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Material

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Material is a weekly discussion about the Google and Android universe. Your intrepid hosts try to answer the question, “What holds up the digital world?” The answer, so far, is that it’s Google all the way down. Hosted by Andy Ihnatko and Florence Ion.

Episodes

431: There Is No Alternative

Apple spills the beans under oath about why Google is its default search engine the same week that Google dumps another body in the graveyard. Bard AI is caught leaking queries into the ether. And Android 14 will let you use your phone camera as a webcam.

Sep 29, 20231 hr 12 minEp. 431

431: There Is No Alternative

Apple spills the beans under oath about why Google is its default search engine the same week that Google dumps another body in the graveyard. Bard AI is caught leaking queries into the ether. And Android 14 will let you use your phone camera as a webcam.

Sep 29, 20231 hr 12 minEp. 431

430: All Too Well

Are you ready for Bard to read your emails? Is it Google's fault a man drove off a bridge? Should Google prioritize human-written words over AI-written ones? And why are Taylor Swift fans crashing Google's search engine? Everything has an answer in this week's episode.

Sep 22, 20231 hr 16 minEp. 430

430: All Too Well

Are you ready for Bard to read your emails? Is it Google's fault a man drove off a bridge? Should Google prioritize human-written words over AI-written ones? And why are Taylor Swift fans crashing Google's search engine? Everything has an answer in this week's episode.

Sep 22, 20231 hr 16 minEp. 430

429: People Use Google Because It's Helpful

Google is officially on trial the same week Apple reminds us why some people can't get enough of its walled garden. _Wired_ interviews Sundar Pichai and even gets him to crack a bit.

Sep 14, 20231 hr 17 minEp. 429

429: People Use Google Because It's Helpful

Google is officially on trial the same week Apple reminds us why some people can't get enough of its walled garden. _Wired_ interviews Sundar Pichai and even gets him to crack a bit.

Sep 14, 20231 hr 17 minEp. 429

428: Corporations Aren’t People

Google looks back on 25 years of search, just as it announces it's requiring disclaimers on AI-generation political ads. Also, did Android need a capital A?

Sep 07, 20231 hr 3 minEp. 428

428: Corporations Aren’t People

Google looks back on 25 years of search, just as it announces it's requiring disclaimers on AI-generation political ads. Also, did Android need a capital A?

Sep 07, 20231 hr 3 minEp. 428

427: I’m So Itchy

Andy and Flo are tired, but the show must go on. Google announces the next phase of AI infusion in Workspace. The company also leaked the new Pixel 8 before announcing a launch event in October. The modular Fairphone 5 is excellent but missing what makes everyone buy Apple and Samsung.

Sep 02, 20231 hr 9 minEp. 427

427: I’m So Itchy

Andy and Flo are tired, but the show must go on. Google announces the next phase of AI infusion in Workspace. The company also leaked the new Pixel 8 before announcing a launch event in October. The modular Fairphone 5 is excellent but missing what makes everyone buy Apple and Samsung.

Sep 02, 20231 hr 9 minEp. 427

426: Rhubarbs That Turn Into Donnybrooks

We answer burning questions, like what Google wants with Johnny Cash's likeness and why it ceased development on an AR/VR device with Samsung. Sorry, parents, YouTube _has_ been targeting ads to kids.

Aug 25, 202354 minEp. 426

426: Rhubarbs That Turn Into Donnybrooks

We answer burning questions, like what Google wants with Johnny Cash's likeness and why it ceased development on an AR/VR device with Samsung. Sorry, parents, YouTube _has_ been targeting ads to kids.

Aug 25, 202354 minEp. 426

425: Hump Day

Robo taxis are a menace to society, or at least it seems that way in San Francisco. Flo shares her final thoughts on Samsung and Google's foldables. And Google introduces a batch of new AI tools to help summarize web pages on the fly.

Aug 17, 20231 hr 11 minEp. 425

425: Hump Day

Robo taxis are a menace to society, or at least it seems that way in San Francisco. Flo shares her final thoughts on Samsung and Google's foldables. And Google introduces a batch of new AI tools to help summarize web pages on the fly.

Aug 17, 20231 hr 11 minEp. 425

424: Attention K-Mart Shoppers

Prepare to get more of Johnny Cash singing Europop hits, as Google is working with Universal on deep fake AI-based music. You can listen to it while making Android apps in your browser and sleeping in Google's hotel. The future!

