The Vergecast

• Version History: Sony Watchman

  1982's coolest gadget was the Sony Watchman portable TV. Decades before everyone was glued to YouTube on their smartphones, the Watchman popularized the concept of video on the go. In the early days of the personal-tech revolution, you’d find the Watchman antennas up everywhere from the church pew to the baseball bleacher. Victoria Song and Allison Johnson join David Pierce to dive into the engineering feat that made the first Watchman possible. If you like the show, ⁠subscribe to the Version History feed⁠ to make sure you get every new episode. Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed. We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• AI can't even turn on the lights

  Nilay’s back! And you can listen to The Vergecast with no ads, if you’re a Verge subscriber! Big week, really. Nilay and David start the show by talking about ads, podcasts, platforms, and subscriptions. Then they talk a bunch about Apple’s new M5-powered MacBook, iPad, and Vision Pro, and whether a chip bump is worth getting excited about. After that, Nilay reflects on a summer of using AI products, and explains why you can tell the whole story of this generation of AI just by talking about the smart home. Finally, in the lightning round, the hosts talk about AI song covers, Apple TV, TiVo, Roku, Cybertrucks, and the exploding Pixel 10 Pro Fold. Help us improve The Verge: Take our quick survey at theverge.com/survey. Further reading: Ad-free Verge podcasts have arrived Netflix is making a big bet on video podcasts Apple’s 2025 iPad Pro comes with an M5 chip inside  Apple just upgraded the Vision Pro with an M5 chip and new strap  Apple’s 14-inch MacBook Pro gets an M5 chip bump and faster storage  Logitech made an Apple Pencil-like stylus for the Vision Pro  Apple’s rumored smart home display hub might start at $350  Samsung officially teases Moohan headset launch for next week  Apple’s future smart glasses could have two separate UIs.  ChatGPT will soon help you shop at Walmart.  How OpenAI plans to make all its money.  Microsoft wants you to talk to your PC and let AI control it   As Microsoft bids farewell to Windows 10, millions of users won’t  Spotify says it’s working with labels on ‘responsible’ AI music tools  DirecTV will soon bring AI ads to your screensaver  OpenAI partners with Broadcom to produce its own AI chips  Sam Altman says ChatGPT will soon sext with verified adults  Apple TV Plus is being rebranded to… Apple TV  Apple exec on Apple TV rebranding: ‘let’s just do it’ Google’s Pixel 10 Pro Fold is the first to ‘go up in smoke during a bend test,’ JerryRigEverything says Roku’s AI-upgraded voice assistant can answer questions about what you’re watching  DirecTV will soon bring AI ads to your screensaver  Soul Against the Machine TiVo has sold its last DVR  Tesla Cybertruck sales are flatlining  Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Announcing an ad-free Vergecast feed for Verge subscribers

  If you're a paid subscriber to The Verge, there's great news: You can now listen to Decoder, Version History, and The Vergecast completely ad-free. Just head to your Account Settings page to opt-in and start listening without ads. Not a member of The Verge yet? No worries! You can sign up at theverge.com/subscribe to get ad-free podcasts, plus other perks like exclusive newsletters and unlimited access to everything we publish. More here: Verge subscribers, here’s how to set up ad-free podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Google's gadgets, ranked

  Google is on a bit of a heater when it comes to gadgets. The Pixel 10 lineup is one of the best Android phone options; the Pixel Watch 4 is suddenly a winner; the Pixel Buds are an excellent accessory; even the Pixel Fold got some welcome upgrades this year! With the help of The Verge’s Victoria Song and Allison Johnson, we do the impossible: we rank all six of Google’s Pixel gadgets, from worst to best. Are headphones better than smartphones? Can you really compare a tablet to a smartwatch? Who knows, but we try. After that, Allison and David answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email [email protected]!) about whether the dumbphone movement is a real one. Further reading: Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold review: finally, a more durable foldable Google Pixel Buds 2A review: the right kind of compromise The Google Pixel Watch 4 is the Android watch to beat Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Version History: BlackBerry Messenger

  Back when text messages cost 10 cents each, BlackBerry came up with a better way: BlackBerry Messenger, commonly known as BBM. It was the first new idea about messaging in a long time, and it was a huge hit… for a while. Nilay Patel and Joanna Stern join David Pierce to talk about a messaging service that was years ahead of WhatsApp and iMessage, but ultimately fizzled. If you like the show, ⁠subscribe to the Version History feed⁠ to make sure you get every new episode. Let us know what you think: 866-VERGE-11 or [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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