MashTalk

Should you get the iPhone 8? Depends: Are you easily bored? Because the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are definitely the ho-hum iPhones this year. Although Apple would never say it, the improvements over the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are mostly incremental, with wireless charging and some new camera tricks (including Portrait Lighting) being the highlights. The real star is the iPhone X, which isn't coming for another month. That's the consensus from most reviewers, too. It's not that the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are bad phones -- far from it, they're some of the best-performing smartphones you can buy -- it's just that Apple spoiled its own launch party by also announcing the iPhone X, which has demonstrably major upgrades, like an edge-to-edge screen and an advanced front-facing camera module. On this week's MashTalk, Time's Lisa Eadicicco joins us to compare notes with Mashable Chief Correspondent Lance Ulanoff and Senior Tech Correspondent Ray Wong, all of whom have tried out the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus before they went on sale. Not only does the panel dive deep into the (few) new features of the two iPhones making their debut, it also answers the question: If the iPhone X is the true upgrade, why do these phones even exist? Follow Lisa on Twitter. Follow Lance, Ray, Pete, and MashTalk on Twitter, too.

This is no ordinary iPhone year. After three years of dual-release events -- where Apple would launch two phones with generally the same abilities but different sizes -- we finally got something new. On Sept. 12, 2017, Apple announced three new iPhones: the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and the forward-looking iPhone X (pronounced "ten"). You might be thinking, "What happened to iPhone 9?" But the iPhone X has much more severe consequences for next year's iPhone, something we explore at length on this week's MashTalk podcast. For the iPhone 11 (or whatever it's called), will Apple take advancements -- like the edge-to-edge OLED display, the TrueDepth camera system, and advanced camera system -- and simply put them in two different-size phones? Or will Apple keep its premium tier, and continue to sell a higher-end phone for those willing to pay extra for the latest features? To help predict the future of the iPhone, MashTalk turns to the past: Christina Warren, former Mashable Senior Tech Correspondent and current Microsoft employee, returns to the podcast for our Apple recap, along with current Senior Tech Correspondent Ray Wong and Apps Reporter Karissa Bell. Besides the iPhone X, we also reflect on the iPhone 8's "middle child" status, figure out the ultimate form of the "notch," pass judgment on the Apple TV 4K (hint: it doesn't fare well), and ask the question on everyone's mind: What the hell is up with that red dot on the Apple Watch Series 3? Follow Christina on Twitter. Follow Raymond, Karissa, Pete, and MashTalk as well.

When Apple throws its annual iPhone bash on Tuesday, everyone will finally get their first look at the most awaited gadget of the year, the new "premium" iPhone, the so-called iPhone 8. Everyone except Mark Gurman, that is. The Bloomberg reporter has already held a prototype of the iPhone 8 (or iPhone X, or iPhone Edition, or iPhone Pro, or whatever it's called) and delivered an extensive report on how the home button -- or rather the lack of one -- would work. On this week's MashTalk, Gurman joins the podcast to share a little more detail on his experience with the iPhone 8, give his predictions for everything else Apple might have in store for its Sept. 12 event, and address any concerns about whether or not Apple will be able to meet the sure-to-be-enormous demand for its top-tier iPhone. Also joining the show is Jim Dalrymple, editor in chief of Loop Insight. With his deep knowledge of Apple and its history, Dalrymple gives us needed perspective on just how big a moment this is for Tim Cook and Apple, especially considering the radical changes in the iPhone, the venue for the event (the brand-new Steve Jobs Theater on the Apple Park campus), and the fact that this is the year of the 10th anniversary of the iPhone. Who is the iPhone 8 for? What is Apple going to call it? And what does it mean for the "regular" iPhones? Dalrymple, Gurman, Lance Ulanoff and I set the stage for the biggest tech event of the year in a wide-ranging discussion. Follow MashTalk on Twitter.

Thank heaven for social media. That sentiment was definitely on the minds of many people caught in the path of Hurricane Harvey, which is shaping up to be one of the worst disasters in U.S. history. It dumped 24.5 trillion gallons of water on Texas -- enough to cover the entire state of Arizona in a foot of water. More than 32,000 people were displaced and forced to go to shelters. The official death toll stands at 46 (at the time of the podcast it was 35). That last number might have been higher if not for social media. In the early hours of the hurricane, 911 systems were overwhelmed, and many people reported not being able to get through to emergency services at all. With the water level rising and no help coming, lots of people turned to social media to plea for rescue. Public figures felt the power of social media in the wake of the disaster, too. Popular Houston-based televangelist Joel Osteen was forced to respond when Twitter stirred up criticism that his massive Lakewood Church stood nearly empty while shelters in the area were filling up. First Lady Melania Trump was a target, too, over her choice of footwear, although the backlash to that criticism was just as swift. On this week's MashTalk, we talk to Houston resident and Ringer staff writer Shea Serrano, who became one of the most prolific "signal boosters" on Twitter for people affected by the storm, and Bill Moore, CEO of Zello, whose "live conversations" app was instrumental in enabling people to communicate directly when regular methods weren't working. Some key stats:

Twitter saw more than 27 million tweets related to Harvey, making it the second most-tweeted event in 2017 (the Super Bowl saw 27.6 million).

Facebook saw more than 1,000 users made requests for help via Safety Check, with more than 3,500 offers from volunteers seeking to help those affected.

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After months of leaks and a year of explosion jokes, Samsung's Galaxy Note 8 is finally here and it's packing some serious hardware with dual cameras and new S Pen features. It might even be Samsung's best phone yet, but it's got a lot of competition this time around. The iPhone 8 is around the corner, Google's Pixel 2 is expected after that, and the Essential Phone just launched with a screen that's to die for. Can Samsung fend off attacks from three sides?  That's the question that'll be on many people's minds as they decide which phone to upgrade to. If you thought picking a new phone was hard last year, this year's even more difficult. The Note 8 is a fine phone, loaded with all of the features you'd expect. Here's a list of all the major features that makes it so attractive:

Beautiful glass and metal design

6.3-inch edge-to-edge screen

Dual 12-megapixel cameras

64GB of storage with microSD card slot for expansion

IP68 water and dust resistance

Improved S Pen features

Fast charging and fast wireless charging

Fingerprint sensor, iris scanner, and face recognition for biometrics

Headphone jack

A battery that won't explodeSamsung's crammed a lot into the Note 8, but at the same time, it's also expensive AF at around $930 (it's a few bucks more or less depending on your carrier).Android Police's Managing Editor David Ruddock and Engadget's Reviews Editor Cherlynn Low joins this week's MashTalk to tell you if the phone's worth it or not.We also break down the Essential Phone is the poster child for what all phones will look like in the next few years. David also spills everything he knows about the Pixel 2, which could be announced on Oct. 5 and the best things in Android Oreo. You can subscribe to MashTalk on iTunes or Google Play, and we'd appreciate it if you could leave a review. Feel free to hit us with questions and comments by tweeting to @mashtalk or adding the #MashTalk hashtag. We welcome all feedback.

For those who obsess about the iPhone, it was the mother lode. After a long period without any substantive informations (although plenty of whispers, speculation, and questionable photos), if finally happened: the biggest iPhone 8 leak so far. In what looks like an understandable but massive mistake, pre-release firmware for the Apple HomePod somehow got uploaded to a public server. There's a lot of interest in HomePod — the Apple "smart speaker" that's meant for music and has Siri built-in. Apple plans to release it in December, so getting a look at the software four months early is definitely a big deal. But that was just the beginning. The HomePod software actually included a lot of information about a new iPhone — what has generally been called the iPhone 8 — including details on the exact shape of its edge-to-edge screen, a new kind of biometric security that involves facial recognition, and other features. One of the key people in deciphering the leak has been Guilherme Rambo, an iOS developer from Brazil. Rambo has been revealing the details he and others have discovered in the HomePod software on his Twitter feed, including references to something called "Pearl ID," a virtual home button, and even an image of what the front of the iPhone 8 will supposedly look like (hint: get ready to hear the term "notch" a lot). Rambo joins this week's MashTalk podcast along with CNET Executive Editor and mobile analyst Roger Cheng and Mashable Senior Tech Correspondent Raymond Wong to fully unpack this huge leak, explore what this radically redesigned iPhone will mean (to users and Apple), and analyze the info to figure out what's not in the leak. Follow Guilherme and Roger on Twitter. Follow Pete, Raymond, and MashTalk (now with an underscore-free handle!) on Twitter, too! Please leave us a review, and feel free to hit us with questions and comments by tweeting to @mashtalk or adding the #MashTalk hashtag. We welcome all feedback.

Guys, did you hear the news? The robots are going to kill us. At least that appears to be the primary fear of tech mogul Elon Musk regarding artificial intelligence. This week, when fellow tech titan Mark Zuckerberg was hailing the promise of AI in a Facebook Live Q&A, he ended up subtweeting Musk, calling AI naysayers "irresponsible" for playing up "doomsday scenarios." Musk fired back on his favorite medium, Twitter, saying Zuck has a "limited understanding" of AI. The resulting headlines made more hay from the tech CEO slap fight than the underlying issue: How much should we be concerned about the growing power of AI, what are the potential dark sides of the tech (Skynet included), and can we do something about them? To help answer these important questions, Mariya Yao joins the show this week. Yao is the CTO of Topbots, a company that helps other companies build and implement AI solutions to the problems they're trying to solve -- and to do so "wisely." She's also the co-author on a forthcoming book about applied AI. In this week's MashTalk, Yao, Pete, and Mashable's Michael Nuñez try to boil down what it is exactly that scares Musk so much about AI, what a future AI-powered world might look like, and what the real concerns are about the rapidly growing field in the here and now. Follow Mariya Yao on Twitter. Follow Pete, Michael, and MashTalk (now with an underscore-free handle!) on Twitter, too!

It's been a big week for emoji

The internet five years from now could look a lot different than what it is today. Building an online business might be harder than ever thanks to the FCC throwing out the rules surrounding Net Neutrality -- the premise that all data on the net should be treated equally regardless of origin or destination. Without Net Neutrality, providers would be free to create so-called "fast lanes" on the internet, prioritizing services that they're friendly to, and relegating those that don't pay up to the slow lane.At least that's the future many envision if Net Neutrality is thrown out, and those protested this week in the Net Neutrality Day of Action, which saw many major tech companies -- including Facebook, Snapchat, Amazon, and Google -- add their voices to the chorus of entities calling for Net Neutrality to be preserved. However, Net Neutrality will likely be changed or thrown out no matter what, so the question now becomes: What happens next? On this week's MashTalk, we explore what a future without Net Neutrality looks like, and ask: Is there a chance it might even be better for consumers in some ways? Mashable Business Editor Jason Abbruzzese and Tech Correspondent Jack Morse join Pete, Lance, and... Elmo...? for an important discussion on the future of internet.

It's right there in the title. Amazon Prime Day, which is Tuesday, July 11 (though it technically starts on July 10), boasts some of the best deals you'll be able to get on tech, appliances, beauty products, and all the other junk we buy online. But the point of Amazon's fake holiday (which first arrived in 2015) is clear: Get as many people to sign up for Prime, the company's loyalty program that costs $99 a year. Does that make it a better deal for Amazon or its customers? This week the Mashable crew unpacks the whole idea of Amazon Prime Day, looking at how it's evolved since it first arrived in 2015, and the new emphasis on services and voice deals. We also have plenty of tips for how to get the most out of Prime Day, predict the best deals, and reminisce about the weirdest deals of years past (remember that barrel of lube?). Business reporter Emma Hinchliffe joins Pete, Lance, and Ray on this week's podcast. Follow @mash_talk on Twitter or attach the #MashTalk hashtag to send us a comment.