We’re still waiting for Apple to deliver a real foldable iPhone, but that didn’t stop a group of engineers in China from crafting their own prototype. This week, Cherlynn and Devindra dive into the possibility of a real foldable iPhone, plus they discuss Meta’s massive layoffs and the fast downfall of the crypto exchange FTX. Also, what are the ethics of Apple limiting AirDrop in China (and eventually the rest of the world)? Chinese modders made a foldable iPhone – 1:32 Meta lays off 11,000 peop...
Nov 11, 2022•54 min•Ep. 149
Well, it finally happened: Elon Musk has officially taken over Twitter. This week, Cherlynn and Devindra are joined by Engadget’s Karissa Bell to discuss how Musk is reshaping the social network. Are all the changes bad, or is there some method to his madness? (Spoiler: It looks more like desperation than anything else.) Also, we dive into some recent Google AI news, and Devindra explains why the new Apple TV 4K is genuinely great. Elon Musk’s Twitter fiasco – 1:26 Thinking of leaving Twitter? H...
Nov 03, 2022•54 min•Ep. 148
This week, Devindra and Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham dive into Apple’s latest iPad and iPad Pro. The new base iPad seemingly justifies its price, but it also leaves out plenty of consumers who were well-served by the old $329 iPad. We hope that model sticks around for a long while. Also, we discuss if anyone needs M2 power in an iPad Pro (why not just get a MacBook?!), and we prepare for Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter. (Note: When this episode was recorded, his acquisition wasn’t finalized yet...
Oct 28, 2022•57 min•Ep. 147
Apple just dropped several new devices on us this week, seemingly out of nowhere. In this episode, Cherlynn and Devindra break down Apple’s new base iPad and iPad Pro with M2. They chat about why the iPad lineup is now more confusing than ever, and what that means going forward. (At least the new Apple TV 4K seems likely a genuinely solid upgrade.) Apple announces updated base iPad and Apple TV 4K – 1:36 Microsoft lays off hundreds of workers – 20:22 Netflix announces “extra user” fee to crack d...
Oct 21, 2022•57 min•Ep. 195
What a week! This episode, Cherlynn, Devindra and Engadget’s Sam Rutherford dive into everything we learned at Microsoft’s Surface event. No, there was no new Surface Duo or Neo, and the actual fresh hardware was mostly incremental. We also reviewed the Pixel 7, 7 Pro and Pixel Watch, and Sam had some hands-on time with the latest Quest VR headset. As if that wasn’t enough, there’s some other news from Samsung, Chromebooks and more. Surface Studio 2+, Surface Laptop 5 and Surface Pro 9 – 1:32 Mi...
Oct 13, 2022•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 194
This week, Cherlynn, Devindra and Engadget’s Sam Rutherford dive into everything we learned at Google’s Pixel 7 event. Sure, it’s nice to have new phones, but it’s even nicer to see Google developing a cohesive design for all of its new devices. The Pixel Watch actually looks cool! And while we were ready to knock the (way too late) Pixel Tablet, its speaker base seems genuinely useful. Google may have finally figured out how to combine its software and AI smarts with well-designed hardware. Pix...
Oct 07, 2022•58 min•Ep. 193
This week, Cherlynn and Devindra dive into the massive amounts of news from Amazon’s recent event. There’s a Kindle you can write on! And Amazon also wants to track your sleep on bed. We discuss what’s interesting about all of this gear, as well as why we still don’t trust Amazon with some of our data. Also, Cherlynn tells us what she likes (and doesn’t) about the Apple Watch Ultra, and Devindra explains why the Sonos Sub Mini is a pretty great value. Stay tuned to the end for our chat with Josh...
Sep 30, 2022•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 192
Surprise! The iPhone 14 is pretty repairable, it turns out. This week, Cherlynn and Devindra chat with Engadget’s Sam Rutherford about this move towards greater repairability and what it means for future iPhones. Also, they dive into NVIDIA’s powerful (and expensive!) new RTX 4080 and 4090 GPUs. Sure, they’re faster than before, but does anyone really need all that power? The iPhone 14 is surprisingly repairable – 1:17 NVIDIA announces RTX 4090 and 4080 GPUs (and a Portal mod with ray tracing) –...
Sep 22, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 191
So after all the hype last week, are the iPhone 14 and 14 Pro any good? And are the Apple Watch SE and Series 8 worth an upgrade? This week, Cherlynn chats with Devindra about her furious rush to review all of Apple’s latest gear. It turns out the iPhone 14 Pro is a pretty big step forward, but the same can’t be said for the plain 14. Also, they discuss the wider impact of removing SIM cards from this iPhone lineup, as well as the value of the Pro’s new 48MP camera. Review of the iPhone 14 Pro a...
Sep 16, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 190
It’s Apple week, everyone! Editor-in-chief Dana Wollman joins Devindra to chat about everything Apple announced, including the iPhone 14 and 14 Pro, as well as all of the Apple Watches. Sure, they’re faster and have many more features, but did you know they could potentially save your life? At least, that’s the idea Apple is trying to sell. We’re still not quite sold on the Apple Watch Ultra, but it’s sure to become the next over-priced wrist accessory for tech bros. Also, Dana discusses Apple’s...
Sep 09, 2022•53 min•Ep. 189
This week, Cherlynn is joined by UK Bureau Chief Mat Smith to discuss what they expect Apple to announce at its upcoming event on September 7th. Besides new iPhones and Watches, what might the company launch? Our hosts are also joined by senior reporter Jess Conditt to go over the highlights from Gamescom, including Sony’s new DualSense controller and PSVR2 update. We’ll be taking a break next week, so come back in two weeks for a new episode! Apple confirms September 7 “Far Out” event – 1:46 Wh...
Aug 26, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 188
This week, Cherlynn and guest co-host Sam Rutherford are joined by the Washington Post’s Chris Velazco to discuss their thoughts on Samsung’s latest foldables and wearables after having spent close to a week with them. Are the Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4 ready for the mainstream? Is it more fun reviewing these devices than regular phones? Then, our hosts talk Apple’s next iPhone event, as well as Airbnb woes. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Fold 4 review – 1:54 Galaxy Watch 5 / 5 Pro review – 36:41 Apple ...
Aug 18, 2022•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 187
This week, Cherlynn is joined by guest co-host Sam Rutherford and special guest Michael Fisher (aka The Mr Mobile) to talk about all the things Samsung launched at its Unpacked event this week. Is it a bad thing that the new updates were mostly incremental? Does Samsung need more competition to spur it to do better? How do we feel about the Galaxy Z Fold 4, Z Flip 4, Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro after spending almost a full day with them in the real world? Then, we look (dubiously) at the resurrected...
Aug 12, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 186
This week on the show, Cherlynn is joined by guest co-host Sam Rutherford to talk about the newly launched OnePlus 10T. Why did the company choose to sacrifice an alert slider, wireless charging and some other features in exchange for extreme speed? How does the OnePlus 10T stack up against other midrange phones like the Pixel 6a? Then, our hosts discuss the cloud-gaming handheld that Logitech and Tencent are working on, as well as the curious headlines that permeated the consumer tech news cycl...
Aug 04, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 185
This week, Cherlynn and Devindra dive into the world of AI art with Senior Editor Dan Cooper and Creative Futurist John LePore. We know Dall-E and Midjourney can create some truly compelling images from a bit of text, but do they owe a debt to all of the images that they were trained on? Also, we explore the sorry state of Meta and Cherlynn gushes about the new Pixel Buds Pro. Stay tuned to the end of the show for our chat with Joshua Stiksma, Design Director of Moss 2, who discusses the current...
Jul 28, 2022•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 184
Is the Pixel 6a the best Android phone under $500? Tune in for Cherlynn’s review! This week, Devindra and Cherlynn also discuss why losing almost a million subscribers was actually a good thing fo Netflix. And they dive into Qualcomm’s latest hardware for smartwatches, as well as the latest updates from Twitter’s ongoing fight with Elon Musk. The Pixel 6a is the best midrange Android phone on the market now – 1:53 Netflix lost a million subscribers, and that’s a good thing? – 17:11 Delaware judg...
Jul 21, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 183
This week on the show, Cherlynn and Devindra dive into Apple’s new MacBook Air M2 and its recent batch of OS betas. It turns out a redesign and a whole new chip makes the MacBook Air even more compelling than before (at least more than the 13-inch MacBook Pro). Also, we chat with Lisa Grossman, Astronomy Writer at Science News, about the astounding new photos and data from the James Webb Space Telescope. It’s a clear upgrade from Hubble, and NASA is just getting started! Apple’s M2 MacBook Air i...
Jul 14, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 182
This week, Devindra and Senior Writer Sam Rutherford dive into the Supreme Court’s latest EPA ruling, which severely limits the agency’s ability to curtail power plant emissions. Devindra also chats with ProPublica reporter Lisa Song about what this means for the EPA and other federal agencies. (Basically, it makes fighting climate change much harder.) Also, we discuss Apple’s new lockdown mode, which adds an extreme layer of security to your devices, and why Gen Z is so Minion crazy. How bad is...
Jul 07, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 181
This week, Cherlynn is joined by senior editors Jessica Conditt and Karissa Bell to discuss the United States ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, and how, in our digital age, it affects the most vulnerable in our communities. Then, our hosts look at the Supreme Court ruling that guts the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to enforce the Clean Air Act. In consumer tech news, we also look at Sony’s new PlayStation-inspired peripherals and Snapchat’s new subscription service. What digital pr...
Jul 01, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 180
What’s so “Pro” about the new 13-inch MacBook Pro? Devindra and Cherlynn chat with Laptop Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, Sherri L. Smith, about Apple’s confusing new ultraportable. Sure, the M2 chip makes it faster, but why does it have a worse screen and fewer features than the new MacBook Air? Are real professionals better off with the faster (but more expensive) 14-inch MacBook Pro? Also, they dive into the wild new VR headset prototypes from Meta, as well as Twitter’s reinvention of blogging. A...
Jun 23, 2022•51 min•Ep. 179
This week, Devindra and Cherlynn dig into the story around Google engineer Blake Lemoine’s interview with the Washington Post and his belief that the company’s LaMDA language model is alive. What does it mean for AI (or anything else) to have consciousness? How should we think of AI, and what other areas of concern should we as a society consider as machines become more sophisticated and human-like? Then, we recap some of the biggest gaming news this week, as well as some wacky gadget announceme...
Jun 16, 2022•50 min•Ep. 178
This week, Cherlynn and guest co-host Sam dive into all the announcements from WWDC 2022, as well as what it was like to cover the event both remotely and in-person. How did we (and our audience) feel about things that we did and didn’t see at the show? Plus, Sam tells us more about Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop Go 2, plus news on regulations around USB-C and our right to repair our devices. WWDC 2022 – 1:39 M2 MacBook Air and 13 inch MacBook Pro – 4:18 New features in macOS Ventura – 15:27 Wha...
Jun 09, 2022•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 177
We’re gearing up for Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference! This week, Cherlynn and Devindra chat about the announcements they’re expecting at WWDC, including new computers with M2 chips (and potentially a revamped MacBook Air!). What’s next for iOS and MacOS – will lockscreen widgets really be useful? And they hold out hope to hear something about the company’s AR/VR glasses. Also, they discuss the surprising news about Sheryl Sandberg leaving Meta, as well as Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop G...
Jun 02, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 176
This week, Devindra and Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham dive into the latest news around Clearview AI, the controversial facial recognition company that’s now seeing pushback from governments and regulators around the world. Will a few fines put a stop to the company’s facial recognition search platform? Also, they discuss how Clearview’s troubles relate to countries being more restrictive about data in general. Finally, they pour one out for Seth Green’s lost Bored Ape – RIP NFT! Facial Recogniti...
May 26, 2022•47 min•Ep. 175
What the heck is going on in the land of cryptocurrency and NFTs? This week, Devindra and Engadget UK Bureau Chief Mat Smith chat with Manda Farough, co-host and producer of the Virtual Economy podcast, about the massive crypto crash. They discuss how the fall of the Luna cryptocurrency and its sibling, TerraUSD, sent shockwaves through the industry. Also, they dive into ICE’s surprisingly robust (and scary) surveillance system, as well the DHS’s stalled misinformation board. Terra, Luna, and th...
May 20, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 174
This week, Engadget Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham joins Cherlynn and Devindra to dive into everything announced at Google I/O. There were plenty of new devices, of course, but Google also showed off how its improved AI tech is making maps, translation and more features even smarter. Also, Cherlynn discusses her exclusive feature on Microsoft’s Adaptive Mouse, as well as the company’s new Inclusive Tech Lab. And in other news, we bid farewell to the iPod and reminisce about the early days of MP3 ...
May 12, 2022•1 hr 38 min•Ep. 173
So does the Overwatch 2 beta live up to all of the hype and anticipation? This week, Jessica Conditt joins Devindra to chat about Blizzard’s long-awaited sequel and why she thinks it’s worth the wait. Also, we discuss why you should care about data privacy given the current wave of anti-abortion legislation, and why the Embracer Group is gobbling up so many developers. Overwatch 2 beta brings some freshness to a stale game, but is it enough? – 1:15 What does the potential overturn of Roe v. Wade...
May 06, 2022•34 min•Ep. 172
This week, our hosts are joined by senior editor Karissa Bell and Yahoo Finance’s Tech Editor Dan Howley to break down Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover. How did we get here, what is left before Elon Musk officially owns Twitter (if regulatory approvals go through) and will our lives really be impacted? Then, guest cohost Sam Rutherford and Cherlynn talk about Google’s all-but-confirmed Pixel Watch and Android 13 before ranting about Motorola. Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion: How, and more i...
Apr 28, 2022•59 min•Ep. 171
This week, Cherlynn is joined by guest co-host Jessica Conditt to take a closer look at the Playdate -- the cute little gaming console with a crank. The two go on to rave about Samsung’s new Pokemon-themed Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Apple’s BTS dance lessons on Fitness+, before questioning why anyone would want electric chopsticks that make food taste saltier. The Playdate is an adorable, impeccably designed indie game machine – 1:28 Samsung’s Pokemon-themed Galaxy Z Flip 3 is also delightful – 17:48 A...
Apr 22, 2022•54 min•Ep. 170
This week, Cherlynn and guest co-host Sam Rutherford discuss the new Nintendo Switch Sports games, a coincidental week of beauty gadget coverage and the ongoing saga of Elon Musk trying to own Twitter. We also go over Activision Blizzard’s new Chief Diversity Officer and Meta laying claim to almost half of all digital asset sales in its virtual world. Nintendo Switch Sports – 1:53 Theraface Pro and PMD Beauty Personal Microderm Classic reviews – 14:56 Elon Musk isn’t done with Twitter, might be ...
Apr 15, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 169
