Latest news with #productreviews
CNN
02-06-2025
- Business
- CNN
Introducing the first-ever CNN Underscored Innovation Awards, highlighting the year's most ingenious products
The internet is packed with product reviews by a huge herd of reviewers and service journalists telling you which products they think are best. That's why, in 2026, we're introducing our biggest feature yet: the first-annual CNN Underscored Innovation Awards. This new program aims to cut through that clutter and acknowledge the year's truly inspired products that can improve your day-to-day through outstanding design, functionality and ingenuity. These products aren't just original, though; they also have a clear purpose, and they make users' everyday lives more efficient, convenient and enjoyable. Think: a vacuum cleaner that picks up your socks, a meat smoker that brings the joy of barbecue indoors or an electric flosser that makes maintaining oral hygiene easy — and maybe even a little fun. Rather than bestowing yet another accolade upon the same old 'award-winning' products you're used to seeing on these lists, it's the combination of inventiveness, usefulness and value that we'll highlight through this initiative. Winners will be determined via rigorous hands-on testing by our writers and editors, who will put these products through their paces in real-life scenarios. We'll also focus on each product's value — is it reasonably priced, and does the price sync well with the cost per use? — and consult experts to ensure we're 100% confident in our recommendations. We're now accepting submissions for the 2026 CNN Underscored Innovation Awards. If you have a product you think we should consider, here's what you need to know. In order to submit a product for consideration, please fill out this form (one product per submission, please, but multiple submissions per brand are allowed). The deadline for all submissions is Oct. 15, 2025. Eligibility Product must have been released between Jan. 1, 2024, and Oct. 15, 2025 Product must be widely available for purchase in the US by Dec. 31, 2025 We're seeking submissions from the list of product categories below. Beauty and grooming Electronics Travel Outdoors Home Fitness and wellness Samples for testing Samples are required for participation and must be received by Oct. 15, 2025. They can be mailed to the address below. CNN Underscored / DaVonne Bacchus30 Hudson Yards, 21st FloorNew York, NY 10001 Evaluation criteria Performance and efficiency Innovation Design and build quality Market impact Value and accessibility Timeline Winners will be announced in January 2026. Contact If you have questions, feel free to reach out to CNN Underscored thoroughly tests the products we review and provides full transparency about our testing methodology. We're made up of skilled writers and editors who have many years of experience testing, researching and recommending products, and they ensure each article is carefully edited and products are properly vetted.
CNET
22-05-2025
- Business
- CNET
Talk to Me, Amazon Shopping App: How AI Could Sort Through All the Products You're Looking At
Online shopping excursions can quickly get overwhelming as you plow through product pages to find what's really right for you. Now Amazon is trying out a new tool to help you figure out potential purchases. All you have to do is listen. With Memorial Day deals in full swing, the e-commerce giant is making a trial run with short audio summaries for Amazon Shopping app users, delivered by "AI-powered shopping experts" that will analyze product details, customer reviews and other information they find on the web. "The feature makes product research fun and convenient — it's like having helpful friends discuss potential purchases to make your shopping easier," Rajiv Mehta, Amazon's vice president of search and conversational shopping, wrote in a blog post Wednesday. Amazon is starting out the "hear the highlights" AI feature in the US for a "subset" of customers on a limited number products before rolling it out more broadly in the coming months. Those products include the Ninja Blender, OSEA Undaria Algae Body Oil, the Rain Showers Splash Pond Toddler Water Table, the SafeRest 100% Waterproof King Size Mattress Protector and the Shokz OpenRun Pro Open-Ear Bluetooth Bone Conduction Sport Headphones. The new Amazon feature is another iteration in what has become an AI flood tide in online shopping. Google earlier this week introduced AI Mode, which is designed to suggest, select and pay for items for you, and also showed off a new AI service called Try On that depicts how clothes you see online will look on you. Walmart is working on its own AI shopping agent to perform tasks such as placing reorders and filling online shopping baskets based on user suggestions. And Shopify has launched Bluecore, which can answer shopper questions and recommend products. Klarna has an AI shopping assistant for comparison shopping. CNET deals expert Adam Oram noted that Amazon's new audio summaries will have to prove their value for consumers. "This feature may be helpful for some shoppers, as there's a lot of information on an Amazon product page and it can be difficult to parse all of it to find out what you need to know," he said. "But it's worth noting that there is a risk with it incorporating customer reviews, especially as these have been known to be gamed in the past. There's also the inherent risk of LLMs hallucinating, which may lead to inaccuracies if this is applied at scale, which is the opposite of what people making buying decisions need." As always with generative AI tools, it's essential to not take results at face value and to do some double-checking. "Using tools to help you gain a sense of what you're looking at quickly is generally a good idea, so long as you follow up with your own research to vet that the information is accurate," said Adrian Marlow, another member of the CNET Deals team. Consumer skepticism could be at least a short-term hurdle for all AI e-commerce tools. A recent study commissioned by Akeneo, a product experience company, showed that only 45% of consumers have "some level of trust in AI-powered recommendations and chatbots to provide accurate product suggestions based on their interests and preferences." The research also found that only 38% of shoppers who've used AI chatbots reported being satisfied with the support they received. Amazon, with net sales of nearly $638 billion last year, is incorporating AI into more and more sectors of its business. Rufus is a generative AI shopping assistant, Alexa Plus has been revamped and Audible will start using AI to narrate audiobooks.
CNET
22-05-2025
- Business
- CNET
Amazon Shopping App Tries Out AI Audio Summaries to Ease Your Shopping Research
A shopping excursion online can get overwhelming quickly as you plow through product pages to find what's really right for you. Amazon is trying out a new tool to help you figure out potential purchases. All you have to do is listen. With Memorial Day deals in full swing, the e-commerce giant is making a trial run with short audio summaries for users of the Amazon Shopping app, delivered by "AI-powered shopping experts" that will analyze product details, customer reviews and other information they find on the web. "The feature makes product research fun and convenient — it's like having helpful friends discuss potential purchases to make your shopping easier," Rajiv Mehta, Amazon's vice president of search and conversational shopping, wrote in a blog post Wednesday. Amazon is starting out the "hear the highlights" AI feature in the US for a "subset" of customers on a limited number products before rolling it out more broadly in the coming months. Those products include the Ninja Blender, OSEA Undaria Algae Body Oil, the Rain Showers Splash Pond Toddler Water Table, the SafeRest 100% Waterproof King Size Mattress Protector and the Shokz OpenRun Pro - Open-Ear Bluetooth Bone Conduction Sport Headphones.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
When Positive Word-of-Mouth Can Have Negative Consequences
Consumers are more interested in buying a product they hear great things about. But there's a hidden downside to all the good vibes.
Auto Express
15-05-2025
- Automotive
- Auto Express
When it comes to car care, our product award winners won't let you down
We're a nation of car lovers unlike pretty much any other. New and used, we buy a disproportionate number of hot hatches, and a ridiculous number of convertibles, given our temperamental climate. We're agnostic and illogical in our love of all types of car. In general, albeit with exceptions, we also love to take care of our pride and joy, whether it's a Fiat or Ferrari. Which is why I enjoy reading our product reviews and picking up tips – no-one else goes to the lengths we do. The annual Auto Express Product Awards bring together 20 categories to pick out the products that will help you keep your car in the best possible shape, looking at value for money as well as overall quality. Several of our winners cost less than £10 – the cheapest isn't even £5 – and the majority aren't the most expensive in their segment. But we think they're the best. Advertisement - Article continues below So shop smart, and see which products we're happy to recommend across all kinds of car care, having given them a thorough going-over. Our long-standing testing legend Kim Adams recently handed over everything from a garage full of old car doors and bonnets (for comparing polishes) through to a stock of dead flies (for assessing car shampoos) to new testing guru Tom Barnard. And that's without mentioning things like the freezer space required to see how well screenwash resists icing, or the hours our tyre expert John Barker spends out in the elements at test tracks comparing all sorts of rubber. I won't spoil the surprise, but the overall winner is simple, clever, cost-effective and fundamentally great at its job. Hopefully the excellent products we recommend will spur you on to a bit of car care. Or at least some well intentioned shopping, so the right kit is on your shelf for when you do find the time and motivation. Because (ignoring the inevitable rain storm or bird attack coming from nowhere in the seconds following a car wash) it's a simple and wholesome pleasure in life to sit back on a sunny weekend afternoon and look at your freshly gleaming car. There's just something therapeutic about hard work and shiny reward. And we've gone the extra mile to name the best products to get you there. Click here for our list of the best car cleaning tips ...
