TA'cast: Recent Episodes
ThinkAuthority
TA'cast is the podcast you need to make sense of the week in tech news. The weekly show gives an irreverent and informative look at what's happening right now (and next) in the world of technology and gadgets.
TA'cast hosts Nilay and Dieter discuss all the product announcements from Apple's Spring Loaded event this week with ThinkAuthority news editor Chaim Gartenberg.
ThinkAuthority politics reporter Makena Kelly details what happened at Wednesday's congressional hearing focusing on competition in Apple's App Store.
Nilay, Dieter, and Chris Welch dive into the tech and gadget news from this week — including theories on what will be announced at Apple's spring event next week, LG quitting the smartphone business, and Sonos' next speakers.
[un-explainable] is a science show about everything we don’t know. Host Noam Hassenfeld is joined by an array of experts and ThinkAuthority reporters each week to look at the most fascinating unanswered questions in science and the mind-bending ways scientists are trying to answer them. New episodes drop every Wednesday starting April 7.
Nilay and Dieter talk with ThinkAuthority deputy editor Dan Seifert about this week's Apple rumors ahead of WWDC 2021 — from their AR headset to new iPads.
Senior reporter Ashley Carman joins the show to discuss social audio platform Clubhouse and the rise of competitors from other companies.
Hosts Nilay and Dieter talk with ThinkAuthority reporter Allison Johnson about T-Mobile bringing back their unlimited 5G plan with no throttling, the results of the C-band spectrum auction, and the state of 5G in America.
Ashley Carman returns to the show to discuss Spotify's big event this week announcing their plans for podcasters and artists.
Julia Alexander joins to report on the details on Paramount Plus' streaming catalog.
Nilay talks with Adi and Casey about what Australia's News Media Bargaining Code means for Google, Facebook, and the open web in Australia.
Chris Welch and Julia Alexander join the show to discuss the new Amazon Fire TV stick, Apple TV on Chromecast, and the state of streaming services in 2021.
Andrew Marino and Taylor Lyles discuss the announcements from this week's Nintendo Direct.
ThinkAuthority's Nilay, Dieter, and Adi Robertson discuss Google's mysterious lack of iOS app updates, the rumors around Apple's potential VR headset, and the rest of this week's gadget headlines.
ThinkAuthority's Nilay, Dieter, Sean O'Kane, and Becca Farsace discuss driving Ford's electric Mustang, what's next for Tesla's product line, rumors around Apple's Car endeavors, and Jeff Bezos stepping down as Amazon CEO.
ThinkAuthority's Nilay, Dieter, and Elizabeth Lopatto explain how the users of the subreddit r/WallStreetBets sent GameStop, AMC, and other stocks rocketing up through the stock market.
ThinkAutority's Nilay, Dieter, Julia Alexander, and Chaim Gartenberg discuss thinkauthority review of Samsung's Galaxy S21 Ultra, the numerous rumors about Apple's future products, and ViacomCBS's new rebranded streaming service.
Nilay talks with Marques Brownlee (MKBHD on YouTube) about building a business as a YouTuber, how content creators make money, and how to scale when you are the brand.
ThinkAuthority's Nilay talks with the head of Instagram Adam Mosseri about how to run a creative platform like Instagram at scale while keeping users — and democracy — safe, how much responsibility the platforms have for what their algorithms promote, and, of course, Instagram's products like Reels, Stories, and IGTV.
ThinkAuthority's Nilay, Dieter, Monica Chin, and Chris dive into all of the important announcements from both inside and outside of CES — including Samsung’s new flagship S21 smartphone line, the many new TVs with HDMI 2.1, Mini LED, webOS, and the next laptops with new chips from Intel and AMD.
Nilay, Dieter, Adi, and Casey Newton chronicle the week since the Capitol riot: Trump gets de-platformed and Parler is removed from the app stores.
In the aftermath of the pro-Trump attack on the Capitol, many online platforms, including both Twitter and Facebook, banned President Trump. In this week’s episode, Nilay talks with regulation expert and law professor Daphne Keller, about a big problem: how to moderate what happens on the internet.
ThinkAuthority policy reporter Makena Kelly chats with ThinkAuthority editor Nilay about important points in US tech policy recently as we go into the 2020 presidential election.
Nilay and Makena get into the policy topics that ThinkAuthority will be covering heavily this year — including political advertising on social media, amendments to Section 230, encryption and privacy legislation, and broadband access in rural areas.
ThinkAuthority's Dieter, Nilay, and Adi discuss the two antitrust lawsuits against Google announced this week. Chris Welch joins to discuss his review of Apple's AirPods Max.
Nilay, Dieter, and Chris Welch discuss Apple's announcement of their AirPods Max noise-canceling headphones and give their first impressions.
In the second half of the show, Nilay and Dieter talk with Qualcomm president Cristiano Amon about Qualcomm's new flagship processor the Snapdragon 888, the potential of 5G, and what he thinks about Apple's new M1 processor.
In a bonus episode of TA'cast, Nilay talks with ThinkAuthority policy editor Russell Brandom, senior reporter Adi Robertson, and contributing editor Casey Newton about the FTC suing Facebook to unwind its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.
ThinkAuthority reporter Julia Alexander joins Nilay and Dieter to discuss WarnerMedia's decision to release all of its new 2021 movies simultaneously on HBO Max. News editor Chaim Gartenberg explains Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 888 processor for upcoming Android phones in 2021.
Walt Mossberg joins the show to discuss his experience with Apple's Macbooks with the new M1 chip. Nilay, Dieter, Chris, and Dan discuss ThinkAuthority's reviews of the computers.
Nilay, Dieter, Dan, and Chaim discuss the new computers Apple announced at their "One More Thing" hardware event, as well as their reviews of the iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro Max, and HomePod mini.
ThinkAuthority's Nilay, Dieter, and Tom Warren discuss reviews of the new game consoles — Microsoft's Xbox Series X and Series S, and Sony's PS5.
Oh yeah one more thing, there's an Apple event next week.
While the counting for the 2020 presidential election still goes on, ThinkAuthority's Nilay, Dieter, and Adi discuss what steps social media platforms have taken to limit misinformation.
Additional reading:
- Watch the great people of Philadelphia count ballots live
- Facebook, Twitter take steps to limit the president’s false election claims
- Twitter restricts Trump campaign official’s tweet alleging Philadelphia voter fraud
- Before the votes are fully counted, Trump falsely claims victory
- Twitter restricts yet another Trump tweet for making up election rules
- People are mistaking a Baltimore Orioles meme for an election misinformation botnet
- Facebook shuts down huge ‘Stop the Steal’ group
- YouTube says video claiming Trump won does not violate its election misinformation policies
- Democrats call on Twitter to suspend Trump as election results file in
- Massachusetts passes ‘right to repair’ law to open up car data
- California poised to establish a new privacy regulator with ballot measure win
- Uber, Lyft drivers aren’t employees, after all, California voters say
- Portland, Maine has voted to ban facial recognition
ThinkAuthority's Dieter talks with iFixit's Kyle Weins and Kay-Kay Clapp about their teardown reviews, the right to repair, and how to fix the Phone 12.
Nilay, Dieter, and Adi discuss the latest Section 230 congressional hearing featuring the CEOs of big tech. Ashley Carman stops by to talk about how gadget makers are turning to shopping channels to market their products.
Stories from this week:
- San Francisco and Oakland phase-out Verily COVID-19 testing sites
- White House officials considered Elon Musk for a coronavirus ad campaign
- We need to rebuild America’s pandemic-fighting agencies
- Streaming was part of the future — now it’s the only future
- Lime’s CEO on the future of scooters: ‘COVID has turned from a headwind into a tailwind’
- Mark Zuckerberg just told Congress to upend the internet
- The latest Section 230 hearing showed that Republicans want to make the internet smaller
- The Right’s Regulator in Chief
- Gadget makers’ biggest risk could be a huge reward
- Influencers’ next frontier: their own live shopping channels
- Everyone on Instagram will soon be able to go live for four hours
- Facebook will test shopping from Reels later this year
- Motorola Razr 2020 review: 5G folding flip phone feels fine
- LG Wing review: learning to fly, failing to soar
- Verizon’s Yahoo zombie appears again as a purple phone
- The first iPhone 12 mini hands-on video shows just how tiny it is
- Mophie’s new wirelessly charging battery pack clips onto the back of your phone
- T-Mobile expands its faster mid-band 5G network, nearly doubling its coverage
- Microsoft Surface Pro X (2020) review: ARM gets more muscle
- Amazon Echo Dot (2020) review: have a ball
- T-Mobile expands into live internet TV with new TVision streaming service
- PS5 in photos: our first look at Sony’s next-gen console
- PS5 vs. Xbox Series X: the next-gen consoles in photos
- Astro’s Playroom is the perfect showcase for the PS5’s wild DualSense controller
- Control is coming to the Nintendo Switch today, but you can only stream it from the cloud
- Vizio and LG’s next-gen-ready OLED TVs are up to $500 off at Best Buy
- Meet the 24-year-old who’s tracking every broken McDonald’s ice-cream machine in the US
Every Tuesday this month, TA'cast co-host Dieter is hosting a series of discussions diving deep into tech review season, each focusing on a specific product.
This week, Dieter brings back TA'cast co-host Nilay and senior personal technology columnist at The Wall Street Journal Joanna to discuss their reviews of the latest iteration of the iPhone.
Dieter reviewed the iPhone 12, Nilay reviewed the iPhone 12 Pro, and Joanna reviewed them both side by side. The trio discusses what they focused on in their reviews — like 5G, Dolby Vision, and MagSafe — and how significant the upgrades are for this year’s devices.
Dieter and Nilay talk to Julia Alexander about Quibi shutting down, Adi about the US government filing antitrust charges against Google, and Josh Dzieza about his report on Wisconsin's empty Foxconn factory.
Stories from this week:
- The ambitious effort to piece together America’s fragmented health data
- Microsoft wants to cut down pollution from its business travel
- Is Quibi done for?
- Quibi is shutting down
- 11 reasons why Quibi crashed and burned in less than a year
- Quibi’s top executives are ready to blame themselves, not just the pandemic, for Quibi failing
- Watch AOC play Among Us live on Twitch with HasanAbi and Pokimane
- The US government has filed antitrust charges against Google
- Who is Google’s market power hurting?
- Senate committee approves subpoenas for Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey
- How to retweet using Twitter’s new temporary format
- Republican lawmakers are furious after Twitter asks users to read stories before retweeting
- Facebook’s independent oversight board is now accepting cases
- The 8th Wonder of the World
- Exclusive: Wisconsin report confirms Foxconn’s so-called LCD factory isn’t real
- Apple iPad Air (2020) review: take it from the Pro
- Amazon Echo (2020) review: the music of the sphere
- Beats Flex review: wireless earbud basics are done right
Every Tuesday this month, Ta'cast co-host Dieter hosts a series of discussions diving deep into the tech review season, each focusing on a specific product.
This week, Dieter talks with managing editor of Android Central Daniel Bader and Android Police editor-in-chief David Ruddock about Google’s Pixel 5.
Nilay, Dieter, and Dan discuss all the announcements from Apple's iPhone event this week — from iPhone 12 to the HomePod mini
Stories from this week:
- Apple’s iPhone 12 event: the 7 biggest announcements
- Apple announces iPhone 12 with OLED screen and 5G speeds
- iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max announced with larger displays, updated design, and 5G
- Apple announces iPhone 12 mini, the ‘smallest and lightest 5G phone in the world’
- Apple’s new iPhone 12 line-up comes with a ceramic-hardened display
- Apple’s new iPhones won’t ship with earbuds or wall chargers
- Apple cuts EarPods and iPhone charger prices by $10 after it stops bundling them
- Apple’s iPhone 12 can wirelessly charge twice as fast, but only with a MagSafe charger
- Apple’s revived MagSafe charging standard opens the door for a portless iPhone
- The iPhone 12 Pro Max could be Apple’s biggest camera jump in years
- Breaking down Apple’s three new iPhone 12 camera systems
- Here’s how you’ll know when you’re on Verizon’s fast or slow 5G on an iPhone 12
- The iPhone 12’s mysterious groove is a 5G mmWave antenna window — and it’s exclusive to the US
- Apple’s iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini cost $30 extra for anyone who’s not an AT&T or Verizon customer
- Apple announces smaller HomePod mini for $99
- Apple’s HomePod will soon support Dolby Atmos with the Apple TV 4K
- Beats announce $50 Beats Flex earbuds with USB-C and 12-hour battery life
Every Tuesday this month, TA'cast co-host Dieter hosts a series of discussions diving deep into the tech review season, each focusing on a specific product.
This week, Dieter talks with MKBHD aka Marques Brownlee about the various phones released by Samsung this year, from the S20 Ultra to the Z Fold 2 5G. The two also discuss the process of reviewing different tiers of phones and how it's changing the smartphone market.
Nilay and Dieter bring in Russell Brandom and Adi Robertson to discuss a congressional report about whether Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Google are violating antitrust law.
Dan stops by to discuss Apple's upcoming iPhone event on October 13th.
Links:
Global TV shipments hit a record high last quarter, report says
America’s internet wasn’t prepared for online school
I regularly forget that I have New York’s COVID-19 exposure notification app
Congress releases a blockbuster tech antitrust report
What Google, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook have at stake in the antitrust fight
Apple made ProtonMail add in-app purchases, even though it had been free for years
Oracle and Google’s Supreme Court showdown was a battle of metaphors
Apple quietly stops selling Bose, Sonos, and some Logitech gear — only Apple audio remains
The Supreme Court is taking on Google and Oracle one last time
Apple’s next iPhone will be announced on October 13th
Apple Watch SE review: pay a lot less to give up only a little
Why Apple needed the FDA to sign off on its EKG but not its blood oxygen monitor
The Apple Watch heart monitor sends too many people to the doctor
YouTube 4K has come to Apple TV, but we’re waiting on HDR, 60fps, and iPhone/iPad playback
Disney movies are now available in 4K on Apple’s iTunes store
Apple sues recycling partner for reselling more than 100,000 iPhones, iPads, and Watches it was hired to dismantle
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE review: the right price for the right stuff
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 review: stylus tax
Google Nest Audio review: the sweet spot
Google Fi now directly sells Samsung phones and adds a new 5G map
G Suite is now Google Workspace in a bid to merge Gmail, Chat, and Docs
Gmail has a new logo that’s a lot more Google
More early Prime Day 2020 deals have kicked off on Amazon
Meet Ricky Desktop, the most viral beatmaker on TikTok
SPACs explained
This week, Dieter talks with YouTube's UrAvgConsumer about how the recently announced Google Pixel 5 shares some common ground with Google's 2013 smartphone project the Nexus 5.
Nilay, Dieter, Dan, and Chris discuss all the announcements from Google's fall hardware event from this week, as well as Sonos suing Google for infringing five more wireless audio patents.
Links:
If you’re sick this fall, you’ll probably get two virus tests
The coronavirus pandemic by the numbers
Google announces the Pixel 5 for $699
Google announces Pixel 4A 5G with a larger 6.2-inch display for $499
Verizon has an exclusive Pixel 4A 5G that’s $100 more expensive
Google says the Pixel’s Soli radar and Motion Sense will return
Can the Pixel 5 camera still compete using the same old aging sensor?
The Pixel 5 and 4A 5G play it safe
Google Chromecast (2020) review: reinvented — and now with a remote
Google announces new Chromecast with the new Google TV interface
The new Chromecast with Google TV won’t officially support Stadia at launch
Google Play Movies & TV is now Google TV but it’s not the same Google TV that runs on Android TV on the new Chromecast, it’s an app
New Chromecast works as a cheap but unsupported xCloud streamer
The Home Depot is selling a new Google Chromecast that hasn’t been announced
Sonos sues Google for infringing five more wireless audio patents
The new Roku Ultra has Dolby Vision and improved Wi-Fi performance
Roku is adding support for Apple’s AirPlay 2 and HomeKit later this year
Roku’s Streambar is a compact soundbar with built-in streaming smarts
Google’s new Nest Audio smart speaker is official, costs $99.99
A week with the Xbox Series X: load times, game performance, and more
Microsoft’s new $549 Surface Laptop Go aims to compete with Chromebooks
Microsoft’s updated Surface Pro X has a faster processor and a new platinum color option
Apple Watch Series 6 review: minute improvements
The Apple Watch heart monitor sends too many people to the doctor
Every Tuesday this month, TA'cast co-host Dieter hosts a series of discussions diving deep into the tech review season, each focusing on a specific product.
This week, Dieter talks with senior personal technology columnist at The Wall Street Journal and ThinkAuthority Joanna about Apple's Watch Series 6.
Dieter and Joanna also discuss the process of reviewing gadgets on video and the complications of reviewing a product that has this many variants.
Nilay, Dieter, and Dan discuss all the important announcements from Amazon's fall hardware event this week, from a security drone for your home to a new cloud gaming service.
Stories discussed this week:
- CDC removes guidance about the airborne spread of the coronavirus
- Averting a COVID-19 vaccination crisis will take careful communication
- Ring’s latest security camera is a drone that flies around inside your house
- Ring announces a new line of security cameras for cars
- Amazon will launch a new location-tracking mesh network system later this year
- Amazon’s fall hardware event: the 13 biggest announcements
- Amazon redesigns the Echo with a new spherical design and a custom machine learning processor
- Amazon’s new Echo show 10 moves to look at you
- Amazon’s Echo Show smart displays will soon stream Netflix video
- Amazon’s AZ1 Neural Edge processor will make Alexa voice commands even faster
- Alexa’s latest upgrades help it listen to multiple people and ask clarifying questions
- Amazon unveils new Guard Plus subscription for $4.99 per month
- Amazon announces a new cloud gaming service called Luna
- Amazon’s Luna game streaming service is powered by Windows and Nvidia GPUs
- Amazon announces $29.99 Fire TV Stick Lite and upgraded Fire TV Stick
- The latest Eero mesh Wi-Fi routers support Wi-Fi 6
- iPad 2020 review
- iOS 14 and iPadOS review: iPhone revolution, iPad evolution
- iOS 14 basics: how to add widgets to your iPhone’s home screen
- Fitbit Sense review: enough bugs to raise your heart rate
For the next four Tuesdays, TA'cast co-host Dieter hosts a series of discussions diving deep into the tech review season, each focusing on a specific product.
This week, Dieter and ThinkAuthority editor Dan Saif talks with Engadget's Cherlynn Low about Microsoft's Surface Duo.
The trio discusses how the process of reviewing this device differs from others in the past, where it stands in the phone and tablet market, and other notable points from Dieter and Cherlynn's time with the Duo that didn't make it into the review.
TA'cast
There’s a lot of information coming and going about the coronavirus, and the next steps for vaccines and treatments for COVID-19 — ThinkAuthority even has a dedicated team to it.
But how do we assess all this information in a logical way, to prevent confusion, chaos, or something worse? The ThinkAuthority’s Nilay, Mary Beth, and Nicole talked to Dr. Natalie Dean, assistant professor of biostatistics at the University of Florida, about what we know so far about the timeline of a COVID-19 vaccine, and the best way to evaluate the flood of information coming in every day.