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Oral-B Bricking Alexa Toothbrush Is a Cautionary Tale Against Buzzy Tech


An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: As we're currently seeing with AI, when a new technology becomes buzzy, companies will do almost anything to cram that tech into their products. Trends fade, however, and corporate priorities shift -- resulting in bricked gadgets and buyer's rem...

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: As we're currently seeing with AI, when a new technology becomes buzzy, companies will do almost anything to cram that tech into their products. Oral-B released the Guide for $230 in August 2020 but bricked the ability to set up or reconfigure Alexa on the product this February. Guide owners can still use the Oral-B App for other features; however, the ability to use the charging base like an Alexa smart speaker -- a big draw in the product's announcement and advertising -- is seriously limited.

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