The Vergecast

The Verge’s Nilay Patel, David Pierce, and Alex Cranz start the final show of 2023 with some chat about the state of USB-C: the ups and downs of charging gadgets, the ubiquity of one cable, and what the future looks like for gadgets with ports. The crew competes in a few rounds of USB-C Price is Right, a game we completely made up to show how confusing USB-C and its specs can be. Nilay, David, and Alex each play for a Vergecast listener to win an awesome Verge swag basket from our merch store. Check out the video version of the game below. David and Nilay end the holiday show with Noah Dentzel, the CEO and co-founder of Nomad Goods, to talk about how USB-C on the iPhone has changed his business, the challenges of building cables, and what tech accessories he’s most excited about in 2024. Have a happy, safe, and fast-charging holiday. We’ll see you in 2024! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

23 Dec 20231h 44min

The Verge's Nilay Patel, David Pierce, and Richard Lawler discuss Apple pulling the Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 from its website, the potential Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount merger, and what the biggest stories were on The Verge Dot Com. Further reading: Apple to pull Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 this week due to ITC ban Apple loses attempt to halt Apple Watch sales ban Why the Apple Watch is being banned — and how Apple can avoid it Masimo CEO thinks Apple can’t code its way out of the Watch ban. Apple Watch ban: everything you need to know Beeper is giving up on its iMessage dream Apple reportedly plans Vision Pro launch by February Apple’s immersive next-gen CarPlay will start with Porsche and Aston Martin Bird’s goose is cooked. Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount in discussions for a max merger Adobe explains why it abandoned the Figma deal Adobe won’t compromise on UK’s attempt to block Figma merger Peloton’s oldest bike tablet will be cut off from classes in a few months Peloton’s app now pairs with third-party treadmills for some subscribers Inside Elon Musk’s “extremely hardcore” Twitter Elon Musk predicts X will replace banks in 2024 Mark Zuckerberg agrees to Elon Musk cage match challenge Apple Vision Pro is Apple’s new $3,499 AR headset I wore the Apple Vision Pro. It’s the best headset demo ever. Sam Bankman-Fried gambled on a trial and his parents lost Amazon has just opened up its Sidewalk network to give any gadget free low speed data Sony’s portable PlayStation Portal launches on November 15th for $199.99 Sam Altman fired as CEO of OpenAI OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO FTC v. Microsoft: all the news from the big Xbox courtroom battle Buckle up because El Niño is almost here, and it’s going to get hot iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max in titanium: price, features, and release date  This is Microsoft’s new disc-less Xbox Series X design with a lift-to-wake controller Samsung caught faking zoom photos of the Moon The Steam Deck wasn’t born ready, but it’s ready now Inside the AI Factory: the humans that make tech seem human SodaStream is a bad deal, and modding your own is better Did SEO experts ruin the internet or did Google? 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

22 Dec 20231h 41min

The Verge's Nilay Patel, David Pierce, and Alex Cranz discuss Apple responding to Beeper's iMessage for Android and the various other text-based platform news from this week. Sean Hollister joins the show to discuss his time covering the Epic v Google trial, and what we learned from it all. Further reading: The year Twitter died: a special series from The Verge Beeper vs. iMessage is a fight about how tech works — and who's really in charge  Apple responds to Beeper’s iMessage for Android: ‘We took steps to protect our users’ Beeper says Apple is blocking some iMessages, but there’s a fix Google Messages might let you edit texts after they’re sent  Threads is officially starting to test ActivityPub integration  Threads launches for nearly half a billion more users in Europe Adam Mosseri’s Threads account is rocketing up the Mastodon followed lists. An X outage broke all outgoing links, again Epic win: Jury decides Google has illegal monopoly in app store fight  Epic CEO Tim Sweeney: the post-trial interview  20 things we learned from the Epic v. Google trial The Apple TV app now looks more like an all-purpose streaming hub E3 is officially over forever  Opera’s gamer browser now has a ‘panic button’ for when you’re caught in the act 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

15 Dec 20231h 41min

Today on the flagship podcast of good tweets: 03:40 - The Verge’s William Poor goes on a vintage tech odyssey in the hopes of future-proofing his family’s heirloom Mac Classic. 28:35 - David Pierce, Alex Cranz, and Nilay Patel discuss why they spent so much time on Twitter for so many years. The year Twitter died: a special series from The Verge How Twitter broke the news Extremely softcore: the old Twitter was an idealist’s workplace and a naive business The great tweet archive Twitter was a harassment machine   It’s time for the Excel World Championships! 1:05:40 - David answers a question from the Vergecast Hotline about organizing your digital photos. 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

13 Dec 20231h 12min

The Verge's Nilay Patel, Alex Cranz, and Dan Seifert discuss Google Gemini's attempt to compete with ChatGPT, Beeper Mini bringing iMessage to Android, and shakeups in the podcast industry, and much more. Further reading: “Welcome to hell, Elon” has now been cited in a Supreme Court brief. Google launches Gemini, the AI model it hopes will take down GPT-4  Google’s Gemini AI model now powers the Bard chatbot Google’s Gemini AI model is coming to the Pixel 8 Pro — and eventually to Android Apple joins AI fray with release of model framework Bing’s GPT-4-powered Deep Search takes its time with AI questions Getty lawsuit against Stability AI to go to trial in the UK Beeper Mini brings iMessage to Android EU officials think iMessage isn’t ‘popular enough’ with businesses to warrant regulation. Spotify cancels industry-favorite podcast Heavyweight  Spotify’s not going for Pulitzers anymore Spotify’s CFO and general counsel sold millions of dollars worth of stock the day after the layoff. Tidal is laying off more than 10 percent of its staff. Seems like Apple’s iTunes Movies and TV Shows apps for Apple TV really are going away.   Here’s how a bridal photo captured a single person in three poses at once Federal judge vows to investigate Google for intentionally destroying chats Microsoft is investigating a Windows issue that’s renaming printers to HP LaserJet  Motorola Razr 2023 review: not enough of a good thing Disney Plus and Hulu’s one-app experience is launching in beta The race to 5G is over — now it’s time to pay the bill 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

8 Dec 20231h 23min

The Verge's David Pierce, Victoria Song, Dan Seifert, and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy answer questions from the Vergecast Hotline about what to buy for your loved ones this holiday season. Keep emailing us at vergecast@theverge.com or leave a voicemail at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

6 Dec 202359min

The Verge's Nilay Patel, Alex Cranz, and David Pierce discuss the Tesla Cybertruck event, the latest with OpenAI leadership, and what Elon Musk and Bob Iger said at Dealbook Summit 2023. Getting close — but not too close — to the Tesla Cybertruck Tesla Cybertruck delivery event: Elon Musk hands over the first trucks to customers Elon Musk tells advertisers: ‘Go fuck yourself’ Sam Altman is back, so what’s next for OpenAI and ChatGPT? Interview: Sam Altman on being fired and rehired by OpenAI  ChatGPT is winning the future — but what future is that?  Ikea debuts a trio of affordable smart home sensors DealBook Summit 2023: Elon Musk, Bob Iger, and more How to find your 2023 Spotify Wrapped 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

1 Dec 20231h 22min

Today on the flagship podcast of multi-drone camera setups: 03:19 - The Verge's David Pierce chats with Planet Earth III producer Alex Walters and director Theo Webb about the gear used to make the latest nature documentary series. 30:13 - Netflix's Pat Flemming joins the show to discuss how Netflix figures out what to show when you open the app, and how to keep you coming back. 1:20:29 -The Verge's publisher Helen Havlak and editor-in-chief Nilay Patel join the show to answer this week's hotline question. 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

29 Nov 20231h 37min