The Engadget Podcast

For obvious reasons, Twitter users are leaving en masse and heading to Bluesky, its most prominent decentralized competitor. In this episode, we discuss why Bluesky now feels like the best of early Twitter, filled with vibrant conversations and people discovering a new social network filled with useful features (like serious blocking and content filtering). And of course, the lack of an algorithmic feed surely helps. Also, we chat with Justin Hendrix from Tech Policy Press about how Elon Musk has become a crucial ally to the upcoming Trump administration. 

Bluesky ascendent: the federated platform could actually be the next Twitter – 2:22

Musk cozies up to President-elect Trump, could a Department of Government Efficiency be next? – 23:37

Interview with Justin Hendrix, founder of Tech Policy Press, on Trump and Musk – 31:50

The Onion buys InfoWars with plans to turn the brand into gun control satire – 48:02

LG Display’s stretchy new screen – 54:34

The Beatles have been nominated for two Grammys with the help of AI – 56:50

Goodbye: AOL voiceover Elwood Edwards has died – 58:29

Working on – 1:00:11

Pop culture picks – 1:02:38 

In this episode, Devindra and producer Ben Ellman recover from the election by discussing our final thoughts on the PlayStation 5 Pro, as well as Apple’s M4 Mac mini (so cute, so powerful!) and new MacBook Pros. The M4 chip is a solid upgrade, but the M4 Pro is shockingly fast (so much so that it outscored every other system we reviewed this year in Geekbench).

PlayStation 5 Review: Your <$1000 gateway to 4K/60 gaming with ray tracing – 3:43

Mac mini M4 Pro Review: Phenomenal power with a tiny footprint – 16:51

MacBook Pro M4 and M4 Pro Review: Maintaining and extending Apple’s premium laptop dominance – 31:15

NYT tech guild on strike made their own games you can play without crossing their digital picket line – 38:28

Pop culture picks – 43:25    

It's been a Mac-heavy week! In this episode, Devindra and producer Ben Ellman dive into all of Apple's new M4 hardware: the new iMac, Mac mini and refreshed Macbook Pros. The Mac mini, in particular, looks like it'll be a huge hit for anyone who needs a simple desktop system. Also, we dive into why Apple is pushing for every Mac to get 16GB of RAM at a minimum. That will benefit all users, even if they don't care about Apple Intelligence.

Unofficial Mac Week: Apple announces M4 Pro and M4 Max chips in refreshed iMac, Mac Mini, and Macbook Pro models – 0:58

Regulators force Lyft to tell U.S. drivers accurate numbers of how much money they’ll make – 45:30

AP report: OpenAI’s Whisper transcription model invents parts of audio transcripts – 49:06

AOC and Tim Walz streamed Crazy Taxi on Twitch – 53:11

McDonalds can finally repair their own McFlurry machines in significant win for Right to repair – 55:54

Around Engadget – 59:45

Pop culture picks – 1:03:42 

We finally got an iPad Mini refresh, and it's not particularly exciting. But that's fine! It's still a useful little tablet, and now thanks to the A17 Pro chip, it's already ready for upcoming Apple Intelligence features. In this episode, Engadget Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham joins to discuss what he liked about the new iPad Mini, and what he hopes Apple will eventually fix in future models. Also, we chat about Netflix abandoning its AAA game studio, and why over 10,500 artists signed a letter against AI training.

The refreshed iPad Mini is playing it safe and that’s totally fine – 0:58

Netflix closes Team Blue, its attempt at a AAA game studio – 24:16

Over 10,000 of the world’s top artists sign a letter protesting AI training using their work – 28:27

X Terms of Service changes on account blocking, AI training spurs a fresh wave of Bluesky signups – 30:07

Ronald D. Moore (Outlander, Battlestar Galactica) chosen to helm Amazon’s God of War series – 38:35

Working on – 42:11

Pop culture picks – 43:17 

Amazon finally did it! This week the company announced the Kindle Colorsoft, its first color E Ink e-reader. In this episode, Devindra and Cherlynn discuss where this device sits in a world of cheap tablets, and they dive into the updated Kindle Paperwhite and the writable Kindle Scribe. Also, we've got final thoughts on the Meta Quest 3S, the updated iPad Mini and tons of news.

Amazon announces new Kindle Colorsoft, updated Kindle Scribe and Paperwhite – 0:51

Devindra’s Meta Quest 3S review: impressive VR for a fair price – 38:14

Apple quietly drops new iPad Minis – 45:25

Tesla’s Robotaxi event: lots of big promises that will be hard to fulfill – 51:38

Amazon and Google go nuclear (power) – 54:44

Android 15 starts to hit Pixel devices – 55:51

Analogue 3D will give you 4K N64 games, just don’t call it an emulator – 57:14

Working on – 1:00:48

Pop culture picks – 1:04:38

This week, we’re joined by tech critic Paris Marx to discuss Data Vampires, his latest Tech Won’t Save us podcast series. We discuss how data centers suck up vast amounts of power, water and other resources, and why the AI boom is exacerbating those issues. Also, Devindra and Ben dive into a few news stories, including the DOJ inching closer towards a Google antitrust breakup; Nintendo's adorable motion sensing alarm clock, Alarmo; and why Google's Deepmind AI head won the Nobel Prize for chemistry.

Interview with Tech Won’t Save Us host Paris Marx on his new series, Data Vampires – 2:09

U.S. regulators continue to float the possibility of breaking Google up in antitrust ruling – 25:54

Nintendo announces new hardware…Alarmo, a motion sensing alarm clock – 39:33

Apple Intelligence likely arrives October 28 – 42:27

343 Industries rebrands as Halo Studios and shows off Unreal Engine 5 demo – 44:46

Pop culture picks – 50:36

This week, Microsoft started rolling out the Windows 11 2024 update, but it quickly became clear that the company was far more eager to unveil new features for its Copilot AI and Copilot+ AI PCs. In this episode, Devindra and Cherlynn chat about Microsoft's current AI priorities, and what it means for people with older PCs. Also, we discuss the death of HoloLens and Microsoft giving up on AR as Meta, Apple and even Snap build for an augmented reality future.

The new Windows 11 update goes all in on Copilot integration – 1:25

Amazon announces Fire HD 8 tablet line along with a few (pretty boring) AI features – 28:28

Tech debt led to Sonos’ disastrous app relaunch, will they be able to win users back? – 37:48

Google is making Gmail summaries more useful and adding a “happening soon” tab to your inbox – 41:11

Harvard students hack together facial recognition for Meta’s smart glasses that instantly doxes strangers – 44:00

Reddit introduces a policy change that will make site wide protests harder – 46:58

Around Engadget: Dan Cooper’s reMarkable Paper Pro review – 51:31

Working on – 55:53

Pop culture picks – 57:08

We've finally had a chance to try the PlayStation 5 Pro and Engadget's Jessica Conditt has come away impressed. In this episode, Devindra and Jess chat about what the PS5 Pro does well, and discuss who a $700 console is actually meant for. Also, coming off of Meta Connect 2024, Karissa Bell joins to chat about her time with the Quest 3S, as well as her thoughts about Meta's Orion AR headset and AI plans.

Jessica Conditt’s PS5 Pro hands on: 60fps makes so much difference – 0:42

Karissa Bell’s dispatch from Meta Connect 2024 – 27:04

Meta Quest 3S: an impressive and affordable step forward in consumer VR – 28:55

Orion AR glasses are a big swing, just don’t expect to buy them any time soon – 32:50

Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses – 38:28

Pop culture picks – 58:24

Our reviews of the iPhone 16 Pro and Apple Watch Series 10 are up, thanks to one very tired Cherlynn Low. In this episode, Devindra and Cherlynn discuss her final thoughts on Apple's new hardware, including why the iPhone 16 Pro’s photo processing is particularly interesting. In other news, we also chat about Snap's fifth-generation AR Spectacles, as well as HTC Vive's new Focus Vision headset.

iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max reviews: great cameras, but incomplete without Apple Intelligence – 0:59

Israel linked to coordinated pager and walkie-talkie explosions in Lebanon – 42:29

Snap’s 5th generation glasses with AR look chunky in a bad way – 48:17

HTC’s Vive Focus Vision: an intriguing VR headset at a price between the Quest 3 and Vision Pro – 51:35

Lionsgate films made a deal with the AI devil – 52:40

Pop culture picks – 55:48

The iPhone 16 event is over, and now we've got plenty of thoughts to share after playing with all of Apple's new hardware. In this episode, Devindra and Cherlynn chat about the entire iPhone 16 and Pro lineup, and Senior Reporter Billy Steele joins to chat about his experience with the AirPods 4 and Apple Watch Series 10. It turns out, the Apple Watch stole the show from the iPhone.

Post-Apple event thoughts on AirPods, Apple Watch Series 10, and, iPhone 16 with Cherlynn Low and Billy Steele – 0:47

Huawei releases a $2,800 tri-fold phone that won’t be coming to the US – 58:30

Taylor Swift endorses Harris for President, says AI material promoting Trump pushed her to make a statement – 59:24

No, Kamala Harris wasn’t wearing vaporware audio earrings at Tuesday’s debate – 1:01:00

Sony releases PS5 Pro Price, it’s $700! – 1:02:21

Meta admits to scraping all Australian user data for AI training – 1:04:12

Polaris Dawn astronauts perform first commercial spacewalk – 1:07:10

Around Engadget – 1:07:54

Pop culture picks – 1:09:33