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The Verge

The Vergecast is the flagship podcast from The Verge about small gadgets, Big Tech, and everything in between. Every Friday, hosts Nilay Patel and David Pierce hang out and make sense of the week’s most important technology news. And every Tuesday, David leads a selection of The Verge’s expert staffers in an exploration of how gadgets and software affect our lives – and which ones you should bring into yours.

The Vergecast

In 2014, the tech world was abuzz with the prospect of a phone made by Amazon. When the Fire Phone arrived, it was chock full of ideas — a "dynamic perspective" feature that created 3D illusions, an image-recognition feature called "Firefly," and many, many opportunities to buy Amazon products. Allison Johnson and Sean O’Kane join David Pierce to discuss why, unlike Amazon's successful e-readers, this device was a gigantic flop.

If you like the show, ⁠⁠subscribe to the Version History feed⁠⁠ to make sure you get every new episode.

Subscribe to The Verge⁠ for unlimited access to ⁠theverge.com⁠, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ⁠ad-free podcast feed⁠.

We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to ⁠vergecast@theverge.com⁠ or call us at 866-VERGE11.
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Version History: Fire Phone

The DoorDash problem just became Amazon's problem. Perplexity's Comet browser is allegedly stealthily shopping on the internet's largest mall, and the folks in Seattle want it to stop. It's just one example of the fast-moving power dynamics on the internet, as AI companies try to change the way we search, shop, and do everything else. Lots of companies are not going to settle for being dumb databases, and Nilay and David discuss how this fight might play out. After that, the hosts talk about the reports of an impending cheaper Mac with an iPhone chip, and whether that might mark Apple's true return to consumer laptops — or be something else entirely. Finally, in the lightning round, they talk Brendan Carr, late-night shows, party speakers, and sonic logos. Lots and lots of sonic logos.

Further reading: 

 Amazon and Perplexity have kicked off the great AI web browser fight 

 WEB WAR III 

 Apple is planning to use a custom version of Google Gemini for Apple Intelligence 

 OpenAI launches its Sora app on Android 

 
Perplexity is going to power AI search in Snapchat. 

 Easier access to AI Mode, if that’s your thing. 

 
Google Gemini’s Deep Research can look into your emails, drive, and chats 

 Google Maps taps Gemini AI to transform into an ‘all-knowing copilot’ 

 Amazon is building Alexa Plus into its Music app 

 The AI industry is running on FOMO 

 
Apple is reportedly working on a cheaper Mac laptop with an iPhone chip 

 iOS 26.1 lets you tweak Liquid Glass, and it’s out now 

 YouTube wants a piece of the late-night TV pie. 

 Apple TV’s new name now comes with a new sound 

 Brendan Carr votes to eliminate cybersecurity requirements

 Epic and Google agree to settle their lawsuit and change Android’s fate globally 

 I’m amused by how Google is complying with the Epic injunction. 

 xAI used employee biometric data to train Elon Musk’s AI girlfriend 

 Into the Huluverse: The sonic evolution of Hulu

Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bring back the iBook, you cowards

Here at The Vergecast, we get a lot of questions. Questions from you, which we love! Questions that, for some reason, often tend to be about the smart home and why it's often not so very smart. So on this episode, the first in a two-part series, The Verge's Jennifer Pattison Tuohy helps us answer a whole bunch of your questions. Questions like: what's Apple's deal with the smart home? Are there any good smart faucets? And what's about to happen to my robot vacuum cleaner? Jen helps us wade through all that and more. We also go on a long diversion about smart smoke detectors, which are pretty awesome.

Further reading:

 My smart kitchen: the good, the bad, and the future

 Moen’s Smart Faucet with Motion Control is totally hands free, and works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant

 The future of the Roomba, and the best robot vacuums

 This smart smoke alarm could be a worthy Nest Protect replacement

 Home Assistant’s next era begins now

 Apple’s plan for AI could make Siri the animated center of your smart home

 What’s in a smart home reviewer’s backyard

 How Matter works, where it’s headed, and why it matters

 The problems with AI in the smart home and how Amazon and Google plan to fix them

Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Your smart home questions, answered

In 2006, Microsoft came for the iPod's throne with an innovative MP3 player called the Zune. It had a bunch of features the iPod didn't: WiFi, music sharing, a bigger screen, a beautiful UI, even an FM radio. And to hear Microsoft describe it, it was even kind of a social network. Nilay Patel and Victoria Song join David Pierce to break down why, despite all that, the Zune never really took off. And why it came in brown.

If you like the show, ⁠⁠subscribe to the Version History feed⁠⁠ to make sure you get every new episode.

⁠Subscribe to The Verge⁠ for unlimited access to ⁠theverge.com⁠, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ⁠ad-free podcast feed⁠.

We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to ⁠vergecast@theverge.com⁠ or call us at 866-VERGE11.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Version History: Zune

If you want to understand the full spectrum of AI software, from "straightforward problem-solving tool" to "never-ending slop machine," all you need to do is pay attention to everything Adobe launched at its conference this week. David and Nilay run through the news, which will change how people use Photoshop but also maybe change our social feeds forever. After that, they talk about OpenAI's conversion to a for-profit business, and specifically the truly wild way OpenAI and Microsoft talk about the future of AGI. Finally, in the lightning round, they discuss Brendan Carr, Cybertrucks, the Trump Phone, Ghost Posts, and more.

Help us improve The Verge: Take our quick survey at theverge.com/survey.

Further reading:

 ⁠Photoshop and Premiere Pro’s new AI tools can instantly edit your work ⁠

 ⁠You can tell Adobe Express’s new AI assistant to edit designs for you⁠

 ⁠Adobe’s AI social media admin is here with ‘Project Moonlight’ ⁠

 ⁠Mark Zuckerberg is excited to add more AI content to all your social feeds⁠

 ⁠Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg defends AI spend: 'We're seeing the returns'⁠

 ⁠OpenAI completed its for-profit restructuring — and struck a new deal with Microsoft ⁠

 ⁠The next chapter of the Microsoft–OpenAI partnership⁠

 ⁠OpenAI lays groundwork for juggernaut IPO at up to $1 trillion valuation | Reuters⁠

 ⁠OpenAI has an AGI problem — and Microsoft just made it worse ⁠

 ⁠OpenAI made ChatGPT better at sifting through your work information ⁠

 ⁠Sam, Jakub, and Wojciech on the future of OpenAI with audience Q&A⁠

 ⁠The Kingmaker | WIRED⁠

 ⁠Congratulations to the Tesla Cybertruck on its 10th recall.⁠

 ⁠Trump℠ Mobile | All-American Performance. Everyday Price. $47.45/Month⁠

 ⁠Threads is getting disappearing posts ⁠

 ⁠Ads will arrive on Samsung Family Hub smart fridges next month. ⁠

 ⁠The FCC is going after broadband nutrition labels. ⁠

 ⁠Brendan Carr is a Dummy⁠

 ⁠Bending Spoons is buying AOL for some reason ⁠

Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

God will be declared by a panel of experts

Meta's smart glasses have been a hit in part because they don't try to do too much. With the new Display glasses, though, Meta is trying to do... a lot more. The Verge's Victoria Song joins the show to tell us about her experience with the glasses, from the impressive but very first-gen hardware to the somewhat underwhelming set of things you can do. After that, podcaster and creator Stephen Robles explains to David why he's dead wrong about Apple Shortcuts. Stephen shares how he uses Shortcuts, why he's found such a big audience of Shortcuts fans on YouTube and elsewhere, and why it's worth doing the work to learn Apple's most powerful app. Finally, David answers a question from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com!) about which wireless earbuds you should buy — and why it might be the pair you already own.

Help us improve The Verge: Take our quick survey at theverge.com/survey.

Further reading:

 ⁠The future I saw through the Meta Ray-Ban Display amazes and terrifies me⁠

 ⁠I regret to inform you Meta’s new smart glasses are the best I’ve ever tried⁠

 ⁠The smart glasses race is really on now⁠

 ⁠Stephen Robles' YouTube channel⁠

Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An Apple Shortcuts masterclass

Millions of basements have fake plastic guitars in them thanks to the 2005 smash hit Guitar Hero. Chris Grant and Ash Parrish join David Pierce to rock out with a game created over a matter of months by a niche developer and a peripheral manufacturer, fueled by word-of-mouth and viral videos on a nascent YouTube. You probably don’t play Guitar Hero anymore, but you might still find it in surprising places.

If you like the show, subscribe to the Version History feed⁠ to make sure you get every new episode.

Let us know what you think: 866-VERGE-11 or vergecast@theverge.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Version History: Guitar Hero

The era of the AI browser is here, and OpenAI is finally in the game. Nilay, Jake, and Hayden sit down to chat about what it means to have ChatGPT in your browser and able to control your cursor and surf the web for you. Also this week: Nilay's warning about using old surge protectors, the devastating and inevitable outcome of the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition, and Samsung's Galaxy XR headset, which looks a lot like a Vision Pro. Finally, Brendan Carr Is A Dummy makes its triumphant return. And we wrap it all up with the Lightning Round, talking about the the Friend protest, GM's decision to ditch CarPlay, the AWS outage, the future of the Xbox, and more.

Help us improve The Verge: Take our quick survey at theverge.com/survey.

Further reading:

 OpenAI’s AI-powered browser, ChatGPT Atlas, is here

 The ChatGPT Atlas browser still feels like Googling with extra steps

 OpenAI teases a string of updates for its AI-powered browser, ChatGPT Atlas

 Opera’s Neon shows just how confusing AI browsers still are

 Perplexity’s Comet browser is now available to everyone for free

 Google is expanding Gemini in Chrome and letting it do stuff for you

 Reddit sues Perplexity for allegedly ripping its content to feed AI

 The Dia browser is a big bet on the web — and an even bigger bet on AI

 OpenAI’s latest legal request is raising eyebrows

 Meta is axing 600 roles across its AI division | The Verge

 Warner Bros. Discovery is ready for a sale

 
WBD already rejected three offers from Paramount Skydance, 

 Netflix, Amazon, and Apple are reportedly interested in buying Warner Bros.

 HBO Max is raising prices for the third year in a row

 Hulu with Live TV now costs $90 monthly but you can lock in $65 for three months

 
Apple TV will be the only place to watch F1 in the US, starting next year

 
Samsung Galaxy XR hands-on: It’s like a cheaper Apple Vision Pro and launches today

 The future I saw through the Meta Ray-Ban Display amazes and terrifies me

 These Oakley smart glasses are perfect for weekend warriors and T-ball coaches

 The Friend AI pendant’s creator publicized a ‘Friend protest’ in NYC

 These nonprofits lobbied to regulate OpenAI — then the subpoenas came

 Why GM will give you Gemini — but not CarPlay

 Did Microsoft just tease that the next Xbox is a PC and console?

 Major AWS outage took down Fortnite, Alexa, Snapchat, and more

 Pitchfork is beta testing user reviews and comments as it approaches 30

Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

ChatGPT enters the browser wars

We're very bullish on the handheld future of gaming. But we're not bullish on the new ROG Xbox Ally. The Verge's Sean Hollister joins the show to explain why this Xbox-branded device barely feels like an Xbox, and why it's definitely not a threat to the Steam Deck, before he and David debate whether the future of Xbox is even in good hands. After that, The Verge's Hayden Field walks David through a couple of important recent studies, asking the same basic question: is AI making us dumb? Finally, Sean returns to answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com!) about hybrid computers, which are an extremely 2012 idea and also maybe the future of computing. But probably not.

Help us improve The Verge: Take our quick survey at theverge.com/survey.

Further reading:

 Xbox Ally and Ally X review: this is not an Xbox

 Prongs rock

 MIT: Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task

 How chatbots — and their makers — are enabling AI psychosis

 Sam Altman says ChatGPT will stop talking about suicide with teens

 Some doctors got worse at detecting cancer after relying on AI

 Microsoft Research: The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking: Self-Reported Reductions in Cognitive Effort and Confidence Effects From a Survey of Knowledge Workers

Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The new Xbox is not an Xbox

1982's coolest gadget was the Sony Watchman portable TV. Decades before everyone was glued to YouTube on their smartphones, the Watchman popularized the concept of video on the go. In the early days of the personal-tech revolution, you’d find the Watchman antennas up everywhere from the church pew to the baseball bleacher. Victoria Song and Allison Johnson join David Pierce to dive into the engineering feat that made the first Watchman possible.

If you like the show, ⁠subscribe to the Version History feed⁠ to make sure you get every new episode.

Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.

We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Version History: Sony Watchman

Google is on a bit of a heater when it comes to gadgets. The Pixel 10 lineup is one of the best Android phone options; the Pixel Watch 4 is suddenly a winner; the Pixel Buds are an excellent accessory; even the Pixel Fold got some welcome upgrades this year! With the help of The Verge’s Victoria Song and Allison Johnson, we do the impossible: we rank all six of Google’s Pixel gadgets, from worst to best. Are headphones better than smartphones? Can you really compare a tablet to a smartwatch? Who knows, but we try. After that, Allison and David answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com!) about whether the dumbphone movement is a real one.

Further reading:

 Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold review: finally, a more durable foldable

 Google Pixel Buds 2A review: the right kind of compromise

 The Google Pixel Watch 4 is the Android watch to beat

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Google's gadgets, ranked

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