The July edition of “The Hobson and Holtz Report” features Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz discussing these stories:

* Have we hit “peak podcast”?

* Google’s trying social media again

* These are the top 10 emerging technologies of 2019

* Communicators need to explore new channels for their messages

* You downloaded FaceApp. Here’s what you’ve just done to  your privacy

* Consumers are less attentive to news on mobile devices

* Dan York reports on interoperability, the new Twitter interface, Twitter’s “Live Cut” app/service, the need to go HTTPS, China and smart speakers, and gaming

Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog.

The next episode of For Immediate Release will be posted on Monday, August 19.

Links from This Week’s Episode

* Why are there so many podcasts?

* Podcast revenue set to pass $1 billion this year

* Google takes another run at social networking with Shoelace

* These are the top 10 emerging technologies of 2019

* Google Assistant tapped for moon landing anniversary

* Playing the community game

* ‘Stranger Things’ fans are uncovering an IRL mystery right now (and so can you)

* Rethinking Channels–Chat Is More Than Conversations

* You downloaded FaceApp. Here’s what you’ve just done to your privacy

* Justin Reynolds’ tweet on FaceApp’s terms of service

* Screen size matters: Consumers less attentive to news content on small screens

Links from Dan York’s Report

* Cory Doctorow on interoperability

* The new Twitter is coming (whether you want it or not)

* Why sites that don’t have HTTPS need to get it

* China and smart speakers

* Are you paying attention to gaming?