The Vergecast: Ad-Free Edition

The Verge's Nilay Patel, Alex Cranz, Ashley Carman, and Alex Heath discuss Meta's rough week: Facebook reported its first-ever quarterly decline of daily users globally, along with lower-than-expected ad growth that sent its stock plunging roughly 20 percent.The crew also discuss Spotify's response to the Joe Rogan controversy and how it will be handling moderation going forward.Further reading: Facebook lost daily users for the first time ever last quarter Meta’s stock price plunges 25 percent overnight Google parent company Alphabet broke $200 billion in annual revenue for the first time Epic largely lost to Apple, but 35 states are now backing its fight in a higher court Spotify CEO defends Joe Rogan deal in tense company town hall Spotify says it’s a creator company now Here is the Spotify COVID content policy that lets Joe Rogan slide Spotify finally responds to Joe Rogan controversy with a plan to label podcasts that discuss COVID-19 Joe Rogan defends podcast and apologizes to Spotify for backlash The Joe Rogan controversy is what happens when you put podcasts behind a wall  Sony is buying Bungie, the developer of Destiny and original creator of Halo Big video game companies just can’t stop buying studios Wordle has been bought by The New York Times, will ‘initially’ remain free for everyone to play Peloton’s latest gadget is a $90 heart rate monitor for your arm Echelon persuades USPTO that Peloton’s streaming tech is unpatentable Appeals court upholds California’s net neutrality law Google leaks Pixel 6A name in, of all things, a coloring book Tesla has a new feature that will disable your seat controls if you keep messing with them Public accountants are deducting themselves from their jobs  What’s the difference between 5G, 5G Plus, 5G UW, and 5G UC? 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 Tom Warren discuss Q4 earnings for the big tech companies like Microsoft, Samsung, Intel, and Tesla.Casey Newton joins the show to discuss Spotify's controversy regarding Joe Rogan's podcast, leading to musician Neil Young removing his music from the platform.Further reading: Windows 11 is getting Android apps, taskbar improvements, and more next month Microsoft got a whole lot of people to play Halo and Forza Call of Duty’s next three games will hit PlayStation despite Microsoft’s Activision deal It’s 2022, and the Surface Duo is finally getting Android 11  Microsoft is making its Xbox subscriptions more flexible after UK regulator steps in Samsung sets revenue records with stronger product sales What to expect from Samsung’s February Unpacked Samsung’s next Unpacked event is set for February 9th What we know about Intel’s $20 billion bet on Ohio The chip shortage didn’t stop Intel from having its ‘best year ever’ Tesla hails its second profitable year as a ‘breakthrough’ Elon Musk says ‘don’t forget about my robots’ as Roadster, Semi, Cybertruck deadlines slip Tesla Cybertruck delayed until at least next year, Elon Musk confirms Tesla Cybertruck walkaround video shows the absurdly huge windshield wiper in detail The self-driving car industry is abandoning the term ‘self-driving’ and leaving it to Tesla Spotify picks Joe Rogan over Neil Young  Why Spotify can’t afford to lose Joe Rogan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel talks with games reporter Ash Parrish and senior reporter Alex Heath about Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion and Google building a new AR headset.Policy editor Russell Brandom joins the show to discuss the battle between the FAA, AT&T, Verizon, and airlines over 5G and the antitrust bills in Congress this week.Further reading: The US’s free COVID test website has more visitors than all other .gov sites combined Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion Read Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick’s email to employees about the Microsoft acquisition Read Microsoft Gaming CEO’s email to staff about the Activision Blizzard acquisition Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass service grows to 25 million subscribers Microsoft’s Activision acquisition would instantly make it a force in mobile gaming A guide to Microsoft’s Xbox game studios empire Is Microsoft building a gaming monopoly? Sony expects Microsoft to ‘continue to ensure’ Activision games stay multiplatform Google is building an AR headset AT&T and Verizon are limiting C-band 5G expansion around airports even more AT&T begins 5G C-band rollout in limited number of metro areas Verizon’s faster C-band 5G is live and off to a promising start Apple and Google split with startups over antitrust bill Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai are personally lobbying senators against antitrust legislation: report Lawmakers approve Big Tech antitrust overhaul, but with strings attached US competition enforcers launch overhaul of merger approval process Democrats unveil bill to ban online ‘surveillance advertising’ 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 Russell Brandom discuss the FTC proceeding with an antitrust lawsuit against Meta, the success of Wordle and its app clones, and more RCS drama.Verge deputy editor Dan Seifert stops by to chat about this week's gadget news and the state of the PC market.Stories discussed: White House to launch COVID test-ordering site ‘by this weekend,’ reports say White House hosts tech summit to discuss open-source security after Log4j Google calls for new government action to protect open-source software projects Judge says the FTC’s Meta monopoly lawsuit can go forward Meta’s real antitrust problems are only beginning Want the ‘TLDR’ on a site’s terms of service? There’s a bill for that Apple says App Store developers have earned more than $260 billion The App Store clones are here to profit off Wordle’s success The Wordle clones have disappeared from the App Store Wordle copycat creator apologizes for ripping off the popular free word game The real beauty of Wordle is how its emoji results tell a story Alleged Apple App Store scammer AmpMe lowers prices and says it’ll investigate its ‘consultants’ Google exec says Apple is ‘holding back’ customers who text Google says Apple ‘should not benefit from bullying’ created by iMessage lock-in It fills me with glee that Canon printers now think Canon’s own toner is fake Apple’s $19 polishing cloth is back in stock online Ford doesn’t want the F-150 Lightning’s launch to be plagued by scalpers Tesla removes 2022 production date from Cybertruck website The PC market just had another big year thanks to pandemic demand TSMC earmarks record $44 billion for chip manufacturing expansion in 2022  The pandemic has blurred the lines between laptop categories Sony Xperia 5 III now shipping in the US, almost nine months after initial announcement The Nvidia Shield is getting Android 11 and other upgrades Sony says it’s still making new PS4s, but most stores aren’t selling them Google’s Android 12 update has been the rockiest one in years Ford doesn’t want the F-150 Lightning’s launch to be plagued by scalpers Wear OS will work better for lefties... eventually Tesla removes 2022 production date from Cybertruck website GM is creating an online used car marketplace Buy Nothing exploded on Facebook — now it wants a platform on its own 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, Dieter Bohn, and Alex Cranz run through the huge amount of products announced at the Consumer Electronics Show 2022 this week — from QD-OLED TVs, to EVs, to a hair-coloring gadget.All the stories discussed: CES 2022 will close a day early because of COVID concerns CES 2022 will introduce HDMI 2.1a, another confusing new spec Sony announces the world’s first QD-OLED 4K TV, coming later this year Sony is joining the Mini LED TV bandwagon in 2022 Samsung promises ‘groundbreaking’ new TV feature: NFT support Samsung’s latest Frame TVs have a matte screen that looks and feels more like real art Samsung’s new 2022 TVs bring Nvidia GeForce Now and Google Stadia gaming Samsung’s new TV remote uses radio waves from your router to stay charged LG announces its largest and smallest OLED TVs ever as part of 2022 lineup LG TVs now have a built-in health platform The Samsung Odyssey Ark is its largest curved monitor yet Chevy Silverado EV revealed: GM’s best-selling truck goes electric General Motors announces electric versions of the Chevy Equinox and Blazer SUVs BMW’s IX M60 is a dual-motor performance EV with 280 miles of range  BMW debuts its new color-changing paint technology at CES: E Ink Sony pivots into cars with Sony Mobility and a Vision-S SUV prototype at CES 2022 Dell XPS 13 Plus hands-on: is that... a touch bar? Asus will release a 17-inch foldable OLED laptop this year Lenovo’s new ThinkBook Plus Gen 3 has an eight-inch secondary screen Intel’s 12th Gen Alder Lake chips arrive at CES 2022 for its most powerful laptops ever Intel’s upcoming Arc GPUs inch closer to their debut with latest OEM update Intel announces 5.5GHz capable 12th Gen CPU Nvidia still has no idea how to pronounce the name of its best gaming GPU Google will spend 2022 trying to match Apple’s ecosystem integrations The OnePlus 10 Pro’s official specs are not the least bit surprising The Galaxy S21 FE officially joins Samsung's crowded mirage lineup Why AT&T and Verizon are feuding with the US Government over a last-minute delay to 5G L’Oreal’s newest gadget takes the mess out of coloring your hair Sony confirms PlayStation VR2 name and Horizon game Samsung’s tiny Freestyle projector is fun so get over it Anker’s new Nano II 100W USB-C charger is the smallest 100W GaN charger yet The Motorola MA1 is a dongle for wireless Android Auto Razer’s new Zephyr Pro mask has the voice amp feature we wanted all along Black + Decker’s $300 Bev vacuums up a Keurig-shaped hole in the robot bartender space Are we ready for the smart front door? Masonite thinks so This breathing PC case looks like it’s alive Podcasters are letting software pick their ads — it’s already going awry Pete Buttigieg is racing to keep up with self-driving cars Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nilay Patel, Dieter Bohn, Alex Cranz, and Loren Grush discuss NASA's plan for launching the James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to NASA’s Hubble telescope.Second half of the show, the crew go through all the gadgets and software updates announced this past week.Stories discussed this week: NASA’s massive next-generation space telescope arrives in South America ahead of launch NASA sets new date for James Webb Space Telescope launch Five former SpaceX employees speak out about harassment at the company Sony Glass Sound Speaker review: it’s not what it looks like Analogue Pocket review: Game Boy games have never looked so good Opal’s C1 offers DSLR-rivaling video quality in a small form factor  Dell’s Concept Stanza converts your chicken scratch to digital text Amazon Echo Show 15 review: Alexa’s on your wall Oppo’s Find N is an impressive first folding phone Huawei’s P50 Pocket is a stylish clamshell foldable launching this month Samsung’s working on a rollable smartwatch with a camera Apple releases iOS 15.2 with App Privacy Report, Digital Legacy, and more Apple scrubs controversial CSAM detection feature from webpage but says plans haven’t changed Universal Control won’t be coming to macOS Monterey until sometime this spring Adobe launches Creative Cloud Express, a new app that simplifies its powerful editing tools  Snap launches Story Studio, a standalone video editing app for mobile Log4j is patched, but the exploits are just getting started ‘No easy solution’ for Tesla Cybertruck’s comically large windshield wiper, Elon Musk says Chrome OS tablets are getting fancier but not better Former FCC officials are worried about air safety fears delaying 5G rollout Toyota is going to make you pay to start your car with your key fob Delivery failed How to sneak into a Bored Ape Yacht Club party Matter’s plan to save the smart home Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In our final Vergecast Spec-tacular of the year, Dieter Bohn dives into Matter, the new tech standard that smart home gadgets will use to communicate with each other, making compatibility between gadgets significantly easier.Guests include: Verge smart home reviewer Jennifer Pattison Tuohy Michelle Mindala-Freeman, Head of Marketing for the Connectivity Standards Alliance. Tim Both, brand manager and product manager for Eve Samantha Fein, VP of Marketing and Business Development at Samsung SmartThings Further reading: Matter's plan to save the smart home What matters about Matter, the new smart home standard Matter could bring universal casting that actual works Smart home company Eve plans to use Matter to move beyond Apple’s HomeKit Amazon confirms its support for Matter Google shares its commitment to Matter, promises future interoperability between smart home platforms  Samsung promises Matter support for SmartThings hubs, Galaxy devices, TVs, and fridges Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nilay Patel, Dieter Bohn, and Alex Heath discuss Epic Games' Matrix experience in Unreal Engine 5, Snap’s first AR Spectacles, streaming news, and more.Stories discussed: Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss on making The Matrix Awakens with Epic Games Snap’s first AR Spectacles are an ambitious, impractical start How Snap is sidestepping the metaverse The Matrix Awakens is an interactive tech demo for PS5 and Xbox Series X / S Google is bringing Android games to Windows in 2022 Meta opens up access to its VR social platform Horizon Worlds Apple’s AR headset reportedly uses 3D sensors for hand tracking Your LG TV can now play Google Stadia if it’s running webOS 5.0 or later Matter could bring universal casting that actually works Roku settles YouTube dispute and locks down apps in ‘multi-year’ deal Spotify removes popular comedians’ content over royalties dispute Apple Music’s voice plan likely to launch with iOS 15.2 Sonos now supports Amazon Music’s Ultra HD and Dolby Atmos tracks Google Pixel’s lock screen Snapchat shortcut is here Google releases first Android 12L beta for large-screen devices Google Pixel mail-in repairs have allegedly twice resulted in leaked pics and a privacy nightmare 5G now means some flights won’t be able to land when pilots can’t see the runway Jessica Rosenworcel confirmed by Senate to lead the FCC Verizon might be collecting your browsing history and here’s how to stop it Sonos announces plans to make its products more efficient and repairable Instagram head says it’s bringing back the chronological feed The vice president should not be using Bluetooth headphones Kickstarter says it’s switching to crowdfunding via the blockchain Epic v. Apple ruling put on hold after appeals court grants a stay Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Live at On The Verge in New York City, Nilay and Dieter discuss The Verge's documentary Springboard: the secret history of the first real smartphone and conduct at Q&A with the audience.Springboard is now streaming worldwide. You can watch it on The Verge’s new app on Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, or Apple TV. It is now also available to watch on our YouTube channel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nilay Patel and Dieter Bohn chat with Alex Heath and Casey Newton about Jack Dorsey stepping down as CEO of Twitter and what's going in the world of crypto.Managing editor Alex Cranz stops by to share news that the FTC is suing to block Nvidia's $40 billion purchase of Arm.Stories referenced: Jack Dorsey steps down as Twitter CEO Twitter CTO Parag Agrawal replaces Jack Dorsey as CEO Jack steps back  An introduction to Parag Agrawal, Twitter’s new CEO Big tech’s first generation of founders starts to step aside As tech founders resign, Congress loses its favorite targets Jack Dorsey’s Square is changing its name to Block The leader of Facebook’s stalled cryptocurrency project is leaving the company Macy’s is auctioning off Thanksgiving Day Parade NFTs, including this creepy elf Almost buying a copy of the Constitution is easy, but giving the money back is hard ConstitutionDAO will shut down after losing bid for Constitution Is the music industry’s future on the blockchain? US banking regulators are looking to clarify crypto rules in 2022  The FTC is suing to block Nvidia’s $40 billion purchase of Arm Qualcomm is updating its Snapdragon branding to try and simplify its chip names Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip is here to power the Android flagships of 2022 Qualcomm’s new always-on smartphone camera is a privacy nightmare Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 is its latest attempt to hit a Windows on Arm home run Microsoft’s Qualcomm exclusivity deal for Windows on Arm reportedly ending soon Qualcomm’s new G3x platform could usher in a new wave of Nintendo Switch-alikes Razer’s Qualcomm-powered handheld console leaks Meta ordered to sell Giphy by UK regulator Barnes & Noble announces new Nook GlowLight 4, says it cares for real this time Alex's tablet Tile is selling its Bluetooth tracking business to Life360 for $205 million Elizabeth Holmes admits that she was CEO of Theranos, the company she founded Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices