The Vergecast

Happy Holidays! The Vergecast is off this week, but we also know you might be doing a lot of traveling and / or avoiding of your family this time of year, so we figured we'd do something a little different. We compiled a bunch of our favorite Vergecast segments and moments from this year — a full six hours of them! — in case you need something to listen to. You may have heard them all before! They might all be new! Maybe it'll be a mix! This one's an easy skip if you're looking for one, but if you need some Verge in your ears this holiday season, we've got you covered. We'll be back for real in January, starting at CES. If you'll be in Vegas, come see us live on Wednesday, January 8th! https://voxmediaevents.com/vergecast And in the meantime, have a great holiday, and rock and roll.

Here are the segments we picked, in order, with timestamps (because we can't do chapters, we know, we hate it too):

• The wild world of undersea cables — 00:04:32
• Meet Tony Delivers — 00:42:19
• The story of the Delta emulator — 00:56:29
• Phones are the ultimate AI gadget — 01:37:12
• The history and future of notebooks – 02:04:34
• What is a photo? — 02:41:07
• An existential gaming console crisis — 03:17:46
• Inside the AI music lawsuits — 03:52:12
• The history of podcasts — 04:40:59
• Our Vision Pro score debate — 05:03:15
• A road trip on the hydrogen highway — 05:35:13

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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Happy holidays! Before we disappear into family time and catching up on our favorite shows, we have one more episode for you. And it's 90 minutes of deep nerdery about the smart home. Every year, we try to dig into one standard or spec that has impacted our lives this year, and we couldn't think of anything more potentially great and occasionally infuriating than Matter. Matter is supposed to be the protocol that makes the smart home work — so, uh, how's that going? The Verge's Jennifer Pattison Tuohy joins to discuss the state of the smart home, before we play a game to see how well we understand things. Then, Home Assistant creator Paulus Schoutsen tells us what it's like to try and make Matter work, and where we might be headed next year.

Further reading:

• Matter: everything you need to know about the new smart home protocol
• Matter’s plan to save the smart home
• The Thread 1.4 spec is here, but it will be a while until we see any benefit
• What is Thread and how will it help your smart home?
• Every device that works with Matter (December 2024)
• Home Assistant’s next era begins now
• The Home Assistant Green is here to make the most powerful smart home platform more accessible

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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The Verge's Victoria Song and Kylie Robison join the show to talk about all of Google's recent AI and XR announcements, and the company's big and Gemini-powered vision for the future of computing. Then Chris Grant, the group publisher for Polygon and The Verge, explains why GTA VI and the Nintendo Switch 2 are so important to the future of gaming — plus a few predictions about how they'll turn out. Finally, The Verge's Helen Havlak answers a hotline question about how she plans her garden in Figma. Which is a real thing she really does.

Further reading:

• The Vergecast at CES – come see us on January 8th!
• Google launched Gemini 2.0, its new AI model for practically everything
• Google’s AI enters its ‘agentic era’
• I saw Google’s plan to put Android on your face
• GTA VI: all the news on Rockstar’s next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series
• Switch 2: all the news and rumors on Nintendo’s next console

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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For the second episode in our two-part 2025 preview, Nilay and David are once again joined by Wall Street Journal columnist (and friend of The Verge) Joanna Stern to talk about what will, and won't, happen in tech next year. This time, David joins us after a quick jaunt to the end of next year, and relays a bunch of things that happened in tech in 2025. But some of them are lies. Joanna and Nilay have to decide which things really will happen next year, and which won't. As always, the hosts get points for good guesses and negative points for bad ones. And once we're all in late 2025, we'll declare a winner.

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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Nilay, David, and The Verge's Richard Lawler talk about a big week in AI news. First, they go over all the latest on Google's Gemini 2.0 launch, and try to figure out whether Project Astra and Project Mariner will ever turn into products people use. They also discuss OpenAI's release (and un-release) of Sora, the new Reddit Answers tool, and what's new in iOS 18.2. Finally, in the lightning round, there's talk of YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Sonos, and Cruise. There also is and isn't talk of quantum computing. Because that's possible now.

Further reading:

• Google’s AI enters its ‘agentic era’ 
• Gemini 2.0: what’s new in Google’s new flagship AI model
• Google’s AI-powered smart glasses are a little closer to being real 
• Google’s new Jules AI agent will help developers fix buggy code
• Google is testing Gemini AI agents that help you in video games
• Google built an AI tool that can do research for you
• Android XR_Keyword
• OpenAI has finally released Sora
• iOS 18.2 is out now, adding ChatGPT integration and more Apple Intelligence tools
• ChatGPT’s side-by-side ‘Canvas’ view is now available to everyone. 
• Reddit’s new AI search tool helps you find Reddit answers without Google
• YouTube is still growing fast on TVs in the living room
• Instagram will let creators test experimental reels on random people
• It sure sounds like Trump would be okay with a TikTok sale
• TikTok failed to save itself with the First Amendment
• Sonos Arc Ultra review: don’t call it a comeback (yet)
• Google reveals quantum computing chip with ‘breakthrough’ achievements
• Amazon’s online car ‘dealership’ with Hyundai is now live
• YouTube’s AI-powered dubbing is now available to many more creators
• Searching for color at Pantone’s all-brown party 
• Adam Mosseri on introducing Trial Reels
• From WSJ: iOS 18.2 Review: The AI Apple Promised Us

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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A week ago, The Verge launched a subscription. And you had questions! So we have answers. The Verge’s Helen Havlak and Nilay Patel join the show to talk about how we priced the subscription, why ad-free podcasts are hard to do, Apple News, what we do during ad breaks, and much more. And if we didn’t answer your question, let us know! Call the Vergecast Hotline at 866-VERGE11, or email vergecast@theverge.com, with all your questions. Thanks to everyone who sent them in!

Further reading:

• Nilay's post about The Verge subscription
• Subscribe to The Verge

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Welcome to our two-part preview of the year to come! For the first installment, Nilay, David, and Wall Street Journal columnist Joanna Stern bring all the predictions for 2025 — their mildest, medium-est, and spiciest ideas about the year to come. Each host presents their take on TikTok bans, social platforms, smart homes, streaming services, and more, and the others get to decide whether they agree. Whoever gets the most right at the end of the year will win a big prize. (There's a points system for determining all that, but we'll figure that out later.)

