The Engadget Podcast

Microsoft made some unusually major moves ahead of its Build developer conference: It announced a new Copilot+ initiative for powerful AI PCs, which will be led by the new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop. These machines are powered by Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X Plus and Elite chips, and they come with a special version of Windows 11 optimized for Arm mobile chips and AI. Basically, Microsoft is doing for PCs what Apple did with its M-series Macs four years ago. In this bonus episode, Devindra chats with Pavan Davuluri, Microsoft's head of Windows and Devices, about the new Surface devices and the Copilot+ PC initiative. We still don't know how well these new machines will perform, but it sounds like Microsoft has certainly heard our complaints about Arm-based Windows devices.

We've spent some time with the iPad Pro M4 and new iPad Air... and the iPad Pro is still a bit too pricey for us. This week, Cherlynn and Devindra chat with Engadget Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham about his reviews and why he still prefers the iPad Air. Also, we wrap up Google I/O 2024 with a Project Astra hands on, and we chat about Apple bringing eye tracking to iPhones and iPads as an accessibility feature.Nate Ingraham reviews the iPad Pro M4 and iPad Air: Powerful, but pricy – 1:11 Google I/O news wrap up – 20:11 OpenAI’s new GPT-4o can talk, sing, and sounds a little flirty – 28:36Intel brings back the days of FireWire data transfer with Thunderbolt Share – 31:43New accessibility features from Apple: eye tracking and expanded wake word options – 35:48Biden administration quadruples tariffs on Chinese EVs (along with solar and other hardware) – 43:20 Listener Mailbag: The age old question of what to do with your old tech – 55:48 Working on – 1:01:32 Pop culture picks – 1:05:45

We just wrapped up coverage on Google's I/O 2024 keynote, and we're just so tired of hearing about AI. In this bonus episode, Cherlynn and Devindra dive into the biggest I/O news: Google's intriguing Project Astra AI assistant; new models for creating video and images; and some improvements to Gemini AI. While some of the announcements seem potentially useful, it's still tough to tell if the move towards AI will actually help consumers, or if Google is just fighting to stay ahead of OpenAI.

Hulu's "Black Twitter: A People's History" documents the rise and impact of one of social media's most influential subcultures. The series, directed by TV writer Prentice Penny, is a reminder of the power of Twitter before its Musk-ified downfall, and a necessary cultural document. They say Twitter isn't real life, but Black Twitter proved otherwise. In this bonus episode, Devindra chats with Prentice about adapting the Wired article, "A People's History of Black Twitter," his own favorite social media memories, and where the legacy of Black Twitter will go from here.

As rumors foretold, Apple has revamped the iPad Pro with an M4 chip, tandem OLED screen and a thinner case. There's also a new Magic Keyboard that should deliver a more MacBook-like typing experience! In this week's episode, Cherlynn and Devindra discuss how Apple is shining a new light on tablets (which also includes the new iPad Air models) and reworking its vision of mobile computing. Does anyone really need the iPad Pro today? And could it be more compelling if iPadOS improves its multitasking capabilities?New iPad Pro with OLED and M4 processor, iPad Air and Apple Pencil announced at ‘Let Loose’ event – 1:04 Google announces Pixel 8a with 120Hz OLED screen and AI capability – 20:50What the heck happed with Helldivers 2? – 28:31Microsoft shuts down Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin – 34:10Hades 2 early access is out now – 42:01Around Engadget: Steve Dent reviews Fujifilm X100 VI – 45:39Working on – 48:38 Pop culture picks – 52:08

The Rabbit R1 is finally here, and it's yet another useless AI gadget. Sure, at $199 with no monthly fee, it's a lot cheaper than the $699 Humane AI Pin. But the R1 is slow, hard to use, and doesn't actually do much. The much-promised "Large Action Model" mostly powers things you can easily do on your phone. In this episode, Devindra and Engadget's Sam Rutherford chat with CNET's Lisa Eadacicco about the Rabbit R1 and whether AI devices are necessary at all. Just like cameras, the best AI device is the one you always have with you: your smartphone.Rabbit R1 review: appealing design, underwhelming performance – 0:49Tesla lays off Supercharger development team leaving future of the network unclear – 25:28FCC fines U.S. wireless carriers $200m for selling customer location data – 30:05 Razer will refund all Zephyr mask purchases over false N95 filtering claims – 32:52 Drake deletes track featuring an AI clone of Tupac Shakur’s voice – 35:16Working on – 36:23Pop culture picks – 40:18

After months of anticipation, President Biden finally signed the TikTok divestment into law this week. It will force ByteDance to either sell TikTok to another company within a year, or see the app banned from US app stores. Is this a wise move to rid control of the social app from the Chinese government, or is it government overreach before TikTok has done anything wrong? Engadget Senior Editor Karissa Bell joins Cherlynn and Devindra to dive into what's next for TikTok. The US TikTok ban is signed into law, what happens now? – 0:57Devindra and Cherlynn’s take on whether bad product reviews hurt tech companies – 20:42Meta opening QuestOS to third party hardware developers – 31:39Apple ‘Let Loose’ virtual event scheduled for May 5 – 33:48Leading AI companies pledge to keep kids safe (though harm is already evident) – 41:48Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses add multimodal AI – 43:58X is allegedly working on a smart TV app – 47:01Working on – 48:02Pop culture picks – 56:29

The latest batch of rumors make it pretty clear that a PlayStation 5 Pro is coming this year, but will anyone really care about slightly better 4K graphics? This week, Engadget Senior Editor Jessica Conditt joins Cherlynn and Devindra to chat about the PS5 Pro, as well as her piece on the PlayDate two years after its release. You could say the Playdate is pretty much the opposite of another expensive high-end console. In other news, we discuss the death of Boston Dynamic's hydraulic Atlas robot, and the birth of an all-new digital model. We also chat about the abrupt closure of Possibility Space, an ambitious indie game studio.Jess Conditt on Playstation 5 Pro rumors – 0:48Jess’ thoughts on Panic’s innovative handheld, the Playdate, 2 years later – 14:24Indie game studio Possibility Space announces closure, CEO blames media leaks – 27:29Other News: Boston Dynamics unveils new, all electric Atlas robot – 35:39Menteebot is a human-sized, GPT-powered robot you can command with natural language – 39:52NASA confirms Florida man’s house was hit by space junk – 44:06Sony (finally) changes its confusing product names – 46:05Working on – 50:35Pop culture picks – 56:35

Humane’s hyped up AI Pin is finally here and, unfortunately, it stinks. This week, Cherlynn and Devindra are joined by Michael Fisher (AKA MrMobile) and Wired Reviews Editor Julian Chokkattu to chat about the AI Pin and the many ways it fails. It’s often inaccurate, it takes crummy photos, and it gets way too hot. Not so great for something you’re supposed to wear all day! Is there any hope for AI-dependent gadgets? Also, Washington Post columnist Christopher Velazco joins to discuss Apple’s approval of used iPhone components for repairs. Too much heat, too few features: Humane’s AI pin doesn’t live up to the hype – 1:09Other News: Apple will allow devices to be repaired with secondhand parts soon – 44:08 Google’s Next 24 event announces AI video generation tool, ARM-based CPU for data centers, and Google Photos tools for all subscribers – 53:10 Working on – 1:00:59 Pop culture picks – 1:05:40

Google has gone from being the go-to search engine to something people are paying to avoid entirely. This week, Cherlynn and Devindra chat with 404 Media co-founder Jason Koebler about his experience moving away from Google and towards Kagi, a $10 a month search engine without ads or data tracking. Funny enough, Kagi is still relying on Google’s index, so it’s a lot like using that site before the onslaught of ads, sponsored posts and AI results. Also, we discuss the company’s lies around Chrome’s incognito mode, as well as the news that it would be deleting user data collected in that mode.Why Jason Koebler moved from Google to Kagi's paid search engine – 0:45Google says it will destroy data collected from users using Incognito mode – 15:01Gurman report: Apple is working on personal home robots – 24:55Amazon just walked out on its self check-out tech – 30:43FCC set to vote to restore Net Neutrality – 43:00Apple adds Spatial Personas to make the Vision Pro experience less lonely – 45:09Proposed California state law would give tech workers the “right to disconnect” – 47:17Tekken director responds to fighting game fans’ request for a Waffle House stage – 49:57Around Engadget – 51:22Working on – 54:31Pop culture picks – 59:13