The Vergecast

It's gadget season. More specifically, it's apparently "new computer for your new AI" season. David and Nilay talk through a slew of announcements — Amazon's Alexa Tablets, Microsoft's Surface Laptop Ultra, the new Googlebooks, and Apple's upcoming smart home launch — to figure out if anyone has the right idea about the future of computing, and where the AI is supposed to live. After that, it's time for Brendan Carr is a Dummy, our thoughts on the Paramount / Warner / Skydance merger, and much more.

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Read more about the topics discussed in today's 1 hour, 41 minute podcast:

⁠Amazon’s Alexa Tablets are powerful, impressive, and designed to take on iPad ⁠

⁠Hands-on with Amazon’s Alexa Tablet 12 Pro and its wild new matte display ⁠

⁠Amazon is phasing out Fire Tablets because they weren’t ‘giving customers what they were asking for⁠’

⁠Amazon’s new Kids Tablets let parents manage access to the Google Play store

⁠Apple announces surprise ‘Welcome home’ launch event⁠

⁠Apple and LG team up on new smart home gear, starting with a lock, doorbell, and thermostat⁠

⁠New leaks provide our first look at Apple and LG’s smart home devices

⁠Everything announced at Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Ultra event ⁠

⁠The Surface Laptop Ultra finally has a release date — and a starting price of $2,599⁠

⁠Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Ultra has built-in magnetic USB-C charging ⁠

⁠How Microsoft built its MacBook Pro competitor ⁠

⁠Surface RTX Spark Dev Box is available for preorder for $5,999 ⁠

⁠The first Nvidia RTX Spark laptops cost up to $7,000 ⁠

⁠Microsoft is giving Copilot more control over Windows and your files

Our first five impressions of Googlebooks — exciting but underbaked

Android’s physical navigation buttons are back on Googlebooks, but not the way you think

Google admits not every Android app runs great on Intel Googlebooks

Politico: ‘Head on a guillotine’: ABC says Trump’s threats are already swaying coverage

ChatGPT’s ‘Intelligent UI’ update fills its responses with pictures, charts, and buttons

Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery complete $110 billion media megamerger

HBO Max and Paramount Plus will merge into a single streamer under Skydance

CNN’s boss will remain as Paramount and WBD merge into Skydance

Skydance is merging Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery’s games teams.

Sam Altman says ‘some bad things’ will happen, but AI is totally worth it

0:00 Cold Open
00:37 David’s back!
01:10 Parenting Chaos Update
02:49 Gadget News Rundown
03:47 New Amazon Alexa Tablets
05:15 Panos Strategy Shift
06:31 Play Store Bet
11:17 Default Android Tablet
13:18 Ads and Pricing Fears
15:30 Amazon Great Products
21:20 Matte Display Debate
25:01 Apple Smart Home Tease
26:12 Siri AI Reality Check
29:08 Smart Home Too Complex
33:37 Candy Crush Question
34:56 iPad Multiuser Problem
39:04 Microsoft AI Surface Push
40:35 Local AI Computing Shift
47:22 Magnetic USB C Charging
48:37 Google Book Laptop Confusion
54:20 AI Agents Need A Surface
58:50 Skepticism About Agents
01:07:46 Brendan Carr is a Dummy
01:09:23 ABC License Chilling Effect
01:11:24 Brendan Carr Ownership Cap
01:12:30 Cable Companies Sue Back
01:14:44 SXSW Corruption Game
01:15:50 Skydance Mega Merger
01:18:04 Debt Layoffs Streamer Cuts
01:22:58 Go90 Scale Returns
01:24:02 Netflix Loses Its Edge
01:30:44 ChatGPT Interactive UI
01:37:47 Sam Altman Tradeoffs
01:44:49 Wrap Up And Plugs
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Amazon is determined to turn Alexa Plus into a do-everything AI assistant that can compete with Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude, and the rest. But after a year of testing, The Verge's Jen Tuohy has mixed feelings on how it's all going. And on whether a new tablet is the right way to fix it.

Further reading:

It appears .agent and .agi are about to be the hot new domains

GTA VI leaks continue with a lengthy (and very nude) gameplay video

GTA VI will have in-game podcasts and at least six radio stations

Joe Rogan and Spotify renew massive podcast deal

Alexa Plus is better at running my home, but it’s not ready to run my life

Hands-on with Amazon’s Alexa Tablet 12 Pro and its wild new matte display

Amazon is phasing out Fire Tablets because they weren’t ‘giving customers what they were asking for’

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Bose, Sony, Beats, and seemingly every other headphone maker has recently released a new and excellent set of cans. Or buds. Or both. The Verge's John Higgins explains why the headphone market is suddenly so great, how the companies are competing now, and which new pair is the right one for you.

Vote for us in the Signal Awards!

Vote Vergecast: Best Technology Podcast

Vote Version History: Best History Podcast

Vote Decoder: Best Business Podcast

Further reading:

The Sonos Ace Ultra are the headphones Sonos should have made the first time

Nothing’s new flagship Headphone 1 Pro put you in the studio

The Beats 360 are what I’d bring to the gym if I hated earbuds

The premium AirPods 5 are the best open-ear earbuds Apple has made

Six years later, Sony revisits its legendary XM4 headphones

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We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11.
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The next big thing in AI, at least if you ask the tech companies, is assistant agents. David and The Verge's Allison Johnson have both been testing products like Meta's Muse, OpenAI's Dots, and startups like Instinct, in an effort to find out how much you can really get done by messaging with an AI tool – and whether the productivity is worth the tradeoffs.

Further reading:

Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery complete $110 billion media megamerger

Amazon reportedly pays $120 million to stream the Emmys for free

New leaks reveal more details about the Fitbit Edge including its price

A Trump Mobile breach may have exposed data of more than 3,600 people

OpenAI’s Dot agent can help you work and order dinner

Meta’s Muse AI agent is an effective helper and great at spending money

The Vergecast has been nominated for a Signal Award! You can vote to help us win here.

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 vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11.
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Welcome to the Bear Lair!* (No, it’s nothing like that other show.) As we continue to explore the world of AI tools and vibe coding, we invited a few enterprising Vergecast fans to share their projects — and we invited The Verge’s Hayden Field to judge them with us. We’ll see what people are working on, and whether any of them will make us fabulously wealthy.*We came up with this name before we became aware that someone else thought of it first... no relation to the APTNtv show Bears' Lair!

Further reading:

⁠Google admits not every Android app runs great on Intel Googlebooks⁠

⁠The Pixel 10A now costs $100 more.⁠

⁠Samsung raised prices on the Galaxy S26 by $100⁠

⁠Huawei says RAMageddon has increased its smartphone costs by $200.⁠

⁠2GB Raspberry Pis are getting pricier.⁠

⁠Nvidia’s Shield TV Pro just got a $100 price hike⁠

⁠Star Wars: Galactic Racer is my childhood podracing dream come true⁠

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 vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11.
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