Valve’s Steam Machine is finally here! But while it lives up to much of the hype, its high price makes us wonder who it’s really for. In this episode, Senior Writer Jessica Conditt joins to talk about her experience with the Steam Machine and how it compares to consoles (which have also gotten very expensive). Also, we discuss Sony’s bombshell announcement about killing physical PlayStation discs in 2028 and Xbox’s confusing array of layoffs.

Topics

• The base price for the Steam Machine is $1,049, who’s interested at that amount? – 1:09
• Sony is giving up on physical discs come 2028 – 23:08 
• Xbox layoffs could cut Arkane, Double Fine, and other marquee studios – 32:02
• A slow drip of news on Apple’s touchscreen laptop, the MacBook Ultra, is leaking – 45:24
• Cherlynn Low’s hands-on with the new Meta Glasses – 47:07 
• Pop culture picks – 52:09

With SpaceX planning to go public on June 12th, we brought on Slate’s Nitish Pahwa to dive into what it all means. How can an unprofitable company justify an IPO, and what does it plan to do with all that money? And how can we square the tech and finance world’s excitement over this IPO when Elon Musk spent this week inciting the Belfast race riots?

SpaceX may have the largest IPO ever, how will it change the tech investment landscape? – 1:13

A few stray thoughts on WWDC 2026 – 38:33 

Meta silently adds, then deletes facial recognition code from its smart glasses – 44:08

Anthropic’s Fable AI brings Mythos’ coding power to consumers – 45:47 

Around Engadget: Rivian R2 first drive and a review of the Logitech Mobi Fold – 51:50

Pop culture picks – 52:20

We're still waiting for Valve's Steam Machine to arrive, but until then, the company has finally given us a full look at its new Steam Controller. At $100, it sure is steep, but it looks like a solid way to enjoy games on Steam. In this episode, Engadget's Jessica Conditt joins to chat about her experience with the Steam Controller, and where Valve could be going next with the Steam Machine. And we'll also take some time to chat about the games we're currently playing.

Google is officially a monopoly, according to a US court. But what does that really mean? This week, Devindra and Senior Editor Karissa Bell dive into the landmark Google antitrust case to explore how it could affect the future of search. Google claims it's simply delivering the best product, but clearly the court thinks otherwise. Also, we chat about X/Twitter's desperate lawsuit against advertisers who boycotted the social network.

Stay tuned to the end of this episode for an interview with the creators of HBO Max's Industry, Mickey Down and Konrad Kay. We discuss season three of the series, which recently premiered, and how they plan to deconstruct the excesses of overhyped tech startups.

A U.S. court declared Google a monopoly, now what? – 1:22

X (formerly Twitter) sues advertisers for “illegal boycott” of their platform – 19:15

Meet Chromecast’s successor, the Google TV Streamer – 33:49

Less than a year after SAG strike, Meta is offering actors millions to use their voice in AI – 41:01

Where does all the Facebook AI slop come from? 404Media found out – 44:30

People are returning Humane’s AI Pin faster than they can sell them – 50:23

Working on – 53:43

Pop culture picks – 53:58

Industry interview with Mickey Down and Konrad Kay - 1:02:00

Samsung's Galaxy Ring is here, and honestly it's just a bit basic. This week, Cherlynn and Devindra dive into what does and doesn't work with Samsung's latest wearable. Also, we discuss Friend's new AI gadget, which listens to your conversations and sends text messages to help you feel less lonely. To get a better sense of the device, Devindra also talks to Friend's CEO, Avi Schiffmann, about why he's leaning away from the productivity side of AI helpers and more towards the vibes of friendly AI. (And yes, we also ask why he spent $1.8 million of Friend's $2.5 million funding just to buy the Friend.com domain.)

In other news, we discuss the potential impact of KOSA (the Kids Online Safety Act) with India McKinney, the EFF’s Director of Federal Affairs. While lawmakers are uniformly positioning KOSA as a way to protect kids on the internet, it could also lead to draconian censorship and destroy free speech on the web as we know it.

Cherlynn reviews the Samsung Galaxy Ring: Great sleep tracking, but needs more features – 2:13

Interview with Avi Schiffmann, founder of AI wearable company Friend – 27:27

KOSA passes the senate – we chat with EFF’s India McKinney about why it matters – 48:22

What we’ve learned since the massive 7/19 Crowdstrike outage – 1:12:07

Elon Musk shared an AI altered video of Kamala Harris without labeling, breaking the rules of his own site – 1:18:57

Apple Intelligence arrives in the iOS 18.1 developer beta – 1:21:57

Google makes peace with third-party cookies after years of mixed signals – 1:26:38

Around Engadget: Mat Smith’s Galaxy Flip 6 review – 1:29:36

Working on – 1:31:44

Pop culture picks – 1:32:22

It’s time for the summer Olympics and also the gadget Olympics? Who can outdo Samsung when it comes to launching new products every year? At its second Unpacked event of 2024, Samsung showed off seven different devices: the Galaxy Ring, Galaxy Watch Ultra, Galaxy Buds 3, Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, Galaxy Watch 7, Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Galaxy Z Fold 6. Many of these look familiar, sure, but Samsung copying Apple copying Samsung copying other smaller companies is a tired, old tale. Our hosts Cherlynn Low and Sam Rutherford dig into all the highlights from Samsung’s event in Paris this week, as well as some other news in streaming services.

Samsung’s Unpacked in Paris unveiled a ton of new tech – 1:12

The Galaxy Ring: finally, a proper launch – 6:07

Galaxy Watch Ultra: Eerily similar to Apple’s – 16:16

Galaxy Buds 3, now with an AirPod-like stick – 22:22

Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Z Fold 6: very welcome refresh – 27:47

Xbox to offer cloud gaming on certain Amazon Fire TV sticks – 48:29

Paramount+ will stay intact…for now – 51:18

Apple Blog TUAW comes back as an AI content farm – 56:00

Working on – 1:00:18

Pop culture picks – 1:01:20

Motorola is still trying to reclaim the glory of its original Razr phone with its latest foldables. The new Razr and Razr+ are more stylish than the previous models, and at $700 and $1,000 respectively, they're surprisingly affordable for devices with massive folding OLED screens. In other news, we chat about Wikileaks' founder Julian Assange being freed from prison, Rabbit's massive security hole in the R1 AI gadget, and a horrific Sora AI commercial from Toys "R" Us.

Moto Razr and Razr+ first look: stylish and (somewhat) affordable – 0:51

Samsung announces its second Unpacked of the year will be in Paris – 13:14

Expect a bunch of new hardware at August’s Made by Google event – 19:56

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is free – 24:38

U.S. Supreme Court rules the government can ask social platforms to take down posts – 31:22

Rabbit R1 modder group discovers massive security holes – 36:11

Uber blames NYC law for locking drivers out of its app, more cities could come soon – 39:22

Toys “R” Us released a creepy ad using OpenAI’s Sora video tool – 44:43

Working on – 49:15

Pop culture picks – 51:24

It's been a quiet week of news, but we've been feverishly testing Microsoft's new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop Copilot+ AI PCs. In this episode, Devindra and Sam will answer your questions about Microsoft’s new hardware, and we'll deliver some of our first impressions. It turns out Microsoft may have finally gotten Windows on Arm support right! And some of the Copilot+ AI features are actually useful, surprisingly enough. But we'll have to wait a few months to test out the controversial Recall feature, which was pulled from the Copilot+ launch.

Dev and Sam’s first thoughts and an AMA on the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop Copilot+ AI PCs – 1:05

News from Nintendo direct: New Zelda, Mario, and finally, Metroid Prime 4 – 25:46

Former OpenAI chief scientist launches Safe Superintelligence, inc – 35:02

Wired report: AI search engine Perplexity is ignoring robots.txt guidelines – 37:36

Listener question: What do you do with 8 gig fiber home internet? – 41:08

Working on – 46:51

Pop culture picks – 48:09

This week has felt like a month worth of news, now that we've wrapped up Apple's WWDC 2024 and Summer Game Fest in LA. In this episode, Cherlynn and Devindra discuss their final thoughts on Apple Intelligence and the company's upcoming software, and they chat about some of our coverage highlights from the pseudo-E3 Game Fest. Also, we dive into X making likes private (what is Elon hiding?!) and the news around Sony buying the Alamo Drafthouse theater chain.

Our final thoughts on WWDC 2024 – 1:31

Bloomberg Report: Apple isn't paying OpenAI a fee for ChatGPT, but will share profits – 12:18

Summer Games Fest highlights: Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, LEGO Horizon Adventures, and an Assassin’s Creed finally set in Japan – 25:06

X makes users’ likes private – 40:27

ChromeOS will soon run on Android frameworks, enabling more AI on upcoming Chromebooks – 44:40

Pop culture picks – 49:44

There was no new Apple hardware at WWDC 2024, but Apple still had tons of news around AI and its upcoming operating systems. In this bonus episode, Cherlynn and Devindra brave the California heat to discuss Apple Intelligence and how it's different than other AI solutions. And they dive into other new features they're looking forward to, like the iPhone mirroring in macOS Sequoia and iPadOS 18's surprisingly cool Calculator app.

We're gearing up to cover Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) next week! In this episode, Cherlynn and Devindra dive into everything they expect at WWDC: Tons of AI announcements; more on iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS 15; and hopefully some improvements for Vision Pro and visionOS.

In addition, we chat about what we expect to see at Summer Game Fest and demonstrate how we used an AI editing tool to clear up some awful podcast audio. Devindra also talks with Justin Samuels, the founder of RenderATL, about why he started a massive tech conference in Atlanta.

WWDC 2024 Preview: Apple gets serious about generative AI – 1:16

NVIDIA overtakes Apple to be the 2nd most valuable company in the US – 31:08

Humane AI warns users its battery case “may pose a fire risk” – 34:36

AI workers demand stronger whistleblower protections – 34:36

Boeing’s Starliner has successfully launched astronauts to the ISS – 46:11

AI audio cleanup has gotten really good and we have podcast clips to prove it – 48:25

Working on – 58:09

Pop culture picks – 58:45

Interview with Render ATL founder Justin Samuels – 1:05:50

This week, Devindra and Engadget's Nathan Ingraham discuss the new Max documentary "MoviePass, MovieCrash" and reminisce about the early days of that wild startup. It was a huge mess in the end, but we wouldn't have subscription plans in theaters without it. We also chat with MoviePass co-founder Stacy Spikes, as well as the documentary's director, Muta'Ali, about the film.

In other news, Nate explains why Google is adding a slew of AI features to Chromebook Plus notebooks, and we dive into the Fitbit Ace with LTE, which has the potential to be a very useful smartwatch tracker for kids.

Moviepass, MovieCrash interview with CEO Stacy Spikes and director Muta'Ali – 1:33

Chromebook Plus laptops are getting AI features soon – 41:43

WWDC is scheduled for June 10 – 56:26

Cherlynn’s Fitbit Ace LTE hands-on : a fitness tracker for kids! – 59:55

Sony pulls “fabricated” interview with Last of Us creator Neil Druckman – 1:03:44

Vox Media and The Atlantic magazine made content deals with OpenAI – 1:08:06

OpenAI’s new safety team includes members of the company’s board and Sam Altman himself – 1:13:30

Listener Mailbag: Windows screen readers on ARM and the iPad as a full-fledged work machine – 1:14:41

Working on – 1:23:24

Pop culture picks – 1:25:10

Microsoft is leaning even more into AI after launching a new Copilot+ AI PC initiative earlier this year. It's a new set of standards for PCs with powerful neural processing units (NPUs), and it could be just as significant for Windows as Apple's move towards its M-series chips. In this episode, Cherlynn and Devindra discuss Copilot+ and the potential rise of Arm-based Windows systems, and we dive into the new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop.

Microsoft announces a new chapter with Copilot+ and NPU-powered Surface Pro and Surface Laptop – 0:51

Scarlett Johansson vs. OpenAI is just getting started – 37:17

Sonos Ace headphones take aim at Apple’s AirPods Max – 42:15

US Department of Justice makes its first arrest for AI-generated CSAM – 45:50

Bloomberg Report: Humane AI seeks a buyer for $700m–$1B, but will they get it? – 47:21

Listener Mail: Could you port the new ARM-based Windows to your Android handheld? – 51:42

Working on – 53:11

Pop culture picks – 54:19

The Apple rumors were true, once again. This week, the company announced that Tim Cook will be stepping down from his CEO role on September 1. Replacing him will be John Ternus, who currently serves as Apple's SVP of hardware engineering. In this episode, Devindra and Engadget's Nathan Ingraham discuss Cook's legacy as Apple's CEO, and pontificate about how Ternus may change things. We're going from Apple being led by a logistics guru, to Apple being driven by a product and engineering wizard. Surely, that will have some impact on future products.

Tim Cook steps down as Apple CEO after 15 years, John Ternus will take his place on September 1 – 1:22

Palantir woke up last Saturday morning and posted a comic book villain manifesto on X – 26:01

DHS wants to make facial recognition smart glasses for ICE – 31:53

A lot of people panic bought PCs to avoid RAMageddon – 36:25

Meta faces a new lawsuit over running ads for outright scams –

Employees at Meta will have they keystrokes and mouse moves recorded for AI training – 40:10

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate price goes down, but it won’t include Call of Duty – 44:55

Around Engadget: a great (expensive) Dyson vac with a silly name – 49:15

Working on – 51:58

Pop culture picks – 52:55

Microsoft made some unusually major moves ahead of its Build developer conference: It announced a new Copilot+ initiative for powerful AI PCs, which will be led by the new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop. These machines are powered by Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X Plus and Elite chips, and they come with a special version of Windows 11 optimized for Arm mobile chips and AI. Basically, Microsoft is doing for PCs what Apple did with its M-series Macs four years ago.

In this bonus episode, Devindra chats with Pavan Davuluri, Microsoft's head of Windows and Devices, about the new Surface devices and the Copilot+ PC initiative. We still don't know how well these new machines will perform, but it sounds like Microsoft has certainly heard our complaints about Arm-based Windows devices.

We've spent some time with the iPad Pro M4 and new iPad Air... and the iPad Pro is still a bit too pricey for us. This week, Cherlynn and Devindra chat with Engadget Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham about his reviews and why he still prefers the iPad Air. Also, we wrap up Google I/O 2024 with a Project Astra hands on, and we chat about Apple bringing eye tracking to iPhones and iPads as an accessibility feature.

Nate Ingraham reviews the iPad Pro M4 and iPad Air: Powerful, but pricy – 1:11

Google I/O news wrap up – 20:11

OpenAI’s new GPT-4o can talk, sing, and sounds a little flirty – 28:36

Intel brings back the days of FireWire data transfer with Thunderbolt Share – 31:43

New accessibility features from Apple: eye tracking and expanded wake word options – 35:48

Biden administration quadruples tariffs on Chinese EVs (along with solar and other hardware) – 43:20

Listener Mailbag: The age old question of what to do with your old tech – 55:48

Working on – 1:01:32

Pop culture picks – 1:05:45

We just wrapped up coverage on Google's I/O 2024 keynote, and we're just so tired of hearing about AI. In this bonus episode, Cherlynn and Devindra dive into the biggest I/O news: Google's intriguing Project Astra AI assistant; new models for creating video and images; and some improvements to Gemini AI. While some of the announcements seem potentially useful, it's still tough to tell if the move towards AI will actually help consumers, or if Google is just fighting to stay ahead of OpenAI.

Hulu's "Black Twitter: A People's History" documents the rise and impact of one of social media's most influential subcultures. The series, directed by TV writer Prentice Penny, is a reminder of the power of Twitter before its Musk-ified downfall, and a necessary cultural document. They say Twitter isn't real life, but Black Twitter proved otherwise. In this bonus episode, Devindra chats with Prentice about adapting the Wired article, "A People's History of Black Twitter," his own favorite social media memories, and where the legacy of Black Twitter will go from here.

As rumors foretold, Apple has revamped the iPad Pro with an M4 chip, tandem OLED screen and a thinner case. There's also a new Magic Keyboard that should deliver a more MacBook-like typing experience! In this week's episode, Cherlynn and Devindra discuss how Apple is shining a new light on tablets (which also includes the new iPad Air models) and reworking its vision of mobile computing. Does anyone really need the iPad Pro today? And could it be more compelling if iPadOS improves its multitasking capabilities?

New iPad Pro with OLED and M4 processor, iPad Air and Apple Pencil announced at ‘Let Loose’ event – 1:04

Google announces Pixel 8a with 120Hz OLED screen and AI capability – 20:50

What the heck happed with Helldivers 2? – 28:31

Microsoft shuts down Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin – 34:10

Hades 2 early access is out now – 42:01

Around Engadget: Steve Dent reviews Fujifilm X100 VI – 45:39

Working on – 48:38

Pop culture picks – 52:08

The Rabbit R1 is finally here, and it's yet another useless AI gadget. Sure, at $199 with no monthly fee, it's a lot cheaper than the $699 Humane AI Pin. But the R1 is slow, hard to use, and doesn't actually do much. The much-promised "Large Action Model" mostly powers things you can easily do on your phone. In this episode, Devindra and Engadget's Sam Rutherford chat with CNET's Lisa Eadacicco about the Rabbit R1 and whether AI devices are necessary at all. Just like cameras, the best AI device is the one you always have with you: your smartphone.

Rabbit R1 review: appealing design, underwhelming performance – 0:49

Tesla lays off Supercharger development team leaving future of the network unclear – 25:28

FCC fines U.S. wireless carriers $200m for selling customer location data – 30:05

Razer will refund all Zephyr mask purchases over false N95 filtering claims – 32:52

Drake deletes track featuring an AI clone of Tupac Shakur’s voice – 35:16

Working on – 36:23

Pop culture picks – 40:18

After months of anticipation, President Biden finally signed the TikTok divestment into law this week. It will force ByteDance to either sell TikTok to another company within a year, or see the app banned from US app stores. Is this a wise move to rid control of the social app from the Chinese government, or is it government overreach before TikTok has done anything wrong? Engadget Senior Editor Karissa Bell joins Cherlynn and Devindra to dive into what's next for TikTok.

The US TikTok ban is signed into law, what happens now? – 0:57

Devindra and Cherlynn’s take on whether bad product reviews hurt tech companies – 20:42

Meta opening QuestOS to third party hardware developers – 31:39

Apple ‘Let Loose’ virtual event scheduled for May 5 – 33:48

Leading AI companies pledge to keep kids safe (though harm is already evident) – 41:48

Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses add multimodal AI – 43:58

X is allegedly working on a smart TV app – 47:01

Working on – 48:02

Pop culture picks – 56:29

The latest batch of rumors make it pretty clear that a PlayStation 5 Pro is coming this year, but will anyone really care about slightly better 4K graphics? This week, Engadget Senior Editor Jessica Conditt joins Cherlynn and Devindra to chat about the PS5 Pro, as well as her piece on the PlayDate two years after its release. You could say the Playdate is pretty much the opposite of another expensive high-end console. In other news, we discuss the death of Boston Dynamic's hydraulic Atlas robot, and the birth of an all-new digital model. We also chat about the abrupt closure of Possibility Space, an ambitious indie game studio.

Jess Conditt on Playstation 5 Pro rumors – 0:48

Jess’ thoughts on Panic’s innovative handheld, the Playdate, 2 years later – 14:24

Indie game studio Possibility Space announces closure, CEO blames media leaks – 27:29

Other News: Boston Dynamics unveils new, all electric Atlas robot – 35:39

Menteebot is a human-sized, GPT-powered robot you can command with natural language – 39:52

NASA confirms Florida man’s house was hit by space junk – 44:06

Sony (finally) changes its confusing product names – 46:05

Working on – 50:35

Pop culture picks – 56:35

Humane’s hyped up AI Pin is finally here and, unfortunately, it stinks. This week, Cherlynn and Devindra are joined by Michael Fisher (AKA MrMobile) and Wired Reviews Editor Julian Chokkattu to chat about the AI Pin and the many ways it fails. It’s often inaccurate, it takes crummy photos, and it gets way too hot. Not so great for something you’re supposed to wear all day! Is there any hope for AI-dependent gadgets? Also, Washington Post columnist Christopher Velazco joins to discuss Apple’s approval of used iPhone components for repairs.

Too much heat, too few features: Humane’s AI pin doesn’t live up to the hype – 1:09

Other News: Apple will allow devices to be repaired with secondhand parts soon – 44:08

Google’s Next 24 event announces AI video generation tool, ARM-based CPU for data centers, and Google Photos tools for all subscribers – 53:10

Working on – 1:00:59

Pop culture picks – 1:05:40

Google has gone from being the go-to search engine to something people are paying to avoid entirely. This week, Cherlynn and Devindra chat with 404 Media co-founder Jason Koebler about his experience moving away from Google and towards Kagi, a $10 a month search engine without ads or data tracking. Funny enough, Kagi is still relying on Google’s index, so it’s a lot like using that site before the onslaught of ads, sponsored posts and AI results. Also, we discuss the company’s lies around Chrome’s incognito mode, as well as the news that it would be deleting user data collected in that mode.

Why Jason Koebler moved from Google to Kagi's paid search engine – 0:45

Google says it will destroy data collected from users using Incognito mode – 15:01

Gurman report: Apple is working on personal home robots – 24:55

Amazon just walked out on its self check-out tech – 30:43

FCC set to vote to restore Net Neutrality – 43:00

Apple adds Spatial Personas to make the Vision Pro experience less lonely – 45:09

Proposed California state law would give tech workers the “right to disconnect” – 47:17

Tekken director responds to fighting game fans’ request for a Waffle House stage – 49:57

Around Engadget – 51:22

Working on – 54:31

Pop culture picks – 59:13

So a shoe company turned into an AI company…. That’s it, that’s the joke. In this episode, Devindra chats with Engadget’s Daniel Cooper about Allbirds’ sudden transformation and what it says about the AI economy. Also, they chat about the Artemis II moon mission, Meta being warned about the dangers of facial recognition (again) and how teens think social media is really shaping them.

Near-dead shoe company Allbirds is doing AI now – 1:47

Artemis II safely returns to Earth, did you know they had DLSRs and iPhones up there? – 15:57

Meta warned by dozens of civil rights organizations that facial recognition in its smart glasses will enable predators – 28:41

Social media isn’t bad for teens, say teens – 36:00

NAACP sues xAI over data center pollution – 44:30

Around Engadget –  50:28

This week, it’s all about cars and Lucy Liu in VR. Devindra chats with Senior Writer Sam Rutherford about his visit to the New York International Auto Show, where he saw the Polestar 4, a unique new EV without a rear window. Also, Cherlynn pops in to chat with Lucy Liu about her new VR game, The Pirate Queen. We also explore the issues around Florida’s bill banning young kids from social media sites, and Sam tells us why he likes Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender adaptation.

Sam Rutherford on what’s new in EVs and car tech from the New York Auto Show – 0:57

Cherlynn Low interviews Lucy Liu about her new VR game The Pirate Queen – 34:39

Florida Governor signs bill banning young children from social media – 54:55

Intel confirms Copilot will eventually run locally – 58:33

There’s finally a version of Chrome that runs well on ARM-based Windows machines – 1:02:43

Canadian researchers have created a camera that takes 156.3 trillion frames per second – 1:05:06

Working on – 1:07:08

Pop culture picks – 1:12:44

Microsoft finally announced the Surface Pro 10 and Laptop 6 today, but you won’t find them in any retail stores. You can only buy them on Microsoft’s website and through enterprise resellers. This week, Cherlynn and Devindra discuss why Microsoft is positioning these computers for businesses, and what it could mean for the future of the Surface lineup. The company is hinting that it’ll have consumer devices soon – likely the Pro 10 and Laptop 6 without as much corporate baggage. But there may also be room for an entirely new form of Surface. Perhaps it’s time for a true Surface foldable? (Or maybe not, after seeing how the Duo performed.)

Microsoft announces Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6, but you won’t find them in stores – 0:34

U.S. Justice Department files antitrust suit aimed at Apple’s “walled garden” ecosystem – 14:13

Report: Apple may tap Google for Gemini AI on iPhones – 25:01

NVIDIA claims its new Blackwell chip will power through AI workloads 30x faster using 25x less power – 33:07

Microsoft hires Deepmind cofounder Mustafa Suleyman to lead AI division – 38:00

YouTube reveals new rules for realistic AI video – 43:16

Check your Glassdoor account – real names accidentally tied to some anonymous company reviews – 44:31

Cherlynn finds the tech angle on the Kate Middleton photo debacle. Look at the metadata! – 47:03

Around Engadget – 56:05

Pop culture picks – 59:52

Another week, another concerted effort to ban TikTok in the US – except this time, it could actually happen. In this episode, Cherlynn and Devindra chat with Engadget Senior Editor Karissa Bell around the latest TikTok drama. The House passed a bill that could ultimately ban the company if ByteDance doesn’t sell it off within six months. It may face a tougher fight in the Senate, but if it’s approved there President Biden has said he’s willing to sign it into law.

Is this a justified fight against the Chinese-owned social media company, or is it the sum of our political fears against all things China? (Maybe it’s a bit of both?) We discuss why this potential ban could be a huge civil rights violation, as well as the need for true data privacy laws in the US, which would apply to all social networks.

U.S. House passes bill that would give Bytedance 6 months to sell TikTok – 0:47

Microsoft’s Surface and AI event preview – 17:04

Apple will allow EU users to download some apps from websites – 27:38

Five Tesla execs earned $2.5B over the last five years while the company paid no income tax – 34:53

Around Engadget – 44:57

Working on – 48:31

Pop culture picks – 50:17

Apple's refreshed MacBook Air laptops are finally here, and they're toting shiny new M3 chips. This week, Cherlynn chats with Devindra about his review of the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air M3. They're faster, as we expected, but they're also not a huge leap over the M2 MacBook Air, which now starts at $999. (And we're sure you'll find some excellent refurbished and used deals soon.) No matter which one you pick, though, you're getting one of the most stunning ultraportable notebooks around. In other news, we discuss Apple's nearly $2 billion fine from the EU, Microsoft's upcoming Surface AI event and the death of Android apps on Windows 11.

Finally, the MacBook Air gets an M3 update – 0:41

EU fines Apple nearly $2 billion for “blocking” competing music apps – 15:27

iOS 17.4 brings third party app stores to the EU, podcast transcription for everyone – 20:18

Microsoft announces a Surface and AI event for later in March – 22:02

No more (Amazon App Store) Android apps in Windows – 27:49

Developer of Switch emulator Yuzu fined $2.4 million to settle suit with Nintendo – 39:19

Around Engadget: Sam Rutherford’s Nothing Phone 2 review – 46:17

Working on – 50:30

Pop culture picks – 57:47

This week, Cherlynn and Devindra discuss some of the editorial changes happening at Engadget. We’ve lost some amazing colleagues, but we’re still here aiming to deliver the best tech coverage possible. As for this week’s news, we chat about the reported death of Apple’s “Project Titan” EV car project. It never felt quite real, but it still would have been fun to see.

Here’s a hot take: Maybe the Apple Car felt redundant since Tesla basically built it already. Say what you will about Elon Musk today, but Tesla certainly disrupted the car industry in all of the ways we’d expect Apple to. Agree? Disagree? Let us know what you think at podcast@engadget.com.

Topics:

What happened with Engadget last week: layoffs and our continued commitment to tech journalism – 0:31

RIP Apple Car 2014-2024 – 9:11

Nintendo’s successor to the Switch delayed to 2025 – 21:53

Microsoft opens more Xbox exclusives to PS5 and Switch – 25:24

Google renames AI suite, ends up in hot water over image generation – 33:47

Pop culture picks – 43:21

We still can’t stop thinking about the Apple Vision Pro. This week, Cherlynn and Devindra chat with CNET’s Scott Stein about our post-review impressions of Apple’s headset. We’ve got further thoughts about using it in public (maybe don’t), the isolation of being sealed off from the world, and the way falling asleep with the Vision Pro on can make you lose your sense of reality. We also discuss Mark Zuckerberg’s impression of the headset, and why he thinks the Quest 3 is ultimately a better product. (We agree, with caveats.) In other news, we explore how Arc’s ad-stripped AI mobile search app may be good for its users, but ultimately bad for web creators.

Last thoughts on Apple’s Vision Pro with CNet’s Scott Stein – 1:11

Arc Browser AI summaries prompts the question “Who makes money when AI reads the internet for us?” – 38:06

Waymo self-driving car attacked and set on fire during Lunar New Year celebration – 49:22

Stealth piracy app Kimi briefly passed Netflix on Apple’s App Store charts – 52:48

Lyft stock spikes after typo in earnings report – 55:12

Around Engadget – 56:53

Working on – 59:04

Pop culture picks – 59:38

We’ve spent the last week with the Apple Vision Pro and we have thoughts! This week, Senior Writer Sam Rutherford and Podcast Producer Ben Ellman join Devindra to chat about his Vision Pro review, as well as their first impressions of the headset. It’s far from a slam dunk, but it’s also one of the most fascinating devices we’ve ever seen. We dive into Apple’s impressive 3D Immersive Videos, the elegant simplicity of the Vision Pro’s eye tracking and hand gestures, and the trouble with wearing such a heavy headset.

Devindra Hardawar’s Apple Vision Pro review: Beta testing the future – 0:49

Microsoft’s gaming division is expected to announce former exclusive games going multiplatform – 51:06

Maliciously edited video of President Biden is allowed to stay by Facebook’s oversight board – 54:30

Add Taylor Swift to the list of celebrities who don’t want their jets tracked – 57:35

Working on – 1:00:10

Pop culture picks – 1:00:50

Samsung’s Galaxy S24 phones are all about AI, but how do they compare against Google’s AI tech? This week, Cherlynn and Devindra discuss what works and doesn’t about Samsung’s ambitious new smartphones, and why it may be a good thing for the Korean giant to directly compete with Google. Also, Senior Editor Karissa Bell joins to discuss the social media CEO Senate hearing, which, unsurprisingly, doesn’t really amount to much.

Samsung Galaxy S24 and S24 Ultra reviews: AI with mixed results – 0:47

Senate gathers social media CEOs over online child safety – 15:15

Graphic images of Taylor Swift on X prompts U.S. bill to let people sue over sexual deepfakes – 28:11

Universal Music Group pulls songs from TikTok during talks on a new music rights deal – 33:05

Delaware court denies Elon Musk’s “unfathomable” Tesla payday – 38:31

Neuralink claims to have implanted its first chip in a human test subject – 40:32

Google reveals new text-to-image generative AI tool, ImageFX – 41:46

Working on – 47:00

Pop culture picks – 51:29

Apple’s Mac just turned 40 years old! This week, Devindra chats with Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham about his Mac retrospective. We focus on how much has changed since Apple’s disastrous 2016 lineup, why the Apple Silicon chips feel so revolutionary, and look back at our earliest Mac experiences. Also, we review the Framework Laptop 16, a wonderfully modular miracle of a laptop, but one that we wish had more graphics power for gaming. (But hey, at least you can replace the GPU eventually!).

Framework Laptop 16 review: Amazingly modular, but not so great at gaming – 1:17

The Mac turns 40 – 19:27

More tech layoffs at Blizzard/Activision, Riot, eBay and others – 49:58

Apple’s Car concept is allegedly still alive – 52:44

Apple overhauls App Store rules in response to European Union regulation – 58:25

Working on – 1:09:30

Pop culture picks – 1:13:40

The tech world isn’t taking any breaks after CES! This week, Cherlynn and Devindra are joined by Senior Writer Sam Rutherford to discuss Samsung’s latest Galaxy Unpacked event, where it debuted the Galaxy S24 smartphone line. They don’t look very different from last year, but they’re packing a load of AI smarts. Also, Cherlynn finally got to try out the Apple Vision Pro and tells us all about her spatial computing journey. While it was a mostly eye-opening experience, the headset also hurt Cherlynn’s head and forced her to confront one of nature’s most terrifying creatures: A butterfly.

Samsung’s Galaxy AI event: S24 line, 7 years of support for new phones, and a Galaxy Ring teaser – 1:05

Cherlynn’s Apple Vision Pro hands-on experience – 34:42

Apple is selling Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 again with blood oxygen feature disabled – 1:03:05

Apple finally allows links to third party websites for purchases – 1:04:57

Google throws support behind right to repair bill – 1:06:19

OpenAI laid out its misinformation strategy for a busy 2024 election year – 1:07:58

Cold temperatures in Chicago led to a lot of dead Teslas – 1:09:44

Pop culture picks – 1:16:50

For a 50-year-old company, Apple remains pretty hip and nimble. This week, Devindra and Senior Reporter Igor Bonifacic dive into Apple's big birthday, the state of the company today and what the next 50 years could bring. Also, we celebrate the successful launch of NASA's Artemis II mission, which will bring us back to the Moon (but just for a close look).

Apple at 50: Why it’s still all about personal computing – 1:16

Artemis II is safely on its way to the moon, but they’re having problems with Outlook – 37:48

SpaceX files for the largest IPO ever, what’s driving their hopes for a 1.75 Trillion valuation? – 40:52

Another Starlink satellite broke up in orbit, the second in 6 months – 47:21

Anthropic accidentally leaked source code for Claude Code – 52:17

FCC issues ban on all foreign-made WiFi routers – 57:18

Around Engadget – 1:02:09

Working On – 1:07:18

Pop culture picks – 1:08:20 

Just as we expected, AI was the running theme throughout CES 2024. In this episode, Devindra and Producer Ben Ellman chat with co-host Cherlynn Low, who’s on the ground in Las Vegas with the Engadget team. We dive into AI popping into almost every product category, new standalone AI hardware, and a surprising amount of “shush” tech. In geekier news, we dive into Micron’s new RAM format for laptops, which has the potential to reshape the notebook industry, and discuss why we all may want a rolling house robot like Samsung’s Ballie. And on a sad note, we discuss the wave of tech layoffs from Google, Amazon and others.

Transparent OLED TVs, assistive gloves, and a Sony car: What’s hot at CES with Cherlynn Low – 1:09

AMD and Intel announce new chips – 28:22

Micron’s replacement for SODIMM laptop RAM is a bigger deal than you think – 38:01

Humane and Rabbit show off standalone AI devices – 45:49

New gaming laptops from ASUS, Alienware, and Razer – 53:36

Samsung’s Ballie robot could be a great multimedia companion for kids – 1:00:54

Layoffs at Amazon: Twitch to lay off 35% of its workforce – 1:16:50

Google lays off “several hundred” workers in an effort to reorganize hardware divisions – 1:18:14

Pop culture picks – 1:22:09

It’s the week before CES officially kicks off in Las Vegas, but our fingers are already tired from typing up a ton of early news. In this episode, Cherlynn and Devindra discuss the big topics they expect to see at CES 2024 (AI PCs will be huge, we swear!), as well as some of the stories that have already landed, like Dell’s revamped XPS line. Also, we explore some of 2023’s biggest winners and losers (just take a guess where Twitter ends up), and we chat about Apple Fitness+ highlighting Super Bowl halftime performers. And for a bit of fun conjecture, we explore the viability of Apple purchasing Peloton to bolster its health ambitions.

AI PCs, fun robots and weird healthtech: What we’re looking forward to at CES 2024 – 1:07

Samsung announces Odyssey 240hz OLED gaming monitors ahead of CES – 22:18

Dell unveils new line of XPS laptops – 23:23

GE’s indoor smoker brings (smokeless) BBQ inside – 27:08

Engadget’s Best and Worst of 2023 lists – 33:42

Samsung’s first Unpacked of 2024 scheduled for January 17 – 50:29

13-year-old becomes the first (recorded) person to reach the NES Tetris kill screen – 52:37

Pop culture picks – 57:26

Right as we’re heading into Christmas, Apple has been forced to stop sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 in the US, due to an ongoing patent dispute with Masimo over pulse oximeters. To break down what’s going on, Devindra and Ben chat with Christina Farr, a health tech investor at OMERS Ventures and author of the newsletter Second Opinion. It turns out Apple has made a habit of tempting people away from competing companies, and that includes Masimo’s former chief medical officer. Did Apple really steal trade secrets? Or does it just look very guilty since it had the means and motive to copy Masimo’s technology?

Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 sales ban chat with Chrissy Farr – 1:49

Generative image model LAION-5B has over 1000 CSAM images in its dataset – 20:07

PS5 outsold Xbox 3 to 1 in 2023, lifetime PS5 sales hit 50 million – 24:00

Hackers release footage from Insomniac’s Wolverine after 1.67TB data breach – 34:35

Working on – 37:24

Pop culture picks – 38:07

So long E3, we knew you weren’t long for this world. This week, Cherlynn and Devindra are joined by Engadget Senior Editor Jessica Conditt to talk about the death of E3 and what it means for the gaming industry. We also explore some of the highlights (and low points) of last week’s Game Awards, which couldn’t quite balance celebrating video games and functioning as a marketing tool. We’re particularly excited for Light No Fire, the next ambitious game from the folks behind No Man’s Sky, as well as Arkane Lyon’s Blade.

We mourn E3 and break down everything announced at the Game Awards with Jess Conditt – 00:40

Beeper Mini, Sunbird, and the endless quest to spoof iMessage – 37:57

Apple ads theft protection in iOS 17.2 beta – 54:12

EU set to hand Apple a huge loss in its legal fight with Spotify – 58:04

Google loses antitrust trial against Epic games – 59:30

Executives fired after Sports Illustrated tries to publish generative AI articles (with fake writers behind them) – 1:06:32

Netflix engagement report reveals its most popular shows and movies of the first half of 2023 – 1:07:23

Working on – 1:09:25

Pop culture picks – 1:10:24

We made it to 200 episodes, folks! This week, Cherlynn, Devindra, Producer Ben Ellman and Senior Writer Sam Rutherford dive into some of the biggest tech developments since we rebooted the podcast in 2019. Remember, that was a pre-pandemic, pre-generative AI world! We also highlight a few guest interviews worth revisiting, like our chats with Bill Nye and Ann Druyan.

As for recent news, we quickly recap the OpenAI drama around Sam Altman’s ouster, discuss Google’s new Gemini AI platform, and chat about the revelation that governments are spying on our push notifications. Cherlynn also details her experience with Apple’s Personal Voice feature for iPhones and gives us a demo of her AI-generated digital voice.

Topics:

• It’s our 200th episode! We look back on what’s changed in tech since the show relaunched – 1:02
• Sam Altman sacked and reinstated, a recap of the OpenAI drama – 44:29
• Google announces Gemini AI, its answer to GPT-4 – 50:04
• Microsoft upgrades Copilot with OpenAI’s GPT-4 Turbo and DALL-E 3 – 54:23
• Governments are spying on push notifications, Google and Apple can’t do anything about it – 55:41
• Mark Gurman reports Apple is working on revamped iPad Pros and an M3 MacBook Air – 58:02
• Cherlynn’s experience with the new iOS accessibility feature Personal Voice – 58:58
• Pop culture picks – 1:05:01

Sony’s next “PSP,” the PlayStation Portal, is one odd little device. It can only stream games from your PlayStation 5 – beyond that, it’s a $200 doorstop. In this episode, Cherlynn and Devindra chat with CNET’s Scott Stein about the Portal and the many ways it baffles us. While it does manage to stream games from the PS5 just fine, it’s also expensive, clunky and lacks basic features like Bluetooth audio support. It’s really only meant for the most diehard PS5 owners (and even they should probably wait for a sale).

What was Sony thinking with the Playstation Portal? (With CNET’s Scott Stein) – 0:54

Microsoft rebrands Bing Chat to Copilot – 27:34

Qi 2 wireless charging standard will bring Magsafe’s satisfying magnetic click to all supported phones – 34:03

Nothing Phone 2 is getting iMessage...sort of – 47:40

Late breaking: Apple confirms RCS is coming to iPhones next year – 52:15

WhatsApp free storage on Google Drive is coming to an end – 53:53

Working on – 1:06:52

Pop culture picks – 1:07:34

Apple's new M3 MacBook Pros and iMac are here! In this episode, we dive into our full thoughts about all of Apple's new hardware alongside Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham. The big takeaway: Don't buy the base model of either computer with just 8GB of RAM. Otherwise, the M3 chips are solid upgrades across the board.

Also, Senior Editor Jessica Conditt joins to tell us all about the new Steam Deck OLED. It has a slightly larger OLED screen than the original model, as well as some extra battery life. While the performance is the same as before, it's certainly a tempting holiday treat for anyone who's been eyeing a Steam Deck.

