Amazon Tries to Make Great Hardware

It's gadget season. More specifically, it's apparently "new computer for your new AI" season. David and Nilay talk through a slew of announcements — Amazon's Alexa Tablets, Microsoft's Surface Laptop Ultra, the new Googlebooks, and Apple's upcoming smart home launch — to figure out if anyone has the right idea about the future of computing, and where the AI is supposed to live. After that, it's time for Brendan Carr is a Dummy, our thoughts on the Paramount / Warner / Skydance merger, and much more.

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Read more about the topics discussed in today's 1 hour, 41 minute podcast:

• ⁠Amazon’s Alexa Tablets are powerful, impressive, and designed to take on iPad ⁠
• ⁠Hands-on with Amazon’s Alexa Tablet 12 Pro and its wild new matte display  ⁠
• ⁠Amazon is phasing out Fire Tablets because they weren’t ‘giving customers what they were asking for⁠’
• ⁠Amazon’s new Kids Tablets let parents manage access to the Google Play store
• ⁠Apple announces surprise ‘Welcome home’ launch event⁠
• ⁠Apple and LG team up on new smart home gear, starting with a lock, doorbell, and thermostat⁠
• ⁠New leaks provide our first look at Apple and LG’s smart home devices
• ⁠Everything announced at Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Ultra event ⁠
• ⁠The Surface Laptop Ultra finally has a release date — and a starting price of $2,599⁠
• ⁠Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Ultra has built-in magnetic USB-C charging ⁠
• ⁠How Microsoft built its MacBook Pro competitor ⁠
• ⁠Surface RTX Spark Dev Box is available for preorder for $5,999 ⁠
• ⁠The first Nvidia RTX Spark laptops cost up to $7,000 ⁠
• ⁠Microsoft is giving Copilot more control over Windows and your files
• Our first five impressions of Googlebooks — exciting but underbaked 
• Android’s physical navigation buttons are back on Googlebooks, but not the way you think
• Google admits not every Android app runs great on Intel Googlebooks 
• Politico: ‘Head on a guillotine’: ABC says Trump’s threats are already swaying coverage
• ChatGPT’s ‘Intelligent UI’ update fills its responses with pictures, charts, and buttons
• Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery complete $110 billion media megamerger 
• HBO Max and Paramount Plus will merge into a single streamer under Skydance 
• CNN’s boss will remain as Paramount and WBD merge into Skydance 
• Skydance is merging Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery’s games teams.
• Sam Altman says ‘some bad things’ will happen, but AI is totally worth it

0:00 Cold Open 00:37 David’s back! 01:10 Parenting Chaos Update 02:49 Gadget News Rundown 03:47 New Amazon Alexa Tablets 05:15 Panos Strategy Shift 06:31 Play Store Bet 11:17 Default Android Tablet 13:18 Ads and Pricing Fears 15:30 Amazon Great Products 21:20 Matte Display Debate 25:01 Apple Smart Home Tease 26:12 Siri AI Reality Check 29:08 Smart Home Too Complex 33:37 Candy Crush Question 34:56 iPad Multiuser Problem 39:04 Microsoft AI Surface Push 40:35 Local AI Computing Shift 47:22 Magnetic USB C Charging 48:37 Google Book Laptop Confusion 54:20 AI Agents Need A Surface 58:50 Skepticism About Agents 01:07:46 Brendan Carr is a Dummy 01:09:23 ABC License Chilling Effect 01:11:24 Brendan Carr Ownership Cap 01:12:30 Cable Companies Sue Back 01:14:44 SXSW Corruption Game 01:15:50 Skydance Mega Merger 01:18:04 Debt Layoffs Streamer Cuts 01:22:58 Go90 Scale Returns 01:24:02 Netflix Loses Its Edge 01:30:44 ChatGPT Interactive UI 01:37:47 Sam Altman Tradeoffs 01:44:49 Wrap Up And Plugs

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