General Motors has settled a lawsuit from 35 state attorneys general and Washington, D.C. over its OnStar Smart Driver program, agreeing to pay $220 million. Investigators found GM tracked driving behavior like speeding and hard braking from millions of customers between 2016 and 2024 and sold that data to brokers for insurance purposes, often without clear consent, and sometimes continued selling data on drivers it had mistakenly told were unenrolled. As part of the settlement, GM must limit data collection, undergo privacy audits, and add dealership training.
engadget.com
· 2026-10-30
A group of U.S. senators has launched an inquiry into Meta's smart glasses, seeking information on whether the company assessed potential human rights violations tied to the devices. The inquiry centers on due diligence Meta may or may not have conducted before releasing the product.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-10-29
General Motors has agreed to pay $220 million to settle claims from attorneys general in 36 states that it sold drivers' location and driving-behavior data to brokers without proper consent. The settlement requires GM to obtain explicit consent before collecting or sharing such data and to undergo third-party audits of its privacy compliance. The case centers on GM's now-discontinued Smart Driver program, which tracked driving habits and fed data to brokers like LexisNexis and Verisk, who then sold it to insurers.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-29
Thrive Holdings, a private-equity spin-out from Josh Kushner's Thrive Capital, has acquired home security company ADT for $10 per share, valuing the equity at roughly $7.6 billion and the total enterprise value at $15.3 billion. OpenAI is a partner and investor in Thrive Holdings, which says it holds more than 75 companies that it aims to revitalize using AI. The companies said ADT will become the foundation of Thrive's smart home security business, though no specific new products were announced.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-29
General Motors has agreed to pay $220 million to settle claims from a coalition of 36 state attorneys general that it illegally sold driving and location data to brokers. The data, gathered through GM's now-discontinued Smart Driver program, allegedly reached insurers who used it to raise some customers' premiums, and states say drivers weren't properly informed they were enrolled. GM must now limit data collection and get explicit consent from drivers going forward.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-29
Ikea has cut $20 off its donut-shaped Varmblixt smart lamp, bringing it to $79.99 until November 11th. The 180-lumen lamp offers 12 preset colors and can be controlled via an included wireless remote without needing an app or hub, while also supporting Matter for integration with Apple Home, Google Home, and Amazon Alexa.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-29
Amazon has introduced a new version of its Echo Studio smart speaker that includes a built-in camera, enabling Alexa to visually perceive its surroundings. This marks a shift from Amazon's previous audio-only Echo Studio design toward a device with visual sensing capability.
yro.slashdot.org
· 2026-10-28
Ultrahuman's Ring Pro smart ring went on sale Wednesday at Best Buy, Target, Walmart and Ultrahuman's own website, with wider retail rollout to over 1,000 Target and Walmart stores planned in coming weeks. The $479 ring tracks heart rate, sleep, stress and other metrics without a subscription, launching just six days after Oura filed a new patent infringement complaint against Ultrahuman seeking a US sales ban.
cnet.com
· 2026-10-28
Anthropic has made three previously beta features generally available to Claude Enterprise customers: smart reports that log task usage and costs, pooled budgets that let teams share spend limits across a group, and in-app surveys. The reports are off by default and, per Anthropic's documentation, are not meant to be used to evaluate individual employee performance.
zdnet.com
· 2026-10-28
Amazon has cut the price of Samsung's 75-inch M80H 4K Smart TV to $697.99, a $200 reduction from its $897.99 list price. This marks the lowest price the TV has hit this year, surpassing its prior 2024 low of $767.99 and representing its steepest discount since launch.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-10-28
Amazon is selling the Tapo MagCam C425 wireless security camera for $59.99, a $30 cut from its $89.99 list price. The wire-free, battery-powered camera records in 2K QHD, uses a magnetic mount, and Tapo claims up to 300 days of battery life under light use.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-10-28
Xreal announced the Aura smart glasses at Google's Android Developer Summit, built on the Android XR platform and Qualcomm's Snapdragon Reality Elite chip. The glasses connect via a wired puck device for processing rather than computing on-device, use a Sony Micro-OLED display at 1200p/120Hz with a 95-degree field of view, Bose audio, and support Gemini along with various Google Play apps and XR experiences at launch.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-28
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