What are the most important technology stories right now? From products and companies to services and trends, Download’s weekly panel of experts analyzes the biggest topics in tech … and a few you may have missed. Hosted by Stephen Hackett and Jason Snell.
Apple releases public betas a bit earlier than we expected, Bill Gates muses on Microsoft's missed opportunity and the power of tech giants, WebOS just keeps on keeping on, and we're all going to need a fuzzy puppy update this week because this is the final episode of Download.
Facebook's cryptocurrency move, 5G in rural areas, Google steals lyrics, Apple hedges on China, JJ Abrams cuts a big deal with Warner Media, Snapchat's original programming strategy, and much more.
The tech industry has a lot to apologize for, the Huawei mess escalates, and is Apple still thinking about autonomous vehicles?
From Apple's podcast studio within its Worldwide Developer Conference, we're joined by John Siracusa and Shelly Brisbin to discuss iPadOS, iOS, Catalyst, SwiftUI, and Apple's new pro hardware.
The increasingly messy tech Cold War, Apple's keyboard troubles, the prospects for data protection laws in the U.S., and Wi-Fi stalking on the Tube.
Apple gets a bad Supreme Court ruling, Disney buys the rest of Hulu, and Florence Ion joins us to discuss last week's Google IO, including the Pixel 3a and the fate of all our Nest thermostats.
Philip Michaels joins us to talk about interesting things in Apple's latest financial results, the death of a product that never existed, and Facebook's F8 product announcements.
Carolina Milanesi joins Jason to discuss her time using an unbroken Samsung Galaxy Fold, Tim Cook talking up tech regulation, Jack Dorsey visiting the White House, and the words tech writers use to describe Pinterest.
Apple and Qualcomm make up over fried chicken, social-media companies continue to not get it, and the Galaxy Fold makes a very bad first impression.
Netflix ties its own hands, new Kindles arrive, Amazon gets criticized for cozying up to oil companies while touting its own green-energy efforts, web accessibility is trickier than you'd think, and... is that a black hole?
Apple's News+ pitch failed with key newspapers--but Facebook might value news curation now? Future iPhones come into focus, but Apple's 5G timeline is called into question. Dell's new XPS laptop is a winner. And the "hearables" category (by which we mean wireless headphones) heats up.
Apple's big services event leads us to discuss Apple TV+, Apple Card, Apple Arcade, and Apple News+; in other news, we touch on the perils of offering a service that lets random people upload content--especially in the European Union.
Google unveils a cloud gaming strategy at GDC, Apple releases all the product updates, Instagram goes shopping, and MySpace deletes all your favorite music from 2009.
The complicated reality of trying to break up the power of large tech companies, Spotify takes on Apple, Apple sets its sights on services, and takiing lessons from "Captain Marvel."
Fitbit unveils new low-cost fitness trackers, Apple goes hiring in Qualcomm's backyard, Zuck has a vision for private conversations, and we bring in our Special Automotive Correspondent to discuss electric car announcements.
Mobile World Congress brings folding phones, battery phones, camera phones, 5G machinations, and a new business-oriented HoloLens. Plus there's a robot on the streets of Memphis, and maybe Netflix is bringing the world closer together?
We cover Samsung's big event, including new flagship phones, a low-cost model that should have a lot of crowd appeal, a perplexing 5G variant, and the device everyone's talking about, the unfoldable smartphone.
What happens when a tech giant buys the company that makes a product you like? Also: Some ugly labor issues in the tech and journalism industries, Apple plans a services event, Samsung readies new phones including one that folds, and Amazon ditches NYC for HQ2.
Jason and Stephen discuss Apple's retail changes and Facebook's 15th anniversary. Then Natalie Jarvey of The Hollywood Reporter visits to discuss Spotify spending a lot of money on podcasting companies, and Jeremy Burge of Emojipedia unveils the new emoji coming later in 2019.
Apple copes with declining iPhone sales and a bad FaceTime bug, then ends up coming down hard on Facebook for its misuse of a tool designed to read user data. Also, there's an imaginary bear in the woods... or is there?
Robots roll out, smartphones get weird, Apple Pay expands, Netflix gets Oscar nominations and joins the MPAA, NBC Universal gets into streaming, and Tesla puts the squeeze on its customers.
Apple's battery replacement saga and the parable of the infinite home appliance; Facebook and WordPress try to help journalism; Netflix raises prices; and with Vegas in the rear-view mirror, we ponder the biggest trends of CES with two people who actually braved the industry's largest trade show.
The Consumer Electronics Show is, as always, a flood of new technology, corporate announcements, products that will never ship, and embarrassing garbage. How better to sum it all up than with a draft? In this episode, we choose the top stories of the week, then move on to pick some vaporware and the worst story of the show. But don't worry, in the end we've got some fuzzy CES puppies to cheer you up. Is that fresh bread I smell?
In this special New Years Day episode, we look back at the biggest trends of 2018, review some stories you might have missed along the way, and make a few bold predictions for 2019.
2018 ends with a lot of grim dystopia type stuff involving social media services and the synergy power of media companies and internet providers. Meanwhile, Apple takes the unlikely step of lowering its ecosystem walls and adding Apple Music to Amazon Echo devices. We're going to need a lot of fuzzy puppies for this one.
Google's CEO gets grilled by Congress; Instagram gets a new product leader; Apple does a bunch of stuff; and Supermicro defends itself against Bloomberg. Plus we honor the 50th anniversary of the "Mother of all Demos", Casey hasn't seen "My Cousin Vinny", we try to save journalism and fail, and a puppy emerges from a box!
Qualcomm rolls out 5G cellular networking at a Hawaiian resort; Tumblr bans sexual imagery and nudity; Apple fails emoji biology; and streaming services consider inserting ads into paused video.
The App Store goes before the Supreme Court, Amazon embraces ARM servers, and we discuss the amazing life and business lessons of IDG founder Pat McGovern.
Amazon finishes its 'Bachelor'-style courting of US cities; Samsung makes us ponder whether foldable phones will ever be a thing; and YouTube decries the EU's new copyright declaration.
Samsung shows off a foldable phone prototype, Apple grows its services revenue and ships new products, Amazon gets into print catalogs and embraces the east coast, Comcast builds a cable box for cord cutters, and we mourn a couple of casualties of the streaming-service wars to come.
This week it's all about Apple's event in New York. What does the iPad Pro tell us about how Apple's software effort is lagging behind its hardware design? The MacBook Air enters an already confusing set of Apple laptops. We have a Mac Mini sighting! And the prices of Apple products keep cranking higher and higher...
Apple's CEO speaks out in favor of regulating online privacy, while his company plans an iPad and Mac product event for next week; Tesla's quarterly results suggest that things are looking up for electric cars; and another Oculus executive departs as we question the future prospects of VR tech.
This week there's strange news from the phone world as Essential circles the drain while Palm climbs back out of the drain with a strange new accessory smartphone; Adobe embraces the iPad at last with a new version of Photoshop; Amazon refreshes the Kindle Paperwhite e-reader; and Google has to follow some intriguing new rules for Android in the EU.
Google unloads a bunch of new hardware, including the Google Pixel 3 and the Pixel 3 XL, the Pixel Slate, and the Home Hub; a major security flaw in Google+ leads Google to kill the entire product off; Magic Leap ships something; and taco-related news is more interesting than we initially thought.
This was a big week for Microsoft, with new Surface hardware and some big announcements about how Windows will work better with Android. There was also scary news about servers being infected by spy hardware that could compromise privacy and security. Happy National Taco Day!
Microsoft sets its eyes on the cloud and suddenly finds itself on the side of the angels; Instagram's founders leave their creation in Mark Zuckerberg's hands; and Oculus debuts a new standalone VR headset.
Apple updates most of its operating systems, and prepares to ship its new iPhones and Apple Watches; Elon Musk announces a trip around the moon while also getting some unwanted scrutiny from the government; and Amazon announces a slew of new Echo-powered products.
Apple releases new iPhones and a new Apple Watch; Google kills Inbox.
Apple's event nears, but the rumored names for its new iPhones are really weird; young people are abandoning Facebook in droves; social-media giants spend a day in the barrel on Capitol Hill; and Evernote loses much of its executive team amid rumors it's circling the drain.
Apple rumor season is in full swing, Google brings "digital well-being" to YouTube viewing stats, Uber embraces scooters and ebikes, and conservatives complain about Google having a liberal bias.
Graphics cards get way better; the App Store comes under criticism; and Facebook spends another week in the news. Plus we've got some operating-system nostalgia and some exciting news about tacos.
This week we learn that our apps may be watching us far more than we might have expected, imagine a wacky buddy comedy featuring two voice assistants who have to live together in a single device, observe Twitch and YouTube fighting over streaming stars, and count how many app subscriptions we've got.