Steve is back to recording the podcast after a week-long hiatus due to a death in the family. Today we have three stories; one highlighting major US carrier Verizon, another the HomePod, and the final focusing on wireless mobile chip vendors Qualcomm and Broadcom:

• Verizon announced that it will begin locking smartphones for a specified amount of time in order to reduce criminal demand for its unlocked phones
• A scientific test of Apple's new HomePod smart speaker proves that it has excellent sound quality
• Apple suppliers Qualcomm and Broadcom are set to restart talks on a possible takeover of Qualcomm by Broadcom; any takeover would have an impact on Apple