Wrecked By Tech

This week we talk about Marc's regrettable Xbox One experience; Riley's Philips Hue advice; and a whole bunch of CES stuff, including Alexa in everything, fancy new haptic feedback, crazy thin televisions, an out-of-the-box racing drone, and rumours about the new BlackBerry.

Recommendations

Links:

• Lenovo's Alexa speaker looks better than the Echo (and might sound better, too)
• Amazon Go Is About Way More Than Groceries
• LG's new tv is scary thin
• Here's what the next BlackBerry looks like (probably)
• This drone goes 100 mph out of the box
• TV Anchor says "Alexa, order me a dollhouse" on air
• Speed Round: HTC Vive Motion Tracker
• Speed Round: turn any computer into a touchscreen
• Speed Round: connected hairbrush (seriously)
• Speed Round: smart garbage cans are also a thing (seriously)
• Speed Round: Razer's 3-screen laotop
• Speed Round: Turn any LEGO set into a robot

Happy holidays! We hope your time off work—whatever that entailed—was magical.

Here's a list of (almost) everything we recommended this year, updated where appropriate. We may have forgotten to mention a couple, because it's been a really long year. Sue us.

Anyway, we love you and thanks for listening. Happy new year!

1:

Dan — The Wirecutter / The Sweet Home

If you've made it all the way down here, congrats: you're my favourite. Cheers and have a happy New Year!

In this week's episode: Microsoft's first smart speaker; our scathing Super Mario Run review; Uber's self-driving cars (and all their associated woes), a Facebook Messenger update; Apple AirPods; AT&T's chatbot; and Blade Runner 2049.

Recommendations

In this week's show: Super Mario Run for your phone needs an Internet connection; Samsung is remotely killing its phones in the US (and disconnecting from towers in Canada); the Samsung Galaxy S8 might not have a headphone jack; iPhone has a VR headset companion—and it might rival the big guys.

Recommendations

Links:

• The Bridge Headset Brings Positional-Tracking VR to iPhone | WIRED — Positional tracking is what makes higher-end hardware such as the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and PlayStation VR such fundamentally different devices compared to phone-based headsets like the Gear VR and Daydream View. With positional tracking, you can roam around inside a virtual world laterally and vertically.
• Super Mario Run needs a constant internet connection to run | TechCrunch — Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed this week that Super Mario Run will only work on a device with a constant internet connection.
• Samsung confirms it will render the US Note 7 useless with next update - The Verge — Samsung will render remaining Galaxy Note 7s in the United States useless and inoperable with its next and final update for the recalled smartphone.
• Verizon refuses to release update that would kill Samsung’s Note 7 - The Verge — Verizon will not be releasing a just-announced Galaxy Note 7 software update designed to stop the recalled smartphone from charging. In a statement, the leading US mobile carrier attributed the decision to concerns over safety for customers who might not have another mobile phone to use after the Note 7 has been crippled.
• Why you should get rid of your recalled Samsung Galaxy Note 7 now - National | Globalnews.ca — Canadians still hanging on to their recalled Samsung Galaxy Note 7’s will soon have their phones rendered almost entirely useless.

In this week's show: a Google Home update from Riley; an abridged version of the fake news conversation you missed last week; Netflix and offline viewing; Fitbit's purchase of Pebble and what it means; Android phones compromised by non-Google Play apps; Oculus Touch controllers.

Our apologies again for Marc's mic mishap.

Recommendations

With the return of Riley, we talk what the Google and Apple headquarters are like, why Uber is way better than a taxi, and where he bought a Google Home. Marc wonders about the Echo vs. Home debate. Also in this episode: Blips camera lenses for iPhone, a Kickstarter for automating making your bed, a curved screen on the next iPhone, and Microsoft's solitaire games on iOS. The boys are back in town!

Recommendations:

On this week's show: Riley is away in California; Marc re-reviews his Pixel after a month; Moto Z got an Android update and now supports Daydream; Google released a photo scanning app; Apple bailed on wireless routers; Marc got a Snap from a fan.

Recommendations

Marc's back! In this week's show: cheap US Android phones that sent data to China; Nintendo's NES Classic is impossible to find (and it's driving everyone nuts); GoPro's Karma drone failed so many times it's been recalled; Super Mario Run is coming soon, but looks underwhelming.

Recommendations

On this week's episode (sadly devoid of Marc): Riley corrects the rant from the last episode; other people are kinda pissed about this computer; Apple's response to the outrage; Samsung's official apology, and why it probably wasn't enough; Google Home reviews; and a law for policing porn.

Recommendations

This week's episode: tons of announcements from Microsoft, like Windows 10 Creators Update, pimped-out Paint, new Surface Book, and their all-new Surface Studio; Apple stuff, like the new TV app, the death of the MacBook Air, and the new MacBook Pro; and a speed round that includes Tesla, Transport Canada, Twitter, and a questionable Google product.

Recommendations: