The Vergecast

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Elon Musk, Red Hydrogen, and Zuckerberg in the EU May 25, 2018

Show notes

Are you driving somewhere for the holiday weekend? Here at _The Verge_ we'd like to encourage you to use a car that's wholly or at least primarily powered by dirty fossil fuels. On this week's episode of _The Vergecast_, Nilay, Natt, Casey, and Paul discuss how we're financially beholden to Big Car, and what to do about it now that Elon Musk has called us out on our bias. We also got a chance to discuss Nilay's insane theory about Apple's dongle suppression campaign, Mark Zuckerberg's wacky trip to the EU, and spoke with unearned confidence about Dieter's hands-on with the Red Hydrogen One. Paul's weekly report on robots that do backflips is, of course, also something that happened. 01:50 - Elon Musk 27:54 - Red Hydrogen One hands-on 32:34 - RIP Essential? 36:37 - BlackBerry KEY2 41:19 - Dongle suppression EXPOSED 47:15 - Paul’s weekly segment “Robot backflip weekly update” 51:08 - GDPR is happening 55:54 - Mark Zuckerberg in the EU 1:03:51 - Casey shamelessly plugs Converge 1:06:35 - What’s happening in the rest of tech

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The Selfish Ledger, YouTube Premium, and One Plus 6 May 18, 2018

Show notes

The Vergecast trio comes together this week to discuss an internal Google video that was obtained by The Verge titled “the Selfish Ledger.” That topic takes up a good chunk of the show, but there’s a lot more after that. Nilay, Paul, and Dieter jump into other Google-related topics, like what’s happening to YouTube Red, Google Duplex theories, and a list of gadget news. They were able to fit in Paul’s weekly segment he does every week “Don’t block my chain,” so if you listen to it all, you’ll get it all. 04:04 - Google’s Selfish Ledger is an unsettling vision of Silicon Valley social engineering 19:02 - Apple Watch behavioral science 19:47 - Google Duplex demo, or say whether the calls were edited 23:56 - Google Chrome is removing the secure indicator from HTTPS sites in September 28:12 - Entire Nest ecosystem of smart home devices goes offline 30:16 - YouTube Music and YouTube Premium announced as YouTube Red replacement 39:28 - OnePlus 6 announced with a glass back and a notched 6.3-inch display 41:42 - The RED Hydrogen One is coming to AT&T and Verizon this summer 44:16 - Onkyo’s receivers will work with Sonos, thanks to upcoming June firmware update 46:33 - A new Wi-Fi standard could let different mesh routers work together 48:41 - Paul’s weekly segment “Don’t block my chain” 52:46 - Microsoft’s Surface Hub 2 is designed for an office of the future 53:29 - Microsoft reportedly working on $400 Surface tablets to compete with the iPad 53:44 - The desktop belongs to Electron 1:01:38 - Uber CEO: our future won’t just be cars

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Bonus: Ctrl-Walt-Delete special edition - iMac 20th anniversary May 11, 2018

Show notes

Ctrl-Walt-Delete returns for a special episode all about the iMac 20th anniversary. Walt Mossberg and Nilay Patel reminisce on the introduction of Apple's iMac, and how it influenced the open web and computers going forward.

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Google I/O and Microsoft Build May 11, 2018

Show notes

So much happened this week in the world of The Verge. Both Google and Microsoft hosted their annual developer conferences and announced a whole bunch of stuff, so Nilay, Paul, Natt, and Dieter gather to break it down and give you the highlights. And this wouldn’t be an episode of The Vergecast without the segment Paul does every week, “Kick flip the kickstand script.” It’s a big one, so listen to the whole episode to get everything you need for this massive week in tech news. 01:28 - 10 Biggest announcements from Google I/O 03:45 - The selfishness of Google Duplex 21:09 - Android P 26:41 - At I/O Google showed its willingness to change and shape our lives 34:33 - JBL’s Android-powered soundbar does a lot of things right 38:43 - Volvo’s native Google integration is the next level for Android Auto 44:06 - Six new Google Assistant voices, including John Legend 47:49 - Nadella’s Microsoft 56:51 - What is edge computing? 1:08:16 - Paul’s weekly segment “Kick flip the kickstand script” 1:10:38 - Net neutrality, mergers, AT&T, and Michael Cohen: what we know so far

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Facebook’s F8, Oculus Go, and Apple earnings May 04, 2018

Show notes

This week on The Vergecast, Nilay returns to the show after welcoming a child! Dieter is out this week, so Nilay and Paul bring on Adi Robertson and Casey Newton to discuss what happened at Facebook’s F8 developer conference, the Oculus Go, and some earnings talk. There are also a lot of new Instagram features. Is it slowly just becoming Facebook? There’s a lot more in between that — like Paul’s weekly segment “Safety first!’ they said” — so if you listen through this whole episode, you’ll be all caught up on the tech news this week. 05:51 - All of the news from Facebook’s F8 developer conference 22:51 - Oculus Go review 36:47 - Video calls are coming to Instagram 42:21 - Over 400 Startups Are Trying to Become the Next Warby Parker. Inside the Wild Race to Overthrow Every Consumer Category — Inc. 46:14 - Paul’s weekly segment “Safety first!’ they said” 47:45 - Koss Porta Pro Wireless 49:13 - Sprint and T-Mobile have announced that they will merge 59:56 - Verizon is putting Oath bloatware like Go90 on its Galaxy S9 phones 1:04:18 - Apple reports solid iPhone revenue but stays quiet on HomePod sales

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New Gmail, Spectacles 2.0, and iPhone SE 2? Apr 27, 2018

Show notes

This week on The Vergecast, Dieter, Natt, and Paul are still without Nilay but there’s a whole lot to talk about. Google made some changes with Gmail — which is now live, and Snap surprised us this week with their new edition of Spectacles — but what makes them different from the original model? Also, there’s a whole bunch of Amazon news and rumors this week, including an Echo Dot for your child. There’s even a whole lot more in between that — like the segment Paul does every week (say it with me) “I’ve carved this for you out of aluminum” — so listen if you listen to this whole episode of The Vergecast, you’ll be all up to date with the tech news of the week and won’t have to worry about much else the rest of your weekend. 01:20 - Gmail’s biggest redesign is now live 09:49 - Google is finally making a standalone Tasks app 16:38 - Snap’s second-generation Spectacles are more grown up — and more expensive 28:05 - Amazon will now deliver packages to the trunk of your car 32:33 - Amazon’s new Echo Dot Kids Edition comes with a colorful case and parental controls 37:04 - Amazon is reportedly working on its first home robot 40:29 - Amazon teases upcoming Fire TV Cube 43:41 - Paul’s weekly segment “I’ve carved this for you out of aluminum” 45:53 - Dieter essential phone feels 47:47 - There are a ton of sketchy rumors about an upcoming iPhone SE 2 50:44 - The OnePlus 6 is coming on May 16th 52:56 - Spotify launches a redesigned app with on-demand playlists for free users

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Chat for Android, Nintendo Labo, and Motorola (like a) G6 Apr 20, 2018

Show notes

It was a slow week until Google decided to attempt another fix for Android messaging and Nintendo made the entire staff fall in love with cardboard. Nilay’s still on paternity leave, but Dieter and Paul are joined again by Technology Editor Natt Garun to explain it all. We also jumped on the hot-button issues like the Russian ban of Telegram and how Alexa Skill Blueprints aren’t Turing complete. And, of course, Paul’s weekly segment “Ring-a-ding-ding” has all the insightful Bluetooth MIDI accessory commentary you crave. 1:20 - Chat for Android 20:48 - Telegram 29:22 - Nintendo Labo 37:41 - Amazon Skill Blueprints 41:09 - Motorola G6 43:44 - Paul’s Weekly Segment "Ring-a-ding-ding" 46:39 - New free Spotify 48:51 - RIP vaunt

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Zuckerberg testifies, Spotify hardware, and Huawei P20 Pro review Apr 13, 2018

Show notes

After a week of Facebook-intensive news, The Vergecast is here to break it all down for you. Nilay is out this week, so Dieter and Paul welcome senior editor Natt Garun and Silicon Valley editor Casey Newton to the show to go over all the news. Even though Mark Zuckerberg took up most of the site this week, there was a still a lot of other stuff happening. Spotify may be releasing some hardware products, we reviewed the Huawei P20 Pro, and the cast gets into some classic talk about the web. There’s a whole lot more in between that — like Paul’s weekly segment “Record resolution revolution” — so listen to it all, and you’ll get it all. 02:03 - Mark Zuckerberg testifies in front of Congress 33:17 - Spotify’s first hardware device might be this music player for your car 43:00 - Apple’s RED iPhone 8 43:37 - Huawei P20 Pro review 49:15 - Paul’s weekly segment “Record resolution revolution” 51:34 - Web apps are only getting better 52:52 - HP goes up against the iPad Pro with its $599 Chromebook x2 52:56 - This is the new Gmail design

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iPad review, Facebook drama, and Apple drama Apr 06, 2018

Show notes

It is episode 300 of The Vergecast! To celebrate, Nilay, Dieter, and Paul start the show by explaining inside jokes that have been stamped into the show over the past few years. Don’t understand what Scissor Vodka is? Are you wondering why Bixby is a dog? Do you need to know why Paul says his name at the end of each episode? Well, we took the time to answer that. Also, there’s some news that came out this week. We have an iPad review, some Mark Zuckerberg updates, and a little bit of Apple drama. There’s a lot more in between that — like Paul’s segment he does every week with the same name “Lonely Alone” — so listen to it all, and you’ll get it all. 03:14 - Joke explainer 16:13 - Mark Zuckerberg calls Tim Cook’s comments on Facebook ‘extremely glib’ 21:54 - Apple Music had a better Weeknd than Spotify 24:03 - Apple hires Google’s former AI boss to help improve Siri 31:16 - Apple iPad (2018) review 35:50 - Apple’s redesigned Mac Pro is coming in 2019 46:30 - Paul’s weekly segment compilation 49:38 - Paul’s weekly segment “Lonely Alone” 52:18 - Facebook wants a social media supreme court so it can avoid hard questions

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New iPads, Microsoft reorg, and Europe's new privacy rule Mar 30, 2018

Show notes

We’ve got a bunch of tech luminaries on The Vergecast this week to help us understand the week in tech news. Nilay, Dieter, and Paul welcome Lauren Goode back to the show for her last week at The Verge to discuss the new iPads that Apple released this past Tuesday. Lauren and Dieter went to Chicago for the event, so they share their experience and insight on the new products and their relationship with the education field. After that, the crew bring in senior reporter Russell Brandom to help us understand how Europe’s new privacy rule is reshaping the internet. And finally, senior editor Tom Warren returns to the show to share his expertise with Microsoft and break down Microsoft’s announcement of the reorganization of their company. There’s a whole lot more in between all of that — like Paul’s weekly segment “The little robot that could” — so listen to it all and you’ll get it all. 03:12 - The 5 biggest announcements from the Apple education event 32:18 - How Europe’s new privacy rule is reshaping the internet 51:17 - Paul’s weekly segment “The little robot that could” 53:12 - Microsoft is ready for a world beyond Windows If you enjoyed this podcast and want to hear more audio from The Verge, well you’re in luck. Season 2 of Why’d You Push That Button hosted by Kaitlyn Tiffany and Ashley Carman is here! This week’s episode is about Facebook event invites. You can subscribe anywhere, including on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play Music, and our RSS feed. And get caught up on season 1 if you missed out. Also! You can check out Lauren Goode’s podcast Too Embarrassed to Ask.

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