The Vergecast

Welcome back to another week of The Vergecast. Nilay, Paul, and Dieter sit down in the studio to bring you the news that hit our site this week. First off, the net neutrality day of action was on Wednesday, as was Nilay’s piece on the matter. The gang debate the issue in this net neutrality “season” of news.

Halfway through the show, senior tech editor Lauren Goode stops by to talk a little bit about her new video series Next Level, which shows the technology that’s being worked on at some of the world’s most innovative companies and research institutions. You can check out the first episode here.

Last, but not least, we have what you’ve been waiting for — phone news! We have a mini Verge mobile show to discuss the deaths and births of the mobile world recently.

There’s a whole lot in between that, so listen to it all and you’ll get it all. 

03:45 - A Microsoft font may have exposed corruption in Pakistan

07:39 - Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T want Congress to make a net neutrality law because they will write it

23:39 - The FCC says net neutrality destroys small ISPs. So has it?

35:47 - Next Level with Lauren Goode

52:13 - iFixit teardown confirms Note 7 Fan Edition is just a Note 7 with a new, smaller battery

53:30 - BlackBerry KeyOne launches on Sprint, the eternal harbor of innovation

54:25 - Death of Windows Phone

59:47 - The new Pixel XL

1:01:54 - Luxury phone maker Vertu is shutting down its UK manufacturing operation

1:03:27 - Andy Rubin’s Essential is staying quiet on the Essential Phone delay

1:06:51 - Paul’s weekly segment “Mag me later”

1:10:31 - Alexa news

The week of Independence Day, Nilay, Paul, and Dieter get together in a classic format of The Vergecast to bring you the top tech news that hit the site this week. To name a few, we’ve got a review of the Echo Look, a new Android phone announced, and some breaking news in the middle of the show.

There’s a lot more in between that, so listen to it all and you’ll get it all.

04:48 - Amazon’s Echo Look does more for Amazon than it does for your style

25:17 - RED is making a $1,200 smartphone with a “holographic display”

32:07 - New report claims iPhone 8 won’t feature fingerprint sensor in display

41:08 - Ashley’s segment “Spotted”

42:16 - Qualcomm is trying to ban iPhones from being sold in the US

51:24 - Paul’s weekly segment “TOOTHPASTE PODS”

Did you know it was the iPhone's 10th anniversary on Thursday? The Vergecast knows. Nilay, Dieter, and Paul talk about what the iPhone means to them, to the industry, and to the entire universe. With just a slight tangent to talk about Orbs for Kings.

Better yet, Nilay interviewed Verge reporter Russell Brandom about the Petya ransomware. It's a segment Russell calls "CyberTalk," but Nilay wants to call it "Brandom Security with Russell Brandom." Please vote in the comments.

1:00 - The iPhone turns 10

21:56 - iPhone or smartphones: which had the bigger impact?

31:50 - Petya ransomware in “Brandom Security with Russell Brandom” / “CyberTalk”

47:15 - Amazon Echo Show Review

55:31 - iOS 11 preview

66:00 - ARKit

72:30 - Paul’s weekly segment “Spin Safety”

74:50 - Galaxy Note 7 (Fandom Edition)

Here we go, another classic episode of The Vergecast. There were a lot of little things that happened this week, and we wanted to discuss them all, so Nilay, Dieter, and Paul go through their list of hits on the site.

Also, to continue our weekly summer interview series, Nilay sits down with culture reporter Kaitlyn Tiffany to talk about her recent piece on Tumblr’s relationship with the fight over net neutrality.

There’s so much in between all of this, so listen to it all, and you’ll get it all.

01:17 - OnePlus 5

4:29 - Scott Forstall breaks silence to talk about the iPhone’s creation

10:34 - First look at Samsung’s Bixby Voice preview for Galaxy S8

13:58 - Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 will reportedly be announced in August

17:10 - Amazon's new Dash Wand is half magic, half boring

21:12 - You can now watch your smart home camera from an Amazon Echo Show

27:48 - Verizon is killing Tumblr’s fight for net neutrality with Kaitlyn Tiffany

45:36 - Travis Kalanick resigns as Uber CEO

1:00:00 - Paul’s weekly segment “My Dinner with Andre”

1:02:59 - iPad Pro 12.9 review: a great iPad, one I won’t buy

1:03:57 - 3.33 years after its release, someone actually beat Threes

1:04:58 - Microsoft now lets Surface Laptop owners revert to Windows 10 S

1:07:11 - You won’t be able to use your Surface Book if you want to take the bar in Tennessee

Day two of The Vergecast this week! Yesterday, Nilay interviewed Brian Merchant, author of The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone. Today, we have another full episode with a lot going on. First off, E3 happened this week, and there’s a ton of news in the gaming world. Paul interviews culture reporter Megan Farokhmanesh (who is at the expo) live on tape to talk about what happened on the show floor, the press conferences, and the multitude of games that were shown. Next, Dieter and Nilay have a fun conversation with special guest Panos Panay from Microsoft to talk about Microsoft’s newest product, the Surface Laptop. And, of course, we have new reviews out this week! Along with the Surface Laptop, Nilay, Paul, and Dieter discuss the 10.5-inch iPad Pro and the future of these new kinds of computers. There’s a whole mess of stuff in between that, so listen through it all, and you’ll get it all. 05:37 - Xbox One X 13:47 - E3 2017 with Megan Farokhmanesh 34:44 - Panos Panay interview 1:00:57 - 10.5-inch iPad Pro and Surface Laptop reviews 1:17:44 - Paul’s weekly segment “I C Seed; so much seeing”

We’re doing two episodes of The Vergecast this week — the usual one on Friday, and this very special edition with Brian Merchant, author of The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone. We ran a big excerpt of the book this week, and we got deep on talking about the book, where it came from, and Merchant’s feeling that we should know more about the technology products in our lives — and know more about the hundreds of people who make them, from the unsung engineers at tech companies to the extremely unsung miners who dig the raw materials out of the ground. And, of course, we talk about the quotes from Tony Fadell and Bill Bilbrey in the excerpt we just published, in which Fadell tells a story about Phil Schiller arguing the iPhone should have a hardware keyboard. Schiller has said the story isn’t true, and Fadell has tried to walk it back as well. “So I wasn't in the room at Apple 10, 15 years ago when this would have happened,” says Merchant, who has the exchange on tape. “But this is a quote verbatim as Tony Fadell who was in the room told it to me. He told me this quote in such detail and he gave such a vivid account and I had no reason to believe it was untrue.” Merchant says the controversy has “blown him away.” “It certainly wasn't intended to make Phil Schiller look dumb. It was an opposing viewpoint... I think that it's totally fine to be a dissenting voice and want to contextualize this emergent technology and even be opposed to it. Why would you not have someone in the room who is forcing people to think critically about this potentiality?” There’s a lot more on the podcast, including a deep dive into the early research projects at Apple exploring touch interfaces.

This week, it’s Apple’s turn to take over The Vergecast. Dieter and Jake have just come back from WWDC while Nilay and Paul watched from afar so the gang has a lot to talk about with the new products announced. We also have Ben Popper stop by the show to talk about DJI’s newest drone, the Spark. There’s a whole lot more in between that so listen to it all you get it all. 04:56 - Apple announces HomePod speaker to take on Sonos 32:14 - DJI Spark review with Ben Popper 47:22 - Apple announces new 10.5-inch iPad Pro 1:02:51 - Apple is launching an iOS ‘ARKit’ for augmented reality apps 1:06:05 - iMac Pro introduced / macOS High Sierra 1:18:37 - watchOS 4 brings new Siri watchface, fitness coaching, and a new app-browsing UI 1:21:32 - Paul’s weekly segment “Gates-all-around, all around”

This week’s Vergecast is recorded out of the studio. Nilay heads to the West Coast to reunite with Dieter, Lauren, and Casey at this year’s Code Conference. The gang discusses the speakers (in more than one way) at the event including Andy Rubin, Hillary Clinton, and Reed Hastings. They also chat a little about the news outside of the conference. Back in New York, Paul reports on gadget week with his weekly segment “Let me hug your robot heart.” There’s a whole lot more in between, so listen to get it all! 01:29 - The case for editing tweets 06:01 - The Essential Phone: a first look at the hardware 30:11 - Paul’s weekly segment “Let me hug your robot heart” 32:49 - Netflix CEO says net neutrality is ‘not our primary battle’ 42:41 - Clinton says the Russians had to be ‘guided by Americans’ in how they weaponized information 55:37 - Don’t buy the Chromebook Pro until Google fixes a critical bug 59:11 - Verizon says the Droid brand isn’t dead, but it sure looks like it 1:01:30 - Microsoft's new Skype redesign is a radical change that looks like Snapchat 1:04:55 - Samsung's Bixby voice assistant is reportedly still weeks away from US launch 1:07:11 - Apple’s ‘Siri speaker’ reportedly enters manufacturing as announcement nears

Here’s The Vergecast. This week, Nilay, Dieter, and Paul plow through a week of news starting with (no surprise) the FCC’s ongoing mission to destroy net neutrality. This was also a week full of new gadgets — from the new Microsoft Surface Pro, to the Jamboard, to a $9,000 laptop, we walk you through the things we saw and reviewed in the Circuit Breaker world. Also, even though we filled our time, we added a bonus segment in between it all: Vlad Savov, a fan favorite of the show, stops by and quickly breaks down what is on his mind and what gadgets have piqued his interests. There’s a whole bunch of other stuff discussed on the show, (sorry, this show is an hour and a half), so listen through it all for more. 03:27 - Breaking down the FCC’s proposal to destroy net neutrality 32:36 - Inside the mind of Vlad 49:38 - And now, a brief definition of the web 51:03 - Microsoft's new Surface Pro has 13.5 hours of battery life and LTE option 56:22 - Microsoft has created a Surface USB-C dongle for “people who love dongles” 1:00:12 - DJI's $499 Spark is the company's cheapest and tiniest drone yet 1:04:43 - Google made a $5,000 whiteboard — and it’s weirdly fun 1:06:14 - Samsung responds to complaints about HDMI switching, will offer a firmware update 1:10:57 - How Anker is beating Apple and Samsung at their own accessory game 1:11:54 - Acer Predator 21 X review 1:14:14 - Paul’s weekly segment “Vroom Vroom goes the car” 1:17:00 - TV lightning round

Fresh out of my export folder is a brand new episode of The Vergecast. This week, because of the business that is Google I/O, we recorded our episode Friday morning. This resulted in Nilay’s attempt to bring a morning show vibe to episode 257, despite Dieter, Adi, Natt, and Paul’s (and my) disapproval of sound effects. There was a lot to discuss thanks to Google’s developer conference, so here it is! Enjoy! 06:43 - Google is finally replacing its bad emoji blobs in Android O 13:59 - Google Assistant is on the iPhone now 24:41 - Google wants the Assistant to be everywhere — but first it needs to conquer the iPhone 31:46 - Android O 37:40 - Google is adding Kotlin as an official programming language for Android development 45:37 - Google AR / VR 1:01:25 - Ford update brings Android Auto and Apple CarPlay to its 2016 fleet 1:06:50 - New Surface Pro leak confirms Microsoft's hatred for USB-C 1:07:28 - AMD is bringing its new Ryzen processors to laptops later this year 1:08:15 - FCC votes to begin overturning net neutrality