The Vergecast: Ad-Free Edition

The Verge's Nilay Patel, David Pierce, and Alex Cranz discuss Apple's upgraded MacBook Air, the EU's Digital Markets Act deadline for tech’s biggest “gatekeepers”, and a bunch of tech news from this week.Further reading: Apple announces upgraded MacBook Air laptops with M3 chips The MacBook Air’s wedge is truly gone — and I miss it already Apple may not do a spring event this year How the EU’s DMA is changing Big Tech: all of the news and updates How every tech ‘gatekeeper’ is responding to the DMA  iOS 17.4 is here and ready for a whole new Europe  Apple hit with a nearly $2 billion fine following Spotify complaint  Spotify and Epic criticize Apple’s iOS changes as ‘a mockery of the DMA’ Spotify will show pricing options outside its iOS app in the EU — if Apple lets it Apple kills Epic’s iOS game store plans over App Store criticism Apple is bringing sideloading and alternate app stores to the iPhone Apple unbanned Epic so it can make an iOS games store in the EU Alternative iOS app stores won’t work (for long) outside of the EU. Here’s the new iOS default browser nag for iPhone users in Europe. Apple is officially dropping iPhone support for web apps in the EU Apple’s decision to drop iPhone web apps comes under scrutiny in the EU Now Apple says it won’t disable iPhone web apps in the EU Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on the flagship podcast of region locked phones: The Verge’s Allison Johnson and Jon Porter report back on all the tech we saw at Mobile World Congress this past week.  MWC 2024: all the phones, wearables, and gadgets announced in Barcelona Peering through Lenovo’s transparent laptop into a sci-fi future  What if phones actually bent to our needs?  The Phone 2A makes a guest appearance at Nothing’s MWC event. The Humane AI Pin worked better than I expected — until it didn’t  Samsung has big ambitions for the Galaxy Ring  A short gif of Infinix’s color-changing charging E Ink phone concept. Now there’s a 28,000mAh battery with a phone in it  Xiaomi’s new Watch S3 has a bezel you can swap as easily as a strap. Honor’s Magic 6 Pro launches internationally with AI-powered eye tracking on the way HMD is making a Barbie flip phone alongside a smartphone for tinkerers Later, David answers a question from the Vergecast Hotline about web crawlers and AI. With the rise of AI, web crawlers are suddenly controversialThe Vergecast and Decoder are live at SXSW this weekend, March 8th and 9th. SXSW attendees can see both shows live on the official Vox Media Podcast Stage at the JW Marriott, presented by Atlassian. Learn more at voxmedia.com/live.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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Verge’s Jennifer Pattison Tuohy has as smart a kitchen as any reasonable person possibly could; she has smart appliances, a smart sink, a smart fridge, and more voice assistants than anyone could ever talk to. And for a few days, she tried to let her kitchen do the work: telling her what to cook, getting everything set up just right, and even taking some of the cooking and cleaning load off her shoulders. Jen kept a diary during her adventures, and then joined The Vergecast to tell the tale. The fun, frustrating, exciting, harrowing tale.Links: The Thermomix The Samsung Food app The Fresco app The GE Profile Smart Smoker The Smart Instapot Pro The Traeger Smart Wood Pellet Grill The Typhur Smart Air Fryer Tovala Smart Countertop Oven My favorite smart oven is toast 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Verge's Nilay Patel and David Pierce talk through the weird and winding history of Apple's "secret" car project now that it's officially dead. And later, senior policy reporter Lauren Feiner makes her Vergecast debut to catch us up on the arguments made this week in the Supreme Court about online speech and the First Amendment.Further reading: Apple’s electric car project is dead RIP to the Apple Car, we hardly knew ye Behind Apple’s Doomed Car Project: False Starts and Wrong Turns Supreme Court hears arguments on the future of online speech: all the news The Supreme Court is about to decide the future of online speech Why Uber and Etsy came up so much in the Supreme Court’s social media arguments Google CEO says Gemini AI diversity errors are 'completely unacceptable' TikTok is removing even more songs as music rights battle drags on The Humane AI Pin worked better than I expected — until it didn’t  Ford offers EV owners free Tesla Supercharger adapters until July Attention English majors: now you can add handwritten notes to Google Docs The Vergecast and Decoder are live at SXSW this weekend, March 8th and 9th. SXSW attendees can see both shows live on the official Vox Media Podcast Stage at the JW Marriott, presented by Atlassian. Learn more at voxmedia.com/live.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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on the flagship podcast of the economic theory of Dave and Busters:02:50 - The Verge’s Mia Sato shares her experience on a new shopping app called Flip, which is filled with only videos that earn affiliate revenue. Where everyone’s an influencer and everything’s for sale35:34 - The Verge’s Vjeran Pavic and Becca Farsace chat with David Piece about the new Fuji X100VI, and why this line of cameras was a sensation on social media.  Fujifilm announces the X100VI, its follow-up to a TikTok sensation The internet's NEW favorite camera? (Fuji X100VI) Fujifilm X100T review 57:44 - Verge producer Will Poor answers a follow-up question about the right to repair legislation in this week’s Vergecast Hotline.The Vergecast and Decoder are live at SXSW this weekend, March 8th and 9th. SXSW attendees can see both shows live on the official Vox Media Podcast Stage at the JW Marriott, presented by Atlassian. Learn more at voxmedia.com/live.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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the next two Sundays on The Vergecast, The Verge’s Jennifer Pattison-Tuohy and David Pierce dig into the dream smart kitchen, the less-than-dreamy reality of the situation, and what it might take to make cooking, cleaning, meal-prepping, and eating more efficient and more fun.On this episode, Jen takes us on a tour of her own smart(ish) kitchen, and explains why the kitchen often feels left behind in the overall smart home race. Then, Jen and David are joined by Ben Harris, the CEO of Fresco; and Nick Holzherr, the co-founder of Samsung Food. They tell us about the opportunities and challenges in reinventing the way we cook and eat, and explain why the AI revolution might usher in huge change.Further reading: This smart oven solved my work-from-home lunchtime conundrum 2023 in the smart home: Matter’s broken promises How the smart home is finally getting out of your phone and into your home Appliance makers are teaming up to reduce your electricity usage — and save you cash This smart mixer did not make me a better baker Can Samsung Food usher in a new era for the smart kitchen? 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Verge's Nilay Patel, Alex Cranz, and David Pierce discuss ChatGPT and Gemini updates, Walmart acquiring Vizio, Apple's Sports app, and more.Further reading: Google cut a deal with Reddit for AI training data Google apologizes for ‘missing the mark’ after Gemini generated racially diverse Nazis  Google’s open-source Gemma AI models draw from the research behind Gemini ChatGPT spat out gibberish for many users overnight before OpenAI fixed it One month with Microsoft’s AI vision of the future: Copilot Pro Gemini, Gemma, Goose.  OpenAI can’t register ‘GPT’ as a trademark — yet Artificial investment Walmart to acquire Vizio in $2.3 billion deal Echo Hub review: a simple, customizable smart home control panel Samsung details a host of audio upgrades coming to its phones, tablets, and TVs Apple says the iPhone 15’s battery got better — but won’t say how Rice is not included in Apple’s official guidance for a wet phone One of the last small-ish Android phones looks like it's going the way of the iPhone Mini  OnePlus is getting back into the smartwatch game The Garmin Forerunner 165 could be a great budget running watch  Sony’s PlayStation Portal hacked to run emulated PSP games Framework is selling a cheap modular laptop  Wyze says camera breach let 13,000 customers briefly see into other people’s homes Apple launches Apple Sports app with scores and betting odds  Apple is already defending iMessage against tomorrow’s quantum computing attacks  IBM quantum computing updates: System Two and Heron Microsoft and Intel strike a custom chip manufacturing deal Rivian says it is laying off 10 percent of its workforce as EV woes deepen Ford slashes Mustang Mach-E prices again as EV price war enters its second year The Vergecast and Decoder are live at SXSW this weekend, March 8th and 9th. SXSW attendees can see both shows live on the official Vox Media Podcast Stage at the JW Marriott, presented by Atlassian. Learn more at voxmedia.com/live.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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on the flagship podcast of sneaky gaming strategies:03:45 - Verge producer Will Poor reports on a right-to-repair bill in Oregon and what's next in the right-to-repair movement. The right-to-repair movement is just getting started Status of Right to Repair legislation state by state, via repair.org iFixit explains parts pairing Jessa Jones’ iPad Rehab Apple Is Lobbying Against Right to Repair Six Months After Supporting Right to Repair The current draft of Oregon’s Right to Repair bill 33:13 - Tom Warren breaks down the news from Microsoft’s gaming chief about Xbox games coming to PS5 and next-gen hardware.Microsoft’s gaming chief on Xbox games coming to PS5, next-gen hardware, and more1:00:49 - David Pierce and Alex Cranz answer a question from The Vergecast Hotline about the crackdown on password sharing for streaming services. Netflix might ruin password sharing for everyone  Disney Plus is finally cracking down on password sharing in the US Hulu is cracking down on password sharing, just like Disney Plus and Netflix The Vergecast and Decoder are live at SXSW this weekend, March 8th and 9th. SXSW attendees can see both shows live on the official Vox Media Podcast Stage at the JW Marriott, presented by Atlassian. Learn more at voxmedia.com/live.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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Verge's Nilay Patel, Alex Cranz, and David Pierce discuss Apple fans starting to return the Vision Pro, Xbox exclusive games, Super Bowl streaming troubles, and more.Further reading: Apple fans are starting to return their Vision Pros Zuckerberg says Quest 3 is ‘the better product’ vs. Apple’s Vision Pro Meta’s big vision for face computers might be better than Apple’s Microsoft’s gaming chief on Xbox games coming to PS5, next-gen hardware, and more Microsoft prepares to take Xbox everywhere Gemini Advanced is most impressive when it’s working with Google Gemini 1.5: Google’s next-gen AI model is almost ready  Google’s Gemini assistant is fantastic and frustrating OpenAI introduces Sora, its text-to-video AI model ChatGPT’s memory gives OpenAI’s chatbot new information about you Can watermarks save us from deepfakes? Automating ableism  The text file that runs the internet  Apple won’t be forced to open up iMessage by EU FCC commissioner wants to investigate Apple over Beeper Mini shutdown  Apple appears to be breaking iPhone web apps in the EU Walmart might buy Vizio to win the fight over cheap TVs  AI at Work 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on the flagship podcast of video podcasts:02:52 - The Verge's David Pierce chats with 1Password's Anna Pobletts about good password hygiene, passkeys, and the upsides of a third-party password manager. Passkeys: all the news and updates around passwordless sign-on support Biometrics? Bring it on: why Okta’s Jameeka Green Aaron wants passwords to go away How to use a passkey to sign in to your Google account 1Password’s passkeys explainer 31:56 - Victoria Song joins the show to discuss the state of wearables and why this may be the year for the smart ring. Fossil is quitting smartwatches This might be the year of the smart ring The best smartwatches for Android The best fitness trackers to buy right now 58:46 -Later, David answers a question from The Vergecast Hotline. Apple Vision Pro review: magic, until it’s not Here’s how much the Vision Pro’s accessories cost Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.Subscribe to The Verge's YouTube channel for full Vergecast episodes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices