Uncanny Valley | WIRED

At its flagship phone event this week in San Francisco, Samsung announced not one but four different versions of the new Galaxy S10: A phone with a 6.1-inch display, a plus-sized model, a “less expensive” version of the phone, and a handset that will support 5G networks when it ships. But the most interesting part of the launch was undeniably Samsung’s reveal of its new foldable phone, the Galaxy Fold. It wasn’t the very first time this phone was shown off, but this time around Samsung showed a demo, shared a ship date, and announced that it would cost a whopping $1980. How will a foldable phone fit into our lives? How does any super-expensive smartphone fit into our lives (and our budgets) these days? These are a couple of the questions we had for Axios chief tech correspondent Ina Fried, who has tracked the mobile industry for more than a decade and who joined us on this week’s Gadget Lab podcast. Ina brought nearly half a dozen phone models with her to compare to the new Samsung wares, and, even though it was visual demonstration on an audio podcast, you’re not going to want to miss this. Show notes: You can read all about Samsung’s new phones here, along with all of the other hardware Samsung announced this week. Here’s Brian Barrett’s story on the folding phone. If you’ve already made up your mind to order one of the new Galaxy S10 phones, here’s how to do it. Recommendations: Ina recommends seeing The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, as well as the third and final installment in the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy. Arielle recommends the astrology app Co-Star, especially if you’ve deleted Facebook and are having trouble keeping track of birthdays. Lauren recommends Purple Carrot, a vegan-friendly meal-kit service. Send the Gadget Lab hosts feedback on their personal Twitter feeds. Arielle Pardes can be found at @pardesoteric. Lauren Goode is @laurengoode. Michael Calore can be found at @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. Our theme song is by Solar Keys. How to Listen You can always listen to this week’s podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get every episode, here’s how: If you’re on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts, or just tap this link. You can also download an app like Overcast or Pocket Casts, and search for Gadget Lab. And in case you really need it, here’s the RSS feed. If you use Android, you can find us in the Google Play Music app just by tapping here. You can also download an app like Pocket Casts or Radio Public, and search for Gadget Lab. And in case you really need it, here’s the RSS feed. We’re also Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Product designer and internet native Chris Messina was lucky enough to snag the username @chris on Instagram back when Instagram was known as Burbn, and, like all of his early usernames, it became a part of his digital identity. But having an OG username has exposed him to hacks, scams, and generally shady online exchanges. It has also lead him down the path of more existential questions about life online––like, is the internet still fun? On this week’s Gadget Lab podcast we talk to Chris about the biggest offer he’s ever been made for his name, ephemerality in apps, and what the future of social media looks like once the concept of “following” goes away. Also covered in this episode of the Gadget Lab podcast, which was taped on Valentine’s Day: Amazon’s big break up with New York City. After a months-long search for “HQ2” that ended in an eventual commitment to build out corporate offices in Long Island City, Queens, Amazon has now backed out of the deal. While not everyone is happy about Amazon’s retreat, there were also plenty of good reasons for the resistance to the deal. Show notes: You can read WIRED’s story about Amazon backing out of New York City here. Say goodbye to NASA’s Mars Opportunity rover here. And if you want to see what Chris has been up to, follow the hashtag #Noyoucanthavemyusername on Twitter. Recommendations: Chris Messina recommends Otter.ai. Arielle Pardes recommends the Tokimeki unfollow tool. Lauren Goode recommends Becoming, by Michelle Obama. Mike Calore recommends Nanban, by Tim Anderson. Send the Gadget Lab hosts feedback on their personal Twitter feeds. Arielle Pardes can be found at @pardesoteric. Lauren Goode is @laurengoode. Michael Calore can be found at @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. Our theme song is by Solar Keys. How to Listen You can always listen to this week’s podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get every episode, here’s how: If you’re on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts, or just tap this link. You can also download an app like Overcast or Pocket Casts, and search for Gadget Lab. And in case you really need it, here’s the RSS feed. If you use Android, you can find us in the Google Play Music app just by tapping here. You can also download an app like Pocket Casts or Radio Public, and search for Gadget Lab. And in case you really need it, here’s the RSS feed. We’re also on Soundcloud, and