The Foldable Future

The Foldable Future

This week, Microsoft's dual screen Surface Duo became available for sale. Like many other folding devices, the Duo has been marketed as a product for busy workers on the go. But now, months into a pandemic where many workers are still sheltering in place (if they're lucky enough to have a job at all), the appeal of such gadgets is questionable at best. Nevertheless, Microsoft and other companies soldier on, searching for ways to make their expensive devices feel relevant. Foldables are here, whether people want them or not.

This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED senior associate editor Julian Chokkattu joins us to talk about Microsoft's "not-a-phone" phone and the future of foldables.

Show Notes:

Read more about Microsoft’s Surface Duo here. Read all of WIRED’s coverage of folding devices.

Recommendations:

Julian recommends rearranging your workspace if you work from home. Mike recommends Bachan’s Japanese Barbecue Sauce.

Julian Chokkattu can be found on Twitter @JulianChokkattu. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our executive producer is Alex Kapelman (@alexkapelman). Our theme music is by Solar Keys.

If you have feedback about the show, or just want to enter to win a $50 gift card, take our brief listener survey here.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Jaksot(429)

How YouTube's Tumultuous Past Will Shape Its Future

How YouTube's Tumultuous Past Will Shape Its Future

Collectively, people stream more than a billion hours of video on YouTube every single day. That's a lot of eyeballs, and it means the platform has enormous influence. In its twisty-turny path from dw...

1 Syys 202232min

How to Get Your Climate Tax Credits

How to Get Your Climate Tax Credits

The United States government just passed the Inflation Reduction Act, a sweeping piece of legislation that allocates nearly $400 billion dollars to fund clean energy and climate efforts. A big chunk o...

25 Elo 202234min

Tractor Hacks

Tractor Hacks

Farming has gotten quite tech-savvy. These days, there are all sorts of Wi-Fi-enabled, app-controlled, and autonomously piloted machines out there doing the tilling and harvesting. The biggest player ...

18 Elo 202229min

The Weird Phone Future

The Weird Phone Future

Samsung's mobile phone design philosophy could best be described as "if it ain't broke, bend it." The company—one of the top smartphone manufacturers in the world—announced some new foldable devices t...

11 Elo 202236min

NFT Frames

NFT Frames

Maybe you’re intrigued by NFTs. (They can often be pretty fun.) Maybe you’ve even felt the urge to buy a piece of digital art, only to give up once all the talk of wallets, blockchain transactions, ga...

4 Elo 202233min

Reel Talk About Instagram

Reel Talk About Instagram

If you've opened Instagram recently, you've certainly seen Reels. The photo-sharing app has started aggressively pushing the TikTok-like video feeds onto its users, a move that has sparked a heated re...

28 Heinä 202230min

Zucka Kappa Meta

Zucka Kappa Meta

Facebook has nearly three billion users, which means that when it makes a change to its business, it affects nearly half the planet. Facebook's ambitions have often manifested in chaotic, unpredictabl...

21 Heinä 202233min

Too Cool for Juul

Too Cool for Juul

Do you even vape, bro? Well if the United States Food and Drug Administration has its way, that answer might soon be a hard "no." Last month, the FDA went after Juul, the reigning champ of the e-cigar...

14 Heinä 202226min