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Parental Advisory: We may ruin Santa for your children again. It's our last podcast episode before the Christmas holiday. Flo is surprised over how much time she spends running the heater, and Andy is excited to automate all the things. After the first ad, we'll talk about former Google bard, Claire Stapleton's first-person account of why she was ousted from the company, published in Elle this week. We'll also discuss why parts of eastern Europe, Iran, and Turkey lost access to Google for half an hour, and we'll explore what the Assistant has to say about Santa. This episode of Material is sponsored by: Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code MATERIAL at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase. Pingdom: Start monitoring your website performance and availability today, and get instant alerts when an outage occurs or a site transaction fails. Use offer code MATERIAL to get 30% off. Offer expires on June 30, 2020. Linode: High-performance SSD Linux servers for all of your infrastructure needs. Get a $20 credit. Links and Show Notes: ~ 30:15: Google Loved Me Until I Pointed Out Everything That Sucked About It ~ 51:00: Parts of eastern Europe, Iran, and Turkey lose access to Google for a half an hour Hey, Google...that wasn’t for you Google rolls out a final update for Google Glass Explorer Edition Support Material with a Relay FM Membership

Content warning before you dive into this episode: we may end up spoiling Santa Claus if your little ones are in attendance. Flo tosses in her digression card early on in the show, while Andy steers us back on track with why it's so hard to commit to one app in this day and age. After the first break, the two discuss the Department of Justice's probe into Google's FitBit acquisition and why it seems to be a bigger deal than everything else involving digital data. We'll profile biologist Frances Arnold, who recently joined Alphabet's Board of Directors, and we'll run down the new features of the latest Pixel Feature Drop. We'll also update you on a few new features coming to the Google Assistant. This episode of Material is sponsored by: Pingdom: Start monitoring your website performance and availability today, and get instant alerts when an outage occurs or a site transaction fails. Use offer code MATERIAL to get 30% off. Offer expires on June 30, 2020. Linode: High performance SSD Linux servers for all of your infrastructure needs. Get a $20 credit. Ahrefs: SEO Tools & Resources To Grow Your Search Traffic. Get a 7-day trial for just $7. Links and Show Notes: ~ 27:30: Google's Fitbit Deal Reportedly to Be Scrutinized By DOJ Antitrust Office Biologist Frances Arnold joins Alphabet’s board of directors ~ 51:20: First of the new regular “Pixel feature drops” drops ~ 1:09:30: Google Assistant gets new custom alarm features Magenta Project on Tensor Flow Google Assistant gets a big note-taking revamp, with support for several apps Support Material with a Relay FM Membership

Andy gets his thoughts out about Google's casting abilities. Then, we talk about Larry and Sergey's hand-off of the company keys to Sundar Pichai and why it's not entirely surprising after all this time. We'll also update you on the status of the Thanksgiving Four before pointing you to a revealing interview with YouTube's Susan Wojcicki. We'll end off the episode on a high note, discussing the Google Play Store's "Best of 2019" list. This episode of Material is sponsored by: Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code MATERIAL at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase. ExpressVPN: High-Speed, Secure & Anonymous VPN Service. Get three months free with a 1-year package. Ahrefs: SEO Tools & Resources To Grow Your Search Traffic. Get a 7-day trial for just $7. Links and Show Notes: ~ 29:00: A Letter from Larry and Sergey Sundar Pichai just got the worst job in Silicon Valley ~ 51:00: Four employees fired by Google file Unfair Labor Practice charges against the company Susan Wojcicki's 60 Minutes interview ~ 1:08:30: Google Play's Best of 2019 Support Material with a Relay FM Membership

Let Andy and Flo carry you into the holiday week (if you're in the United States) with musings about their favorite holiday traditions. Then, we'll discuss how Google could set a precedent for Silicon Valley by allowing its workers to unionize and why the company has taken an interest in a new coalition to construct a nine-point "Contract For The Web." We'll also touch upon the messy Stadia launch, the tease of Ambient Mode for smartphones, and why you absolutely should not buy out a retailer's leftover stock of cheap Chromebooks on Black Friday. This episode of Material is sponsored by: Pingdom: Start monitoring your website performance and availability today, and get instant alerts when an outage occurs or a site transaction fails. Use offer code MATERIAL to get 30% off. Offer expires on June 30, 2020. Linode: High-performance SSD Linux servers for all of your infrastructure needs. Get a $20 credit. Kensington: The Professionals Choice. Find the right docking solutions for your organization today. Links and Show Notes: ~ 29:00: Google accused of union-busting after firing four employees ~ 46:00: Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, EFF and dozens more endorse Berners-Lee’s 9-point "Contract For The Web" Google's Stadia games aren't actually streaming in 4K ~ 1:03:15: Ambient Mode rolling out to users next week Support Material with a Relay FM Membership

Flo and Andy cash in their "off-topic" card earlier on in this week's episode. After the digression, the two discuss why Google is scaling back its weekly all-hands meetings and squeal over Motorola's forthcoming foldable phone option. We'll also regale you with what's on sale at the Google Store for Black Friday, in case you're hoping for a discount on smart speakers and Chrome-based tablets. This episode of Material is sponsored by: Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code MATERIAL at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase. Pingdom: Start monitoring your website performance and availability today, and get instant alerts when an outage occurs or a site transaction fails. Use offer code MATERIAL to get 30% off. Offer expires on June 30, 2020. Kensington: The Professionals Choice. Find the right docking solutions for your organization today. Links and Show Notes: ~ 31:30: Google is scaling back its weekly all-hands meetings after leaks, Sundar Pichai tells staff ~ 51:00: Craving the Motorola Razr ~ 1:08:10: Google's Black Friday sales are almost live Support Material with a Relay FM Membership

Andy and Flo have less than two months in this decade, so they go through all of their accomplishments in the last ten years. (Just kidding, no they don't.) After some catch-up, and a brief discussion on the merits of cooking with butter, the two dive into the implications of Google collecting personal medical data. We wonder out loud if it's time for an amendment to HIPAA now that Silicon Valley wants a piece of the medical pie. We'll also discuss Apple's Phil Schiller and his recent comments on the ineffectiveness of Chromebooks in schools, and we'll point you to Google's latest AI experiment, the FreddieMeter. This episode of Material is sponsored by: ExpressVPN: High-Speed, Secure & Anonymous VPN Service. Get 3 months free with a 1-year package. Pingdom: Start monitoring your website performance and availability today, and get instant alerts when an outage occurs or a site transaction fails. Use offer code MATERIAL to get 30% off. Offer expires on June 30, 2020. Linode: High-performance SSD Linux servers for all of your infrastructure needs. Get a $20 credit. Links and Show Notes: ~ 23:48: Google has collected personal medical data of tens of millions of Americans, and the government is all like WTF ~ 50:30: Phil Schiller said something in a CNET interview that kind of rubbed us the wrong way! ~ 1:15:50: Do you sing like Freddie Mercury (RIP)? Support Material with a Relay FM Membership

Andy and Flo run a little behind posting this week's podcast, but we've got plenty of information to carry you through the weekend. Flo talks about the ease (or relative lack of) of her recent move, before the two dive into the Week of Google Updates. We'll also discuss Google's acquisition of FitBit and why the headlines are taking some of the news a little too far, and we'll throw a little shade towards Bill Gates (it's about time!). This episode of Material is sponsored by: Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code MATERIAL at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase. Pingdom: Start monitoring your website performance and availability today, and get instant alerts when an outage occurs or a site transaction fails. Use offer code MATERIAL to get 30% off. Offer expires on June 30, 2020. Ahrefs: SEO Tools & Resources To Grow Your Search Traffic. Get a 7-day trial for just $7. Links and Show Notes: ~22:20: The Great Week of Google Updates Pixel 1 will receive one final security update in December Android Camera 7.2 rolling out to older Pixels, bringing Pixel UI and many features Big update to ChromeOS available today Improvements to YouTube ~46:30: The Fitbit Update Rick Osterloh speaks to privacy concerns in the official Google blog post 'Tossed my Fitbit in the trash': users fear for privacy after Google buys company Fitbit is doomed: Here's why everything Google buys turns to garbage ~01:03:00: Bill Gates Shenanigans Bill Gates says that if it hadn’t been for the US’ antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft, everybody would be using Windows Mobile today instead of Android Support Material with a Relay FM Membership

Andy is finally living the dream of stereo Google Home Mini nightstands, and Flo would appreciate it if you held back on the fire puns for a while. We'll talk about last week's Google employee town hall, WearOS's eventual resuscitation, and Google's neat Digital Wellbeing experiments. This episode of Material is sponsored by: Pingdom: Start monitoring your website performance and availability today, and get instant alerts when an outage occurs or a site transaction fails. Use offer code MATERIAL to get 30% off. Linode: High-performance SSD Linux servers for all of your infrastructure needs. Get a $20 credit. Kensington: The Professionals Choice. Find the right docking solutions for your organization today. Links and Show Notes: ~ 21:15: Google CEO, in a leaked video, says the company is ‘genuinely struggling’ with employee trust Buzzfeed News also received leaks about last week’s meeting ~ 45:50: Trump immigration shakeup lowers DHS morale (The episode goes deep this week!) ~ 54:35: The Moto 360 smartwatch is back... well, sort of Qualcomm is FINALLY working on a REAL update to the ancient CPU powering almost all previous WearOS watches Google owner Alphabet in bid to buy Fitbit How Google buying Fitbit could be a win-win, even for Fitbit device owners (Correction: Kevin C. Tofel wrote this article for Stacey Higginbotham's website!) ~ 1:12:11: New Google “Digital Wellbeing” experiments include a paper phone Support Material with a Relay FM Membership

It's almost all Pixel 4 talk in this week's episode. Andy and Flo rundown what they like, what they don't like, and what they're still scratching their heads about with Google's new flagship phone. They also discuss why Google employees were riled up in Switzerland, as well as the company's latest Quantum Supremacy computing milestone. This episode of Material is sponsored by: Pingdom: Start monitoring your website performance and availability today, and get instant alerts when an outage occurs or a site transaction fails. Use offer code MATERIAL to get 30% off. Linode: High-performance SSD Linux servers for all of your infrastructure needs. Get a $20 credit. Kensington: The Professionals Choice. Find the right docking solutions for your organization today. Links and Show Notes: ~26:30: 9to5Google's Pixel 4 review roundup Google says it’s working on awareness sense, and it’ll arrive "in the coming months" ~1:03:00: If you want that 90Hz refresh rate on the Pixel 4, turn up the screen brightness ~1:21:00: Google’s attempt to shut down a unionization meeting just riled up its employees ~1:28:29: Google claims “Quantum Supremacy” computing milestone Support Material with a Relay FM Membership

Andy and Flo finally meet each other for the first time, in the flesh, at this week's Made By Google event in New York City. The two talk all about who and what they saw: Martha Stewart, Annie Liebovitz, some new phones, the Pixelbook Go, and a pair of earbuds we won't see until next spring. Take your time diving into this one because it's a whopper of an episode. Flame-grilled and all. This episode of Material is sponsored by: Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code MATERIAL at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase. ExpressVPN: High-Speed, Secure & Anonymous VPN Service. Get 3 months free with a 1-year package. Pingdom: Start monitoring your website performance and availability today, and get instant alerts when an outage occurs or a site transaction fails. Use offer code MATERIAL to get 30% off. Links and Show Notes: Annie Leibovitz unveils photo series with Google Pixel ~ 23:00: Google Event Preamble ~ 44:00: What we thought about Pixel Buds, Pixelbook Go, Nest Home Mini, Nest WiFi, and Google's commitment to ecofriendliness ~ 1:08:00: Andy and Flo dive into their Pixel 4 review units Support Material with a Relay FM Membership