The hosts delve into Google's Pixel 9 and 9 Pro, comparing them to previous models and rival brands like Samsung. The buzz from Gamescom 2024 includes a thrilling glimpse at the upcoming Indiana Jones game and the striking launch of Black Myth: Wukong. They discuss innovative fanless cooling technology, its impact on device design, and the intriguing exploration of AI in gaming. Light-hearted commentary on unexpected streaming ventures and a serious note about the mysterious death of billionaire Mike Lynch wraps up the conversation.

Is the second time the charm for Google's foldable? In this episode, Devindra chats with Senior Writer Sam Rutherford about his hands-on impressions of the new Pixel 9 Pro Fold. It has bigger screens and a sleeker design than its predecessor, but how does it compare to the other foldables out there? And why isn't it called the Pixel Fold 2?!Thoughts on Google’s Pixel 9 Pro Fold and the rest of Google’s event – 1:39Eric Schmidt blames work from home and work-life balance for Google’s loss of AI advantage – 31:07U.S. Department of Justice considering breaking up Google after monopoly ruling – 33:32 Hackers may have leaked every American’s Social Security Number – 38:04 Meta officially shuts down CrowdTangle, a critical tool for monitoring misinformation on Facebook – 40:50Apple is opening up its NFC to third-party developers – 43:12 Working on – 47:13 Pop Culture Picks – 49:07

Google has officially dropped its major 2024 devices a few months earlier than usual. Today at its Made By Google event, the company unveiled the Pixel 9 and 9 Pro, as well as its foldable follow-up, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. As for new accessories, we got the Pixel Watch 3 and Pixel Buds Pro 2. In this bonus episode, Cherlynn and Devindra chat about everything from this event, and why the heck we didn't hear more about Android 15.(Apologies for any audio issues in this episode, it was partially recorded in a noisy hotel room.)

We've been reporting on AI PCs, or computers featuring CPUs with neural processing units (NPUs), for over a year. but the concept still feels like a buzz word for most consumers. We're still waiting on potentially interesting AI features, like Microsoft's Recall and Apple Intelligence's smarter Siri. So why should anyone make sure there next computer is an AI PC?In this interview, Devindra chats with Jason Banta, AMD's Corporate VP and GM of Client OEM, and Rakesh Anigundi, AMD's Ryzen AI product lead, about how their company is thinking about AI PCs. How is AMD courting developers? And now that we've seen Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite and X Pro chips in action, will AMD ever consider making a low-power Arm-based chip in the future?

Google is officially a monopoly, according to a US court. But what does that really mean? This week, Devindra and Senior Editor Karissa Bell dive into the landmark Google antitrust case to explore how it could affect the future of search. Google claims it's simply delivering the best product, but clearly the court thinks otherwise. Also, we chat about X/Twitter's desperate lawsuit against advertisers who boycotted the social network.Stay tuned to the end of this episode for an interview with the creators of HBO Max's Industry, Mickey Down and Konrad Kay. We discuss season three of the series, which recently premiered, and how they plan to deconstruct the excesses of overhyped tech startups.A U.S. court declared Google a monopoly, now what? – 1:22X (formerly Twitter) sues advertisers for “illegal boycott” of their platform – 19:15Meet Chromecast’s successor, the Google TV Streamer – 33:49Less than a year after SAG strike, Meta is offering actors millions to use their voice in AI – 41:01Where does all the Facebook AI slop come from? 404Media found out – 44:30People are returning Humane’s AI Pin faster than they can sell them – 50:23Working on – 53:43Pop culture picks – 53:58Industry interview with Mickey Down and Konrad Kay - 1:02:00

Samsung's Galaxy Ring is here, and honestly it's just a bit basic. This week, Cherlynn and Devindra dive into what does and doesn't work with Samsung's latest wearable. Also, we discuss Friend's new AI gadget, which listens to your conversations and sends text messages to help you feel less lonely. To get a better sense of the device, Devindra also talks to Friend's CEO, Avi Schiffmann, about why he's leaning away from the productivity side of AI helpers and more towards the vibes of friendly AI. (And yes, we also ask why he spent $1.8 million of Friend's $2.5 million funding just to buy the Friend.com domain.)In other news, we discuss the potential impact of KOSA (the Kids Online Safety Act) with India McKinney, the EFF’s Director of Federal Affairs. While lawmakers are uniformly positioning KOSA as a way to protect kids on the internet, it could also lead to draconian censorship and destroy free speech on the web as we know it. Cherlynn reviews the Samsung Galaxy Ring: Great sleep tracking, but needs more features – 2:13 Interview with Avi Schiffmann, founder of AI wearable company Friend – 27:27KOSA passes the senate – we chat with EFF’s India McKinney about why it matters – 48:22 What we’ve learned since the massive 7/19 Crowdstrike outage – 1:12:07 Elon Musk shared an AI altered video of Kamala Harris without labeling, breaking the rules of his own site – 1:18:57 Apple Intelligence arrives in the iOS 18.1 developer beta – 1:21:57Google makes peace with third-party cookies after years of mixed signals – 1:26:38Around Engadget: Mat Smith’s Galaxy Flip 6 review – 1:29:36 Working on – 1:31:44 Pop culture picks – 1:32:22

It’s time for the summer Olympics and also the gadget Olympics? Who can outdo Samsung when it comes to launching new products every year? At its second Unpacked event of 2024, Samsung showed off seven different devices: the Galaxy Ring, Galaxy Watch Ultra, Galaxy Buds 3, Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, Galaxy Watch 7, Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Galaxy Z Fold 6. Many of these look familiar, sure, but Samsung copying Apple copying Samsung copying other smaller companies is a tired, old tale. Our hosts Cherlynn Low and Sam Rutherford dig into all the highlights from Samsung’s event in Paris this week, as well as some other news in streaming services.Samsung’s Unpacked in Paris unveiled a ton of new tech – 1:12The Galaxy Ring: finally, a proper launch – 6:07 Galaxy Watch Ultra: Eerily similar to Apple’s – 16:16 Galaxy Buds 3, now with an AirPod-like stick – 22:22Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Z Fold 6: very welcome refresh – 27:47 Xbox to offer cloud gaming on certain Amazon Fire TV sticks – 48:29Paramount+ will stay intact…for now – 51:18Apple Blog TUAW comes back as an AI content farm – 56:00 Working on – 1:00:18 Pop culture picks – 1:01:20

Motorola is still trying to reclaim the glory of its original Razr phone with its latest foldables. The new Razr and Razr+ are more stylish than the previous models, and at $700 and $1,000 respectively, they're surprisingly affordable for devices with massive folding OLED screens. In other news, we chat about Wikileaks' founder Julian Assange being freed from prison, Rabbit's massive security hole in the R1 AI gadget, and a horrific Sora AI commercial from Toys "R" Us.Moto Razr and Razr+ first look: stylish and (somewhat) affordable – 0:51 Samsung announces its second Unpacked of the year will be in Paris – 13:14 Expect a bunch of new hardware at August’s Made by Google event – 19:56 Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is free – 24:38 U.S. Supreme Court rules the government can ask social platforms to take down posts – 31:22 Rabbit R1 modder group discovers massive security holes – 36:11 Uber blames NYC law for locking drivers out of its app, more cities could come soon – 39:22 Toys “R” Us released a creepy ad using OpenAI’s Sora video tool – 44:43 Working on – 49:15 Pop culture picks – 51:24

It's been a quiet week of news, but we've been feverishly testing Microsoft's new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop Copilot+ AI PCs. In this episode, Devindra and Sam will answer your questions about Microsoft’s new hardware, and we'll deliver some of our first impressions. It turns out Microsoft may have finally gotten Windows on Arm support right! And some of the Copilot+ AI features are actually useful, surprisingly enough. But we'll have to wait a few months to test out the controversial Recall feature, which was pulled from the Copilot+ launch. Dev and Sam’s first thoughts and an AMA on the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop Copilot+ AI PCs – 1:05News from Nintendo direct: New Zelda, Mario, and finally, Metroid Prime 4 – 25:46Former OpenAI chief scientist launches Safe Superintelligence, inc – 35:02 Wired report: AI search engine Perplexity is ignoring robots.txt guidelines – 37:36 Listener question: What do you do with 8 gig fiber home internet? – 41:08 Working on – 46:51 Pop culture picks – 48:09

This week has felt like a month worth of news, now that we've wrapped up Apple's WWDC 2024 and Summer Game Fest in LA. In this episode, Cherlynn and Devindra discuss their final thoughts on Apple Intelligence and the company's upcoming software, and they chat about some of our coverage highlights from the pseudo-E3 Game Fest. Also, we dive into X making likes private (what is Elon hiding?!) and the news around Sony buying the Alamo Drafthouse theater chain.Our final thoughts on WWDC 2024 – 1:31Bloomberg Report: Apple isn't paying OpenAI a fee for ChatGPT, but will share profits – 12:18Summer Games Fest highlights: Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, LEGO Horizon Adventures, and an Assassin’s Creed finally set in Japan – 25:06X makes users’ likes private – 40:27 ChromeOS will soon run on Android frameworks, enabling more AI on upcoming Chromebooks – 44:40Pop culture picks – 49:44