Daily Tech News Show

Microsoft shows off its plans for an agentic OS, while the Supernatural VR app gets a new more expensive lease on life. Starring Tom Merritt and Sarah Lane. Links to stories discussed in this episode can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 3 June 2026

Microsoft brings its new Surface RTX Spark Dev Box to the stage at its Build developer conference, and Anthropic is expanding access to Claude Mythos to about 150 more organizations worldwide. Starring Jason Howell and Tom Merritt. Links to stories discussed in this episode can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 2 June 2026

NVIDIA puts out a CPU meant for Windows machines, while Dell joins the laptops gunning for the MacBook Neo. And its chips, chips, chips as Computex kicks off. Starring Tom Merritt and Robb Dunewood. Show notes can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 1 June 2026

Tom Merritt and Jenn Cutter look back on the biggest tech stories of May Starring Tom Merritt and Jenn Cutter. Links to the storikes discussed in this episode can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 30 May 2026

Anthropic released Opus 4.8 bringing Dynamic Workflows to Claude Code and Effort settings to everyone else, and Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket exploded at launch marking a huge setback for Jeff Bezos' internet satellite plans. Starring Jason Howell and Huyen Tue Dao Show notes found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 29 May 2026

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has a solid idea of what the new Siri features will look like in iOS 27, and Intel announced its Arc G-series chips for handheld gaming. Starring Jason Howell, Huyen Tue Dao, Tom Merritt and Dr. Niki Show notes found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 28 May 2026

Xreal’s questionably named X by Xreal glasses play to your pocketbook. Meanwhile DuckDuckGo gets a boat from backlash against Google’s AI mode. Starring Tom Merritt and Sarah Lane. Links to stories discussed in this episode can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 27 May 2026

Reviews of the Google FitBit Air are out, and it’s a stylish and inexpensive alternative to the Whoop, and Ferrari unveiled its first fully electric luxury car, designed in part by Jony Ive, called The Luce. Starring Jason Howell and Tom Merritt Show notes can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 26 May 2026

Bodie Grimm from the Kilowatt podcast talks about vibe coding news sources. Featuring Tom Merritt and Bodie Grimm. Link: Why Work is Starting to Look Medieval by Sierra LaDuke A note from Bodie: I remixed my project so people can play around with it without affecting my original version: https://kilowatt-curator-clone.lovable.appI also figured out how to let others Remix a project on Lovable. Sign up for a Lovable account and log in. Go to the following link: https://lovable.dev/projects/20673798-2b68-4188-96ff-37dcfa6a9f35. Click the Remix button at the top right. It will take you to the prompt/preview page to edit the the new "Remixed" site.I also created a brief (video and audio) explainer if you want to add it to the end of the episode:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bmb71gyGsH8paiHiAHd2ejoOLpxn8Iro?usp=share_link-Bodie Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 23 May 2026

Meta launched the Forum app for iOS that acts as a dedicated app for Facebook Groups that behaves a lot like Reddit, and smart ring company Oura has filed paperwork to prepare for an IPO. Starring Jason Howell and Jenn Cutter. Show notes found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 22 May 2026

Yes, SpaceX has filed its IPO, and NVIDIA had amazing earnings too. But we also have cheap LiDAR that can see around corners. Starring Tom Merritt and Jenn Cutter  Show notes can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 21 May 2026

An 8-year-battle to open up Linux-based TV operating systems finally gets a court date. Plus, Stability can now generate 6 minutes of pro music at a go.  Starring Tom Merritt and Sarah Lane. Links to stories discussed in this episode can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 20 May 2026

Jason Howell joins us from Google I/O on all their Gemini dreams. Plus, Microsoft has a Linux Distro! Starring Tom Merritt, Huyen Tue Dao, and Jason Howell. Links to stories discussed in this episode can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 19 May 2026

Apple’s Siri revamp might launch with an auto-delete control that puts conversation history in the hands of users, and Microsoft is retiring the Teams Together mode view after first launching in 2020 during the pandemic lockdown. Starring Jason Howell and Robb Dunewood. Show notes can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 18 May 2026

Tom Merritt digs into what's driving the opposition to data centers in the US, and what you need to know to make your own decision about them. Featuring Tom Merritt. Links for this episode can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 16 May 2026

Meta opens up its display glasses to third parties and Xreal now sells gaming-oriented specs but is it too late? Also, Huyen teaches us how to turn off Instagram “Instants.” Starring Tom Merritt and Huyen Tue Dao Show notes found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 15 May 2026

 Insta360 is bringing serious nostalgic vibes with a special edition Go 3S Retro Bundle that is cheaper than the previous model, and the Big 3 US carriers are banding together to improve satellite connectivity throughout the country. Starring Jason Howell and Huyen Tue Dao Show notes found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 14 May 2026

Amazon renames its shopping assistant to Alexa and adds new features. Plus two brothers who wiped out 90 US government databases after being fired.  Starring Tom Merritt and Sarah Lane. Links to stories discussed in this episode can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 13 May 2026

Instructure reached an agreement to pay attackers of its Canvas portal so students can get back to work, and Thinking Machines announced a research preview of a more natural conversation flow called Interaction Models. Starring Jason Howell and Tom Merritt. Links to stories discussed in this episode can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 12 May 2026

Reddit is testing annoying users with an unskippable pop-up. Meanwhile, Google researchers find an LLM-generated bug and warn that there are more to come. Starring Tom Merritt and Robb Dunewood Show notes can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 11 May 2026

And thousands of schools facing ransomware as finals loom, but Airpods might get Siri’s Visual Intelligence. Starring Jason Howell and Huyen Tue Dao. Links to stories discussed in this episode can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 8 May 2026

Andy Beach tells us why streaming platforms should be more wary of slop fraud, plus Google’s new fitness tracker erodes the Fitbit brand more, and why Anthropic bought all of SpaceX’s data center capacity.  Starring Tom Merritt, Huyen Tue Dao, and Andy Beach. Links to stories discussed in this episode can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 7 May 2026

Why everyone loves the new ReMarkable Paper Pure, and why both Chrome and Edge browsers are misbehaving. Starring Tom Merritt and Sarah Lane. Links to stories discussed in this episode can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 6 May 2026

Apple is reportedly checking out Intel and Samsung as alternate sources for its main device chips, and OpenAI is working really hard to bring a smartphone to market as soon as 2027. Starring Jason Howell and Tom Merritt. Links to stories discussed in this episode can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 5 May 2026

Ask.com shuts down after 25 years of answering the world’s questions, and how might the growth of “podslop” could impact the podcast industry in the next year. Starring Jason Howell and Robb Dunewood. Show notes can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 4 May 2026

Tom Merritt and Jenn Cutter look back on the biggest tech stories of April.  Starring Tom Merritt and Jenn Cutter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 2 May 2026

Google is rolling out Gemini to Google built-in as a replacement to Assistant, and Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum can now be enjoyed on new portable handhelds designed to look like the classic computers. Starring Jason Howell and Huyen Tue Dao. Links to stories discussed in this episode can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 1 May 2026

OK, not LITERAL goblins, but it’s an interesting gremlin that helps us understand model training. Plus, Sony says don’t worry about the PlayStation DRM, but doesn’t give details, therefore skipping the be happy part. Starring Tom Merritt and Huyen Tue Dao Show notes found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 30 April 2026

Did Sony mean to put DRM back on offline games? And what DIDN’T Elon Musk say on the witness stand Tuesday.  Starring Tom Merritt and Sarah Lane. Links to stories discussed in this episode can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 29 April 2026

Valve's new Steam Controller is purpose-built for its ecosystem and nothing else, and the "Ask YouTube" search experiment is like a version of Gemini that is specific to YouTube video content. Starring Jason Howell and Tom Merritt. Show notes can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 28 April 2026

Why you need to be really careful with these agents, but also really careful about what’s possible on your platform. And also be really careful with LED flashlights. We’ll explain. Starring Tom Merritt and Robb Dunewood. Show notes can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 27 April 2026

IKEA and Samsung just partnered—but that’s not the real story. Richard Gunther explains how Matter and Thread finally make smart home devices plug-and-play, no platform decisions required. Featuring Tom Merritt and Richard Gunther. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 25 April 2026

DeepSeek launched V4 Flash and V4 Pro with a new Hybrid Attention Architecture the means much more context in a single prompt, and Instagram is testing a new Instants app for ephemeral photo sharing that disappears in 24 hours. Starring Jason Howell and Huyen Tue Dao Show notes found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 24 April 2026

Tim Cook steps down as the CEO of Apple with chief of hardware development John Ternus taking the reins. Is this a shrewd move for the Cupertino company? Will Framework latest version of its modular laptop take modular laptops and Linux mainstream? And we see if the panel can out guess the riddles on today’s quiz! Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Robb Dunewood, Len Peralta, Roger Chang, Joe. Link to the Show Notes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 23 April 2026

And Korean scientists have developed a way to switch from 2D to 3D in the same display. Starring Tom Merritt, Huyen Tue Dao and Bodie Grimm Show notes found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 23 April 2026

And at Google Next, Google splits its TPUs and unleashes more powerful workplace agents. Plus, did Anthropic’s Mythos escape containment? Starring Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane and Andy Beach. Links to stories discussed in this episode can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 22 April 2026

IKEA’s new cheap smart home products don’t need a hub if you already have a Samsung TV, and WhatsApp is testing a new subscription model that makes things prettier but doesn’t remove ads. Starring Jason Howell and Tom Merritt. Show notes can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 21 April 2026

Plus, the age verification law in the US is misunderstood, but still not necessarily good. Starring Tom Merritt and Rob Dunewood. Show notes can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 20 April 2026

Justin Robert Young explains what’s likely going on with Anthropic’s attempt to resolve its dispute with the US government. Featuring Tom Merritt and Justin Robert Young. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 18 April 2026

 Also, the first Micro-RGB TVs are here and the bargain brand is not who you would expect. Starring Tom Merritt and Jenn Cutter. Show notes found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 17 April 2026

DJI released the Osmo Pocket 4 that brings better low light performance and a clip-on fill light, and Andy Beach tells us about an AI Licensing deal in the works for 2,200 publishers. Starring Jason Howell, Huyen Tue Dao,, and Andy Beach. Show notes found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 16 April 2026

Plus a shoe company becomes an AI data center service provider.  Starring Tom Merritt and Sarah Lane. Links to stories discussed in this episode can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 15 April 2026

Google is finally getting tougher on back button hijacking, and Bodie Grimm explains why BYD is charging so much for their BYD Z9 GT in Europe. Starring Jason Howell, Tom Merrit, and Bodie Grimm. Links to stories featured in this episode can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 14 April 2026

Plus, Huawei goes wide with its foldable, and some surprising news about the development of the AI industry. Starring Tom Merritt and Robb Dunewood. Show notes can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 13 April 2026

Dr. Niki takes a look at how unmanned aerial vehicles, and sometimes on land and sea too, have helped advance scientific research. Featuring Tom Merritt and Dr Nicole Ackermans. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 11 April 2026

And Google makes encrypted emails much easier to deal with.  Starring Tom Merritt and Huyen Tue Dao. Show notes found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 10 April 2026

Also, YouTube lets you make an avatar of yourself, and Andy Beach tells us about the first newsroom strike over AI. Starring Tom Merritt, Huyen Tue Dao, and Andy Beach. Show notes found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 9 April 2026

And why so many competing tech companies cooperating is actually quite scary. Starring Tom Merritt and Sarah Lane. Links to stories discussed in this episode can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 8 April 2026

Humans aboard Artemis II just flew farther from Earth than any human before, and Motorola launched the Moto G Stylus 2026 with an active, embedded stylus for $499. Starring Jason Howell and Tom Merritt. Links to stories discussed in this episode can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 7 April 2026

And say hello to the Moon, and OpenAI lobbying. Starring Tom Merritt and Robb Dunewood. Show notes can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcribed - Published: 6 April 2026