The Big Tech Show

Stuck for a Christmas tech gift idea? Thinking about something fitness-related? Or headphones? Or just a stocking filler?We’ve got you covered. From gifts for high rollers to penny-pinchers, Adrian is joined by Mark Kavanagh, tech writer for Irish Daily Star and IrishMirror.ieSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last week, Star Trek fans were given the bad news that its Star Trek Discovery series is being removed from Netflix, with all past and future episodes only available on yet another streaming platform -- Paramount Plus.Will we just accept this and subscribe to yet another platform? Or are we reaching overload?This week, Adrian calculates that his monthly TV streaming outlay is now €62, rising to €142 when Sky and Sky Go are included.But are Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV Plus and all the rest just the beginning? And what are the streaming platforms doing to television and movies?To discuss it, Adrian is joined by Steve McCormack, Reflektor Media CEO and a producer on TV shows such as Fade Street, Screen Producers Ireland’s Anthony Muldoon and journalist Jennifer Gannon.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How old do you need to be to start a tech company that investors will take seriously? 25? 23? 20?Today we talk to a couple of young Irish tech founders who are making waves at a very young age. Greg Tarr is 18 and the CEO and founder of an artificial intelligence firm called Inferex. Having won this year’s BT Young Scientist competition, Tarr received six-figure job offers and dropped out of secondary school. He is now skipping college (because it’s “a waste of time”) to focus on his firm, which has already raised €1.25m.Adrian also speaks to Sean Finnegan, who is 20 and is currently raising money for his e-receipt software company, Receipt Relay.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s 20 years into the future. Robots are cleaning our beaches and rivers.Advanced technology lets us mine asteroids and collect materials on the moon. And while tech trillionaires enjoy the greatest concentration of wealth in human history, advanced countries now give a universal basic income to all citizens, eliminating poverty and allowing people to focus more on jobs they’d much prefer to do. Sound like a fantasy? Not to our guest this week, the futurist Brett King.Together with Dr Richard Petty, he has written a new book called The Rise Of Techno Socialism — How Inequality, AI and Climate will usher in a new world.He tells Adrian about what he thinks will happen in the coming years, and why.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are you struggling to find a Playstation 5? Or dismayed at month-long waiting lists for an iPhone 13 Pro? Or may your car dealer says you can’t change to a new model until next year because they can’t get any?All of these shortages have one thing in common: a supply chain crisis in computer chips.But in this high-tech world, how can this be happening? What’s behind it? And will it get better any time soon?To discuss answers to these questions, Adrian is joined by consumer journalist Siobhan Maguire and motoring journalist Geraldine Herbert.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Imagine you’re peckish. There’s nothing in the fridge but it’s lashing outside — you don’t want to go the supermarket, and ordering your regular takeout will take ages.Now imagine a different scenario: you order a takeout and it arrives in 10 minutes. Why? Because it skipped the roads and came instead by drone.That’s an option that the residents of Oranmore in Galway, Moneygall in Offaly and, from next week, Balbriggan in County, will have had. Because Irish company Manna Aero has been delivering coffee, fast food, medicine and other things with drones in under 10 minutes to those communities.The company says it wants to expand to dozens of towns by the end of next year.Is this the future? Is it safe? Will it be allowed to go national and maybe international?Joining Adrian this week from the Web Summit in Lisbon to discuss this is Manna Aero founder and CEO Bobby Healy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As warnings of energy blackouts this winter emerge, there are questions being asked about the value of data centres to Ireland. Are they energy hogs? Do they hold their own as worthwhile businesses? And what should our policy be going forward?With over 70 major data centres located in Ireland, some political parties are calling for a moratorium on new data centres. But is this a weak admission that we can’t set up our own modern electricity grid correctly?Joining Adrian to discuss this issue this week is Social Democrats TD and spokesperson on climate, Jennifer Whitmore, the founder of Host In Ireland, Garry Connolly, and the Irish Independent’s environment editor, Caroline O’Doherty.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Will we all switch over to a new, more integrated virtual reality to socialise, play, work and shop?That's what Mark Zuckerberg thinks is going to happen. He and Facebook are now about to start building this 'metaverse', partly in Ireland.How will it benefit our lives? How might it hurt our lives?To dig deeper into what the metaverse will and won't be, Adrian is joined by Bloomberg's technology editor Nate Lanxton and TCD professor Eoin O'Dell. The panel take a look at how the metaverse will work and what the privacy and regulatory implications might be.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian looks at whether China's ban on cryptocurrency will scupper the prospects of Bitcoin, which has been soaring in value in recent years. He is joined by James Nagle, CEO of the Irish cryptocurrency-trading firm, Bitcove. James doesn't think a reciprocal ban is likely in the US or the EU, but says that there are some concerns over the energy consumption that Bitcoin-mining takes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian is joined by technology journalist Andy O'Donoghue to discuss Facebook's new smart glasses, called Ray-ban Stories. Adrian realtyes his experience using the glasses, which can record 30-second video clips and take photos without people clearly being aware that they are doing so. Andy likes the idea of smart glasses in general and thinks they're here to stay.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.