The Vergecast

The Verge's David Pierce, Alex Cranz, and Adi Robertson discuss Meta's new Quest 3 VR headset that was announced ahead of Apple's WWDC event, which is widely believed to showcase an Apple headset. Deputy editor Dan Seifert joins the show to discuss the rest of the WWDC rumors and theories. Further reading: Meta announces its Quest 3 VR headset, which will cost $499.99 The biggest announcements from Meta's Quest Gaming Showcase Apple’s mixed reality headset: all the reports about the rumored AR / VR headset Apple’s VR headset might run tweaked versions of iPad apps WWDC 2023: what to expect at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference Apple might announce ‘several’ Macs at WWDC The Motorola Razr Plus' new cover screen is a big deal Amazon Echo Pop review: Alexa for less Hot foldable summer is here, and there are good reasons to get excited Range Rover’s next luxury add-on: A car seat that vibrates to music The ultimate “what is a photo?” gadget. Lisa's Final Act: how Apple invented its future by burying its past Kid Cop Returns (Again and Again) Email us vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on the flagship podcast of third-party operating systems: The Verge's David Pierce chats with Laine Nooney, author of The Apple II Age: How The Computer Became Personal. Later, lead video producer Will Poor chats with David about The Verge's new documentary Lisa’s Final Act: How Apple invented its future by burying its past. To end the show: a hotline question. How to transfer playlists from Spotify to Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, or Tidal Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. We'll be answering a question every Wednesday! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Verge's Nilay Patel, David Pierce, Alex Cranz, and Tom Warren discuss the biggest announcements from Microsoft Build 2023. Later, the crew discuss the launch of Warner Bros. Discovery’s combined streaming service Max. Further reading: Elon Musk fails to launch Ron DeSantis in disastrous Twitter Space Microsoft Build 2023: The 5 biggest announcements Microsoft’s Copilot and Bing AI plug-ins will be interoperable with ChatGPT Bing is now the default search for ChatGPT Microsoft 365 Copilot is getting plug-ins Microsoft’s Edge browser is getting the 365 Copilot AI assistant Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott thinks Sydney might make a comeback Microsoft announces Windows Copilot, an AI ‘personal assistant’ for Windows 11 Max has arrived, and it’ll feel very familiar to HBO Max customers Max will stream over 1,000 movies and TV episodes in 4K at launch Warner Bros. Discovery apologizes for crediting writers and directors as ‘creators’ on Max HBO Max remote button killed in Max rebrand — 9to5Mac HBO Max now Max: lacks native video player features; 'Up Next' support bugs - 9to5Mac Sony’s new Q handheld is official: 8-inch screen, streams PS5 games Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on the flagship podcast of the Purah Pad: 02:19 - Senator Ed Markey chats with Nilay Patel about the importance of keeping AM radio in cars after many EV manufacturers have started to remove it from new models. Cars would be required to keep AM radio under new bipartisan bill The shift to EVs is slowly killing off AM radio — and that’s bad for emergency broadcasts 22:09 - Alex Cranz and Sean Hollister talk with SVP of networking at Nvidia Kevin Deierling live at the Computer History Museum for the 50th anniversary of ethernet about the future of connectivity. Wired: 50 years of ethernet CHM Live | Ethernet@50 52:51 - David Pierce, Alex Cranz, and Ash Parrish discuss why The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom works so well and what the rest of the gaming world should do about it. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom review: new powers, new places, but less wonder A conversation with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s creative leads Tears of the Kingdom’s dungeons were designed with seamlessness in mind Tips and tricks to get you through Tears of the Kingdom Zelda players turned Tears of the Kingdom into a Korok torture chamber The wildest Tears of the Kingdom builds we’ve seen Tears of the Kingdom’s puzzle designers are fantastic trolls Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom walkthrough and guides - Polygon Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Verge's Nilay Patel, David Pierce, and Adi Robertson discuss Montana being the first state to ban TikTok, the Supreme Court ruling against reexamining Section 230, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman testifying before the Senate. Then, David interviews vlogger Hank Green about the TikTok ban in Montana. Later, Verge senior news editor Richard Lawler joins the show to discuss this week in gadgets, from the free Telly TV to the Beats Studio Buds Plus. TikTok is now banned in Montana: here’s what you need to know Montana bans Telegram, WeChat, and Temu from government devices Full Hank Green interview here TikTok ban: all the news on attempts to ban the video platform Supreme Court puts off showdown over Texas and Florida social media laws Supreme Court rules against reexamining Section 230 Congress hates Big Tech — but it still seems optimistic about AI This free TV comes with two screens The free TV company briefly wasn’t sure what it should do with data from kids Amazon’s latest Echo Buds have an all-new design and much cheaper price Amazon’s new Echo Pop is a $40 smart speaker Beats Studio Buds Plus review: it’s cool to be clear CueCat YouTube is bringing unskippable 30-second ads to TV Max promises shorter ad breaks than other streamers when it launches May 23rd Netflix’s ad tier has attracted almost 5 million users Apparently, they were all losers in the race to 5G. Tesla’s humanoid robot can pick things up and put them down Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today we're sharing an episode of Into It: A Vulture Podcast with Sam Sanders AI is making fake Drake/The Weeknd songs, weird images, and there’s a worry that TV and movie scripts could be written by ChatGPT. But it’s also about to dramatically change the way we consume, share, and obsess over pop culture. Nilay Patel, Editor-in-Chief of The Verge, explains to Sam how pretty much everything we search on the internet is mediated by Google… and how AI is about to disrupt it all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Verge's Nilay Patel, David Pierce, and Alex Cranz discuss the big announcements and takeaways from Google I/O 2023. Further reading: The nine biggest announcements from Google I/O 2023 The AI takeover of Google Search starts now Google Perspectives: the new search feature helps you find human information online Google rebrands AI tools for Docs and Gmail as Duet AI — its answer to Microsoft’s Copilot Google’s new Magic Editor uses AI to totally transform your photos Google drops waitlist for AI chatbot Bard and announces oodles of new features Google announces PaLM 2 AI language model, already powering 25 Google services Google teases Project Tailwind — a prototype AI notebook that learns from your documents Android’s new generative AI can reply to your texts and design its own wallpaper Google’s Find My Device will soon use billions of Android devices to locate your stuff Google is bringing YouTube, Waze, and Zoom to cars with native Android software The Pixel Fold is Google’s $1,800 entry into folding phones Google’s new Pixel Tablet is a $500 slate for the home Google Pixel 7A review: a better deal Google’s new Project Starline prototype isn’t a giant booth Disney is finally combining Hulu and Disney Plus into the same app Apple launches Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro on iPad with new subscription pricing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on the flagship podcast of unfolded aspect ratios: 01:03 -The Verge's David Pierce, Nilay Patel, and Alex Cranz discuss the present and future state of Google — it’s this big, complicated, massively successful company that suddenly feels like it’s under threat in a huge number of ways. The crew lay out the stakes and try to figure out where Google is headed. Hot takes included. 38:55 - David, Allison Johnson, and Dan Seifert talk about the hardware revealed at Google I/O: the Pixel 7A, the Pixel Tablet, and the Pixel Fold. Further reading: Google I/O 2023: news, rumors, and announcements What happens when Google Search doesn't have the answers? The Pixel Fold is Google’s $1,800 entry into folding phones Google’s new Pixel Tablet is a $500 slate for the home Google Pixel 7A review: a better deal Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Verge's Nilay Patel, David Pierce, Alex Cranz, and Sarah Jeong discuss Bluesky gaining popularity and why it may be Twitter's most chaotic successor. Also: is AI going too far too soon? Further reading: shop.theverge.com Google announces the Pixel Fold Everything happening on Bluesky, Twitter’s most chaotic successor Bluesky is starting to feel like Twitter Mozilla’s new Mozilla.Social Mastodon instance is an attempt to reinvent content moderation ‘Godfather of AI’ quits Google with regrets and fears about his life’s work White House rolls out plan to promote ethical AI Snapchat is already testing sponsored links in its My AI chatbot New ChatGPT Zillow plug-in rolls out to select users today AI is being used to generate whole spam sites AI offers new tools for making games, but developers worry about their jobs Writers are striking and AI rights are on the table. Microsoft is forcing Outlook and Teams to open links in Edge, and IT admins are angry Microsoft’s Bing chatbot gets smarter with restaurant bookings, image results, and more Andreessen Horowitz saw the future — but did the future leave it behind? Now Gmail has blue verified checkmark icons too Google accounts now support passkeys for password-free sign-in Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on the flagship podcast of questionable .mkv files: 02:46 - The Verge's David Pierce chats with Matt Johnson, director of the upcoming movie BlackBerry about what tech movies get wrong, why the BlackBerry really died, and how to portray the rise and fall of a top-of-the-world gadget. BlackBerry director Matt Johnson on why the iPhone won and why most tech movies suck 30:38 - David and Vergecast producer Andru Marino try to find out why it's so hard to find director's commentary on streaming services and the obstacles movie fans go through to listen to them. Where’s the director’s commentary on streaming? 57:25 - David talks with the directors and producer of the movie Missing about a new genre of movies that take place entirely on a computer screen, and how they get made. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Verge's Nilay Patel, David Pierce, Alex Cranz, and Andrew Hawkins discuss what's happening in the world of EVs and where that industry is headed. Also: more Apple headset rumors and whatever the heck that Humane demo was last week. Further reading: Apple’s AR/VR Headset Plans: iPad Apps, Fitness+, Sports Viewing, Gaming, Music - Bloomberg Apple’s mixed reality headset could connect to a battery pack that looks like the iPhone’s Humane’s wearable screenless AI assistant leaks in first demo clips Apple is reportedly building a paid AI health coach Should we trust Apple with mental health data? 2023 Toyota Prius review: EV reality check GM is ending Chevy Bolt EV and EUV production at the end of the year GM killed the Chevy Bolt — and the dream of a small, affordable EV GM, Hyundai announce EV battery plants for the US Honda’s making a bigger electric SUV to follow the Prologue — due 2025 Tesla’s carbon footprint is finally coming into focus, and it’s bigger than the company let on in the past Cruise continues to burn GM’s cash as robotaxis expand to daylight hours Amazon shuts down Halo division and discontinues all devices Disney sues Florida for ‘government retaliation’ in escalating feud y Apple is reportedly developing its own journaling app for the iPhone Dyson Zone review: an absurd pair of air purifying ANC headphones Come see a screening of Blackberry with us! Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on the flagship podcast of overthinking thermometers: The Verge's David Pierce and Dan Seifert discuss what’s happening in the weather app world, and hear from the developers of Carrot Weather and Hello Weather. Apple’s Weather chaos is restarting the weather app market A Eulogy for Dark Sky, a Data Visualization Masterpiece forecastadvisor.com Carrot Weather Hello Weather Flipboard CEO Mike McCue joins David and Nilay Patel to discuss the potential of ActivityPub, a new standard for social networking that is more open, more user-centric, and potentially more powerful than Twitter and Facebook. Can ActivityPub save the internet? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today, things got a little loose in the studio of The Vergecast. Switched on Pop's Charlie Harding joins Nilay Patel, Alex Cranz, and David Pierce to make their own version of Drake's AI summer classic. We're not saying a laser bong was involved, but we're not not saying that either. Then deputy editor Alex Heath stops by to tell us about Snaps latest announcements and give us an update on the latest round of layoffs at Meta. Finally, a lightning round with all the big headlines in tech from this week. Further reading: AI Drake just set an impossible legal trap for Google Google employees label AI chatbot Bard ‘worse than useless’ and ‘a pathological liar’: report What’s really going on with ‘Ghostwriter’ and the AI Drake song? Family of F1 legend Michael Schumacher plans legal action over fake AI interview Snapchat releases My AI chatbot to all users for free Google’s big AI push will combine Brain and DeepMind into one team Netflix is shutting down its original DVD business after 25 years Netflix is out of the DVD business because streaming won – now, can Netflix still win? Twitter begins removing blue checkmarks from all legacy users It’s a laser bong SpaceX’s Starship successfully takes off before bursting into flames BuzzFeed News is being shut down Social media is doomed to die Google Fi has a new name and expanded connectivity support for smartwatches Leak: Google will announce the Pixel Fold at I/O and beat Samsung on battery Everything spy movies get right (and wrong) about smart glasses Microsoft is reportedly working on a smaller Surface Pro and Arm-powered Surface Go 4 Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on the flagship podcast of quantum dots: 02:33 - Makena Kelly explains the various attempts from the US government to ban TikTok, and how that could actually work. TikTok ban: all the news on attempts to ban the video platform Inside the US government’s fight to ban TikTok 25:06 - Allison Johnson explains the state of the Android phone market, and where it’s headed next this year. The best Android phone to buy in 2023 51:28 - Chris Welch explains why this may be the best time to buy an OLED TV. This is the best time in a decade to splurge on a premium OLED TV Making sense of new TV features in 2022 Vote for us in the People’s Voice Webby Awards for Best Technology Podcast: http://bit.ly/3moCTDs Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we'd love to hear from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Verge's Nilay Patel, David Pierce, and Alex Cranz discuss Warner Bros. Discovery's new streaming service, Sony's mobile gaming move, and Twitter's feud with Substack. Further reading: HBO and Discovery’s ‘Max’ streaming service is here Max is charging more money for 4K, and that means it can't suck this time What we’ve learned about Sony PlayStation’s new smartphone games team Sony is gearing up for a new cloud gaming push amid rumors of a PlayStation handheld NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube starts at $249 for the 2023 season Google TV’s live guide is getting crammed full of over 800 free channels Microsoft is experimenting with a Windows gaming handheld mode for Steam Deck-like devices NPR becomes first major news organization to leave Twitter PBS also stops tweeting after being hit with ‘government-funded media’ label Is Substack Notes a ‘Twitter clone’? We asked CEO Chris Best Mini’s cars are getting an ‘intelligent personal assistant’ named Spike You can now talk to Microsoft’s Bing chatbot from your keyboard in iOS with SwiftKey Nvidia RTX 4070 review: a $599 RTX 3080 — kind of Vote for us in the People’s Voice Webby Awards for Best Technology Podcast Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What are the best streaming services in 2023? Nilay, Alex, and David decide in the most chaotic way possible: with draft-style picks. The crew debates the best roster for the future of entertainment — from Netflix to Hulu to HBO Max to a few surprises. Who is the MVP, and who gets snubbed? Find out in our inaugural Vergecast streaming draft. Read more: theverge.com/streaming-wars Vote for us in the People’s Voice Webby Awards for Best Technology Podcast: http://bit.ly/3moCTDs Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Verge's Nilay Patel, David Pierce, and Alex Cranz discuss the end of Twitter and the future of infotainment. Links: The color quiz Twitter tried to hide who pays for their checkmark, but life finds a way. https://twitter.com/AlexBlechman/status/1641905502043926530 Substack is getting a Twitter-like ‘Notes’ feed Elon Musk’s obsession with blue checks is a verified problem Twitter yanks the New York Times’ checkmark in verification overhaul Today in Twitter: where are the retweet labels, and why did Doge replace the bird? Spotify shuts down its Clubhouse competitor Spotify shows how the live audio boom has gone bust Everybody hates GM’s decision to kill Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for its EVs The rest of the auto industry still loves CarPlay and Android Auto GM is cutting off access to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for its future EVs Could a new PlayStation handheld be built for Remote Play? I like the idea Asus ROG Ally handheld gaming PC is no April Fools’ joke Walmart’s redesigned website looks better than Amazon Donald Trump was arrested, please like and subscribe The Home Assistant SkyConnect is a combination Zigbee and Thread dongle for better smart home control Vote for us in the People’s Voice Webby Awards for Best Technology Podcast! Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on the flagship podcast of peer-to-peer wireless networking: 02:31 - David Pierce talks with smart home reviewer Jennifer Pattison Tuohy about Amazon’s network of smart home devices called Sidewalk and the state of Matter, the promised smart home standard. Amazon just opened up its Sidewalk network for anyone to build connected gadgets on 32:16- Monica Chin brings six laptops to Times Square in New York City to test out the microphones. 48:47 - Tom Warren joins the show to explain how AI is being integrated into Microsoft’s products, which may be more promising than Bing’s chatbot. Microsoft’s new Copilot will change Office documents forever Microsoft Security Copilot is a new GPT-4 AI assistant for cybersecurity Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we'd love to hear from you. Vote for us in the People’s Choice Webby Awards for Best Technology Podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Verge's Nilay Patel, Alex Cranz, and David Pierce discuss AI image generators getting better, Apple WWDC 2023 rumors, and the other big stories in tech this week. Further reading: The swagged-out pope is an AI fake — and an early glimpse of a new reality Another hurdle for AI image generators: unicycles It’s so hard to be worried about AI when the shit is so funny. AI-generated video is still in its “demonic phase.” Elon Musk and top AI researchers call for pause on ‘giant AI experiments’ UK rejects idea of dedicated AI regulator. The US government is gearing up for an AI antitrust fight FTC should stop OpenAI from launching new GPT models, says AI policy group Apple’s WWDC 2023 kicks off on June 5th Apple staff reportedly express doubts about mixed-reality headset months ahead of launch Apple Pay Later is finally launching The ugly economics behind Apple’s new Pay Later system Apple Music Classical is now available from the App Store Disney just laid off the guy it bought Marvel from... but that’s probably a good thing Elon Musk is now the most-followed person on Twitter Twitter is secretly boosting Elon Musk, Dril, and MrBeast for some reason Google’s ADT partnership finally has a new home security product to show for it Sony’s new ZV-E1 camera is designed to help your vlogs suck less The TikTok ban is a betrayal of the open internet Can Mastodon seize the moment from Twitter? Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we'd love to hear from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Verge answers questions from The Vergecast Hotline. We hear from David Pierce on balancing privacy and modern conveniences for digital journaling, Alex Cranz on tablets for reading, Dan Seifert and Allison Johnson on tech reviews at The Verge, Jennifer Pattison Tuohy on smart home routers and doorbells, and Monica Chin on laptops for college. Further reading: My impossible search for the best, most powerful, most private journaling app ever The best iPad to buy in 2023 Ethics Statement - The Verge Nest Wifi Pro review: better, faster, shinier Eero Pro 6E review: faster Wi-Fi but flakier performance Aqara Video Doorbell G4 review: this battery-powered buzzer needs to go back to basics The FTC wants to ban those tough-to-cancel gym and cable subscriptions Best laptop 2023: 15 best laptops you can buy Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices