Electronics

US courts have ruled against platform providers for failing to protect children, and the debate over age restrictions for social media has gained momentum. An international group of experts from academia, children's rights organizations and non-profit institutions is convinced that bans would be the wrong approach. In the journal Science,... Read more

A new app developed by Yun Huang, associate professor in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, aims to make navigating conferences less work and more fun, so that attendees can meet others, discover fresh ideas, and "experience academic life as an exciting adventure."... Read more

Despite the hype about streaming services, traditional broadcast television still dominates advertising dollars. This year, advertisers will spend $139 billion on "linear" TV—where viewers watch programs at scheduled times—compared with $33 billion on streaming or "connected" TV.... Read more

A scrawny hippie and a nerdy engineer who became prank-playing friends vowed to change the world when they founded a Silicon Valley startup on April Fools' Day 50 years ago and then—no joke—pulled it off.... Read more

A QUT study of 20 popular paid and free apps for children aged 5 to 8 years found that most contained deceptive design patterns aimed at attracting children to paid content, increasing their time spent using the app, or encouraging them to watch advertisements for other products. Corresponding author Professor... Read more

In the early 1970s, the idea of an ordinary person owning a computer sounded absurd. Computers back then were more like aircraft carriers or nuclear power plants than household appliances—vast machines housed in data centers operated by teams of specialists, serving governments, universities and large corporations.... Read more

Augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) headsets let us see the world around us with virtual elements superimposed on top. For example, many modern AR/MR headsets use hand-tracking cameras to detect hand gestures in the air, which allows users to type on a virtual keyboard that appears to be... Read more

iPhone maker Apple celebrates its 50th anniversary on April 1 having marked pop culture and the tech industry like few other firms since its beginnings in 1976.... Read more

Last week leading chipmaker Nvidia announced DLSS-5 (Deep Learning Super Sampling), a new artificial intelligence (AI) rendering tool it describes as a "breakthrough in visual fidelity for games." The software takes low-resolution images and uses AI to upscale them, adding what Nvidia calls "photoreal lighting and materials."... Read more

A landmark California verdict that found the social media company Meta and video-sharing service YouTube liable for the depression and mental health challenges of a young woman could be "the beginning of a tidal wave," a social media expert said.... Read more

In a new study published in Science, Stanford computer scientists showed that artificial intelligence large language models are overly agreeable, or sycophantic, when users solicit advice on interpersonal dilemmas. Even when users described harmful or illegal behavior, the models often affirmed their choices.... Read more

To get the best out of AI, some users tell it to provide answers as if it were an expert. Others ask it to adopt a persona, such as a safety monitor, to guide its responses. However, this approach can sometimes hurt performance, according to a study available on the... Read more

A multi-channel wearable scent display developed at Institute of Science Tokyo allows a user to experience multiple scents while exploring virtual environments. Based on virtual scenes, the device can blend up to eight fragrances in real time and deliver them with precise control of odor intensity. By synchronizing smell with... Read more

Love is mysterious. You feel it in your chest, your knees, your soul. Love will put you on budget airplanes across the world, leave you hiding from your own phone after a sent text message or perhaps standing in the rain with your belongings in a box.... Read more

Amid hot discussion on screen time, social media use and the impact of digital devices on our well-being, a seven-month study from Aalto University in Finland sheds new light on what overwhelms users the most—and the results aren't what you might think.... Read more

Can using a large language model (LLM) make a person more creative? Prior work has shown that using LLMs can make creative outputs more homogeneous, but this homogenization could stem from the specific LLM used or from widespread use of the same model.... Read more

The US Federal Communications Commission on Monday banned authorizations for all new consumer routers produced in foreign countries, citing "national security" reasons.... Read more

During the First World War, the British government was looking for ways to help people stretch their limited food supplies. It found pamphlets from a noted 19th-century herbalist who said rhubarb leaves could be used as a vegetable along with the stalks.... Read more

I remember sitting very close to the television as a child and seeing the image was made up of tiny colored dots, each of which broke down into miniature vertical strips of red, green and blue when I looked even closer.... Read more

Googling isn't quite what it used to be. Now, when typing something into Google's search engine, the first response flashing to life on your screen is not the top-ranked search result but an "AI Overview." When asked why (using Google's search engine), the AI Overview replied: "… to provide users... Read more

A Los Angeles courtroom is hosting what may become the most consequential legal challenge Big Tech has ever faced. This is an inflection point in the global debate over Big Tech liability: For the first time, an American jury is being asked to decide whether platform design itself can give... Read more

While large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT are adept at answering countless questions, they often remain unaware of a user's minor habits or previous conversational contexts. This is why AI, despite being deeply integrated into our daily lives, can still feel like a "stranger." Overcoming these limitations, researchers at KAIST,... Read more

It's a familiar feeling: You start a text message, and your phone's autocomplete function suggests several choices for the next word, ranging from banal to hilarious. "I love…" you, or coffee? Or you're finishing an email, and merely typing the word "Let" prompts your app to suggest "Let me know... Read more

The integration of large language model-based AI chatbots into multiple facets of our everyday lives has opened us up to advantages that would have been considered impossible even a decade ago. The same development has, however, opened us up to unforeseen risks, including the impact that engaging with AI chatbots... Read more

Recommender systems suggest potentially relevant content by evaluating user preferences and are essential in reducing information overload. However, when users join a new online platform, recommendation systems often struggle to understand their preferences. With no prior interactions in the new environment, these "cold-start" users are difficult to serve accurately.... Read more

Researchers seeking to understand the impact of smartphones on driving safety have a warning for music fans: Release day might be dangerous. The study, described in a working paper published last month by the National Bureau of Economic Research, showed a 43% increase in streaming and a 15% increase in... Read more

AI-powered toys that "talk" with young children should be more tightly regulated and carry new safety kitemarks, according to a report that warns they are not always developed with children's psychological safety in mind. The recommendation appears in the initial report from "AI in the Early Years": a University of... Read more

With a price tag of $600—$500 with a student discount—Apple's new MacBook Neo releasing today is shaking up the entry-level PC market and education sector, competing squarely with similarly priced Windows laptops and Chromebooks.... Read more

Artificial intelligence-powered writing tools such as autocomplete suggestions can definitely change the way people express themselves, but can they also change how they think? Cornell Tech researchers think so.... Read more

With so many artificial intelligence (AI) products being offered now, it's increasingly tempting to offload difficult thinking tasks to chatbots, agents and other tools.... Read more

Every time you scroll, like, or share on a social media platform, an algorithm is watching, learning, and deciding what you see next. But how many of us stop to think about what's actually driving those decisions and what's at stake when we don't?... Read more

A "smart pillow" that enables people to access digital content at bedtime without looking at screens could help cut down on problematic evening smartphone use, its inventors say. Computing scientists at the University of Glasgow built the prototype device, which incorporates a speaker and tactile sensors into an ordinary pillow.... Read more

Apple Inc. rolled out the $599 MacBook Neo in its biggest push yet into low-end laptops, aiming to challenge Windows PCs and Chromebooks for budget-minded shoppers.... Read more

When the temperature drops to -20°C, electric car owners quickly notice it in their wallets. But is it just a matter of driving with the heat on full blast? And what can we do to save the battery as much as possible?... Read more

An artificial intelligence-based projection makeup system from Science Tokyo lets users describe a mood or style in their own words and instantly see matching makeup colors on their faces. The technology learns each person's preferences in real time and displays results under realistic lighting that reflects individual skin tone and... Read more

More than 4 in 10 adults in the U.K. are happy to use ChatGPT for their mental health support, new research suggests. The study, led by Bournemouth University, surveyed nearly 31,000 adults in 35 countries about their use of artificial intelligence (AI) large language models such as ChatGPT. The study... Read more

Apple CEO Tim Cook promised a "big week" of product announcements has seen the introduction of a new budget-friendly iPhone trim, an entry-level MacBook tier, updated iPad Air models, refreshed monitors and higher-end chipsets. All of which was on display at hands-on media events held Wednesday in New York, London... Read more

Alternative phones on offer at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) telecoms trade show in Barcelona this week aim to answer demand for devices that protect users' data and attention.... Read more

You know it's time to put your phone down, but your thumb finds "Play Again" once more. In an age where digital entertainment never sleeps, willpower alone isn't enough. As more players, especially the younger generations, face physical and mental health challenges from excessive gaming, ethical design that prioritizes human... Read more

While internal emails reveal Meta executives once described themselves as "pushers," Mark Zuckerberg faces a jury to argue that 16-hour-a-day scrolling habits are a sign of "value," not addiction.... Read more

Low-resolution online videos are less likely to influence opinion and also more likely to dissuade viewers from engaging with future content, research by Oregon State University scientists shows. The study carries major implications for the design and delivery of video content and suggests that deviations from high-quality presentations can create... Read more

The secondhand market for smartphones has surged in recent years, borne up by lower prices as well as interest in eco-friendly consumption even as some still fear buying a dud.... Read more

Training police officers with a virtual-reality game can significantly improve their ability to regulate stress, even in realistic, high-pressure situations. The VR game, developed at the Donders Institute at Radboud University, has already been integrated into several police training programs.... Read more

Adelaide University researchers have initiated the development of a world-first cybersecurity system designed to protect drones from increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. The new study led by the Industrial AI Research Center and published in the journal Computers & Industrial Engineering, paves the way for safer and more resilient unmanned aerial... Read more

Small household solar power systems have been gaining traction—and investment—as a means to provide affordable and sustainable energy to those living without access to electricity. But new research led by the University of Michigan shows that simply having access to solar technology does not mean people will adopt it and... Read more

The cell phone world is divided into two camps—iPhone users and Android users. Apple curates new features for iOS and Google develops for Android, and they likely don't spend a ton of time worrying about how their phones interact with phones from the other company.... Read more

Large language models (LLMs), artificial intelligence (AI) systems that can process human language and generate texts in response to specific user queries, are now used daily by a growing number of people worldwide. While initially these models were primarily used to quickly source information or produce texts for specific uses,... Read more

With increasing cyberattacks and government data breaches, one of the most important devices to keep secure is the one in everyone's pocket: smartphones. The problem is that it is difficult to check that a smartphone has not been tampered with without the risk of unintentionally damaging the device itself.... Read more

Drawing boundaries isn't just important for relationships with humans anymore. It could be the key to people's relationships with their favorite AI chatbots. Researchers recently discovered that the overly agreeable behavior of chatbots depends on what role the AI plays in a conversation. The more personal a relationship, the more... Read more

Eyes are said to be the mirror of the soul. Eyes and gaze direction guide attention, evoke emotions and activate the brain's social perception mechanisms. Researchers at Tampere University and the University of Bremen conducted a study examining how people perceive the minds of humanoid robots. Mind perception refers to... Read more