Aug 11, 20231 hr 11 minEp. 424

424: Attention K-Mart Shoppers

Prepare to get more of Johnny Cash singing Europop hits, as Google is working with Universal on deep fake AI-based music. You can listen to it while making Android apps in your browser and sleeping in Google's hotel. The future!

Aug 11, 20231 hr 11 minEp. 424

423: Fold vs. Fold

It's Taco Tuesday, even though we're recording on Wednesday and posting on Thursday: Flo has the Pixel Fold and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 in hand, while Andy leads us in a game of "Is This Thing Google's Doing Evil, Or Not?"

Aug 03, 20231 hr 10 minEp. 423

423: Fold vs. Fold

It's Taco Tuesday, even though we're recording on Wednesday and posting on Thursday: Flo has the Pixel Fold and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 in hand, while Andy leads us in a game of "Is This Thing Google's Doing Evil, Or Not?"

Aug 03, 20231 hr 10 minEp. 423

422: New Winds Ahead

Flo is back! Andy is elated! The two hosts catch up on life over the last nine weeks and discuss the results of Alphabet's latest quarterly earnings. Samsung also puts on a mediocre show for some foldables.

Jul 28, 20231 hr 5 minEp. 422

422: New Winds Ahead

Flo is back! Andy is elated! The two hosts catch up on life over the last nine weeks and discuss the results of Alphabet's latest quarterly earnings. Samsung also puts on a mediocre show for some foldables.

Jul 28, 20231 hr 5 minEp. 422

421: The Me Show

Flo is back next week! So Andy is exploiting this final solo episode to make it all about Him. His frustrations about saving web archives from Chrome. His extended thoughts on Indiana Jones. To his credit, he did throw in some news about Google’s new AR Space Invaders game, just so that this Google podcast doesn’t lose its liquor license. But he still heroically pivots to his own opinions about technology’s responsibilities to move the needle.

Jul 20, 20231 hr 19 minEp. 421

421: The Me Show

Flo is back next week! So Andy is exploiting this final solo episode to make it all about Him. His frustrations about saving web archives from Chrome. His extended thoughts on Indiana Jones. To his credit, he did throw in some news about Google’s new AR Space Invaders game, just so that this Google podcast doesn’t lose its liquor license. But he still heroically pivots to his own opinions about technology’s responsibilities to move the needle.

Jul 20, 20231 hr 19 minEp. 421

420: The Snowball of Trust

Andy’s joined by a special guest this week: Jason Howell, host of All About Android on the This Week In Tech network. We replay the last episode of the first season of “Frasier” before digging into a new rash of civil lawsuits that content creators have filed against Google and other makers of AI language models. And then we talk phones: the Fair, the Nothing, and reviving Andy’s Pixel 1 by installing one of the mobile OSes birthed by the Android Open Source Project.

Jul 14, 20231 hr 21 minEp. 420

420: The Snowball of Trust

Andy’s joined by a special guest this week: Jason Howell, host of All About Android on the This Week In Tech network. We replay the last episode of the first season of “Frasier” before digging into a new rash of civil lawsuits that content creators have filed against Google and other makers of AI language models. And then we talk phones: the Fair, the Nothing, and reviving Andy’s Pixel 1 by installing one of the mobile OSes birthed by the Android Open Source Project.

Jul 14, 20231 hr 21 minEp. 420

419: Oh...Canada.

Canada is the latest country to decide that somebody should be on the hook for the news industry’s financial issues, and it might as well be Google. And, just like the offside rule in professional hockey, this is a Canadian thing that Andy doesn’t really understand. Meanwhile, Google urges its AI models to both learn more and forget more. Isn’t this the sort of contradiction that made HAL-9000 go psychotic?

Jul 06, 20231 hr 11 minEp. 419

419: Oh...Canada.

Canada is the latest country to decide that somebody should be on the hook for the news industry’s financial issues, and it might as well be Google. And, just like the offside rule in professional hockey, this is a Canadian thing that Andy doesn’t really understand. Meanwhile, Google urges its AI models to both learn more and forget more. Isn’t this the sort of contradiction that made HAL-9000 go psychotic?

Jul 06, 20231 hr 11 minEp. 419