every episode gets posted to wired.com as soon as it’s released. If you still can’t figur Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Move fast and break app store rules: That very well may have been Facebook’s motto for awhile now, only, we’re just learning about it this week. After TechCrunch reported that Facebook was sidestepping Apple’s rules for enterprise apps and distributing a market research app to iOS users as young as 13 years old, Apple temporarily removed Facebook’s internal apps from its enterprise app program. Facebook wasn’t the only guilty party: Google also had its wrist slapped by Apple this week, for a sneaky app of its own. The big question is what happens next, and whether this will only escalate growing tensions between Apple and Facebook, two massive tech companies that monetize their user bases in fundamentally different ways. Also on this week’s Gadget Lab podcast: WIRED’s transportation editor Alex Davies joins us to talk about Tesla earnings and its preparation for the production of the Model Y. Show notes: You can read WIRED’s coverage of the app smackdown here and here. And here’s Alex Davies’ story on the Tesla Model Y. Recommendations: Arielle recommends these funky new Casper smart lights for your bedside. Lauren pre-recommends Maid, a book by Stephanie Land (pre-recommends because she hasn’t finished the book yet.) Mike recommends the TV series Lodge 49, a comedic drama that will shatter any illusions you still had about a decent, post-recession, middle-class existence. Send the Gadget Lab hosts feedback on their personal Twitter feeds. Arielle Pardes can be found at @pardesoteric. Lauren Goode is @laurengoode. Michael Calore can be found at @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. Our theme song is by Solar Keys. How to Listen You can always listen to this week’s podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get every episode, here’s how: If you’re on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts, or just tap this link. You can also download an app like Overcast or Pocket Casts, and search for Gadget Lab. And in case you really need it, here’s the RSS feed. If you use Android, you can find us in the Google Play Music app just by tapping here. You can also download an app like Pocket Casts or Radio Public, and search for Gadget Lab. And in case you really need it, here’s the RSS feed. We’re also on Soundcloud, and every episode gets posted to wired.com as soon as it’s released. If you still can’t figure it out, or there’s another platform you use that we’re not on, let us know. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Kids are particularly terrible for robots. At least, that’s what researchers in Japan discovered when they let a robot roam around a shopping center in Osaka in 2015. A group of kids antagonized the robot, forcing the researchers to program an algorithm that would give the bot the agency to evade abuse. That’s just one example of challenging social interactions between humans and robots, and one that technologists have almost certainly considered when building and designing delivery bots. Including the folks at Amazon: This week, the e-commerce behemoth dropped a web page for Scout, its new delivery robot. For now, Scout’s impact is small. The six-wheeled delivery bot is only piloting in Snohomish County, Washington, and only with Prime customers who request short-term delivery. But anything Amazon does has the potential to fundamentally disrupt shipping (not to mention a whole slew of eager startups that have been building their own automated delivery solutions). On this week’s Gadget Lab podcast, WIRED’s Arielle Pardes and Matt Simon deconstruct Scout and talk about the inevitable challenges that arise when you let a robot roam the sidewalks alongside humans and animals. Show notes: You can read Arielle and Matt’s excellent story here. Also: Smartphones are getting weird in 2019. Real weird. Recommendations: Three out of four dentists (or Gadget Lab podcasters) recommend reading books this week. Matt Simon recommends Darkness: A Cultural History. Arielle recommends Valley of Genius. Mike recommends Recomendo, which is quite fitting. Lauren is slacking off from reading this week and recommends using the Google Home Hub as part of your nighttime routine. Don’t worry, it doesn’t have a camera. Send the Gadget Lab hosts feedback on their personal Twitter feeds. Arielle Pardes can be found at @pardesoteric. Lauren Goode is @laurengoode. Michael Calore can be found at @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. Our theme song is by Solar Keys. How to Listen You can always listen to this week’s podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get every episode, here’s how: If you’re on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts, or just tap this link. You can also download an app like Overcast or Pocket Casts, and search for Gadget Lab. And in case you really need it, here’s the RSS feed. If you use Android, you can find us in the Google Play Music app just by tapping here. You can also download an app like Pocket Casts or Radio Public, and search for Gadget Lab. And in case you really need it, here’s the RSS feed. We’re also on Soundcloud, and every episode gets posted to wir Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Self-lacing sneakers have been the dream since Marty McFly first rocked Nike MAGs in 1989, but most attempts at turning shoe leather into smart sneakers have been expensive, produced in small batches, and frankly, a little gimmicky. Until now: Earlier this week, Nike revealed Adapt BB, the company’s latest self-lacing basketball shoe. And these actually seem … smart. WIRED’s Peter Rubin joins the Gadget Lab podcast this week to talk about what it’s like to wear the new kicks, and describes all of the tech that goes into them. At $350, the Adapt BB’s are a little more accessible than previous iterations, though as Peter points out, they’re likely to be worn by professional athletes and Nike-backed college teams to start. Also on this week’s podcast: WIRED’s Nitasha Tiku talks about a group of Googlers who have launched a public awareness campaign about mandatory arbitration agreements, arguing that employers use them to suppress workers facing harassment and discrimination. Show notes: Peter’s story on Nike’s Adapt BB is here. Read all about mandatory arbitration at tech companies here. Worried about the latest data breach? Check and see if you’ve been hacked. Wish Google would make a legitimately sporty smartwatch to compete with Apple Watch? You might be in luck. Recommendations: Peter recommends watching Detroiters, on Comedy Central. Lauren recommends Fyre Fraud, on Hulu. Mike recommends watching the 1995 film Before Sunrise. Clearly, “watching gluttonous amounts of streaming media” is on our collective list of 2019 resolutions. Send the Gadget Lab hosts feedback on their personal Twitter feeds. Arielle Pardes can be found at @pardesoteric. Lauren Goode is @laurengoode. Michael Calore can be found at @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. Our theme song is by Solar Keys. How to Listen You can always listen to this week’s podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get every episode, here’s how: If you’re on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts, or just tap this link. You can also download an app like Overcast or Pocket Casts, and search for Gadget Lab. And in case you really need it, here’s the RSS feed. If you use Android, you can find us in the Google Play Music app just by tapping here. You can also download an app like Pocket Casts or Radio Public, and search for Gadget Lab. And in case you really need it, here’s the RSS feed. We’re also on Soundcloud, and every episode gets posted to wired.c Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

We came. We saw. We touched a lot of gadgets. This week was the annual CES, one of the world’s largest consumer electronics show, and WIRED’s team was on the ground covering all of the top tech trends to emerge from the show. In this week’s episode of the Gadget Lab podcast, Mike, Arielle, and Lauren talk about CES’s big security #fail, what all of these connected gadgets mean for the future of healthcare, and robots. Lots of robots. Later in the episode, Arielle talks to Jen Wong, the chief operating officer of Reddit, about the company’s “growing up” moment and how it plans to monetize its users. Show notes: Check out our best of CES list when you’ve finished listening to the pod. Our CES reporting goes beyond gadgets, as well: We have stories on how insidious logging your child’s data has become, why you should ignore the 5G hype (for now), and how women’s sexuality is apparently still taboo at CES. Recommendations this week: Arielle recommends getting a Yubikey for all your 2FA needs; Mike recommends the Mui wooden smart home panel (when it ships); Lauren recommends checking out Google Assistant on Sonos, and, if you happen to be a hotel concierge, looking into Google’s new Interpreter Mode. Send the Gadget Lab hosts feedback on their personal Twitter feeds. Arielle Pardes can be found at @pardesoteric. Lauren Goode is @laurengoode. Michael Calore can be found at @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. Our theme song is by Solar Keys. How to Listen You can always listen to this week’s podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get every episode, here’s how: If you’re on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts, or just tap this link. You can also download an app like Overcast or Pocket Casts, and search for Gadget Lab. And in case you really need it, here’s the RSS feed. If you use Android, you can find us in the Google Play Music app just by tapping here. You can also download an app like Pocket Casts or Radio Public, and search for Gadget Lab. And in case you really need it, here’s the RSS feed. We’re also on Soundcloud, and every episode gets posted to wired.com as soon as it’s released. If you still can’t figure it out, or there’s another platform you use that we’re not on, let us know. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

If you had to sum up the year in tech in one word, what word would you choose? That’s what we at the Gadget Lab asked ourselves as we looked to somehow recap a year’s worth of tech-related drama in approximately 45 minutes. 2018 was the year that we learned about Cambridge Analytica; that social media’s role in the 2016 U.S. election came into sharper focus; that top tech executives were put in the Congressional hot seat; and that tech workers spoke out about everything from brutal work environments to how their firms’ technologies were being used by government agencies. At the same time, 2018 was also a year of remarkable advancements in artificial intelligence, space exploration, and even the future of transport. And at the very least, our increasing awareness of some of the tech industry’s practices could lead us to a place in the new year where we’re making better decisions about what’s good and what’s not-so-good for us tech-consuming mortals. That’s what we’re telling ourselves, anyway. Also on this week’s podcast, Lauren talks to Brynn Putnam, the founder and CEO of Mirror, a new digital health-and-fitness company that live streams workout classes through a mirror in your living room. The future of fitness has arrived, and we are never leaving our homes. Show notes: For a rundown of just some of the Facebook scandals that have happened this year, check out Issie Lapowsky’s story. And here’s Lauren’s story about new interactive fitness systems, including Mirror. Recommendations this week: Arielle recommends reading Charles Duhigg’s story about anger in the latest issue of The Atlantic. Mike recommends a podcast from Malcolm Gladwell called “Broken Record.” Lauren recommends taking advantage of the “screen time” dashboards on your smartphone, getting a sense of how much time you’re spending on non-essential tasks, and then really, truly, seriously guys, putting down your phone more in the new year. Send the Gadget Lab hosts feedback on their personal Twitter feeds. Arielle Pardes can be found at @pardesoteric. Lauren Goode is @laurengoode. Michael Calore can be found at @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. Our theme song is by Solar Keys. How to Listen You can always listen to this week’s podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get every episode, here’s how: If you’re on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts, or just tap this link. You can also download an app like Overcast or Pocket Casts, and search for Gadget Lab. And in case you really need it, here’s the RSS feed. If you use Android, you can find us in the Google Play Music app just by tapping here. You can also download an app like Pocket Casts or Radio Public, and search for Gadget Lab. And in case you really need it, here’s the RSS feed. We’re also on Soundcloud, and every episode gets Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Most people, at this point, believe that climate change is a real thing that will harm future generations of humans. And yet, a cognitive dissonance exists around that knowledge and our sense of responsibility: A much smaller percentage of people believe that climate change is impacting them personally, according to Yale’s climate survey program. It is indeed impacting humans right now, with clear and compelling evidence that the global average temperature is much higher than anything modern society has experienced. And that has lead us to a whole host of issues, some of which WIRED writer Adam Rogers discusses with the Gadget Lab team on this week’s podcast. So what can we humans do to fix things – and how much of it can actually be fixed by personal actions, versus widespread policy? How much does our own consumption of tech add to the problem? We ask Adam these questions and more. Show notes: You can find some of Adam’s recent work here and here. Issie Lapowsky covered Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s trip to Washington this week. Brian Barrett has the scoop on Intel’s new chip packaging technology. And what would we do without Elon Musk? Recommendations this week: Adam recommends “Typeset in the Future” by Dave Addey, about the typefaces and UIUX in classic science fiction movies. It’s all about the Eurostile Bold Extended. Mike recommends a game called Goat Simulator. Really, you should try it. Arielle recommends Moleskin’s extremely satisfying to-do app on iOS, called Actions, as well as Adam’s book “Proof: The Science of Booze.” Lauren recommends “Swell,” a book by Liz Clark about her post-college voyage sailing through and around Southern California, Central America, and the Pacific Islands, on a forty-foot sailboat named Swell. Send the Gadget Lab hosts feedback on their personal Twitter feeds. Arielle Pardes can be found at @pardesoteric. Lauren Goode is @laurengoode. Michael Calore can be found at @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. Our theme song is by Solar Keys. How to Listen You can always listen to this week’s podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get every episode, here’s how: If you’re on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts, or just tap this link. You can also download an app like Overcast or Pocket Casts, and search Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices