The Vergecast

By The VergeNews Technology Tech News

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37 min
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The Vergecast episodes

August 16, 2024Gemini is taking over Google
The Verge's Nilay Patel, David Pierce, and Alex Cranz discuss AI tools announced at this weeks Pixel 9 event, Nilay's TV competition, tech regulatory news, and more.
Further reading:
AI overshadowed Pixel at the Pixel event
All the AI features coming to Google's Pixel 9 series
Google debuts Pixel Studio AI image-making app
Google makes your Pixel screenshots searchable with Recall-like AI feature
Every time Google dinged Apple during its Pixel 9 launch event
Google Gemini’s voice chat mode is here
Using Gemini Live was faster than Google, but also more awkward
Google Pixel 9 launch event: all the announcements and products
Google's Pixel 9 lineup is a Pro show
The Pixel 9 Pro XL showed me the future of AI photography
Google’s Zoom Enhance camera trick is finally available
Inside the competition that named the Sony A95L the best TV of 2024
Patreon adds Apple tax to avoid getting kicked out of the App Store
Apple is finally going to open up iPhone tap-to-pay
Apple relents and approves Spotify app with EU pricing
AltStore PAL drops its annual subscription thanks to a grant from Epic
Epic judge says he’ll ‘tear the barriers down’ on Google’s app store monopoly
The FTC’s fake review crackdown begins this fall
Ex-Google CEO: AI startups can steal IP, hire lawyers to “clean up the mess”
Flipboard is going to let you follow fediverse accounts right inside the app
Halide’s Process Zero feature captures photos with no AI processing
Realme’s 320W fast charging can fully charge a smartphone in four and a half minutes

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1 hr 39 min
August 13, 2024Google’s next big Pixel
Today on the flagship podcast of the correct height-to-width ratio of a foldable phone:
The Verge’s David Pierce, Allison Johnson, Victoria Song, and Chris Welch discuss all the new gadget announcements from Google’s Pixel event — including the Pixel 9, the Pixel Watch 3, the Pixel buds, and more.
Further reading:
Google Pixel 9 launch event live coverage: all the news
Google’s Pixel 9 lineup is a Pro show
Google’s new Pixel Buds Pro 2 seem better in every way that matters
The Pixel 9 Pro XL showed me the future of AI photography
Google Pixel Watch 3 hands-on: a big leap forward
The Google TV Streamer might be the Apple TV 4K rival we’ve been waiting for
Why Google decided now’s the time to move on from Chromecast
The Nest Learning Thermostat gets its biggest upgrade in over a decade
Google’s Pixel Fold one year later: I can’t wait for the sequel

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57 min
August 09, 2024Google lost its first antitrust case, so what happens next?
The Verge's Nilay Patel, Alex Cranz, Alex Heath, and Lauren Feiner discuss a federal judge ruling that Google violated US antitrust law, X suing a group of major advertisers over an “illegal boycott”, and the rest of this week's wild tech news.
Further reading:
Judge rules that Google ‘is a monopolist’ in US antitrust case
All the spiciest parts of the Google antitrust ruling
X files antitrust lawsuit against advertisers over ‘illegal boycott’
The Global Alliance for Responsible Media is 'discontinuing' after Elon Musk's X filed an antitrust lawsuit against it
Disney’s password-sharing crackdown starts ‘in earnest’ this September
Disney’s streaming business turned a profit for the first time
The price of Disney Plus is about to go up
Logitech’s ‘forever’ mouse isn’t happening
Google is discontinuing the Chromecast line
The Google TV Streamer might be the Apple TV 4K rival we’ve been waiting for
Humane’s daily returns are outpacing sales
Samsung’s Frame TV is finally getting the knockoffs it deserves
Microsoft says Delta ignored Satya Nadella’s offer of CrowdStrike help
Hands-on with Google’s new Nest Learning Thermostat
OpenAI won’t watermark ChatGPT text because its users could get caught

