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Robots Could Help Kids Become Better Readers, According to a New Study

Learning to read is difficult, and reading aloud is anxiety inducing for plenty of kids. From not being able to pronounce a word, to being mocked by their peers for stumbling while speaking, reading out loud can cause anxiety and make kids less likely to want to read. The University of Chicago, University of Illinois Chicago and University of Wisconsin-Madison have released a new study that shows there may be an unlikely ally that can help. Social robots may be the key in helping kids build conf

After child’s trauma, chatbot maker allegedly forced mom to arbitration for $100 payout

Deeply troubled parents spoke to senators Tuesday, sounding alarms about chatbot harms after kids became addicted to companion bots that encouraged self-harm, suicide, and violence. While the hearing was focused on documenting the most urgent child-safety concerns with chatbots, parents' testimony serves as perhaps the most thorough guidance yet on warning signs for other families, as many popular companion bots targeted in lawsuits, including ChatGPT, remain accessible to kids. Mom details wa

Topics: ai doe harm kids son

Garmin’s new Bounce watch for kids doubles the price, not the features

is a senior reporter who’s been covering and reviewing the latest gadgets and tech since 2006, but has loved all things electronic since he was a kid. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Garmin announced a new version of its Bounce smartwatch for kids that first debuted in 2022 with tracking and communication features powered by an LTE connection. The Bounce 2 introduces a new design and upgrades that include two-way talking instead of just v

Topics: 99 bounce garmin kids new

New York details its plans for online age verification rules

Last year, New York joined the wave of states passing legislation aimed at protecting minors using the Internet, particularly social media. Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act and the New York Child Data Protection Act in June 2024. Today, the state's Attorney General Letitia James released more specifics about what the SAFE for Kids Act will entail in practice. Public comment is open until December 1 and the rules must be finalized within a yea

NY could force TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram to roll out age verification

is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO. A New York law could require social media platforms to implement age verification. On Monday, New York Attorney General Letitia James released the proposed rules for the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) For Kids Act, which would force platforms to confirm that someone is over 18 before allowing them to access an algorithm-driven feed or nigh

California's age verification bill for app stores and operating systems takes another step forward

A California bill that would require operating system and app store providers to verify users' ages before they can download apps has cleared the Assembly 58-0, and will now move on to Gov. Gavin Newsom, Politico reports. The Digital Age Assurance Act (AB 1043), introduced by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, does not require photo identification for verification, but puts the onus on the platforms to provide tools for parents to indicate the user's age during a device's setup, and use this informatio

From burner phones to decks of cards: NYC teens adjusting to the smartphone ban

New York City students are one week into the statewide phone ban. Gothamist reporters checked in with teens across the district to see how they are adapting. Here's how they are handling their disconnected days. Lower-tech life Polaroids, walkie-talkies and decks of cards: New York City teens said these are some of the hot items circulating in schools now that the statewide smartphone ban is in effect. Alia Soliman, a senior at Bronx Science, said cards “are making a big comeback.” She said kids

Teens are adjusting to the smartphone ban

New York City students are one week into the statewide phone ban. Gothamist reporters checked in with teens across the district to see how they are adapting. Here's how they are handling their disconnected days. Lower-tech life Polaroids, walkie-talkies and decks of cards: New York City teens said these are some of the hot items circulating in schools now that the statewide smartphone ban is in effect. Alia Soliman, a senior at Bronx Science, said cards “are making a big comeback.” She said k

I didn't bring my son to a museum to look at screens

When I was a kid in the ’80s, one of my two favorite places on Earth was The Franklin Institute (TFI) in downtown Philadelphia. We lived a couple hours away so a visit was a rare and precious thing. I think I only visited two or three times but it left an indelible impression on me. I remember wandering in amazement through its enormous spaces getting to actually play with amazing and interesting things. I remember sweeping off a table and then filling an overhanging funnel pendulum with sand, s

A bombshell child safety leak changed Meta — for the worse

is a senior policy reporter at The Verge, covering the intersection of Silicon Valley and Capitol Hill. She spent 5 years covering tech policy at CNBC, writing about antitrust, privacy, and content moderation reform. In 2021, when former Meta employee Frances Haugen blew the whistle on dangers that the company’s platforms posed to kids, Meta realized it needed to change. “I’m here to tell you today that Meta has changed,” said one of a new set of whistleblowers — former Meta user experience re

Topics: kids meta said savage vr

The FDA approves human trials for pig kidney transplants

Despite how it sounds, a xenotransplant isn't something from the latest Alien movie. It's an increasingly credible science: the transplantation of animal organs into humans. The field took one of its biggest leaps forward on Monday. The FDA approved the biotech company eGenesis to begin human trials of pig-to-human kidney transplants. eGenesis provides pigs with CRISPR-modified genes. These genetic changes reduce the chances of organ rejection in human recipients. The FDA approved the company f

I tried smart glasses with a built-in display, and they beat my Meta Ray-Bans in key ways

Kerry Wan/ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways The Rokid Glasses are launching through Kickstarter, with a retail price of $599. They feature built-in displays that project textual information, such as a teleprompter, AI responses, and more. The 12MP camera sensor leaves something to be desired, and a stable internet connection is required for most functions to work. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's quote about b

Ask HN: Good resources for DIY-ish animatronic kits for Halloween?

Does anyone know of good resources to make your own animatronic Halloween displays? I'm a software engineer, and not skilled in hardware per se. I would love to make some things together with my kids. For reference, they are 8, 10, 12 and VERY smart and they use Ubuntu as their desktop computers and can use flatpak from the command line. Not that I am bragging.... And, I would love to NOT spent $400 on just a single ridiculous junky thing from Lowes, and do that for multiple things. My budget

Classic Sesame Street episodes are coming to YouTube

is a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. YouTube is getting “hundreds” of full classic Sesame Street episodes beginning in January 2026. Once the episodes are available, “YouTube will have the largest digital library of Sesame Street content,” Sesame Workshop says. YouTube is already has a wealth of popular content focused t

Google Gemini dubbed ‘high risk’ for kids and teens in new safety assessment

Common Sense Media, a kids-safety-focused nonprofit offering ratings and reviews of media and technology, released its risk assessment of Google’s Gemini AI products on Friday. While the organization found that Google’s AI clearly told kids it was a computer, not a friend — something that’s associated with helping drive delusional thinking and psychosis in emotionally vulnerable individuals — it did suggest that there was room for improvement across several other fronts. Notably, Common Sense s

These AI glasses hit $1M in pre-orders in 72 hours and have features missing from Meta Ray-Bans

Rokid Glasses with the app and case. Kerry Wan/ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways Rokid Glasses are a competitor to Meta Ray-Bans but offer several more advanced features. The company launched a pre-order marketing campaign via Kickstarted and raised over $1 million in pre-orders in the first 3 days. The AI glasses are likely to appeal to tech early adopters who value features over multiple style selections. The popular Meta Ray-Bans smart gla

I tried smart glasses with a built-in display, and they made my Meta Ray-Bans feel outdated

Kerry Wan/ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways The Rokid Glasses are launching through Kickstarter, with a retail price of $599. They feature built-in displays that project textual information, such as a teleprompter, AI responses, and more. The 12MP camera sensor leaves something to be desired, and a stable internet connection is required for most functions to work. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's quote about b

13 Superfoods Found In Your Fridge That Can Protect Your Kidneys

Your kidneys are working nonstop, whether you know it or not. They clear waste from your blood, balance fluid levels, regulate hormones and even influence things like blood pressure and energy. As important as kidney health may be, it doesn't always get the focus it should. The CDC estimates that more than 1 in 7 adults in the US are living with chronic kidney disease, and many don't even know it. That's why prevention and daily care are so important. Taking simple steps now can help protect y

A Shocking Number of Kids Don’t Play Outside

For plenty of us grown-ups, the time spent running around our neighborhoods or hanging by the playground swings was a highlight of our childhood. Kids today often can’t say the same, though. New research shows that a substantial proportion of children aren’t playing outdoors at all, even on the weekends. Scientists at the University of Exeter in the UK found that about a third of children reported not playing outdoors after school, while one in five reported not playing outside during the weeke

Disney will pay $10 million to settle FTC claim it used cartoons to collect YouTube data on kids

is a senior policy reporter at The Verge, covering the intersection of Silicon Valley and Capitol Hill. She spent 5 years covering tech policy at CNBC, writing about antitrust, privacy, and content moderation reform. Disney has agreed to pay $10 million to settle allegations from the Federal Trade Commission that it violated federal law by misleadingly labeling cartoons on YouTube so it could illegally collect children’s personal data. The FTC alleges that Disney failed to label some videos of

Disney will pay $10 million to settle FTC complaint that it collected children's data on YouTube

The Federal Trade Commission announced that Disney will pay $10 million to settle allegations that the entertainment giant allowed data collection on YouTube videos meant for children. Under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule, also known as COPPA , companies are required to notify parents and obtain parental consent if they collection information from minors. According to the FTC complaint, Disney failed to properly label some YouTube videos as "Made for Kids," which allowed the compa

Look out, Meta Ray-Bans! These AI glasses just raised over $1M in pre-orders in 3 days

Rokid executive Liang Guan wearing Rokid Glasses. Liang Guan/Rokid (via LinkedIn) Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways Rokid Glasses are a competitor to Meta Ray-Bans but offer several more advanced features. The company launched a pre-order marketing campaign via Kickstarted and raised over $1 million in pre-orders in the first 3 days. The AI glasses are likely to appeal to tech early adopters who value features over multiple style selections. The po

Want Healthier Kidneys? 13 Superfoods You Should Add to Your Grocery List

Your kidneys are working nonstop, whether you know it or not. They clear waste from your blood, balance fluid levels, regulate hormones and even influence things like blood pressure and energy. As important as kidney health may be, it doesn't always get the focus it should. The CDC estimates that more than 1 in 7 adults in the US are living with chronic kidney disease, and many don't even know it. That's why prevention and daily care are so important. Taking simple steps now can help protect y

Urban Arrow FamilyNext Pro Review: The Perfect Family Bike

How time flies. I first reviewed the original Urban Arrow in 2020, when my kids were 3 and 5. Back then, nothing delighted a couple of preschoolers more than strapping into a big, motorized cargo bike and scooting around town, shrieking, with the wind blowing in their tiny faces. Alas, they are now 8 and 10. When I picked up my 8-year-old two days ago, he crouched down in the box while sitting on the padded seats (with seat belts!) so that none of his friends would see him. All this to say: My

Topics: bike box cargo foam kids

Global movement to protect kids online fuels a wave of AI safety tech

Spotify, Reddit and X have all implemented age assurance systems to prevent children from being exposed to inappropriate content. The global online safety movement has paved the way for a number of artificial intelligence-powered products designed to keep kids away from potentially harmful things on the internet. In the U.K., a new piece of legislation called the Online Safety Act imposes a duty of care on tech companies to protect children from age-inappropriate material, hate speech, bullyin

Kindle Colorsoft Kids Review (2025): Great for All Ages

The age-old question (if “age-old” can be used for technology developed in the past 20 years) persisted as I tested the newest designed-for-kids Kindle: Should you give kids a screen when you could give them something else? If you are going to give your kids a screen, a reflective e-paper screen that's easier on the eyes than an emissive screen is one of the best ways to go. While a Kindle can't fully replace the experience of turning a page on a physical book, I loved reading from a young age

Rokid Glasses Hands-On: Smart Glasses, Buggy Voice Assistant

Smart glasses are an exciting idea right now. In theory, they’re a new gadget that does lots of the stuff that our phones do, but in an always-there form factor. They can take pictures, make calls, translate menus, and—if the tech and the investment get there—they might slap a screen right onto eyeballs for notifications, navigation, and maybe even augmented reality à la Pokémon Go. I say “in theory” because just because smart glasses can do all of those things on paper doesn’t mean they can do

A new challenger is coming for Meta’s smart glasses throne

TL;DR Rokid has announced the launch of a Kickstarter for its new AI/AR glasses. The glasses feature a dual-eye screen that acts as a heads-up display for directions, real-time translation, and more. They are set to ship in November for $599. When you think of smart glasses, the first thing that probably comes to mind is Meta. The social media giant’s Ray-Ban smart glasses hold a tight grip on the market. However, a new challenger may loosen that grip with the launch of its new product. Don’

These Smart Glasses Have Something That Meta Ray-Ban Owners Desperately Want

Meta might be the splashiest purveyor of smart glasses out there, but Zuck’s house isn’t alone in chasing AR eyewear. In fact, if you want a pair of smart glasses with a display in them—frames that are technically more advanced than Meta’s Ray-Bans—you can buy one right now, and upstarts like Rokid are among the few offering that in the U.S. Rokid just unveiled its new smart glasses, aptly dubbed Rokid Glasses, which pack a monochrome display in each eye with 1,500 nits of max brightness. Those

Dex is an AI-powered camera device that helps children learn new languages

Three parents—Reni Cao, Xiao Zhang, and Susan Rosenthal—were worried about their children’s screen time, so they left their tech jobs to create a product that encourages children to engage with the real world while also helping them learn a new language. Their move has paid off, as the company recently raised $4.8 million in funding. The newly launched gadget is called Dex and resembles a high-tech magnifying glass with a camera lens on one side and a touchscreen on the other. When kids use the