All articles tagged with #consumer technology
Tech companies are giving delivery and household robots friendlier, more petlike features—round shapes, big eyes and audible cues—to encourage human acceptance as AI-powered machines enter everyday life. Examples include DoorDash’s Dot and the Memo desk lamp. Designers say these traits foster trust and engagement, but experts caution about potential emotional attachment and privacy concerns as physical AI becomes more widespread.
ai.com, launched by Crypto.com co-founder Kris Marszalek, offers a consumer AI agent platform that creates autonomous agents in about 60 seconds, capable of acting on users’ behalf (e.g., trading, scheduling, messaging) within a secure, encrypted environment. The ai.com domain was reportedly bought for around $70 million in digital assets, and a high-profile Super Bowl ad signals a mass-market push. The service aims for a decentralized network of self-improving agents shared across millions of users, but will face regulatory, privacy, and trust hurdles before mainstream adoption.
Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Ring may come with both a high upfront cost of $300-$350 and a required subscription fee, continuing a concerning trend in tech where companies charge high prices for hardware and additional perpetual fees. This practice is criticized as unacceptable, with calls for consumers to push back against such pricing models.
A report by Dhruv Bhutani highlights the disappointment of early adopters of smart devices, citing examples of feature deterioration and product discontinuation by companies like Amazon and Google. The author expresses regret over investing in smart devices, such as streaming boxes, Nest Hubs, and Nest Secure, due to the decline in user experience and support. Bhutani advises consumers to reconsider future investments in smart devices and scrutinize companies' treatment of their current portfolio before making further purchases.
Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of Google's DeepMind A.I. lab, is leaving his start-up to lead Microsoft's consumer A.I. business, reporting directly to CEO Satya Nadella. Suleyman will be responsible for expanding Microsoft's consumer A.I. offerings, including Copilot chatbot, Bing search engine, and Edge internet browser. His start-up co-founder and team will also join Microsoft, signaling the company's aggressive plans for A.I. technology.
Best Buy's 3-day sale offers significant discounts on a wide range of tech products, including TVs, laptops, home appliances, and smart home devices. Highlights include $700 off a Greenworks snowblower bundle, a $41 discount on the Sonos One SL speaker, and half off a 12-piece Arlo security camera set. The sale ends on Sunday, Jan. 7, and features deals like 30% off major appliances and up to $700 in Best Buy credit with select Samsung appliance packages. Other notable discounts include savings on Dell laptops, LG monitors, Beats headphones, and Apple products.