The Google Pixel Buds got a few new gestures for controls this week and it got me thinking again about how these stack up to AirPods, their clear competitor.

Google News is now available for iOS and Android (if you know where to look) and I have been spending some serious time with the app. Here are my first impressions. Android APK: https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google-inc/google-news/google-news-5-0-0-release/google-news-5-0-0-android-apk-download/ iOS App Store: https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-news/id459182288?mt=8&at=10l8rH

Google only showed off Wear OS at one developer session this year, which was realtively disappointing from a smart watch fan’s perspective. They didn’t show off anything that got me jealous of their wearable platform, and that was a huge disappointment for me. Wear OS at I/O: https://birchtree.me/blog/wear-os-at-google-io/ My watchOS 5 proposal: https://birchtree.me/blog/watchos-5-a-relatively-modest-proposal/

How I produce my podcast, why I think the iPad is great for content creation, and why needing to use a headphone jack is actually kind of inconvenient these days. Unco episode 14: https://www.unco.fm/unco/014

Google I/O's keynote ended literally 2 minutes before I hit record on this episode, so enjoy my completely off the cuff thoughts about the event. There's more to come from Google this week, so expect to hear more about I/O in the coming days.

My initial reactions to Microsoft's lengthy, and all business keynote presentation from Build 2018. As someone who focuses on consumer tech, there really wasn't a lot for me at this show, but Microsoft did have a few things of note to talk about.

There was some news about Pocket Casts yesterday, and people are a bit conflicted on what to think about it. Also, my one dollar month of Spotify is almost up and I had to make a decision about if it would replace Apple Music for me. The answer was a resounding no.

On iteration and making time for those features that don't make money on their own, but make your experience better so that people stick around.

Apple seems to be pretty good at making a stupid amount of cash, huh? See also my post from this morning with some fancy actions for you Drafts users out there. https://birchtree.me/blog/draft-5-actions-the-birchtree-collection/

I just travelled to Austin, Texas for a long weekend and learned a little about myself when it comes to which mapping service I trust more to get me where I'm try to go.