Danny and Steven Sanicki are twins, competitive golfers, and suddenly the biggest names in online mini golf. They started making mini golf content on TikTok about a year ago, and it took off; since then they've been trying to ride the viral wave and also turn it into something that lasts. For this episode, the first in a miniseries we're calling How To Make It In The Future, we talk to the Sanickis about their journey to turn putt-putt into their life's work without killing the fun in the proces...
Oct 13, 2024•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast Nilay and David make some predictions about Thursday evenings Tesla event which youve already seen, but we havent! Then they talk about the weeks gadget news, from Nintendos new Alarmo alarm clock to Apples upcoming iPads and Macs. Then Lauren Feiner joins to talk about the latest on all fronts in Googles antitrust fight, and how the government might be planning to break up the company altogether. Then its time for a lightning round about Google Docs tabs, FEMA misinformation, and Zoom AI avatar...
Oct 11, 2024•2 hr 44 min•Transcript available on Metacast For this full-on what is a photo episode, we start by chatting with Halide developers Ben Sandofsky and Sebastiaan De With about what it means to build a camera app in 2024 and what it means to try and accurately capture a photo. Then The Verges Allison Johnson joins the show to talk about her experiment going all-in on AI-ifying her photos. Finally, we answer a hotline about which gadgets to attach to your head when you go for a run. Further reading: Halide Halides Process Zero feature captures...
Oct 08, 2024•2 hr 37 min•Transcript available on Metacast Nilay, Alex, and David discuss Microsoft's new Copilot announcements, and the friendlier face the company is trying to put on its chatbot. They also wonder: what, exactly, is an AI companion supposed to do for you, and how is it supposed to do it? They then dive into OpenAI's huge funding round, before exploring all the new gadgets of the week and some deep drama in the WordPress universe. Finally, it's time for a lightning round of news about Dish and DirecTV, Progressive Web Apps, and Nintendo...
Oct 04, 2024•2 hr 48 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Verge's Jennifer Pattison Tuohy joins the show to discuss a bunch of updates in the smart home world, including what's new from Google Home and in iOS 18, plus some big news in the world of smart locks and video doorbells. Then, The Verge's Chris Welch comes on to test some new earbuds, and see which pair has the best sound and the best mic. After that, a new take on the Vergecast's chaotic wearables theory. Further reading: Ki is bringing wireless power to kitchen appliances The Eufy Smart ...
Oct 01, 2024•1 hr 25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Michael Sayman, the creator of a viral new app called SocialAI, joins the show to discuss why he built a social network where you're the only human around. He tells us how he thinks about AI interfaces, what's next for ChatGPT and other chatbots, and why posting to a language model might be better than posting on a social network. Further reading: SocialAI Michael Sayman on LinkedIn SocialAI: we tried the Twitter clone where no other humans are allowed FromTechCrunch:Friendly Apps raises $3 mill...
Sep 29, 2024•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Verge's Alex Heath joins Nilay, Alex, and David to talk about all the announcements coming out of Meta Connect: the impressive (and expensive) Orion glasses, the new features for the Ray-Ban Smart Glasses, and lots and lots of new AI. Then they discuss the latest executive departures at OpenAI, as the industry's foremost AI company undergoes a huge shift. In the lightning round, it's time for more AI gadgets, the PS5 Pro... and then some more AI gadgets. Further reading: Meta Connect 2024: b...
Sep 27, 2024•2 hr 45 min•Transcript available on Metacast Kylie Robison joins the show to talk about OpenAIs new model, o1, and what this new reasoning model says about the state of the art in AI and what AI companies are willing to put up with in the name of building God. Then, Gaby Del Valle and Adi Robertson talk through the latest on the TikTok ban, the Trump crypto chaos, and the ongoing adtech antitrust trial against Google. (All with as little politics-talk as possible.) Further reading: OpenAI releases new o1 reasoning model OpenAIs new model i...
Sep 24, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Transcript available on Metacast For the first episode in our new miniseries about the impact of AI in our everyday lives, we chat with Steven Johnson, a longtime author who has spent the last couple of years at Google working on an AI research and note-taking tool called NotebookLM. We talk about whether AI can really help us learn better, how Google has tried to make NotebookLM more accurate and helpful, and whether AI-generated podcasts are the future of learning. Further reading: NotebookLM Steven Johnsons website / newslet...
Sep 22, 2024•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast Nilay, Alex, and David are joined by Wall Street Journal columnist Joanna Stern to talk about this years iPhone and Joannabot, the AI chatbot Joanna made to help you make buying decisions. They also answer some questions about the new phones as Apple gets ready to ship them. They also talk about Snaps new Spectacles, the future of YouTube communities, Instagram teens, and AI social networks. Further reading: Our iPhone 16 Review, Brought To You By a Joanna Stern AI Chatbot Snap releases new Spec...
Sep 20, 2024•2 hr 35 min•Transcript available on Metacast We've finally finished testing, scoring, and reviewing Apple's new gear for the fall. On this episode we talk through our reviews of the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro, the Apple Watch 10, and the AirPods 4, to see whether they're real upgrades and whether they're worth your money. And then, on the Vergecast Hotline (866-VERGE11), we make the case for the Pixel in 2024. Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastch...
Sep 18, 2024•2 hr 42 min•Transcript available on Metacast Peak Evernote was roughly a decade ago. Since then, the product has often felt stagnant (or worse), the company churned through executives and business plans, and it seemed like Evernote was slowly turning into a zombie app. Not gone, not even forgotten, just sort of... there. For the third and final installment in our series about productivity and digital life, we sit down with Federico Simionato, the Evernote product lead at Bending Spoons. We talk about the acquisition process, how he perceiv...
Sep 15, 2024•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast Nilay, David, and Alex talk about the new PlayStation 5 Pro why it's so expensive, why it doesn't have a disc drive, and why it made so many people feel feelings. They also talk about the fallout from this week's iPhone launch, the first days of the Google ad trial, Kamala Harris's earrings, Huawei's triple-folding phone, and much more. Further reading: PS5 Pro: all the news about Sonys next console Sonys PS5 Pro has a larger GPU, advanced ray tracing, and AI upscaling The $700 PS5 Pro doesnt co...
Sep 13, 2024•2 hr 39 min•Transcript available on Metacast Apple launched the iPhone 16, Apple Watch Series 10, and AirPods 4 at its annual fall event in Cupertino. The devices come with some big upgrades a new camera control on the iPhone, a new design on the Watch but also a lot of promises about AI. Today on the show, we discuss everything that's new, everything that's missing, and all the reasons you might or might not want to upgrade your Apple gear this year. Further reading: iPhone 16 event live blog: all the news from Apples keynote iPhone 16 ev...
Sep 10, 2024•2 hr 40 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Verge's Nilay Patel, David Pierce, and Alex Cranz discuss previews for the Apple event, gadgets at IFA, the latest with Snap, and a whole lot more. Further reading: Apples iPhone 16 launch event is set for September Apples iPhone 16 event: how to watch and what to expect Apples rumored Mac Mini redesign may ditch the USB-A port Is our long FineWoven nightmare almost over? What Not to Expect at Apple Event on September 9: 'It's Glowtime' A new low-end Magic Keyboard may come next year. Apple ...
Sep 06, 2024•2 hr 36 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Verge's Nilay Patel, Alex Cranz, and David Pierce discuss Telegram CEO being charged in a French criminal investigation over content moderation, Yelp suing Google for antitrust violations, a week in AI-generated nonsense, and more. Telegram says CEO has nothing to hide after being arrested in France French authorities arrest Telegrams CEO Why the Telegram CEOs arrest is such a big deal Telegram CEO charged in French criminal investigation Telegram CEO Pavel Durov faces court questioning in F...
Aug 30, 2024•1 hr 29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the flagship podcast of the native resonance of your smartphone: 02:32 -The Verges David Pierce tries to find out if those YouTube videos promising to remove water from your phone with sounds actually work. 32:42 - Then, David chats with The Verges Alex Heath about some AR glasses that are reportedly set to launch from Snap and Meta this fall. 59:16 - Later, David answers a question from the Vergecast Hotline about competition in the AI industry. Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or ca...
Aug 27, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Transcript available on Metacast You can learn a lot about somebody just by learning about how they get things done. Are they the sort of person who might have a perfectly color-coded email inbox, a flawlessly organized to-do list, and whats that, they just sent you a calendar invite for happy hour next week? Or are they more likely to have a giant pile of sticky notes they never look at, a computer desktop with so many files you cant even see the wallpaper, and todays main tasks written on their arm? Neither is wrong, but they...
Aug 25, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Verge's David Pierce, Alex Cranz, Allison Johnson, and Richard Lawler discuss the Google Pixel 9 review and its controversial reimagine AI feature, a Chick-fil-A streaming service, Sonos app updates, and more. Further reading: Google Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL review: AI all over the place Googles AI tool helped us add disasters and corpses to our photos This system can sort real pictures from AI fakes why arent platforms using it? The AI photo editing era is here Donald Trump posts a fake AI-...
Aug 23, 2024•1 hr 27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the flagship podcast of hydrogen futures: The Verges William Poor, Andrew Marino, and Alex Parkin head to California to figure out why hydrogen fuel cell technology, once a super-promising successor to gasoline, lost out to battery electric cars. They also put the embattled tech to the test with a road trip across Californias hydrogen highway. Further reading: Check out the interactive map of our trip here, and the video version of the story here. Read Andrew Hawkins story about the fut...
Aug 20, 2024•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Laura Mae Martin is a big believer in the settings menu. Martin is Googles Executive Productivity Advisor, and spends much of her time working with other Googlers on improving their productivity and communication systems and one of the things she often recommends is taking a few minutes to poke through the options. With your phone, with your email, your Slack, all these things, the features are there but we dont take the time to dive into them, she says. She even thinks you should maybe have to ...
Aug 18, 2024•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Verge's Nilay Patel, David Pierce, and Alex Cranz discuss AI tools announced at this weeks Pixel 9 event, Nilay's TV competition, tech regulatory news, and more. Further reading: AI overshadowed Pixel at the Pixel event All the AI features coming to Google's Pixel 9 series Google debuts Pixel Studio AI image-making app Google makes your Pixel screenshots searchable with Recall-like AI feature Every time Google dinged Apple during its Pixel 9 launch event Google Geminis voice chat mode is her...
Aug 16, 2024•2 hr 42 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the flagship podcast of the correct height-to-width ratio of a foldable phone: The Verges David Pierce, Allison Johnson, Victoria Song, and Chris Welch discuss all the new gadget announcements from Googles Pixel event including the Pixel 9, the Pixel Watch 3, the Pixel buds, and more. Further reading: Google Pixel 9 launch event live coverage: all the news Googles Pixel 9 lineup is a Pro show Googles new Pixel Buds Pro 2 seem better in every way that matters The Pixel 9 Pro XL showed me...
Aug 13, 2024•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast The Verge's Nilay Patel, Alex Cranz, Alex Heath, and Lauren Feiner discuss a federal judge ruling that Google violated US antitrust law, X suing a group of major advertisersover an illegal boycott, and the rest of this week's wild tech news. Further reading: Judge rules that Google is a monopolist in US antitrust case All the spiciest parts of the Google antitrust ruling X files antitrust lawsuit against advertisers over illegal boycott The Global Alliance for Responsible Media is 'discontinuing...
Aug 09, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the flagship podcast of what the future of Kindle turns out to be: Were once again trying out a couple of our favorite new show formats. In Version History, we talk through the whole story of Quibi, from its early days as NewTV to its extremely ill-timed launch to its ultimate demise. From Variety: Quibi Has Raised $1.75B After Closing $750M Round to Fund Launch From Variety: Jeffrey Katzenbergs NewTV Closes $1B, Major Studios Among Investors Quibis CES 2020 launch Quibi app review: sho...
Aug 06, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Verge's Nilay Patel, Allison Johnson, and Victoria Song discuss Apple iOS 18.1 beta. upcoming Pixel 9 rumors, Olympics coverage, AI deepfake regulation, and more. Further reading: The best way to watch the Olympics is on TikTok Apple releases iOS 18.1 developer beta with the first Apple Intelligence iPhone features Apples iOS 18.1 developer beta adds AI call recording and transcription A first look at Apple Intelligence and its (slightly) smarter Siri Apples new AI features will reportedly m...
Aug 02, 2024•2 hr 34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the flagship podcast of dedicated streaming hardware: We try out a couple of show formats weve been planning for a while. In Version History, we tell the story of the Roku Netflix Player, debate its legacy, and try to decide whether this thing belongs in the Version History Hall of Fame. From Fast Company: Inside Netflixs Project Griffin: The Forgotten History Of Roku Under Reed Hastings From CNBC: How Roku used the Netflix playbook to rule streaming video From CNN: Netflix Player offer...
Jul 30, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast On this episode of The Vergecast, we look at why TV and movie recommendations are so complicated, and whether AI might be able to make them better. If Spotify can build infinite playlists of music youll like, and YouTube and TikTok always seem to have the perfect thing ready to go, why cant Netflix or Hulu or Max seem to get it right? If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are a few links to get you started: Movievanders Reelgood The internet is a constant rec...
Jul 28, 2024•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Verge's Nilay Patel, David Pierce, and Jake Kastrenakes discuss OpenAI's new SearchGPT product, Amazon's plan to launch a paid version of Alexa, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold review, and whole lot more. Further reading: OpenAI announces SearchGPT, its AI-powered search engine Bings AI redesign shoves the usual list of search results to the side Reddit is now blocking major search engines and AI bots except the ones that pay Google had a massive quarter thanks to Search and AI Amazons paid Alexa ...
Jul 26, 2024•2 hr 31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the flagship podcast of configuration changes: The Verge's Tom Warren joins the show to to talk about the story and legacy ofthe CrowdStrike crash. CrowdStrike and Microsoft: all the latest news on the global IT outage Major Windows BSOD issue hits banks, airlines, and TV broadcasters What is CrowdStrike, and what happened? CrowdStrikes faulty update crashed 8.5 million Windows devices, says Microsoft CrowdStrike outage: Photos, videos, and tales of IT workers fixing BSODs Then we talk ...
Jul 23, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
