The Vergecast: Ad-Free Edition

The Verge's Nilay Patel, David Pierce, and Alex Cranz discuss YouTube adding a slew of new TikTok-like features to Shorts, Elon Musk's extravagant 'X' sign, and much more.We also go through this week's emails. The Samsung fans have spoken.Further reading: Elon Musk wants a second chance to fail at X Elon Musk capitulates: Twitter will default to dark mode but still offer a light option Twitter Blue subscribers can now hide their blue checks Elon Musk's extravagant 'X' sign atop the former Twitter HQ has been dismantled  Elon Musk’s X sues anti-hate researchers for allegedly scraping data from Twitter Do you want to buy stocks on X? YouTube is adding a slew of new TikTok-like features to Shorts BBC launches an ‘experimental’ Mastodon server LG 27GR95QE-B review: ushering in a new age for gaming monitors Some details on what Apple needs to ship the Apple Vision Pro developer kits.  Apple’s Vision Pro platform joins Pixar’s bid to standardize 3D content The Excel World Championship esport is coming back to ESPN this week Exclusive: the Sonos Move 2 is coming in September with stereo sound and 24-hour battery life MrBeast is suing his ghost kitchen partner over ‘inedible’ MrBeast Burgers 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 texting on the outside screen: 03:28 - The Verge’s David Pierce chats with Allison Johnson and Dan Seifert about the software design of Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5. 32:54 - David takes a trip to the Dave & Busters to find out why the games on your phone ended up in your local arcade.49:48 - Alex Heath joins the show to discuss his experience getting his eye scanned by an orb from Worldcoin, a crypto startup co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.1:14:45 - Our hotline question of the week about wearables without screens.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 Richard Lawler discuss Twitter being rebranded as X. Allison Johnson joins the show to discuss everything announced at Samsung’s Galaxy Flip 5 and Fold 5 Unpacked event.Also: we read your emails!Further reading: Twitter is being rebranded as X Elon Musk just changed Twitter’s logo again — sort of  Can Elon Musk really use that X logo for Twitter? For Elon Musk, X equals everything  Twitter Blue’s former lead talks about Elon Musk, X, and sleeping on the floor Twitter Japan will be called simply, Japan Threads is rolling out its Following feed  You can’t just leave Threads in the Following feed The Galaxy Z Fold 5 is last year’s phone with a new hinge The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 gets a big little screen upgrade  Samsung goes OLED all the way with the Galaxy Tab S9 tablets The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 series is all about the bezels  DJI Air 3 review: old ideas, new package OpenAI can’t tell if something was written by AI after all Seven major automakers are teaming up on a North American EV charging network T-Mobile says its ultrafast 5G capable of up to 3.3Gbps is rolling out now Boost Infinite’s $25 unlimited wireless plan is now on Amazon Prime T-Mobile’s charging a $5 fee for in-store bill payments My first MP3 player had everything I needed  Looking back at the original Chromecast, which just turned 10 years old Japan’s indie game scene is growing up How to build a better search engine than 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on the flagship podcast of answering machines: We answer your questions from The Vergecast Hotline! 01:51 - LDAC and other audio codecs06:21 - Samsung TV07:58 - Smartwatches for marathons16:38 - iPhone upgrades23:09 - Threads 29:52 - Security cameras40:46 - Laptops39:13 - Google Pixel50:54 - Android phonesEmail 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 all the gadget news from this week, the state of EV charging for non-Tesla owners, the unions of Hollywood on strike, and much more.Further reading: Beats Studio Pro headphones review: leaning on a legacy The future of EV charging for non-Tesla owners may not be as bad as it looks HP Spectre x360 13.5 vs. Dell XPS 13: which flagship should you buy? Motorola G Stylus 5G (2023) review: a good phone spoiled by bloatware  Framework Laptop 16: our exclusive hands-on OnePlus 12 leaks show a bigger battery and faster charging Logitech buys Stream Deck rival Loupedeck   Tesla reveals Cybertruck size specs as it builds release candidates Meta is giving away its AI tech to try to beat ChatGPT Apple is testing an AI chatbot but has no idea what to do with it The unions of Hollywood are trying to save it from itself Bob Iger’s big ideas for Disney involve cost-cutting at Marvel A real-time reaction to the actors’ strike. TREE LAW Vox Media drops its own CMS Netflix reportedly has around 1.5 million subscribers on its ad tier in the US. The Biden administration is tackling smart devices with a new cybersecurity label  Here’s why 70mm IMAX movies like Oppenheimer need a Palm Pilot to work Your Starbucks order is not ready 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 sustainable supply chain economics: 03:27 - CEO of Nothing Carl Pei sits down with The Verge’s David Pierce to discuss the new Phone 2, Carl’s vision for the company, his thoughts on AI, foldables, VR, and much more. Nothing Phone 2 review: the vibes abide  Nothing CEO Carl Pei on the Phone 2, AI, and the future of gadgets (video version of interview here) 50:02 - Later, Vergecast producers Andru Marino and Liam James debate with David the best and worst TV remotes, and what makes a good remote design. Watch the YouTube version to see all the remotes we talk about. 3 Kinds of Simplicity :: UXmatters   Philips Design - Simplifying TV remote (UX Case Study) 1:25:19 - Keep listening for the Vergecast Hotline question of the week. 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, David Pierce, and Alex Cranz discuss Microsoft winning the case against the FTC for its Activision Blizzard deal. Also: the Nothing Phone 2 and more gadgets.Further reading: Meta-provided Facebook chats led a woman to plead guilty to abortion-related charges Microsoft wins FTC fight to buy Activision Blizzard Read Xbox chief Phil Spencer’s memo to Microsoft employees about the FTC win FTC appeals its loss to Microsoft in Activision Blizzard case Nothing Phone 2 review: the vibes abide Is the Nothing Phone (2)’s camera better than these?  Apple iMac rumor suggests a 32-inch version is being considered Sarah Silverman is suing OpenAI and Meta for copyright infringement 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 transformers (both the movie and the AI thing): 03:46 - The Verge’s Victoria Song, Chris Welch, Allison Johnson, and David Pierce discuss using the new features and tools in beta versions of Apple’s watchOS 10, tvOS 17, iOS 17, and iPadOS 17. 28:36 - The Verge’s James Vincent joins the show to discuss how we should think about using the popular vocabulary terms in AI like GPT, LLM, transformers, hallucinations, etc. Are we using them the right way? Does it matter how we use them? 54:20 - David is joined by The Verge’s Ash Parrish and Polygon’s Chris Plante to share the video games they are most excited about after a string of announcements from Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Ubisoft, Summer Game Fest, and others. 1:25:46 - We answer a question from the Vergecast HotlineEmail 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 David Pierce, Alex Cranz, and Alex Heath discuss Meta's launch of Threads, a new competitor to Twitter. Later, Nilay Patel calls in to give his take.Further reading: Instagram Threads: why Meta is competing with Twitter Meta unspools Threads Instagram’s Threads: everything you need to know about the new Twitter competitor Instagram’s Twitter competitor, Threads, briefly went live on the web Instagram Threads won’t be available in the EU at launch.  People are posting a lot on Threads. Here’s how Twitter’s leadership is responding to Instagram Threads. Mastodon CEO Eugen Rochko on what Threads means for the fediverse. Instagram flooded Threads with celebrities and brands at launch So what’s next for Threads? DMs “maybe...” Mark Zuckerberg on when Instagram Threads will get ads Spielberg, Scorsese, and Anderson have swooped in to save Turner Classic Movies  Google confirms it’s training AI using scraped web data The TSA will use facial recognition in over 400 airports 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 David Pierce, Nilay Patel, and Alex Cranz discuss results from our AI survey, this week's AI news, our Apple Mac Pro review, and more.Later, Adi Robertson and Tom Warren join the show to discuss the latest in the FTC v. Microsoft trial, including what Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella had to say on the stand. Hope, fear, and AI  AI is killing the old web, and the new web struggles to be born ChatGPT on iOS now comes with Bing built-in Ads for major brands are appearing on AI-generated spam sites House restricts congressional use of ChatGPT AI-generated tweets might be more convincing than real people, research finds Apple Mac Pro M2 Ultra review: a powerful computer in search of an audience The AirPods Max are getting left behind, so are new Apple headphones coming this year? Reddit mods are calling for an ‘affordable return’ for third-party apps Plex lays off more than 20 percent of its staff Ford’s F-150 Lightning price hikes are costing it customers TikTok’s new feature asks creators to make branded videos for a chance at ad money FTC v. Microsoft: all the news from the big Xbox courtroom battle  The FTC’s case against Microsoft could turn into Xbox vs. PlayStation Has Xbox really lost the console wars?   Microsoft exec was ready to ‘go spend Sony out of business’ to strengthen Xbox 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