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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Nilay and David talk a bit about this week’s launch of the Verge subscription, plus what’s coming next. (There’s still time to send questions for next week! 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com.) Then they talk about the streaming news of the week, and the ways streaming services are continuing to act like cable companies. Then Kylie Robison joins to talk about the lowering stakes for AGI, shipmas at OpenAI, and more. Finally, in the lighting round, it’s crypto and browsers and Intel. And more crypto.

Further reading:

• Here we go: The Verge now has a subscription
• ESPN is coming to the Disney Plus app starting today
• Max is testing always-on HBO channels
• Max is finally about to start cracking down on password sharing.
• Walmart bought Vizio 
• OpenAI’s 12 days of ‘shipmas’ include Sora and new reasoning model
• Sam Altman says AGI will “matter much less” than people expect
• Sam Altman on Elon Musk and OpenAI’s relationship with Microsoft.
• ChatGPT’s search results for news are ‘unpredictable’ and frequently inaccurate
• Stop using generative AI as a search engine
• Misinformation expert admits ChatGPT added fake details to his anti-deepfake court filing
• Bitcoin just hit $100,000 
• Dia is the The Browser Company’s AI-powered follow-up to Arc
• Threads takes an important baby step toward true fediverse integration
• Threads’ next update is a search feature that finds the post you’re looking for
• Meta says it’s mistakenly removing too many posts
• Intel’s CEO is out after only three years
• What happened to Intel?
• Trump picks two nominees who could decide the fate of Big Tech and crypto 
• Spotify Wrapped 2024 adds an AI podcast to recap your listening habits
• Apple Music’s yearly recap is finally available in the app

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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The Verge's Thomas Ricker joins the show with an update on his question to live the #vanlife. He shares stories about Starlink Mini, the new Peak Design backpack everyone loves, converting a Sprinter van to a mobile apartment, and more. Then, The Verge's Andru Marino takes us through his tests on a bunch of new creator- and social-friendly microphones, which plug into your phone and promise to make everything sound better. Finally, we answer a question about web browsers on the Vergecast Hotline.

(Don't forget to send us your questions about The Verge and The Vergecast for next week's episode! Call 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com with all your most meta questions.)

Further reading:

• Starlink Mini review: space internet goes ultraportable
• Peak Design’s Outdoor Backpack is a more versatile everyday bag
• Stoke Voltaics’ portable electric cookware review
• This backpack solar generator can help you ignore nature
• This little box provides on-demand power when off the grid
• Living and working from an all-electric VW ID Buzz
• DJI’s new wireless mics skip a few features to get smaller and lighter

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2024 is almost over, somehow. So we gathered a bunch of our Verge colleagues and told them each to tell us three things from the year: the biggest story, their favorite new tech thing, and their favorite new non-tech thing. We got a collection of big stories, cool gadgets, great movies, and more good stuff from the year that was.

We're also planning a special episode for Tuesday, December 10th, all about The Verge and The Vergecast. So if you have questions about how we work, what we cover, why we talk about copyright law so much, or what Nilay is actually like to work with every day, tell us! Call 866-VERGE11, or email vergecast@theverge.com, and we'll answer as many as we can on the 10th. Thanks in advance!

Further reading:

Jay Peters:

• Story of the year: Google is a monopoly
• New thing of the year: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
• Non-tech thing of the year: XOXO Field Notes notebooks

Jake Kastrenakes:

• Story of the year: All things AI
• New thing of the year: The Wiim Ultra amp
• Non-tech thing of the year: Chronoloy

Justine Calma

• Story of the year: The US election, and the rise of nuclear power
• New thing of the year: Nurse Unseen
• Non-tech thing of the year: Sugarcane

Vjeran Pavic:

• Story of the year: The Apple Vision Pro
• New thing of the year: The Fujifilm X100VI and the Kino app
• Non-tech thing of the year: Mountain Gazette

Kylie Robison:

• Story of the year: Billionaire crybabies
• New thing of the year: Stardew Valley
• Non-tech thing of the year: Curated playlists

Barbara Krasnoff:

• Story of the year: The US election
• New thing of the year: The Elgato Stream Deck
• Non-tech thing of the year: Googly eyes

Alex Heath:

• Story of the year: The AI rat race
• New thing of the year: Granola
• Non-tech thing of the year: Shochu

Ash Parrish:

• Story of the year: Grand Theft Auto VI and the Nintendo Switch 2, and more industry layoffs
• New thing of the year: The Playstation Portal
• Non-tech thing of the year: Bucephalus the puppy

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The Verge's Lauren Feiner joins Nilay and David to talk about the US government's proposal in its search antitrust case against Google. They discuss the future of Chrome, what a white-label search engine might look like, and how a Trump administration might change the course of this case altogether. Then Nilay and David talk about the week in AI and gadget news, from the latest on Amazon's new Alexa to Google bailing on tablets all over again. Finally, in the lightning round, they discuss Comcast spinning off its cable channels and the latest in the Threads / Bluesky competition.

Further reading:

• DOJ says Google must sell Chrome to crack open its search monopoly
• Google responds to DOJ’s ‘extreme proposal.’
• Google workers to DOJ: we need protections to make your breakup effective
• Apple fights to keep DOJ antitrust suit from reaching trial
• Amazon announces new Echo Show 21 and Echo Show 15 smart displays
• Google may be about to reboot its laptop and tablet hardware again
• Google reportedly cancels Pixel Tablet 2 and might quit the category — again
• Sonos’ smart TV plans might have found an OS
• Windows 365 Link is a $349 mini PC that streams Windows from the cloud
• Comcast is spinning off its cable TV business
• Trump names Brendan Carr as his FCC leader
• Strava closes the gates to sharing fitness data with other apps
• Inside Elon Musk’s messy breakup with OpenAI
• Threads’ custom feeds are already rolling out
• Threads’ algorithm will focus more on the people you follow
• Bose acquires premium audio brand McIntosh

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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Richard Lawler joins the show to chat about the Tyson / Paul fight, and more importantly the fact that Netflix didn't seem to be able to keep up. As live sports — and TV in general — move toward streaming, are even the biggest names in tech ready for what's coming? After that, Roland Allen, the author of The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper, tells us about the history of the notebook, and why we've been writing things down about our lives for centuries. Even in a digital world, Allen argues, you just can't beat the notebook. Finally, a question from the Vergecast Hotline sends producer Will Poor down a TikTok Shop rabbit hole.

Further reading:

• Netflix served the Tyson vs. Paul fight to 60 million households
• NFL fans worry Netflix’s bad Tyson vs. Paul stream means it can’t handle football
• Netflix adds Beyoncé to live entertainment juggernaut
• Netflix snagged global streaming rights for NFL Christmas Day games
• Roland Allen’s website
• The Notebook: a History of Thinking on Paper

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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For the third episode in our series about the future of music, we talk with Ge Wang. Ge is a professor at Stanford, a co-founder of Smule, the conductor of Stanford’s laptop orchestra, and has been at the center of technology and artistry for most of his life. We talk about how humans can use AI without giving in to it, what it means to truly play with technology, and the value of art and creativity and friction when it feels like all those things are being taken away.

Further reading:

• Ge Wang’s website
• The future of computer music | Stanford University School of Engineering
• Ge’s viral TED talk: The DIY orchestra of the future
• From Wired: Behind the Scenes With the Stanford Laptop Orchestra
• Ge Wang: Human Well-Being Should Be AI Creators’ Goal

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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Nilay and David talk about the future of social, in light of Bluesky's recent surge in growth. Threads is huge, Bluesky is ascendent, Mastodon is... around, but can any of them become the next Twitter? Is that even the goal? After that, Kylie Robison joins the show and the gang discusses Apple's smart home device (which is just an iPad), the AI scaling slowdown, and a new twist in the delivery wars. In the lightning round, it's all about disclosures, wireless carriers, and the sad end of Freevee.

Further reading:

• Twitter’s succession: all the news about alternative social media platforms 
• One million people have joined Bluesky in the past week.
• Bluesky adds 700,000 new users in a week
• The Guardian is quitting X.
• Remember the TikTok ban?
• Apple’s rumored six-inch ‘AI wall tablet’ could control your smart home by March 2025
• Apple is reportedly working on an Apple Home security camera 
• Anthropic co-founder Darius Amodei said we’ll have artificial general intelligence “in 2026 or 2027.”
• Just Eat is selling Grubhub to Marc Lore’s Wonder for $650M
• Boost Mobile says it’s a real wireless carrier now
• Amazon is shutting down Freevee
• Trump says Elon Musk will lead ‘DOGE’ office to cut ‘wasteful’ government spending

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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On today's show: sleep gadgets, AI DJs, and sneaky TVs. Victoria Song joins the show to talk about her experiences with the Eight Sleep mattress pad, the Oura Ring 4, and other sleep gadgets. Can you really measure your way to a better night of sleep? After that, Allison Johnson gives us her take on Spotify's AI DJ, and we wonder exactly how an AI tool is supposed to help us find and listen to music. Finally, Nilay Patel comes on to answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline about the Samsung Frame TVs — and how to figure out whether you need a TV at all.

Further reading:

• Eight Sleep Pod 4 Ultra review: for sale, good night’s sleep, just $4,700
• Ozlo Sleepbuds hands-on: resurrected and I’ve slept so good
• Oura Ring 4 review: still on top — for now
• Spotify’s AI is no match for a real DJ
• Samsung’s Frame TV is finally getting the knockoffs it deserves

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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For the second episode in our three-part miniseries about the future of music, Charlie Harding, a music journalist and co-host of the Switched on Pop podcast, joins the show to tell the story of Auto-Tune. He walks us through how a simple plugin became such a recognizable sound in music, why both artists and fans gravitated to the Auto-Tune sound, and why Auto-Tune has continued to grow even through backlash in the music business. Then we look ahead to AI, and try to figure out what — if any — lessons we might be able to learn about the sound and culture of the AI era to come.

Further reading:

• Charlie Harding on X
• Switched on Pop
• From Pitchfork: How Auto-Tune Revolutionized the Sound of Popular Music
• From Rick Beato: How Auto-Tune DESTROYED Popular Music
• From Gabi Belle: The Problem with Autotune on TikTok

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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Nilay and David talk about the election, and how The Vergecast plans to cover and talk about the next four years of the Trump administration. But only for a minute. Then it's onto our reviews of the new Mac Mini and MacBook Pro, which reset Apple's desktop and laptop lineup in an excellent way. After that, Sean Hollister joins the show to discuss his review of the PlayStation 5 Pro, the news about backwards compatibility for the Nintendo Switch successor, and the state of Nintendo's fight against emulators. In the lightning round, we talk about really expensive domain names, oddly named smart home standards, and cloud gaming whales. Which apparently exist.

Further reading:

• Donald Trump wins the 2024 presidential election
• What does Trump’s election mean for EVs, Tesla, and Elon Musk? 
• All the Big Tech leaders congratulating Donald Trump 
• Google CEO says company should be ‘trusted source’ in US election
• Another Trump presidency is literally toxic — his opponents are gearing up for battle
• Here’s FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr sucking up to Donald Trump by threatening to take NBC off the air
• Apple Mac Mini M4 review: a tiny wonder
• Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2024) review: the Pro for everyone
• Amazon says it’s fixing the Kindle Colorsoft’s yellow screen
• Kindle Colorsoft owners complain of a yellow bar on the e-reader’s screen
• PS5 Pro review: how close is your TV?
• Nintendo’s next generation is off to a great start
• Nintendo says the Switch successor will be compatible with Switch games
• Why is Nintendo targeting this YouTuber?
• Did OpenAI just spend more than $10 million on a URL?
• The Matter smart home standard gains support for more devices, including heat pumps and solar panels
• Nvidia to cap game streaming hours on GeForce Now instead of raising fees

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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November 6th marks 10 years to the day since Amazon surprise-launched a new, cylindrical device called the Echo. It introduced the world to smart speakers, and to the idea that you might be able to get stuff done just by shouting aloud in your living room. But a decade in, what has Alexa really accomplished? The Verge's Jennifer Pattison Tuohy joins the show to talk through the history of Alexa, Amazon's struggles to improve and extend its voice assistant, and the promise of a language model overhaul that might in theory make Alexa far more useful. There's a chance Alexa's second decade might be even more interesting than the first.

Further reading:

• Amazon just surprised everyone with a crazy speaker that talks to you
• Amazon Echo review: listen up
• Alexa, where’s my Star Trek Computer?
• Alexa, thank you for the music
• The Alexa Skills revolution that wasn’t
• The Amazon Echo graveyard
• Amazon’s supercharged Alexa won’t arrive this year

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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For the first episode in our three-part miniseries on the future of music, we tell the story of Track Star, a music game show that has become a viral hit on TikTok and Instagram. Jack Coyne, the show's friendly host, tells us how Track Star came to be, why the format works so well, and why A-list celebrities like Olivia Rodrigo, Ed Sheeran, and Kamala Harris are all clamoring to be on the show. Coyne also tells us where Track Star might go next — and why the future of music content might look a lot like the past.

Further reading:

• Track Star on TikTok
• Jack Coyne on Instagram
• The Olivia Rodrigo episode
• The "Every Track Star Song" playlist
• The Malcolm Todd episode
• Public Opinion

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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Nilay and David discuss a big week in AI news, including the new web search features in ChatGPT and the reporting that Meta is working on something very similar. They also briefly talk about this quarter's tech earnings, and what they say about the ways AI is really being used. Then, Wall Street Journal columnist Joanna Stern joins the show to talk about Apple Intelligence, Apple's week of Mac launches, and why Siri still can't open her garage. Finally, in the lightning round, the hosts talk about Netflix's gentle push into social features, Tony Fadell's AI thoughts, and our endorsement of Kamala Harris.

Further reading:

• OpenAI’s search engine is now live in ChatGPT
• Meta is reportedly working on its own AI-powered search engine, too
• Microsoft’s gaming revenue keeps going up, even though hardware sales are down
• Reddit is profitable for the first time ever, with nearly 100 million daily users
• Snap Inc. - Financials - Quarterly Results
• Apple’s Mac week: everything announced
• Apple announces redesigned Mac Mini with M4 chip — and it’s so damn small
• Watch Apple show off the M4 Mac Mini in its reveal video - The Verge
• Apple’s new Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse, and Magic Trackpad have USB-C
• Apple put the Magic Mouse’s charging port on the bottom again
• Apple updates the MacBook Pro with M4 Pro and M4 Max chips
• Apple updates the iMac with new colors and an M4 chip
• Apple’s first smart home display could pay homage to a classic iMac
• Apple Intelligence is out
• WSJ: Apple’s Craig Federighi Explains Apple Intelligence Delays, Siri’s Future and More
• Netflix is making it easier to bookmark and share your favorite parts of a show
• Tony Fadell calls out Sam Altman
• Tim Walz and AOC are going to play Madden together on Twitch
• The Verge’s guide to the 2024 presidential election
• Tech leaders line up to flatter Trump’s ego
• Jeff Bezos is no longer relentlessly focused on customer satisfaction
• “You have a Washington Post problem.”
• From The New York Times: Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and the Billions of Ways to Influence an Election

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Kylie Robison joins the show to talk about the recent dueling AI blog posts from OpenAI's Sam Altman and Anthropic's Dario Amodei. What do these CEOs think the future of AI looks like? Then, Will Poor tells us the story of ShakeAlert, an earthquake alert system that has huge potential and some surprising challenges. On The Vergecast Hotline, Allison Johnson joins Will to figure out whether the iPhone's new Camera Control is really as fast as advertised.

Further reading:

• Sam Altman: The Intelligence Age
• Dario Amodei: Machines of Loving Grace
• Anthropic’s CEO thinks AI will lead to a utopia — he just needs a few billion dollars first
• OpenAI plans Orion AI model release for December
• ShakeAlert
• If you live on the West Coast and you have an iPhone, here's how to turn on the "Local Awareness" feature that speeds up WEA messages:
• Download the MyShake app on for iOS
• or for Android
• Ready.gov's earthquake advice:
• About emergency and government alerts on iPhone
• Apple iPhone 16 and 16 Plus review: all caught up

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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Nilay, David, and Richard Lawler talk about all of the coming Apple gadgets and software, from the new iPad Mini to the upcoming week of Mac announcements to the many flavors of iOS and Apple Intelligence heading to a device near you soon. Then they talk about the other news in AI, from Anthropic's new computer-using model to the growing set of lawsuits against AI companies. In the lightning round, they discuss the Boox Palma 2, T-Mobile's "lifetime" deals, and the battle over FTC's click-to-cancel rule.

Further reading:

• Apple iPad Mini 2024 review: missing pieces
• iOS 18.2 will let everyone set new default phone and messaging apps
• Apple’s first iOS 18.2 beta adds more AI features and ChatGPT integration
• Apple teases ‘week’ of Mac announcements starting Monday
• Apple is preparing an M4 MacBook Air update for early next year
• Tim Cook says he uses every Apple product every day — how does that work?
• Tim Cook on Why Apple’s Huge Bets Will Pay Off
• Anthropic’s latest AI update can use a computer on its own
• Humane slashes the price of its AI Pin after weak sales
• Apple is ‘concerned’ about AI turning real photos into ‘fantasy’
• News Corp sues Perplexity for ripping off WSJ and New York Post
• Kevin Bacon, Kate McKinnon, and other creatives warn of ‘unjust’ AI threat
• Industry groups are suing the FTC to stop its click to cancel rule
• The Boox Palma 2 has a faster processor and adds a fingerprint reader
• Seniors are PISSED that T-Mobile won’t honor its “lifetime” price guarantee.

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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The Verge's Victoria Song joins the show to talk about her year of testing smart rings, and which of the many new options is the one you should buy. Then Chris Welch takes us through his testing of the new hearing health features for Apple's AirPods, including the surprisingly intense hearing test you can take right on your phone. Finally, Andrew Webster helps us answer a question on the Vergecast Hotline: why doesn't Apple buy Nintendo, and what would happen if it did?

Further reading:

• We tested six smart rings, and there’s a clear winner
• Oura Ring 4 review: still on top — for now
• Apple’s AirPods Pro hearing health features are as good as they sound
• Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 could forever change how people access hearing aids
• Super Mario Run hands-on: like Mario, just simpler
• Microsoft’s Phil Spencer says acquiring Nintendo would be ‘a career moment’

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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For the last eight months, David Cogen has been living a double life. By day: a YouTuber and creator, the face of the TheUnlockr channel, reviewing phones and testing ebikes and explaining how food smokers really work. By night and morning and every single other available in-between moment: a coffee shop entrepreneur, working to get a Brooklyn spot called Coffee Check up and running. In this episode, the second in the two-part miniseries that we’re calling How To Make It In The Future, Cogen tells the story of how a YouTuber becomes a coffee shop owner — and how to bring those two things together without ruining them both.

Further reading:

• TheUnlockr on YouTube
• David’s Coffee Check announcement
• Coffee Check’s website
• Another fun YouTuber story: Me, Myself, and iJustine

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Nilay and David talk about the week in gadget news, after scoring their predictions on last week's Tesla event. (Spoiler alert: nobody did very well.) They talk about the new iPad Mini, the new Sonos Ace Ultra soundbar, and the new Analogue N64 emulator. Then Amazon's Panos Panay joins the show to discuss this week's big Kindle news, and where he thinks the future of e-readers is headed. Finally, Nilay and David do a lightning round, with a lot of Google org chart news and just a little bit of Trump news.

Further reading:

• The Optimus robots at Tesla’s Cybercab event were humans in disguise
• The Tesla Cybercab is a cool-looking prototype that needed to be much more than that
• Tesla’s Robovan is the surprise of the night
• Apple just announced a new, faster iPad Mini 
• AMD and Intel are teaming up to fend off ARM chips
• Sonos announces ‘breakthrough’ Arc Ultra soundbar and Sub 4 
• Analogue’s 4K Nintendo 64 launches next year for $249
• Amazon’s new Kindle family includes the first color Kindle
• Amazon’s Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition hands-on: color E Ink looks pretty good
• Amazon Kindle Scribe 2024: a new design and AI tools for note takers
• Amazon’s new Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite are faster and brighter
• Amazon discontinues the last Kindle with physical buttons 
• Google is replacing the exec in charge of Search and ads
• Here’s a bunch of bananas shit Trump said today about breaking up Google
• Trump says Tim Cook called him to complain about the European Union
• Anthropic’s CEO thinks AI will lead to a utopia — he just needs a few billion dollars first 
• The New York Times warns AI search engine Perplexity to stop using its content

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Before a podcast was a “podcast,” it was… well, it wasn’t really much of anything. It was in 2004, though, that many of the earliest names in on-demand audio began to smush “iPod” and “broadcast” into the word we’ve come to know as the way we all download and listen to shows now. In this episode, we go back two decades to the first days of the podcast. Then we hit the skip button to today and look at where podcasts are headed next.

Further reading:

• From PodNews: The history of the word 'Podcast'
• From The Guardian: Audible revolution
• From Wired: The First Podcast: an Oral History
• From The New York Times: An MTV Host Moves to Radio, Giving Voice to Audible Blogs

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Danny and Steven Sanicki are twins, competitive golfers, and suddenly the biggest names in online mini golf. They started making mini golf content on TikTok about a year ago, and it took off; since then they've been trying to ride the viral wave and also turn it into something that lasts. For this episode, the first in a miniseries we're calling How To Make It In The Future, we talk to the Sanickis about their journey to turn putt-putt into their life's work — without killing the fun in the process.

Further reading:

• @dannysanicki on TikTok
• Twin Tour Golf on Instagram
• Twin Tour Golf on YouTube
• From Golf Digest: How college golf twins and some friends with time to kill accidentally created a viral mini-golf sensation

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Nilay and David make some predictions about Thursday evening’s Tesla event — which you’ve already seen, but we haven’t! Then they talk about the week’s gadget news, from Nintendo’s new Alarmo alarm clock to Apple’s upcoming iPads and Macs. Then Lauren Feiner joins to talk about the latest on all fronts in Google’s antitrust fight, and how the government might be planning to break up the company altogether. Then it’s time for a lightning round about Google Docs tabs, FEMA misinformation, and Zoom AI avatars.

Further reading:

• The bill finally comes due for Elon Musk
• In the past week, 4 of Elon Musk's direct reports have announced their exits from Tesla
• All the buzz about Nintendo’s Alarmo clock
• I totally forgot we wrote about Nintendo’s sleep tracking alarm clock 10 years ago.
• Nintendo’s original alarm clock prototypes were a lot less playful
• A closer look at Nintendo’s adorable Alarmo clock
• Shrunken Mac Minis and a new iPad Mini might come in November
• Apple’s Vision Pro leader, Dan Riccio, is retiring
• A Google breakup is on the table, say DOJ lawyers
• How the DOJ wants to break up Google’s search monopoly
• Google must crack open Android for third-party stores, rules Epic judge
• The filing: Microsoft Word - FINAL - Google Remedy Framework
• Google’s response: DOJ’s radical and sweeping proposals risk hurting consumers, businesses, and developers
• Google Docs is making it much easier to organize information
• Zoom will let AI avatars talk to your team for you - The Verge
• Hurricane Milton hits tonight, and it’s past the point of evacuation. Creators are still there.
• Instagram and Threads moderation is out of control - The Verge
• FEMA adds misinformation to its list of disasters to clean up

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For this full-on “what is a photo” episode, we start by chatting with Halide developers Ben Sandofsky and Sebastiaan De With about what it means to build a camera app in 2024 — and what it means to try and accurately capture a photo. Then The Verge’s Allison Johnson joins the show to talk about her experiment going all-in on AI-ifying her photos. Finally, we answer a hotline about which gadgets to attach to your head when you go for a run.

Further reading:

• Halide
• Halide’s Process Zero feature captures photos with no AI processing
• Let’s compare Apple, Google, and Samsung’s definitions of ‘a photo’
• No one’s ready for this
• Google’s AI tool helped us add disasters and corpses to our photos
• The AI photo editing era is hare, and it’s every person for themselves
• This system can sort real pictures from AI fakes — why aren’t platforms using it?
• 
  

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Nilay, Alex, and David discuss Microsoft's new Copilot announcements, and the friendlier face the company is trying to put on its chatbot. They also wonder: what, exactly, is an AI companion supposed to do for you, and how is it supposed to do it? They then dive into OpenAI's huge funding round, before exploring all the new gadgets of the week and some deep drama in the WordPress universe. Finally, it's time for a lightning round of news about Dish and DirecTV, Progressive Web Apps, and Nintendo's fight against emulation. We also send off Alex, our sadly departing co-host, with cake and Plex servers.

Further reading:

• Microsoft gives Copilot a voice and vision in its biggest redesign yet
• Read Microsoft’s optimistic memo about the future of AI companions
• Shh, ChatGPT. That’s a Secret. - The Atlantic
• College students used Meta’s smart glasses to dox people in real time
• Sonos has a plan to earn back your trust, and here it is
• Chromebooks are getting a new button dedicated to Google’s AI
• Microsoft is discontinuing its HoloLens headsets
• Google’s Pixel Buds are now fully supported on Windows and macOS.
• Automattic demanded a cut of WP Engine’s revenue before starting WordPress battle
• DirecTV and Dish are merging
• Nintendo has reportedly shut down Ryujinx, the Switch emulator that was supposedly immune

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The Verge's Jennifer Pattison Tuohy joins the show to discuss a bunch of updates in the smart home world, including what's new from Google Home and in iOS 18, plus some big news in the world of smart locks and video doorbells. Then, The Verge's Chris Welch comes on to test some new earbuds, and see which pair has the best sound – and the best mic. After that, a new take on the Vergecast's chaotic wearables theory.

Further reading:

•  Ki is bringing wireless power to kitchen appliances
• The Eufy Smart Lock E30 is the company’s first Matter device
• The Ultraloq Bolt Mission from U-tec is the first smart lock with UWB
• Assa Abloy buys Level Lock to bolster its smart lock business
• TP-Link Tapo D225 Video Doorbell Camera review
• Ring’s entry-level wireless doorbell gets a head-to-toe view
• iOS 18 lets you control Matter devices without a smart home hub
• The Thread 1.4 spec is here, but it will be a while until we see any benefit
• Google TV gets a big upgrade
• Google is set to supercharge Google Home with Gemini intelligence

And on wireless earbuds:

• The best wireless earbuds to buy right now
• Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are its best earbuds yet
• Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 review: big upgrade, much smaller earbuds
• Bose’s new QuietComfort Earbuds offer top-tier ANC for under $200
• Apple AirPods 4 review: defying expectations
• Nothing’s first open-ear headphones keep you aware of your surroundings

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Michael Sayman, the creator of a viral new app called SocialAI, joins the show to discuss why he built a social network where you're the only human around. He tells us how he thinks about AI interfaces, what's next for ChatGPT and other chatbots, and why posting to a language model might be better than posting on a social network.

Further reading:

• SocialAI
• Michael Sayman on LinkedIn
• SocialAI: we tried the Twitter clone where no other humans are allowed
• From TechCrunch: Friendly Apps raises $3 million, pre-product, for apps that improve people’s well-being
• From Wired: I Stared Into the AI Void With the SocialAI App
• From New York Magazine: Does Anyone Need an AI Social Network?
• From Ars Technica: “Dead Internet theory” comes to life with new AI-powered social media app

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The Verge's Alex Heath joins Nilay, Alex, and David to talk about all the announcements coming out of Meta Connect: the impressive (and expensive) Orion glasses, the new features for the Ray-Ban Smart Glasses, and lots and lots of new AI. Then they discuss the latest executive departures at OpenAI, as the industry's foremost AI company undergoes a huge shift. In the lightning round, it's time for more AI gadgets, the PS5 Pro... and then some more AI gadgets.

Further reading:

• Meta Connect 2024: biggest news and announcements
• Hands-on with Orion, Meta’s first pair of AR glasses
• Meta’s Ray-Bans will now ‘remember’ things for you
• Why Mark Zuckerberg thinks AR glasses will replace your phone
• Meta’s VR app store is about to fill up with phone-style 2D apps
• Mark Zuckerberg: creators and publishers ‘overestimate the value’ of their work for training AI
• Meta’s AI can now talk to you in the voices of Awkwafina, John Cena, and Judi Dench
• Kristen Bell told Instagram to ‘get rid of AI’ before she became its official voice
• OpenAI CTO Mira Murati is leaving
• Just 5,000 people use the Rabbit R1 every day
• Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 review: big upgrade, much smaller earbuds
• I played the PS5 Pro, and it’s clearly better
• Inside Jony Ive’s Life After Apple and His LoveFrom Design Business

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Kylie Robison joins the show to talk about OpenAI’s new model, o1, and what this new “reasoning” model says about the state of the art in AI — and what AI companies are willing to put up with in the name of building God. Then, Gaby Del Valle and Adi Robertson talk through the latest on the TikTok ban, the Trump crypto chaos, and the ongoing adtech antitrust trial against Google. (All with as little politics-talk as possible.)

Further reading:

OpenAI releases new o1 reasoning model

OpenAI’s new model is better at reasoning and, occasionally, deceiving

TikTok ban: all the news on attempts to ban the video platform

TikTok oral arguments will weigh security risks against free speech

TikTok faces a skeptical panel of judges in its existential fight against the US government 

Donald Trump is hawking tokens for a crypto project he still hasn’t explained

US v. Google redux: all the news from the ad tech trial

How Google got away with charging publishers more than anyone else

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For the first episode in our new miniseries about the impact of AI in our everyday lives, we chat with Steven Johnson, a longtime author who has spent the last couple of years at Google working on an AI research and note-taking tool called NotebookLM. We talk about whether AI can really help us learn better, how Google has tried to make NotebookLM more accurate and helpful, and whether AI-generated podcasts are the future of learning. 

Further reading:

• NotebookLM
• Steven Johnson’s website / newsletter
• From Steven Johnson: Listening To The Algorithm
• Google teases Project Tailwind — a prototype AI notebook that learns from your documents
• Google’s AI-powered note-taking app is the messy beginning of something great
• Google is using AI to make fake podcasts from your notes
• 
  

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Nilay, Alex, and David are joined by Wall Street Journal columnist Joanna Stern to talk about this year’s iPhone – and Joannabot, the AI chatbot Joanna made to help you make buying decisions. They also answer some questions about the new phones as Apple gets ready to ship them. They also talk about Snap’s new Spectacles, the future of YouTube communities, Instagram teens, and AI social networks.

Further reading:

• Our iPhone 16 Review, Brought To You By a Joanna Stern AI Chatbot
• Snap releases new Spectacles for AR developers
• Snapchat’s AI selfie feature puts your face in personalized ads — here’s how to turn it off
• Snap announces “Simple Snapchat” redesign to compete with TikTok
• Evan Spiegel explains why Snap is betting on Spectacles 
• Meta extends its Ray-Ban smart glasses deal beyond 2030 
• YouTube’s new Hype feature is a way to promote and discover smaller creators
• YouTube integrates AI for creators through Veo and the Inspiration tab
• YouTube Communities let fans and viewers chat and post with creators 
• YouTube confirms your pause screen is now fair game for ads
• YouTube is adding ‘seasons’ to make your favorite channel more like Netflix
• SocialAI: we tried the Twitter clone where no other humans are allowed
• Lionsgate signs deal to train AI model on its movies and shows

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We've finally finished testing, scoring, and reviewing Apple's new gear for the fall. On this episode we talk through our reviews of the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro, the Apple Watch 10, and the AirPods 4, to see whether they're real upgrades and whether they're worth your money. And then, on the Vergecast Hotline (866-VERGE11), we make the case for the Pixel in 2024.

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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Peak Evernote was roughly a decade ago. Since then, the product has often felt stagnant (or worse), the company churned through executives and business plans, and it seemed like Evernote was slowly turning into a zombie app. Not gone, not even forgotten, just sort of... there. For the third and final installment in our series about productivity and digital life, we sit down with Federico Simionato, the Evernote product lead at Bending Spoons. We talk about the acquisition process, how he perceives Evernote in today’s landscape, what it took to start shipping new stuff again, why Bending Spoons changed the subscription price, and much more.

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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Nilay, David, and Alex talk about the new PlayStation 5 Pro — why it's so expensive, why it doesn't have a disc drive, and why it made so many people feel feelings. They also talk about the fallout from this week's iPhone launch, the first days of the Google ad trial, Kamala Harris's earrings, Huawei's triple-folding phone, and much more.

Further reading:

• PS5 Pro: all the news about Sony’s next console
• Sony’s PS5 Pro has a larger GPU, advanced ray tracing, and AI upscaling
• The $700 PS5 Pro doesn’t come with a disc drive
• Sony’s new PS5 heralds the end of disc drives
• Here are all the games enhanced by PS5 Pro
• PlayStation 5 Pro comparison: What’s different from the regular PS5?
• Sony will sell you a refurbished PS5 if you don’t want to drop $700 on a Pro
• The people want disc drives.
• Microsoft lays off 650 more Xbox employees
• No, Kamala Harris wasn’t wearing these audio earrings
• These are real earrings — and also real earbuds
• Google Pixel Watch 3 review: third time’s the charm
• Huawei’s new tri-fold phone costs more than a 16-inch MacBook Pro
• Here’s a closer look at the Huawei Mate XT triple-screen foldable
• The Meta Quest 3S leaks in Meta’s own PC app
• Google and the DOJ’s ad tech fight is all about control
• Google dominates online ads, says antitrust trial witness, but publishers are feeling ‘stuck’
• WhatsApp will send messages to other apps soon — here’s how it will look
• The US finally takes aim at truck bloat
• Google is using AI to make fake podcasts from your notes
• Facebook and Instagram are making AI labels less prominent on edited content

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Apple launched the iPhone 16, Apple Watch Series 10, and AirPods 4 at its annual fall event in Cupertino. The devices come with some big upgrades — a new camera control on the iPhone, a new design on the Watch — but also a lot of promises about AI. Today on the show, we discuss everything that's new, everything that's missing, and all the reasons you might or might not want to upgrade your Apple gear this year.

Further reading:

• iPhone 16 event live blog: all the news from Apple’s keynote
• iPhone 16 event: all the news from Apple’s keynote
• Apple announces the iPhone 16 with a faster processor and Camera Control button
• Apple announces the iPhone 16 Pro
• iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max hands-on: don't call it a shutter button
• Apple Watch Series 10 announced with bigger screen and thinner design
• The AirPods Pro 2 will soon double as hearing aids
• iOS 18 will launch next week with new ways to customize your homescreen
• Apple announces AirPods 4 with noise cancellation and better sound 
• AirPods 4 hands-on: noise cancellation for people who hate ear tips
• Apple has a faster MagSafe charger to go with the new iPhone 16 phones 
• Apple has a faster MagSafe charger to go with the new iPhone 16s
• It sure looks like FineWoven is dead
• Apple’s Visual Intelligence is a built-in take on Google Lens
• Beats’ new iPhone 16 cases work with the Camera Control button

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The Verge's Nilay Patel, David Pierce, and Alex Cranz discuss previews for the Apple event, gadgets at IFA, the latest with Snap, and a whole lot more.

Further reading:

• Apple’s iPhone 16 launch event is set for September
• Apple’s iPhone 16 event: how to watch and what to expect
• Apple’s rumored Mac Mini redesign may ditch the USB-A port
• Is our long FineWoven nightmare almost over?
• What Not to Expect at Apple Event on September 9: 'It's Glowtime'
• A new low-end Magic Keyboard may come next year.
• Apple Sports is ready for all kinds of football
• Inside Apple’s theatrical U-turn on Wolfs.
• Ted Lasso could come back for a fourth season
• Beats’ long-awaited Powerbeats Pro 2 earbuds are coming in 2025
• Microsoft and Apple are arguing over cloud gaming apps again
• The Remarkable Paper Pro is as outrageous as it is luxurious
• Honor’s superthin foldable is another cool phone the US won’t get
• TCL’s new Nxtpaper phones have a dedicated button for maximum monochrome
• Our first official look at Huawei’s tri-fold.
• Acer’s first handheld gaming PC is the Nitro Blaze 
• DJI’s $199 Neo selfie drone is going to be everywhere
• Acer’s Project DualPlay concept laptop has a pop-out controller and speakers
• Acer’s 14-inch laptops claim 24 hours of battery life from Intel, Qualcomm, or AMD
• Qualcomm’s new eight-core Snapdragon X Plus makes these Windows laptops cheaper
• IFA 2024: hands-on (and off) with Lenovo’s Auto Twist AI PC concept
• Intel strikes back against Windows on Arm
• Verizon looks to expand Fios with $20 billion purchase of Frontier
• Concord was worse than bad — it was forgettable
• Sony is taking Concord offline on September 6th after disastrous launch
• Snapchat to put ads next to chats with friends
• You’ll soon be able to Sony is taking Concord offline on September 6th after disastrous launch
• Sub.club is here to help the fediverse make money

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The Verge's Nilay Patel, Alex Cranz, and David Pierce discuss Telegram CEO being charged in a French criminal investigation over content moderation, Yelp suing Google for antitrust violations, a week in AI-generated nonsense, and more.

• Telegram says CEO has ‘nothing to hide’ after being arrested in France 
• French authorities arrest Telegram’s CEO
• Why the Telegram CEO’s arrest is such a big deal
• Telegram CEO charged in French criminal investigation
• Telegram CEO Pavel Durov faces court questioning in France.
• French prosecutors explain why they arrested Telegram CEO Pavel Durov
• How Pavel Durov, Telegram’s Founder, Went From Russia’s Mark Zuckerberg to Wanted Man
• Can Tech Executives Be Held Responsible for What Happens on Their Platforms?
• How Telegram played itself
• Yelp sues Google for antitrust violations
• TikTok must face a lawsuit for recommending the viral ‘blackout challenge’
• California State Assembly passes sweeping AI safety bill
• Mark Zuckerberg responds to GOP pressure, says Biden pushed to ‘censor’ covid post
• Google Gemini will let you create AI-generated people again
• xAI’s new Grok image generator floods X with controversial AI fakes
• X’s Grok directs to government site after sharing false election info
• Smart home company Brilliant has found a buyer
• ESPN ‘Where to Watch’ feature helps find where to stream sporting events
• Plaud’s NotePin is an AI wearable for summarizing meetings and taking voice notes
• The maker of the Palma has a new cheaper e-reader
• The Dyson Airwrap i.d. is a smarter hair curler
• Snapchat finally launched an iPad app
• Instagram adds what photos have always needed: words
• Apple’s iPhone 16 launch event is set for September

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Today on the flagship podcast of the native resonance of your smartphone: 

02:32 -The Verge’s David Pierce tries to find out if those YouTube videos promising to remove water from your phone with sounds actually work. 

32:42 - Then, David chats with The Verge’s Alex Heath about some AR glasses that are reportedly set to launch from Snap and Meta this fall.

59:16 - Later, David answers a question from the Vergecast Hotline about competition in the AI industry.

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You can learn a lot about somebody just by learning about how they get things done. Are they the sort of person who might have a perfectly color-coded email inbox, a flawlessly organized to-do list, and what’s that, they just sent you a calendar invite for happy hour next week? Or are they more likely to have a giant pile of sticky notes they never look at, a computer desktop with so many files you can’t even see the wallpaper, and today’s main tasks written on their arm? Neither is wrong, but they’re very different.

On this episode of The Vergecast, the second in our three-part miniseries about work and productivity and how to get more done in a digital world, we decide to get to know our colleagues in a new way: by asking them to share their own productivity systems. We didn’t give them much specific instruction or homework, other than to come ready to answer a question: how do you get stuff done? Eight Verge staffers showed up, with eight very different ideas about what being productive means and how best to pull it off. Along the way, we found some ideas to steal, a few new apps and tools to try, and a lot of new thoughts about our co-workers.

If you want to know more about the things we discuss in this episode, here are a few links to get you started:

• A Googler’s guide to getting things done
• TickTick
• Upnote
• Notion
• Google Keep
• Google Calendar
• The Rhodia #16 spiral notepad
• Papier’s productivity planners

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The Verge's David Pierce, Alex Cranz, Allison Johnson, and Richard Lawler discuss the Google Pixel 9 review and its controversial reimagine AI feature, a Chick-fil-A streaming service, Sonos app updates, and more.

Further reading:

• Google Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL review: AI all over the place
• Google’s AI tool helped us add disasters and corpses to our photos 
• This system can sort real pictures from AI fakes — why aren’t platforms using it? 
• The AI photo editing era is here
• Donald Trump posts a fake AI-generated Taylor Swift endorsement
• From Digital Trends:I tried Google's new Pixel Studio app, and it's a mess
• OpenAI exec says California’s AI safety bill might slow progress
• https://www.threads.net/@chriswelch/post/C-8wxAGOpyP
• https://www.threads.net/@chriswelch/post/C-8LGwKOlPj?xmt=AQGzGV_vvL3vxoEhZ_nM263bP8n-Pu9Dxz5Ngmib-0wzgA
• https://www.threads.net/@chriswelch/post/C-8wxAGOpyP
• A new $6 billion bid to take over Paramount could undo plans to merge with Skydance.
• I hope the next CEO of Disney is just Bob Iger with a fun mustache.
• Paramount Plus plans are 50 percent off ahead of the 2024 NFL season 
• The 2024 Olympics were a big win for TV of all kinds
• The Acolyte has been canceled
• Chick-fil-A is reportedly launching a streaming service for some reason
• Apple Podcasts now has a web app
• Spotify star Alex Cooper is jumping to a new podcast network
• JBL made its charging case touchscreen more useful with a size boost 
• Meta and Snap are about to show off their new AR glasses 
• Amazon cancels the Echo Show 8 Photos Edition’s main feature — focusing on photos

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Today on the flagship podcast of hydrogen futures: 

The Verge’s William Poor, Andrew Marino, and Alex Parkin head to California to figure out why hydrogen fuel cell technology, once a super-promising successor to gasoline, lost out to battery electric cars. They also put the embattled tech to the test with a road trip across California’s “hydrogen highway.”

Further reading: 

• Check out the interactive map of our trip here, and the video version of the story here.

• Read Andrew Hawkins’ story about the future of hydrogen fuel cell tech here.

• Read Justine Calma’s coverage of federal green hydrogen programs here.

• Go deep into California zero emission transportation policy here.

Credits:

Fact Check by Jasmine Arielle Ting

Thanks to:

Bill Elrick, Hydrogen Fuel Cell Partnership

Michael McCurdy, California State Library

Archival footage courtesy of Global ImageWorks, LLC

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Laura Mae Martin is a big believer in the settings menu. Martin is Google’s Executive Productivity Advisor, and spends much of her time working with other Googlers on improving their productivity and communication systems — and one of the things she often recommends is taking a few minutes to poke through the options. “With your phone, with your email, your Slack, all these things, the features are there but we don’t take the time to dive into them,” she says. She even thinks you should maybe have to look at settings before you can use the app. “Like, you can’t get into the app unless you spend 10 minutes figuring out what it can do.”

On this episode of The Vergecast, the first in our three-part miniseries about all things productivity and work, we talk to Martin about how she sees things changing. Four years after the pandemic forced us all to work from home, are we finally figuring out remote and hybrid work? Are managers realizing that butts-in-seats isn’t, and maybe was never, a good metric for productivity? And is the era of the hard-charging hustle bro finally giving way to a healthier, more holistic way of thinking about being productive? Martin sees all these things from so many perspectives, and has lots of thoughts on everything from communication styles to energy flows.

We also talk about the rise in digital productivity tools like Notion and Slack, and why email is still so important — and still so terrible. One of Martin’s jobs at Google is to consult with the teams building Workspace apps like Docs and Gmail, and she has lots of thoughts on how those product works and how they could be better. We also talk about whether AI stands to change the way we get things done, and whether it’ll help us do more or just give us more to do.

Along the way, Martin offers us lots of practical tips on how to manage our digital lives a little better. Charging your phone outside the bedroom, no-tech Tuesdays, and a couple of prettier email labels might actually go a long way. And if you have too many notes in too many places, it’s time to get a Main List going.

If you want to know more on everything we talk about in this episode, here are a few links to get you started:

• Laura Mae Martin’s website
• Her book, Uptime: A Practical Guide to Personal Productivity and Wellbeing’
• The Google Workspace guide to productivity and wellbeing
• The Verge’s favorite tools to stay organized
• The best note-taking apps for collecting your thoughts and data
• All I want is one productivity app that can handle everything

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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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

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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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

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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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

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

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