The Engadget Podcast

This week, it’s Meta’s turn to highlight AI during its device event. In this episode, Devindra and Cherlynn dive into all of the news from Meta’s Connect 2023 event, where it unveiled Meta AI and accompanying celebrity-powered chatbots. Oh yah, and it introduced the Meta Quest 3 and new Ray-Ban smart glasses, too. More so than the metaverse and VR, it’s really AI that Zuckerberg wants to push across all of Meta’s apps and devices.

And in other news, we discuss why the end of the WGA strike is a big deal for AI in Hollywood; ex-Microsoft exec Panos Panay officially heading to Amazon; and why the FTC is targeting Amazon over its potential ecommerce monopoly.

Meta’s Connect event announces Quest 3 VR, Ray-Ban smart glasses and a slew of AI – 0:35

Hollywood Writers’ Guild ends strike with studio agreements on AI authorship, streaming residuals – 28:51

Panos Panay is officially going to head Amazon’s devices team – 32:03

FTC sues Amazon over ‘monopolistic practices’ – 35:30

FCC revives Obama-era net neutrality rules – 37:59

Jony Ive and Sam Altman are working on AI-powered hardware – 40:43

Top U.S. spy agencies are working on AI chatbots of their own – 55:56

Working on – 58:24

Pop culture picks – 59:23

Gadget season is in full swing! This week, Cherlynn chats about her experience reviewing the iPhone 15 Pro and Apple Watch Series 9. Does a 5x camera zoom make much of a difference? Also, Devindra and Cherlynn dive into Microsoft’s big Surface event in NYC, which actually ended up being more of an AI event.

The company announced Copilot, its new AI assistant for Windows and other platforms. Microsoft is basically consolidating all of the Copilot products it’s already announced for Edge, MS 365 and Windows, but maybe this will be less confusing in the long run? Not to miss out on the fun, Amazon also announced several new devices and AI moves around Alexa.

iPhone 15 Pro, Pro Max reviews – 1:09

Apple Watch Series 9 review – 17:45

Microsoft’s Surface event was more of an AI event – 24:59

Microsoft data breach reveals plans for new Xbox – 43:05

Amazon’s fall event debuts new Echo devices and a Fire TV soundbar – 47:25

Alexa is evolving into a chatbot for your home – 47:25

Made on YouTube event reveals a big push into generative AI – 59:04

This week, Cherlynn gives us her on-the-ground thoughts from Apple’s iPhone 15 launch event. It turns out the iPhone 15 Pro’s titanium case is actually noticeably lighter! We’re all also intrigued by Apple’s new double-tap gesture in the Watch Series 9. (Don’t be surprised if it ends up training us how to use the Vision Pro’s gesture commands!)

Also, Engadget reporter Malak Saleh joins to discuss her review of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6, as well as Dyson’s ridiculous Zone air filter mask/headphones.

iPhone 15 and Apple Watch Series 9 hands-on – 1:05

Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 review – 37:40

The U.S. v Google antitrust trial is underway – 45:50

Intel officially unveils Thunderbolt 5 – 48:57

Unity’s per-install fee upsets indie game devs – 55:21

Dyson Zone personal air filter review – 1:02:22

Working on – 1:14:32

Pop culture picks – 1:15:47

Fresh off of Apple’s “Wonderlust” event, Devindra and Engadget Editor-in-Chief Dana Wollman dive into the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Pro and the Apple Watch Series 9. We explain why Apple’s move towards USB-C on the iPhones has been a long time coming, and why we’re excited about even more emergency satellite calling capabilities. And while the Apple Watch Series 9 looks like a worthwhile upgrade, we’re more intrigued by the new double tap finger gesture.

Starfield is here! It’s just too bad we only like some of it. This week, Devindra chats with Senior Editor Jessica Conditt about Bethesda’s latest massive open world title, and why it just feels like Fallout 4 in space. Also, we dive into reports around Nintendo demoing the Switch 2 at Gamescom, and we dream up what our ideal sequel console could be. (Just call it the Super Switch!)

Engadget’s Starfield review: You will like some of it – 1:25

Baldur’s Gate 3 is a big win for games in Early Access – 22:11

Eurogamer reports Nintendo demoed the Switch 2 to devs at Gamescom – 33:42

What we’re playing: Viewfinder, Sprawl, Armored Core VI and more – 41:44

Pixel 8 Pro 360 render has leaked – 52:00

New York City reins in AirBnb – 53:37

Logitech’s UE EpicBoom sounds like a killer party speaker – 57:45

Mozilla report finds that cars are a data privacy nightmare – 1:00:44

AI News: How much of Kaedim’s 3D modeling AI is actually AI? – 1:06:57

Working on – 1:14:20

Pop culture picks – 1:15:43

It wouldn’t be the end of summer if we weren’t gearing up for another iPhone launch! This week, Devindra and Cherlynn are joined by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the purveyor of many Apple rumors, to discuss what we expect from the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro. Based on Gurman’s reporting so far, the iPhone 15 will likely get Apple’s Dynamic Island and improved tech from last year’s Pro phone. The iPhone 15 Pro, meanwhile, will see thinner bezels, a titanium frame and a periscope camera for the Pro Max.

You can also expect Apple to finally move over to USB-C for both of these phones, which should improve data (and potentially charging) speeds. Be sure to subscribe to Mark’s Bloomberg newsletter, Power On, to follow his reporting.

Apple iPhone 15 event preview with Bloomberg’s Apple leaker-in-chief Mark Gurman – 1:46

Tech events season is in full swing with more events from Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Intel – 28:23

Meta removed a large Chinese propaganda ring on Facebook – 36:23

Have you seen Windows 11’s weird popups while using Google? – 47:06

India is the first country to land a probe on the Moon’s South Pole – 52:04

Working on – 54:12

Pop culture picks – 59:40

The PSP is back! Sort of. This week, Sony announced the PlayStation Portal, a $200 handheld that can only stream games from your PS5. In this episode, Devindra and Producer Ben Ellman try to figure out what the heck Sony is doing. Is the Portal something gamers actually want? Or did Sony completely miss an opportunity to build a better portable? Also, we discuss why we’re excited for Armored Core VI and some serious big mecha action.

Sony announces $200 Playstation Portal handheld – 1:10

Armored Core VI: Shadows of Rubicon review – 25:44

Coming in October – Samsung’s 57-inch 4k ultra wide monitor – 34:22

Atari’s new 2600+ can play 2600 and 7800 cartridges…if you still have them – 39:32

NVIDIA’s DLSS 3.5 makes ray tracing look even better with AI – 41:35

Half-Life 2 is getting an unofficial remaster with RTX – 45:48

Other News: Microsoft product event scheduled for September 21 – 51:44

Elon Musk floats the idea of removing the block feature on X – 54:09

AI News: US judge rules that AI art can’t be copyrighted – 1:00:32

Working on – 1:04:27

Pop culture picks – 1:07:57

This week, Cherlynn and Sam are joined by noted foldables lover Michael Fisher (aka Mr Mobile) to talk all about their respective reviews of Samsung’s latest products. Why are our hosts more excited for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 than the Z Fold 5? Is Samsung coasting? Then, we discuss the latest happenings in X vs Threads, as well as a bunch of lighthearted news in tech this week.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Fold 5 reviews with MrMobile – 1:22

Will Elon actually pay for lawsuits related to posts on X? – 41:32

Threads is getting a website and search – 49:16

Slack UI changes are coming to your workspace soon – 54:31

MrBeast is getting countersued for $100m – 1:03:21

Working on – 1:13:55

Pop culture picks – 1:19:52

While our reviewers spend time testing the numerous Samsung devices that were just announced, this episode Cherlynn and Sam dive into the relatively slow week in tech. Of course, we can’t escape the onslaught of news coming from X-Twitter-Musk land, just like how residents from a building across from the company’s San Francisco headquarters were unable to escape from blinding lights this weekend. We also go over some updates from Meta and Google and discover why Cherlynn loves clowns.

This week in X/Twitter news: A disturbing strobe-light of a logo and hiding your checkmark – 1:21

Tesla under investigation for steering and battery range issues – 11:31

Half of Meta Threads users are now inactive – 24:16

Meta may be working on an Abraham Lincoln AI chatbot – 29:39

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman suggests the iPhone 15 could come with USB-C charging – 37:58

Working on – 54:13

Pop culture picks – 56:47

Samsung made a huge flex this week by hosting its first Unpacked event in Seoul, South Korea (sorry NYC!). In this episode, Cherlynn, Devindra and Senior Writer Sam Rutherford dive into all of Samsung’s news: The Galaxy Z Fold 5, Z Flip 5, Watch 6 and Tab S9. Is Samsung playing it safe this year, or is it actually bringing something new to the world of foldables? Also, we discuss Twitter’s rebrand to “X” (sigh), as well as why astrophysicist Avi Loeb is likely wrong about his extraterrestrial alien balls.

Samsung’s Summer Unpacked 2023 Overview – 0:54

Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 – 3:23

Galaxy Watch 6 – 19:24

Galaxy Tab S9 – 26:19

Other News: Twitter is now X – 33:40

GM announces plans to revive the Chevy Bolt – 47:44

Astrophysicist Avi Loeb found tiny metal balls in the ocean, they probably aren’t alien tech – 51:30

Microsoft announces pizza-scented controller as a TMNT promotion – 53:54

AI News: Netflix lists machine learning jobs in the middle of Hollywood’s double strike – 55:54

Working on – 1:00:34

Pop culture picks – 1:08:24