Our reviews of Apple’s M3 iMac and M3 Pro MacBook Pro – 0:40

Steam Deck OLED review with Jess Conditt – 21:33

Humane to debut AI-powered device that pins to your clothes – 43:24

Meta to require political campaigns to disclose AI-altered images in ads – 55:19

Sam Bankman-Fried found guilty of fraud, faces up to 110 years in prison – 56:21

Rockstar confirms GTA 6 trailer is coming December 2023 – 1:04:18

Working on – 1:07:23

Pop culture picks – 1:09:07

Joe Hunting, the director of "We Met in Virtual Reality," is embarking on a new adventure: He's launching Painted Clouds, a studio devoted to VR filmmaking. In this episode, we chat with Hunting about the state of the VR community, the convergence of real-world and virtual filmmaking tools, and why he's so interested in telling stories set in VR.

Be sure to check out We Met in Virtual Reality, which is streaming now on Max.

Apple’s M3 chip is here, and the company is wasting no time shoving it into new computers. This week, we dive into the new M3-equipped MacBook Pros and iMac, which offer some notable upgrades over the M2 and M1 models. Also, we find time to celebrate the death of the old 13-inch MacBook Pro, and try to determine if the cheaper 14-inch MacBook Pro is actually meant for pros with 8GB of RAM. We also chat about Apple’s healthcare plans, as well as Lenovo’s ridiculous tablet fashion campaign.

Apple announces M3 chips along with new MacBook Pros and iMac – 0:59

Other News: Bloomberg report outlines Apple’s very quiet attempt at getting into HealthTech – 24:33

Ad blockers no longer work on Youtube :( – 39:02

U.S., U.K. announce first attempts at AI regulation – 48:10

Lenovo’s Tab Wear clothing line is like a kangaroo pouch for your tablet – 54:30

Working on – 58:39

Listener Mail: Should I go from a Fitbit to a Pixel Watch? – 1:00:28

Pop culture picks – 1:03:16

It seems like just about every streaming service has raised their price this year – most recently, Apple TV+, Netflix and Disney+. In this episode, we chat with Janko Roettgers, author of the newsletter Lowpass, about the state of streaming media. Why are these companies pushing their prices up now, and what does that mean for you, the viewer? Does this mean the dream of cord cutting is over? (Spoiler: No, not really.)

Also, we chat about Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon chips, adult film star Riley Reid’s new AI chatbot, and why Super Mario Wonder is the best 2D Mario game since Super Mario World.

Reporter Janko Roettgers explains what’s going on with streaming price increases – 1:0

Other News: 41 states use Meta over Instagram’s influence on kids – 23:15

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 brings more AI power to phones – 28:59

Snapdragon X Elite takes aim at Apple’s M series chips – 33:26

Working on – 42:30

Pop culture picks – 46:12

If you're feeling anxious about AI and what it means for the future of humanity, you should watch The AI Doc: Or, How I Became an Apocaloptimist. As I noted in my review, the film aims to deliver some clarity amid all the AI hype with a plethora of interviews from AI CEOs, boosters, and critics. Now that it's in theaters, we sat down with the film's Oscar-winning director, Daniel Roher (Navalny), to dive deeper into his complicated feelings around AI.

It seems like Marc Andreessen had a lot of free time this week, as the VC wrapped up his entire pro-tech worldview in a massive tome, the Techno-Optimist Manifesto. Andreessen claims “technology is the glory of human ambition and achievement, the spearhead of progress, and the realization of our potential,” and he goes on to vilify anyone who dares to step in the way of “progress.” To break down this document, we’re joined by tech critic Paris Marx, host of the Tech Won’t Save Us podcast, and the author of the Disconnect newsletter, as well as the book Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong About the Future of Transportation.

Also, Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham discusses why he loves Spider-Man 2 on the PlayStation 5, and we try to make sense of Apple’s new $79 Pencil.

Nate Ingraham’s Spider-Man 2 review: The rare game that’s both bigger and better – 0:55

We break down Mark Andreessen’s dangerously optimistic manifesto on AI – 11:39

Microsoft now officially owns Activision/Blizzard – 35:44

X (fka Twitter) tests $1 “Not a bot” program for new users – 38:53

There’s a new, cheaper Apple Pencil with USB-C but what generation is it? – 41:03

YouTube debuts ‘news hub’ to direct users to reliable sources – 46:46

Working on – 51:20

Pop culture picks – 52:20

We still have months to wait before Dune: Part Two hits theaters, so what better time to reminisce about David Lynch's intriguing adaptation of Frank Herbert's masterpiece? Reviled at the time, Lynch's Dune has now firmly established itself as a cult sci-fi epic, a film with boundless creative energy hampered by studio interference.

In this bonus episode, Devindra chats with film journalist Max Evry, author of A Masterpiece in Disarray: David Lynch's Dune. We explore why he devoted two years of his life towards researching an unloved film, as well as how it's a refreshing departure from the superhero films dominating theaters today.

The Meta Quest 3 is here, and it’s the best standalone VR headset we’ve ever seen. But is that enough to make people care about virtual reality? In this episode, Devindra and Senior Writer Sam Rutherford chat with Tested’s Norm Chan about the Quest 3 and Meta’s mixed reality future. While the company’s vision of the metaverse is pretty sterile, it’s still nice to see Meta learning from the mistakes of the Quest Pro.

Sam also dives into his Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro reviews, as well as his thoughts about the Pixel Watch 2. We also dive into Wired’s retraction of an op-ed claiming that Google manipulated your search queries, as well as Twitter/X’s complete inability to deliver accurate news during the Hamas and Israel conflict.

Timestamps:

Meta Quest 3 Review with Tested’s Norm Chan – 1:44

Sam Rutherford’s Pixel 8 review: We’re finally excited about mobile AI again – 36:18

Other News: Wired retracts op-ed about Google changing search queries – 56:04

Israel-Hamas conflict misinformation shows X moderation is completely broken – 58:09

Google reportedly pays Apple $18-20 billion a year to remain iOS default search engine – 1:03:08

Sony finally announces PS5 Slim – 1:09:31

California passes Right to Repair law – 1:11:29

Working on – 1:13:44

Pop culture picks – 1:16:26