HBO's no good very bad rebrand

Names are hard — but they don't have to be this hard. Nilay, David, and The Verge's Jake Kastrenakes start the show with some personal news, before digging into the monumentally silly thinking behind Warner Bros. Discovery re-re-naming its streaming service HBO Max. After that, and some more streaming news, we turn our attention to the gadget news of the week, including the long-awaited release of CarPlay Ultra and the latest announcements from the Android team at Google. Finally, in the lightning round, it's time for Brendan Carr is a Dummy, some debate on the future of Airbnb, and a brief party speaker update. Because the mystery continues.

Further reading:

• It’s not Max, it’s HBO Max 

• Max was an all-time bad rebrand

  How HBO’s creatives survived corporate chaos

  ESPN’s standalone streaming app launches this fall for $30 a month 

  Fox One streaming service will arrive just in time for football season 

  Netflix’s ad tier is growing really fast — and that means more ads

  Netflix is bringing back Star Search as a live show

  YouTube will stream an opening week NFL game for free 

  Peacock’s NBA coverage will add an overlay with live shot stats 

  
  

• Apple’s CarPlay Ultra is finally here, if you have a new Aston Martin

  Apple’s fancy new CarPlay will only work wirelessly

  Android 16 Material Three Expressive UI coming in beta this month 

  Google’s splashy new Android UI is coming in beta this month. 

  It’s Dieter!

• Warner Bros. is launching a cinematic universe for brands

• Here's How NBCU Is Integrating Brand Sponsors for SNL50
  
• FCC threatens EchoStar licenses for spectrum that SpaceX wants to use

• Airbnb’s new app has all of your vacation extras in one place

Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices