch console on Wednesday.... Read more

Japanese video game giant Nintendo is set to unveil the new version of its hugely popular Switch console on Wednesday, with the update eagerly awaited by both gamers and investors.... Read more

Amazon has disabled two key privacy features in its Alexa smart speakers, in a push to introduce artificial intelligence-powered "agentic capabilities" and turn a profit from the popular devices.... Read more

A new study published in Frontiers in Computer Science investigated if placing smartphones just out of our reach while we're at work influenced device use for activities not related to work.... Read more

A new study by Prof. Guy Hochman and Adi Frenkenberg from the Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology at Reichman University presents new findings on the relationship between anxiety, motivation, and dependence on artificial intelligence, exploring how AI usage affects us emotionally.... Read more

A study from the Media Innovation Lab (miLAB) at Reichman University's School of Communications explored how a robotic dog can influence leadership dynamics between humans. The study revealed that simple gestures of affection from a robot can encourage people to take charge and assume leadership roles, even without explicit guidance.... Read more

Remember Furbies—the eerie, gremlin-like toys from the late 90s that gained a cult following? Now, imagine one powered by ChatGPT. That's exactly what happened when a programmer rewired a Furby, only for it to reveal a creepy, dystopian vision of world domination. As the toy explained, "Furbies' plan to take... Read more

Imagine an automated delivery vehicle rushing to complete a grocery drop-off while you are hurrying to meet friends for a long-awaited dinner. At a busy intersection, you both arrive at the same time. Do you slow down to give it space as it maneuvers around a corner? Or do you... Read more

From virtual reality to rehabilitation and communication, haptic technology has revolutionized the way humans interact with the digital world. While early haptic devices focused on single-sensory cues like vibration-based notifications, modern advancements have paved the way for multisensory haptic devices that integrate various forms of touch-based feedback, including vibration, skin... Read more

Crashes on electric scooters are mostly due to the behavior of the riders, with one-handed steering and riding in a group being some of the largest risk factors. Researchers are also concerned about riders who deliberately crash or cause dangerous situations when riding, a phenomenon that seems to be specific... Read more

Roblox is one of the world's most popular online platforms for children, offering a variety of "experiences" including games and virtual spaces. Most of the experiences are free, but offer upgrades, bonuses and random items in exchange for cash.... Read more

More than 250 million people worldwide have verbal communication disorders that make it difficult to use automatic speech recognition programs. Simply sharing what they'd like to eat for dinner by using ASR is cumbersome.... Read more

Existing tax policies during the energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources will lead to major energy injustices and skewed priorities, new research published in Climate Policy shows.... Read more

A paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine calls for regulations to protect customers' personal and genetic data in light of biotech company 23andMe's uncertain future.... Read more

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.... Read more

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.... Read more

Most coffee connoisseurs are familiar with the gentle hum of their favorite café's grinder while they wait in eager anticipation of that aromatic first sip. But behind this everyday scene lies a surprisingly tricky problem. Coffee beans often come mixed with small stones—accidental stowaways from harvesting and processing. Nearly identical... Read more

A study by CUNY SPH researchers raises concerns about the privacy and security practices of popular reproductive health apps. The research, conducted by alumna Nina Zadushlivy, Assistant Professor Karmen Williams, and Arizona State University Assistant Professor Rizwana Biviji, evaluated four widely-used apps: Clue, Flo, Period Tracker by GP Apps, and... Read more

Social media is a complex environment that presents both opportunities and threats for adolescents, with self-expression and emotional support on the one hand and body-shaming, cyberbullying and addictive behaviors on the other. This complexity underscores the challenge to regulating teen social media use, but it also points to another avenue... Read more

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.... Read more

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

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 might also be costing game developers millions in lost sales.... Read more

If you've got a smartphone, you probably spend too much time on it—checking Instagram, watching silly TikTok videos, messaging on WhatsApp or doomscrolling on X.... Read more

It was not a given that petrol-powered cars would come to dominate the world. In fact, back in 1900, just 22% of cars produced in the US were powered by gasoline (also known as petrol, benzine or various other names). The rest were split between electric and steam cars.... Read more

Some "unofficial" parental control apps have excessive access to personal data and hide their presence, raising concerns about their potential for unethical surveillance as well as domestic abuse, according to new research from UCL and St. Pölten UAS, Austria.... Read more

A series of QUT research studies have shed light on the importance of involving individuals with intellectual disabilities in the development of assistive technologies.... Read more

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 the challenges involved in incorporating security considerations into game development.... Read more

While adding wind and solar energy to the electricity supply can help reduce carbon emissions, their intermittency poses a challenge to traditional methods for maintaining electricity supply and demand.... Read more

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.... Read more

Users of social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok might think they're simply interacting with friends, family and followers, and seeing ads as they go. But according to research from the UBC Sauder School of Business, they're part of constant marketing experiments that are often impossible, even for the... Read more

Towns and cities are pushing ahead with ambitious climate policies, even as global collaboration on climate breakdown splinters. One flagship example is the proliferation of bans on advertising for highly polluting companies and products such as fossil fuels, airlines, luxury travel and SUVs.... Read more

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 edit playlists or even play anything at all. Sonos hurriedly... Read more

Some 50 years ago, on March 1 1975, Australian television stations officially moved to color.... Read more

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 certain strategies.... Read more

The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, the union for voice actors and creatives, recently circulated a video of voice actor Thomas G. Burt describing the impact of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) on his livelihood.... Read more

As the world's biggest wireless technology fair, the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is packed with manufacturers showing off their latest gadgets and inventions.... Read more

Global businesses are embracing augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to connect with consumers around the world. The technologies offer new ways to get a feel for products before buying—for everything from virtually trying on a lipstick shade, exploring a brand's world in Roblox, or seeing how a new... Read more

The ubiquitous QR ("quick response") codes that appear on everything from parking pay stations to soda cans and promotional flyers have become an increasingly popular target for cybercriminals to exploit through QR code–based phishing attacks, also known as "quishing." Bad actors will place phony QR codes that direct smartphone users... Read more

Gaming is one of the biggest industries in the world. In fact, in 2024, the revenue from the worldwide gaming market was estimated at almost $US455 billion. For context, the gaming industry is now generating more revenue than the movie and music industries combined.... Read more

Sony PlayStation's online services came back online on Saturday, the Japanese group said, after a 24-hour outage frustrated gamers around the world.... Read more

Immersive film using virtual reality (VR) or 360-degree video is being used increasingly as a tool for eliciting empathy and emotional identification in fact-based stories. Unlike traditional flat film, immersive films allow viewers to look in any direction while watching the video.... Read more

Science fiction film and television has long been fascinated by robots. But stories that show us uncannily human cyborgs have often tended to veer towards either comedy or horror. Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" (1927) and Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" (1982) both imagine a world where beautiful female cyborgs threaten to overstep... Read more

Smartphones are useful tools for everyday life, but they're privy to nearly everything about you, including all the places you've been—if you let them.... Read more