Of the myriad descriptions being levied onAmazon’s Alexa “smart home” system, its creators probably weren’t expecting the phrase“parenting nightmare.”Yet that description has come up again and again as parents discover the new and unexpected consequences of introducing kids with developing brains and underdeveloped vocabularies to devices that can misinterpret, miscommunicate, and even make purchases on your behalf. Perhaps the most famous case so far was that of Megan Neitzel of Dallas, Texas, who didn’t realize when she got an Echo Dot as a gift that her six-year-old daughter mightask the digital assistant about cookies and a dollhouse....

“Why you may trust Digital Trends – We have a 20-year history of testing, reviewing, and rating products, services and apps to help you make a sound buying decision. Find out we test and score products.“ Call 2018 the year of thesmart display. This year alone, many new smart displays — or tablet-like speakers with a screen and an Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant voice assistant — have hit the shelves in droves....

Avid sports fans will be familiar with footage from a Spidercam, which sweeps in low over the athletes to provide a more dramatic view. The footage may initially look as if it’s coming from a drone, but Spidercams are actually suspended from a network of cables placed directly over the field of play and use motorized winches to move around. The technology has been in use for decades in various forms, and most of the time it captures the action without incident....

Marvel Rivals Invisible Woman trick highlights one of the game’s biggest flaws Marvel Rivals players have found an Invisible Woman trick that further highlights the game’s bot-related issues. Shortly after the game launched, Marvel Rivals users realized that repeated losses result inbot-filled Quickplay matches. Bots have, thus, become a contentious topic, and theSeason 1 addition of the Fantastic Fourmay heighten those frustrations. The Season 1 update brought Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman to the hero shooter,breaking its own player count recordin the process....

TheMercedes-AMG GT 4-Doorjust went to the Nürburgring Nordschleife — the ultimate forum of automotive bragging rights — and set a very fast lap time. Development engineer Demian Schaffert took anAMG GT63 S versionaround the 12.8-mile German racetrack in 7:25.41. Mercedes claims that’s a new record, but that’s where things get complicated. In 2017, theJaguar XE SV Project 8turned ina 7:21.23 lap. Like the AMG GT 4-Door, it’s a four-door production car....

In a tweet announcing yet another upcoming content update, Nintendo confirmed that it has even more content forAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsin development with the goal of launching later this year. Over a year after release,Animal Crossing: New Horizonsis still going strong. The game continues to receive content updates that bring items and events to the game. Nintendo’s announcement confirms that the company plans to continue support through 2021. While Nintendo didn’t say exactly what new content was in development, the company will give fans an update soon....

Netflixhas added another horror treasure to its digital library with AMC’s supernatural anthology seriesThe Terror. Each season of this show features a standalone story in the vein ofAmerican Horror Story. But unlike the latter show,The Terrorpresents a more grounded and less stylized picture of horror by blending reality and folklore in a distinctive way. After having won the Satellite Award for Best Genre Series,The Terrorhas proven itself a modern horror classic just waiting to be seen by more audiences....

We typically think of solar panels in terms of generating energy at home, but it’s possible to make some on your own kinetically by going about everyday routines. Researchers havepublished findingsthat show how special wood floor tiles could generate electricity just by virtue of people walking on them. There have been many advancements around this type of power transmission, such aswireless power over distance. Wood isn’t typically good at gaining or losing electrons, so each of the two spruce planes used in the demonstrations needed special treatment: One with silicone and another with metallic nanocrystals....

Niantic “in talks” to sell Pokemon Go for billions in Saudi takeover Pokemon Go creators Niantic Inc. are reportedly eyeing a blockbuster sale to a Saudi Arabia-controlled company to the tune of $3.5 billion. Almost a decade on from its release,Pokemon Gois still a juggernaut in the mobile gaming market,generatinghundreds of millions in revenue with each passing year. While initially a startup under Google’s umbrella, the San Francisco development studio went independent in 2015 and has remained as such ever since....

Nintendojust gave a nod to toilet gamers across the globe withthe latest commercialfor its upcoming Switch gaming console. Just one second after the commercial begins, we see someone slip the handheld portion out of the Switch base. Cut to the person sitting on the toilet sporting a big grin while playingMario Kart 8 Deluxeon the handheld. The grin could stem from playing the game or from something else … we have no idea....

Overwatch Director says pick-ban system could add more “strategic depth” to OW2 Overwatch 2 received a massive overhaul in Season 9 with a revamped ranked system, competitive rewards and gameplay updates, and Aaron Keller already has ideas in mind for the next significant patch. Major Overwatch 2 changes like we saw inSeason 9are going to happen again to give the game a “regular heartbeat” and while how often the updates occur is still up in the air, plans are already underway for more....

Pokemon Go player frustrated with “horrible” Castform rates The Weather Week eventhas already been pretty divisivewith Pokemon Go players. One fan took to social media lately to voice their concerns about the Castform rates. The Weather Week event is currently ongoing in Pokemon Go, running fromMarch 14toMarch18. It centers around the seasonal PokemonCastformand all the different forms that this cute ‘mon can take. It’s been a somewhat divisive event for players already, though, and one fan took tor/pokemongoon Reddit recently to air their grievances about the way Castform is encountered during Weather Week....

A mouse pad has to top the list of the most boring peripherals for your PC setup, but Razer managed to make itsFirefly V2 Proexciting. It’s a fully-illuminated RGB mouse pad. No, it’s not a mouse pad with RGB lights strung around the edges — we’ve seen that dozens of times — but one that carries RGB light throughout the surface. It includes 15 controllable lighting zones that you can adjust through Razer Synapse, and it supports the lighting effects built into Razer’s software....