Here's what an AI-first phone might look like
Some of the biggest players in AI — in particular OpenAI, SpaceX, and Amazon — are heavily invested in creating a world after smartphones. They're also all rumored to be building devices that sound a lot like smartphones. Verge contributor David Imel helps us figure out what these companies might actually be building, what an AI smartphone looks like, and whether anyone can unseat Apple and Google.
Links:
Elon Musk denies a report about SpaceX’s AI phone prototype
OpenAI is reportedly launching a phone for ChatGPT
Amazon is making an Alexa phone
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Version History: Google Glass
Google didn't invent the concept of smart glasses, but it was one of the first companies to actually put them on people's faces. It was a revolution, and also a problem: Google made face computers extremely uncool, and its early user base was so off-putting they became collectively known as “Glassholes.” The Verge’s Victoria Song and Waveform’s David Imel break down why Glass failed — despite being shockingly right about the future of technology.
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Diving into Apple’s Liquid Glass
It’s time. The public betas for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, and more are finally out for everyone to try. Jake Kastrenakes, Vee Song, and Antonio G. Di Benedetto give their takes on Apple’s Liquid Glass design language after two months of living with it. Antonio shares his experiences with macOS and the upgraded Spotlight, and Vee dives into the ups and downs of watchOS’s AI fitness coach. Then, Andy Hawkins and Eater's Matthew Kang talk about Tesla’s rough quarter, the new Tesla Diner, and what Epic Bacon has to do with it all. Finally, the Thunder Round returns, and we all learn what Labubus are.
Further reading:
Apple releases public betas of its new software updates with Liquid Glass
How to install the iOS 26 public beta
The biggest changes coming to your iPhone with iOS 26
Liquid Glass is fine, I guess
Apple’s Liquid Glass redesign is shaping up to be a snoozer on Macs
You can actually multitask on an iPad now and it’s the best new feature in 15 years
watchOS 26 preview: a subtler take on AI
Apple launches $20 subscription service to protect your gadgets
Tesla’s earnings hit a new low, with largest revenue drop in years
Elon Musk finally admits the new, more affordable Tesla is just a stripped down Model Y
Undeterred by limits, Elon Musk plots a big robotaxi expansion
Everything Eater Editors Ate at the Tesla Diner in Los Angeles
The Full Tesla Diner Menu, Revealed
The Tesla Diner Will Track When Guests Are Nearby to Prepare Their Orders
Inside the New Tesla Diner in Los Angeles
Anti-Elon Musk protesters are coming for Tesla’s new diner
Faraday Future is back with another wild EV that probably will never get made
Amazon buys Bee AI
Jake: AppleCare One is a good deal, but not for everyone
Uber’s making it easier for women riders and drivers to find each other
The frenzied, gamified chase for Labubus
Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.
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The creepy AI era is here
Would you like Siri more if it had a face? This week on The Vergecast, we’re talking about AI assistants getting smarter… and uncomfortably personal. The Verge’s Jennifer Pattison Tuohy joins the show to talk about her early tests of Alexa Plus, which is finally AI-powered and a lot more capable. Jake shares his uncomfortable first interaction with Grok’s anime girlfriend. And Waveform cohost David Imel is here to talk about Sony’s RX1R III and other premium “compact” cameras.
Finally, the THUNDER ROUND is back. New, improved, and still loud.
Further reading:
24 hours with Alexa Plus: we cooked, we chatted, and it kinda lied to me
Alexa Plus launches to “small number” of people More than a million people now have Alexa Plus
Elon Musk’s AI bot adds a ridiculous anime companion with ‘NSFW’ mode
I spent 24 hours flirting with Elon Musk’s AI girlfriend
System prompt dump of xAI / Grok’s new AI anime girlfriend
Elon Musk teases AI anime boyfriend based on Edward Cullen
“We will, of course, have another character inspired by Mr. Darcy”
xAI has open roles for building AI “waifus.”
US government announces $200 million Grok contract a week after ‘MechaHitler’ incident
Grok will no longer call itself Hitler or base its opinions on Elon Musk’s, promises xAI
Sony’s pocket-sized RX1R camera returns with its first update in 10 years
Original RX1R
RX1R II
Google exec: ‘We’re going to be combining ChromeOS and Android’
Our biggest questions about ChromeOS and Android merging
Ikea goes all in on Matter/Thread
Eric Migicovsky
Texts.com
Google Nest subscription
The next batch of emoji includes Bigfoot
Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.
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The high stakes for AI Alexa
AI will fix everything, right? In this episode, friend of The Verge (and Waveform co-host) David Imel joins Nilay and David to talk all about Alexa Plus, and the AI-powered voice assistant Amazon thinks can do everything from turn on your lights to order your friend an Uber. The hosts also talk about the other gadgets of the week, from the wild new Sigma BF camera to the boring iPhone 16E. Finally, in the lightning round, they talk about TikTok becoming YouTube and YouTube becoming TikTok and Instagram becoming YouTube and TikTok, plus the latest in Brendan Carr being a dummy and what's coming next from Automattic, DOGE, and everything.
Further reading:
Amazon Alexa Plus Event 2025: live updates and product announcements
Amazon announces AI upgrade for Alexa
Amazon’s Alexa Plus’ AI upgrades cost $19.99, but it’s free with Prime
Amazon is launching Alexa.com and new app for Alexa Plus
Alexa engagement continues to grow.
Alexa Plus leaves behind Amazon’s earliest Echo devices
Sigma’s BF is a minimalist full-frame camera with no memory card slot
iPhone 16E review: Eh, it’s alright
Framework’s first tiny Desktop beautifully straddles the line between cute and badass
More than 1 billion people are now watching podcasts on YouTube every month
Instagram’s Reels may get its own app
From TechCrunch: In challenge to YouTube, TikTok revamps its desktop platform
Someone flooded HUD HQ TVs with an AI-generated video of Trump and Musk.
Bluesky banned this video
Elon Musk claims federal employees have 48 hours to explain recent work or resign
DOGE asks federal workers to justify their recent work or resign.
Donald Trump and Elon Musk threaten to ‘semi-fire’ workers who don’t answer email
Amy Gleason officially named as DOGE administrator
Apple responds to tariff threat with a $500 billion US investment plan
Trump shed some light on his meeting with Tim Cook.
Starlink poised to take over $2.4 billion contract to overhaul air traffic control communication
FCC to brief lawmakers on George Soros investigation in closed-door meeting
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr Probes iHeartMedia Over How it Pays Musicians
FCC Chair Brendan Carr taking first steps in eroding key legal protection enjoyed by Big Tech
Automattic combines its Beeper and Texts.com messaging services
Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.
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Run, Rabbit, Run... On My Phone! - DTNS 4760
Apple's May 7th event is being billed as "a different kind of Apple Event" we speculate on what that means. Plus prices are used Apple Vision Pros are unexpectedly low. And Android Faithful's Mishaal Rahman details what he discovered about the Rabbit R1 personal assistant.
Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Eileen Rivera, Mishaal Rahman, Amos, Roger Chang
Show notes here.
Quick Hits:
https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/1/24146205/lastpass-independent-company-security-breaches
https://www.theverge.com/24145849/batman-arkham-shadow-trailer-vr-meta-quest-3-exclusive
https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/1/24145983/anthropic-claude3-model-mobile-app-team-plan
https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/30/24145259/walmart-health-centers-close
https://techcrunch.com/2024/04/30/screenshots-suggest-tiktok-is-circumventing-apple-app-store-commissions/
https://techcrunch.com/2024/04/30/screenshots-suggest-tiktok-is-circumventing-apple-app-store-commissions/https://www.reuters.com/world/us/most-americans-see-tiktok-chinese-influence-tool-reutersipsos-poll-finds-2024-05-01/
Top Stories:
https://www.androidauthority.com/rabbit-r1-is-an-android-app-3438805/
https://appleinsider.com/articles/24/05/01/gms-carplay-replacement-doesnt-work-well-and-has-a-long-road-ahead-of-it
Join the Discord: https://www.patreon.com/dtns
Discussion Story:
https://9to5mac.com/2024/04/30/apple-may-7-different-kind-event/
https://shows.acast.com/apple-vision-show
https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/27/24142810/apple-vision-pro-ebay-low-prices
https://swappa.com/listings/apple-vision-pro
Today’s guest:
Eileen Rivera
https://applevisionshow.com
@eileentv
Next guest:
Justin Robert Young
https://justinrobertyoung.tv
https://shows.acast.com/worlds-greatest-con
https://werenotwrong.fireside.fm
http://freepoliticalnewsletter.com
@JustinRYoung
Show Links:
http://dailytechnewsshow.com/ntx
http://knowalittlemore.com
http://dtns.bigcartel.com
http://www.dailytechnewsshow.com/support
http://dtns.tv/wiki
http://sarahlane.com
https://twitter.com/sarahlane
https://medium.com/@sarahlane
https://masto.ai/@sarahlane
https://havesuchagoodday.com
http://tomsnewbook.com
http://swordandlaser.com/store
http://www.cordkillers.com
http://awordpodcast.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
CyanogenMod and the Death of the Android ROM
Today we've got another special episode! Don't worry, there will be another regular episode on Friday. In today's episode David tries to find out what happened to Android ROMming? There was a time when flashing the latest nightly on your phone had an entire community built around it, but those days disappeared.. rather suddenly. What happened? We investigate.
Special thanks to:
Mishaal Rahman: https://twitter.com/MishaalRahman
Rich Miner: https://twitter.com/richminer
Stefanie Kondik: https://twitter.com/cyanogen
Lineage OS team: https://lineageos.org/
Links:
Rich Miner History of Android: https://bit.ly/richminerhistoryofandroid
ZTE article: https://bit.ly/ztetradeban
Shop the merch:
https://shop.mkbhd.com
Instagram/Threads/Twitter:
Waveform: https://twitter.com/WVFRM
Waveform: https://www.threads.net/@waveformpodcast
Marques: https://www.threads.net/@mkbhd
Andrew: https://www.threads.net/@andrew_manganelli
David Imel: https://www.threads.net/@davidimel
Adam: https://www.threads.net/@parmesanpapi17
Ellis: https://twitter.com/EllisRovin
TikTok:
https://www.tiktok.com/@waveformpodcast
Join the Discord:
https://discord.gg/mkbhd
Music by 20syl:
https://bit.ly/2S53xlC
Waveform is part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
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Vergecast vs WVFRM trivia!
The Vergecast's Nilay Patel, David Pierce, and Dan Seifert are challenged to a game of tech trivia by Waveform's Marques Brownlee, Andrew Manganelli, and David Imel.
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Apple’s Vision Pro: the headset of the future?
On Apple's campus, The Verge's Nilay Patel, David Pierce, Alex Cranz, and Dan Seifert discuss the long-rumored Apple Vision Pro that was announced this week at WWDC.
Later, Marques Brownlee, Andrew Manganelli, and David Imel of the Waveform podcast join the show for a lightning round of everyone's favorite WWDC announcements.
Coming soon: the Vergecast and Waveform team challenge each other to trivia!
Further reading:
Apple WWDC 10 biggest announcements: Vision Pro, MacBook Air, iOS 17, and more
Apple Vision Pro is Apple’s new $3,499 AR headset
Apple announces visionOS, the operating system for its Vision Pro headset
Apple Vision Pro first look: the mixed reality future is (almost) here
I wore the Apple Vision Pro. It’s the best headset demo ever.
Optic ID will unlock Apple’s new Vision Pro headset
Apple’s Vision Pro headset will turn you into a digital avatar when FaceTiming
Everywhere Apple imagines you’ll use its $3,500 Vision Pro headset
Apple’s new VR headset will feature over 100 Apple Arcade games at launch
Disney Plus and VR sports games are coming to Apple Vision Pro
Microsoft Word, Excel, and Teams are all coming to Apple’s new Vision Pro headset
What’s so ‘pro’ about Apple’s Vision Pro headset?
The Vision Pro headset is really Apple’s first TV
Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.
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TechStuff Does the Robot
Adam Doud of Android Authority joins the show to talk about the robots he saw at CES 2019.
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.