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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Mattel will not sell an all-in-one voice-controlled smart hub / baby monitor [theverge.com], setting back the state of parenting by decades or even millennia:

Toymaker Mattel has shelved plans to build an "all-in-one voice-controlled smart baby monitor," after complaints about the device were raised by privacy advocates and child psychologists. According to a report from The Washington Post [washingtonpost.com], the company said in a statement that the device, named Aristotle, did not "fully align with Mattel's new technology strategy" and would not be "[brought] to the marketplace."

Aristotle was unveiled back in January [mattel.com] this year by Mattel's Nabi brand. It combined the smart speaker and digital assistant functionality of Amazon's Echo with a connected camera that acted as a baby monitor. But the Aristotle was intended to be a much more active presence in children's lives than an Echo speaker, with Mattel claiming it would read them bedtime stories, soothe them if they cried in the night, and even teach them their ABCs.

Mattel also appointed a new chief financial officer [reuters.com].

Also at Ars Technica [arstechnica.com] and MSPoweruser [mspoweruser.com].

Related: Amazon Declares War on YouTube by Launching Amazon Video Direct [soylentnews.org]
Barbie Typewriter Toys Had a Secret Ability to Encrypt Messages — but They Didn't Think Girls Would [soylentnews.org]
Amazon Dominates Voice-Controlled Speaker Market [soylentnews.org]

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