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1 hr 24 min
August 06, 2024Quibi's epic fall and the future of books
Today on the flagship podcast of what the future of Kindle turns out to be:
We’re once again trying out a couple of our favorite new show formats.
In Version History, we talk through the whole story of Quibi, from its early days as NewTV to its extremely ill-timed launch to its ultimate demise.
From Variety: Quibi Has Raised $1.75B After Closing $750M Round to Fund Launch
From Variety: Jeffrey Katzenberg’s NewTV Closes $1B, Major Studios Among Investors
Quibi’s CES 2020 launch
Quibi app review: short-form streaming in a shifting landscape
Steven Spielberg is writing a horror series you’ll only be able to at night
Quibi’s Super Bowl 2020 commercial
From The Wall Street Journal: Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman Struggle With Their Startup—and Each Other
How Quibi imploded less than six months after launch
11 reasons why Quibi crashed and burned in less than a year
Next, we try out our as-yet-untitled debate show. The Verge’s Kevin Nguyen and Alex Cranz take on a surprisingly contentious topic: is the future of books print or digital?
The Boox Palma is an amazing gadget I didn’t even know I wanted
Kobo’s great color e-readers are held back by lock-in
From The Wall Street Journal: How the Kindle Became a Must-Have Accessory (Again)
The Playdate makes a surprisingly good e-reader
Later, producer Andru Marino answers a question from The Vergecast Hotline about a very unusual shopping situation for MP3 players.
NW-E394 Walkman Digital Music Player
Mighty’s ‘iPod shuffle for Spotify’ gets upgraded battery and Bluetooth

Email us at [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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1 hr 15 min
August 02, 2024Apple's Intelligence beta and more AI chaos
The Verge's Nilay Patel, Allison Johnson, and Victoria Song discuss Apple iOS 18.1 beta. upcoming Pixel 9 rumors, Olympics coverage, AI deepfake regulation, and more.
Further reading:
The best way to watch the Olympics is on TikTok
Apple releases iOS 18.1 developer beta with the first ‘Apple Intelligence’ iPhone features
Apple’s iOS 18.1 developer beta adds AI call recording and transcription
A first look at Apple Intelligence and its (slightly) smarter Siri
Apple’s new AI features will reportedly miss the iOS 18 launch and wait for iOS 18.1.
Google Pixel 9 event: rumors and what to expect
Pixel 9’s ‘Add Me’ feature puts you in a group photo even when you’re not there
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra review: if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em
Samsung hypes the Galaxy Z Flip as a great police bodycam
Logitech CEO Hanneke Faber wants your next mouse to last forever
Microsoft wants Congress to outlaw AI-generated deepfake fraud
Google tweaks Search to help hide explicit deepfakes
Lawmakers want to carve out intimate AI deepfakes from Section 230 immunity
Elon Musk posts deepfake of Kamala Harris that violates X policy
The Copyright Office calls for a new federal law regulating deepfakes.
Senators will introduce the No Fakes Act to keep AI ...

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1 hr 35 min
July 30, 2024The history of Roku and the fight over CarPlay
Today on the flagship podcast of dedicated streaming hardware:
We try out a couple of show formats we’ve been planning for a while.
In Version History, we tell the story of the Roku Netflix Player, debate its legacy, and try to decide whether this thing belongs in the Version History Hall of Fame.
From Fast Company: Inside Netflix’s Project Griffin: The Forgotten History Of Roku Under Reed Hastings
From CNBC: How Roku used the Netflix playbook to rule streaming video
From CNN: Netflix Player offers PC-free movie watching
From Wired: Review: Roku Netflix Set Top Box Is Just Shy of Totally Amazing
From The New York Times: Why the Roku Netflix Player Is the First Shot of the Revolution
After that, it’s time for debates. Nilay Patel and David Pierce yell at each other about who should own the screens in your car. Are CarPlay and Android Auto the answer, the solution to universally crappy automaker software?
Car companies haven’t figured out if they’ll let Apple CarPlay take over all the screens
The rest of the auto industry still loves CarPlay and Android Auto
Everybody hates GM’s decision to kill Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for its EVs
Rivian CEO says CarPlay isn’t going to happen
Apple’s fancy new CarPlay will only work wirelessly
Later, David answers a question from The Vergecast Hotline about political spam texts.
From The Washington Post: How to stop receiving spam texts
From PCMag: Stop Robotexts: How to Block Smishing and Spam Text Messages

Email us at [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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1 hr 5 min
July 28, 2024In search of the perfect movie recommendation
On this episode of The Vergecast, we look at why TV and movie recommendations are so complicated, and whether AI might be able to make them better. If Spotify can build infinite playlists of music you’ll like, and YouTube and TikTok always seem to have the perfect thing ready to go, why can’t Netflix or Hulu or Max seem to get it right?
If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are a few links to get you started:
Movievanders
Reelgood
The internet is a constant recommendations machine — but it needs you to make it work
Netflix’s Greg Peters on a new culture memo and where ads, AI, and games fit in
From Scientific America: How Recommendation Algorithms Work—And Why They May Miss the Mark
From Google: Multimodal prompting with a 44-minute movie

Email us at [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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39 min
July 26, 2024Search as we know it is officially over
The Verge's Nilay Patel, David Pierce, and Jake Kastrenakes discuss OpenAI's new SearchGPT product, Amazon's plan to launch a paid version of Alexa, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold review, and whole lot more.
Further reading:
OpenAI announces SearchGPT, its AI-powered search engine
Bing’s AI redesign shoves the usual list of search results to the side
Reddit is now blocking major search engines and AI bots — except the ones that pay
Google had a massive quarter thanks to Search and AI
Amazon’s paid Alexa is coming to fill a $25 billion hole dug by Echo devices
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is a great phone that’s out of ideas
Asus ROG Ally X review: the best Windows gaming handheld by a mile
Samsung Galaxy Ring review: keeping you in Samsung’s orbit
Apple’s first foldable iPhone could arrive in 2026
Apple Maps launches on the web to take on Google
The Disney Plus, Hulu, and Max streaming bundle is now available
Rivian CEO says CarPlay isn’t going to happen
The NBA’s new TV deals put a lot of games on Amazon’s Prime Video starting in 2025
Reddit’s NFL, NBA deals bring more sports highlights — and ads
Spotify CEO confirms a ‘deluxe’ version with hi-fi audio is coming soon
Sonos CEO apologizes for disastrous rollout of new app

Email us at [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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1 hr 32 min
July 23, 2024Inside the global computer crash
Today on the flagship podcast of configuration changes:
The Verge's Tom Warren joins the show to to talk about the story and legacy of the CrowdStrike crash.
CrowdStrike and Microsoft: all the latest news on the global IT outage
Major Windows BSOD issue hits banks, airlines, and TV broadcasters
What is CrowdStrike, and what happened?
CrowdStrike’s faulty update crashed 8.5 million Windows devices, says Microsoft
CrowdStrike outage: Photos, videos, and tales of IT workers fixing BSODs
Then we talk with The Verge's Victoria Song and Zombies, Run creator Adrian Hon about making exercising fun without making it competitive and awful.
Zombies, Run
Adrian Hon’s Substack
Finally, the Apple Watch will let you rest
This walking app let me whack my co-workers with a baseball bat
Ignore your fitness tracker and walk to Mordor instead
Finally, we answer a hotline question about handheld gadgets for new parents — because there's a lot of time to kill when there's a baby around.
Backbone One review: the best mobile gaming controller yet
Handheld consoles are the future of gaming
Holedown

Email us at [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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1 hr 19 min
July 21, 2024 The all-seeing AI webcam
On this episode of The Vergecast, senior producer Will Poor explores the AI-tinged worlds of Dries Depoorter. Depoorter has built all manner of quirky and provocative installations and online experiments. There’s a clock that tells you how much of your life you’ve already lived; a phone charger that only works when your eyes are closed; a mobile chat app that you can only use when your phone has less than 5% battery.
His most eyebrow-raising work, though, is around AI and surveillance. In his projects Depoorter takes publicly available webcam footage from around the world, and uses it to stalk celebrities, catch jaywalkers in the act, keep politicians honest, and generally make you wonder about your own privacy and anonymity.
We talked with Depoorter about how he creates his work, how he thinks about the future of AI, and how he responds to the people who see his art and want to turn it into commerce. It’s a wild conversation, so check it out above. To see all of Dries’ work, head over to his portfolio.

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42 min

About The Vergecast

From the publisher's feed

The Vergecast is the flagship daily podcast from The Verge about small gadgets, Big Tech, and everything in between. Every Friday, Nilay Patel and David Pierce hang out and make sense of the week’s…