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?" Links and Show Notes: Google’s nightmare “Web Integrity API” wants a DRM gatekeeper for the web A 'deeply committed' Google working on 'supercharged Assistant' powered by LLMs Scoop: Google Assistant to get an AI makeover Google Tests A.I. Tool That Is Able to Write News Artic...
Aug 03, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 423
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, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 423
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. Links and Show Notes: Alphabet reports better-than-expected quarterly results driven by growth in cloud Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat leaving role to become president and chief investment officer Samsung’s Galaxy Flip 5 and Fold 5 Unpacked event: biggest announcements Support Material with a Relay ...
Jul 28, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 422
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, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 422
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. This episode of Material is sponsored by: Factor : H...
Jul 20, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 421
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, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 421
Andy’s joined by a special guest this week: Jason Howell, host of All About AndroidA new rash of civil lawsuits that content creators have filed against Google and other makers of AI language models. And then we talk phones. Guest Starring: Jason Howell Links and Show Notes: Support Material with a Relay FM Membership Google hit with lawsuit alleging it stole data from millions of users to train its AI tools | CNN Business The environmentally conscious Fairphone 4 is finally coming to the US - T...
Jul 14, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 420
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, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 420
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? Links and Show Notes: Support Material with a Relay FM Membership Google says it will sta...
Jul 06, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 419
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, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 419
Andy mourns the loss of Google’s Iris smart glasses, because he knows so way much more than Google or Apple about VR and XR. Reviews of the Pixel Fold are in! It’s a jim-dandy phone except for what happens when you unfold it. And reading coverage of last week’s Vidcon helps Andy be less judgmental about The Avengers. Links and Show Notes: Support Material with a Relay FM Membership Google killed Iris smart glasses, opts for Android OEM model for XR Google execs hope new search feature will help ...
Jun 29, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 418
Andy mourns the loss of Google’s Iris smart glasses, because he knows so way much more than Google or Apple about VR and XR. Reviews of the Pixel Fold are in! It’s a jim-dandy phone except for what happens when you unfold it. And reading coverage of last week’s Vidcon helps Andy be less judgmental about The Avengers.
Jun 29, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 418
Reviews of the new Pixel Tablet are in, and it looks like maybe the world is about to fall slap-happy in love! (From a certain perspective, and placed in the correct context). Chromebooks are about to receive the X-gene, and Gannett Newspapers celebrates the first day of Summer with a beach clambake-slash-massive antitrust suit against Google. Links and Show Notes: Support Material with a Relay FM Membership - Sleep as Android Google Pixel Tablet review: the dock makes all the difference - The V...
Jun 22, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 417
Reviews of the new Pixel Tablet are in, and it looks like maybe the world is about to fall slap-happy in love! (From a certain perspective, and placed in the correct context). Chromebooks are about to receive the X-gene, and Gannett Newspapers celebrates the first day of Summer with a beach clambake-slash-massive antitrust suit against Google.
Jun 22, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 417
Why on Earth did Google release so many new features and updates on Flag Day? Well, Google bothered to create ‘em so Material is going to talk about ‘em...with the help of The Feature Roundup Dice. Oh, and also the EU is honking down Google’s snorkel about why it thinks it’s evil, and they want Google to knock that kind of stuff off. Links and Show Notes: Support Material with a Relay FM Membership GitHub - dtinth/comic-mono-font: A legible monospace font... the very typeface you’ve been trained...
Jun 15, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 416
Why on Earth did Google release so many new features and updates on Flag Day? Well, Google bothered to create ‘em so Material is going to talk about ‘em...with the help of The Feature Roundup Dice. Oh, and also the EU is honking down Google’s snorkel about why it thinks it’s evil, and they want Google to knock that kind of stuff off.
Jun 15, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 416
All of this week’s stories come from Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference! But Andy swears it’s all relevant to Google. Apple’s Vision Pro headset offers discussion about VR versus AI. Apple announced that they’re addressing iPhone users’ complaints about green bubbles in group messages and they’re doing it in the most Apple way possible. And Apple’s figured out a new way to hurt Android users: by going after their friends and family!!! Zounds! Links and Show Notes: Support Material with a Re...
Jun 08, 2023•46 min•Ep. 415
All of this week’s stories come from Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference! But Andy swears it’s all relevant to Google. Apple’s Vision Pro headset offers discussion about VR versus AI. Apple announced that they’re addressing iPhone users’ complaints about green bubbles in group messages and they’re doing it in the most Apple way possible. And Apple’s figured out a new way to hurt Android users: by going after their friends and family!!! Zounds!
Jun 08, 2023•46 min•Ep. 415
Andy has access to the new AI-enhanced Google Search and is delighted to discover that he can now waste time on Reddit far more effectively. He also has access to a new web browser that’s so innovative and helpful that he’s compelled to give Chrome a lecture about Ambition that he may or may not have heard from his father when he was 14, 17, 22, 31, 37, and 46. And: thoughts on folding big things into smaller things. This episode of Material is sponsored by: ExpressVPN : High-Speed, Secure &...
Jun 01, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 414
Andy has access to the new AI-enhanced Google Search and is delighted to discover that he can now waste time on Reddit far more effectively. He also has access to a new web browser that’s so innovative and helpful that he’s compelled to give Chrome a lecture about Ambition that he may or may not have heard from his father when he was 14, 17, 22, 31, 37, and 46. And: thoughts on folding big things into smaller things.
Jun 01, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 414
Andy comes right out and admits that his brain is like wet sand. All to make a larger point which may or may not land, because, as established, his brain is like wet sand. Then it’s time to talk about how Google is using AI as the spent uranium tip on new ads that will penetrate your cognitive shields. Also, there are cars and a sketchy analogy about whether or not Google and Samsung are happy in their relationship. Links and Show Notes: Support Material with a Relay FM Membership Ulysses Notion...
May 26, 2023•42 min•Ep. 413
Andy comes right out and admits that his brain is like wet sand. All to make a larger point which may or may not land, because, as established, his brain is like wet sand. Then it’s time to talk about how Google is using AI as the spent uranium tip on new ads that will penetrate your cognitive shields. Also, there are cars and a sketchy analogy about whether or not Google and Samsung are happy in their relationship.
May 26, 2023•42 min•Ep. 413
Andy has a peculiar theory about system administration. Then the episode goes back to Google I/O to pick up some news that Google didn’t have the common courtesy to reveal in time for last week’s show. A beloved children’s cereal mascot is made to suffer. And Google has a wonderful plan to make top-level-domains both goofy and radically dangerous. Links and Show Notes: Support Material with a Relay FM Membership Day One Journal App | Your Journal For Life Create world-scale augmented reality exp...
May 18, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 412
Andy has a peculiar theory about system administration. Then the episode goes back to Google I/O to pick up some news that Google didn’t have the common courtesy to reveal in time for last week’s show. A beloved children’s cereal mascot is made to suffer. And Google has a wonderful plan to make top-level-domains both goofy and radically dangerous.
May 18, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 412
It's all about Google I/O 2023! Andy and Flo talk about everything, from AI to Android to Pixel hardware. Flo also reviews the Pixel 7a. This episode of Material is sponsored by: ExpressVPN : High-Speed, Secure & Anonymous VPN Service. Get an extra three months free. Links and Show Notes: Play I/O FLIP, our AI-designed card game Google AI Experiments Every Pixel Product Announced at Google I/O 2023, From Pixel Fold to 7a Flo's Pixel 7a review Flo's Discord Support Material with a Relay FM Me...
May 13, 2023•1 hr 55 min•Ep. 411
It's all about Google I/O 2023! Andy and Flo talk about everything, from AI to Android to Pixel hardware. Flo also reviews the Pixel 7a.
May 13, 2023•1 hr 55 min•Ep. 411
Andy's solo this week, starting with some prep on what to expect next week from Google I/O. Google's AI researcher quits the company just as everything is heating up. And what will an alliance between Google and Apple look like to cut down on stalking with Bluetooth trackers? Links and Show Notes: Geoffrey Hinton tells us why he's now scared of the tech he helped build AI 'Godfather' Geoffrey Hinton Should Have Spoken Up Sooner 'Godfather of AI' quits Google with regrets and fears about his life...
May 05, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 410
Andy's solo this week, starting with some prep on what to expect next week from Google I/O. Google's AI researcher quits the company just as everything is heating up. And what will an alliance between Google and Apple look like to cut down on stalking with Bluetooth trackers?
May 05, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 410
Google's quarterly earnings are out this week. There's good news, and then there's some tepid numbers. Then, checking in with all those Chromebooks purchased at the height of the pandemic. Links and Show Notes: Alphabet Q1 2023 Earnings Call (PDF) Alphabet authorizes $70 billion buyback Chromebooks in schools are breaking quickly, report calls on Google to extend lifespans 'Chromebook Churn' report highlights problems of short-lived laptops in schools Support Material with a Relay FM Membership...
Apr 28, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 409
Google's quarterly earnings are out this week. There's good news, and then there's some tepid numbers. Then, checking in with all those Chromebooks purchased at the height of the pandemic.
Apr 28, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 409
