This week, we're looking back at our hellish 2024 and trying to figure out where to go from here. We began the year with enormous hype around artificial intelligence, but that's cooled off after seeing how useless many AI features have been. It's also clear that many companies, including Microsoft and Apple, are trying to push half-baked AI concepts onto users. Looking forward, we're expecting a rough few years for the tech industry (not to mention the world as a whole).

2024 in review: AI hype hasn’t led to much and the social media vibes are in flux – 1:12

What we’re looking forward to in 2025 – 21:43

Tiktok appeals its ban all the way to the US Supreme Court – 29:53

TP-Link routers are being investigated by US authorities – 32:39

Quick thoughts from last week’s Game Awards – 35:35

Working on – 38:26

Pop culture picks – 39:17

Interview with Tim Miller and Dave Wilson of Prime’s Secret Level – 49:20

At long last, iPhone users have access to Apple's AI image generation tools, Genmoji (for customized emoji) and Image Playground. But based on our testing, these Apple Intelligence features aren't fully baked. In this episode, Devindra and Cherlynn discuss why these AI tools aren't very useful and dive into some of Apple's most egregious image generation fails.

iOS 18.2 AI image generation arrives half baked. Genmoji are fun, but weird – 1:13

OpenAI’s Sora video generation model was finally released – 37:17

GM kills its Cruise robotaxi project – 45:43

Google’s Gemini 2.0 is now available for preview – 49:51

Tiktok is running out of options to avoid a ban in the U.S. – 57:36

Working on – 1:00:04

Pop culture picks – 1:02:20

Our review-in-progress of the Kindle Scribe 2 is live, and this week on the Engadget Podcast our host Cherlynn Low talks about Amazon’s latest writing tablet with noted ereader aficionado Alex Cranz. The pair are joined by Engadget’s own ereader expert Valentina Palladino, and they all get deep on the state of reading on books, tablets and phones. Our hosts also dive into what’s happening at Intel, as well as modern cars and personal listening habits.

Kindle Scribe 2, Kobo, Boox and more: the state of ereaders in 2024 – 2:12

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger retires – 45:13

Intel claims its $250 Battlemage Arc GPU can top the NVIDIA RTX 4060  – 50:57

MSI’s upcoming Claw 8 AI+ and 7 AI+ are faster than ever, but you still need to navigate Windows with joysticks – 52:18

Jaguar’s strange concept EV doesn’t even have a rear window – 57:26

It’s music streaming recap season! How do you feel about yours? – 1:04:33

Working on / Around Engadget – 1:09:13

Pop culture picks – 1:11:20  

Senior reporter Jess Conditt joins host Cherlynn Low and producer Ben Ellman on a quiet news week to talk about the latest developments at Sony, Threads, TikTok and more. We also take a look at some gadget announcements and discuss the impact that social media and technology have had on the way we work and how we think of celebrity and success.

A chill Thanksgiving week chat: Social media and how it affects all of us – 1:07

Gaming news with Jess: Sony is reportedly working on a new portable console – 21:18

PlayStation’s head of indie games Shuhei Yoshida is leaving Sony after 30 years – 28:34

Obsidian’s Avowed looks like a great reason to pick up an Xbox controller – 31:53

FTC warns that most connected devices aren’t supported for very long – 37:08

Working on – 41:14

Pop culture picks – 42:17

Well, the rumors were true: this week the DOJ argued that Google should sell off Chrome to make up for its monopolistic search practices. On top of that, the US government also suggested a potential sale of Android if it can't stop prioritizing its own search on Android smartphones. In this episode, Devindra and Producer Ben discuss why neither outcome seems likely under the upcoming Trump 2.0 administration, which will likely focus on defanging any sort of regulation.

U.S. regulators want Google to sell its Chrome division (and why that probably won’t happen) – 1:05

Comcast spins off Rotten Tomatoes, Fandango, and a handful of cable networks into their own company – 22:23

Sony is in talks to buy Kadokawa, Japanese publisher behind FromSoft games and Kill la Kill – 24:38

German authorities suspect Baltic Sea data cables between Lithuania and Sweden were sabotaged – 26:21

Pokémon Go devs Niantic reveal plans to create a Large Geospatial Model to power future AR and robots – 32:26

Working on – 45:49

Pop culture picks – 51:38

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