2024 State Of The Industry: Guarded Optimism

Posted on 11 January 2024 by Stewart Wolpin

Market roadblocks and negative economic conditions from 2023 linger, but retailers, vendors, and analysts all are hopeful for more positive results in the new year.

Read the rest of this report here at TWICE.com.

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CES 2024: AI Pioneers Insist That It Is ‘Here To Stay’

Posted on 10 January 2024 by Stewart Wolpin
Left to Right: Rajeev Chand, Fei-Fei Li, Andrew Ng (image credit: Mark Reinertson)

People’s opinions of AI vary widely from the possibility of creating a utopian machine-assisted world or precipitate a dystopic machine-dominated future á la SkyNet from the Terminator movie series, with millions of possibilities and potential in between. But two AI pioneers made one thing clear at the “Great Minds, Bold Visions: What’s Next for AI” conference session moderated by Rajeev Chand, partner and head of research at Wing Venture Capital: AI is here to stay and will only become what humans make of it.

Read the rest of this story here at TWICE.com.

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Nuance Audio Combines Glasses and Hearing Aids for Dual Assist

Posted on 7 January 2024 by Stewart Wolpin

Does combining glasses with hearing aids make sense? EssilorLuxottica, the world’s leading maker of eyeglasses, thinks so. Sometime later this year, the company will introduce Nuance Audio-branded prescription eyeglasses that incorporate over-the-counter hearing aids in the glasses’ temples.

Read the rest of this story here at Techlicious.com.

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Soundwave Sontro OTC Hearing Aids: Average Performance, Decent Price

Posted on 3 January 2024 by Stewart Wolpin

After testing a large bulk of the available OTC hearing aids over the last year plus, I believe models powered by single-use batteries are, well, stupid, especially with the wealth of rechargeable alternatives now available. Tiny hearing aid batteries are awkward to swap, and the ongoing replacement cost soon makes up for any savings in the original device price. It’s hard to imagine many OTC hearing aid vendors continuing to make or sell single-use battery models for very long.

Read the rest of this review here at Techlicious.com.

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SmartTechCheck Podcast: The Top Tech Stories of 2023

Posted on 23 December 2023 by Stewart Wolpin

I join host Mark Vena and fellow tech journalists John Quain and Rob Pegoraro to opine on the top tech stories of 2023: the meteoric rise of AI, Elon Musk and Twitter, the announcement of Apple’s Vision Pro and 5G fixed wireless emerging as a significant broadband trend.

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The 7 Best Flip Phones of 2024

Posted on 19 December 2023 by Stewart Wolpin

Cold turkey may be the best and only way to wean yourself or your kids from a smartphone addiction. There is actually a way to exist these days without a smartphone. Imagine—you can continue to keep in touch in this ultra-connected world via the simplicity of an old-fashioned “feature” flip phone, a clamshell phone with a small, non-touch display and a physical numerical keypad that were the norm before the iPhone.

Read the rest of this roundup here at BestProducts.com.

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Access To Technology, Generative AI Main Themes For CES 2024

Posted on 13 December 2023 by Stewart Wolpin

CES 2024 is shaping up as a big step forward in the show’s post-pandemic recovery. According to Kinsey Fabrizio, CTA’s SVP for CES & Membership, speaking at CTA’s annual CES press preview, this year’s Las Vegas confab (January 9-12) has already surpassed 3,500 exhibitors, has reached 2.4 million square feet of exhibit space, and show organizers expect more than 130,000 attendees.

Read the rest of this report here at TWICE.com.

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Zepp Clarity Pixie OTC Hearing Aid Review: Eargo’s Worthy Competitor

Posted on 13 December 2023 by Stewart Wolpin

With the Zepp Clarity Pixie, Eargo now has a worthy competitor. The Pixie delivers nearly the same excellent natural hearing clarity in the same nearly invisible in-ear bud form factor as the Eargo 7, my pick for the best OTC hearing aids, with a slightly wider variety of sonic tailoring options.

Read the rest of this review here at Techlicious.com.

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The 5 Best Self-Emptying Robot Vacuums Save You Time and Effort

Posted on 13 December 2023 by Stewart Wolpin

Only a select few regular household chores are more tedious and time consuming than cleaning floors. According to a number of recent surveys, scrubbing and sanitizing bathrooms is the most hated task, followed by hand-washing dishes/unloading the dishwasher, cleaning the stove/oven, laundry/ironing, and then mopping and vacuuming. The pure drudgery of mopping and vacuuming is the prime reason why robots that do one or both have become so popular.

Read the rest of this roundup here at Popular Mechanics.

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The 10 Best 4K TVs That Guarantee a Great Viewing Experience

Posted on 8 December 2023 by Stewart Wolpin

It’s admittedly hard to detect any real differences between the dozens of bright and colorful big screen 4K TV models available now, whether they’re arrayed on a wall in a store, along shelves at your local retailer, or online. Some TVs are three times the price of other models, but they all seem to look equally big and great so you might as well just buy the largest one you can at the lowest price, right?

Read the rest of this roundup here at Popular Mechanics.

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