Meta Wants It All

Summer’s over and El Kaiser and J.D. prepare for the fall with a round-up of news headlines, including a breakdown of what was announced at Apple's annual September product prom. El Kaiser also reviews two models of Soundbrenner’s in-ear monitors and offers his opinion. All this and more on PTJ 393!• Apple Unveils the iPhone Duo, a Foldable Phone That Costs $1,999 (NYT)• Ride or Die (Amazon Prime Video)• GPT-6 Astra Is Here — and OpenAI Thinks It May Kick Off the AGI Era (WIRED)• YouTube cracks down on ‘ghost creators’ (Semafor) • AI tools that take notes for GPs could miss vital information, study suggests (BBC News)• Microsoft opens up Xbox Cloud Gaming with new pay-as-you-go option (The Verge)• 'Dungeons & Dragons' Live-Action Series in the Works at Netflix (The Wrap)• ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ Officially Sets Disney+ Streaming Release Date (Collider)• Why The Mandalorian & Grogu Flopped At The Box Office & What It Means For Star Wars' Future (ScreenRant)• Soundbrenner in-ear monitors

On this episode of Pop Tech Jam, El Kaiser holds forth on recent summer films and J.D. rounds up the news, including new Pixel phones from Google, what retro tech people are rediscovering and the emerging business for A.I.-powered holographic clones. Tap into PTJ 392 to hear it all.• 7 can’t-miss updates from our Pixel 11 launch (News From Google)• Stay present while taking pictures with Magic Capture on Pixel 11. (News From Google)• Check out what's new in Android 17 (News From Google)• Why typewriters are making a comeback (NBC News on YouTube)• Disney Is “Exploring” Launching Its Own FAST Offering (The Hollywood Reporter)• “Ted Lasso”s  return drew nearly 300 million minutes of viewing time on Aug. 4 and 5. (The Hollywood Reporter)• “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” Fastest Movie To Cross $700M At U.S. Box Office (Deadline)• GTA VI is getting an ‘extended look’ at the end of August (The Verge)• Some of tech's CEO suite is cloning itself with AI. What happens next? (BBC News)• Proto Hologram

• AI arms race in line for a reckoning after OpenAI hacking incident (ArsTechnica)• OpenAI makes ChatGPT Health available to all US users (TechCrunch)• Nvidia, Microsoft, Meta warn against ‘premature restrictions’ of open-weight models (CNBC)• Tesla, Alphabet lose hundreds of billions in value in post-earnings stock plunge (CNBC)• Apple Plans Overhaul of MacBooks, iMac in Push to Meet AI Demand (Bloomberg)• Patreon Lays Off 20% of Employees as Part of ‘Painful’ Restructuring (Variety)• Amazon Adds Video Games Into Prime Video in Expansion Push (The Hollywood Reporter)• Microsoft is testing free, ad-supported cloud gaming for Xbox Insiders (The Verge)• Meta Gives Facebook Marketplace Its Own App Called Seller (The New York Times)• Meta launches new Facebook Verified badge for actual, real humans (Engadget)• Connecting Real People on Facebook (Meta Newsroom)• Introducing selfie for sign-in: a new, easy way to access your Google Account (News from Google)• Google Turns a Selfie Video Into Your Account’s Spare Key (Wired)• Salty, Buttery, Astonishingly Lucrative: The $100 Million Market of Popcorn Buckets (The New York Times)• AMC Popcorn Buckets (AMC Theaters)

On this episode of Pop Tech Jam, El Kaiser and J. D. discuss review-bombing, Meta’s A.I. recent adventures and much more — including the decline in reading and watching long-form content without distracton. Spin up PTJ 390 here, and then go treat yourself to a new book or binge!• She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (Disney+)• Instagram’s AI image generator alarms privacy experts (The Guardian)• Meta’s new AI image generator is using your public Instagram photos (Proton)• Meta Is Toying With the Idea of Smart Glasses That Record Everything, All the Time (Gizmodo)• Commission preliminarily finds the addictive design of Instagram and Facebook in breach of the Digital Services Act(press release)• Google will now disclose which ads are made with AI (TechCrunch)• Netflix looking for engagement in live TV and bundles while Apple TV app integration is right there (9to5Mac)• Official renders for Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 8, Watch 9, Watch 2 Ultra and Z Fold 8 leak (Engadget)• Exclusive: Official Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 Renders in Three Colors (Android Headlines)• The End of Reading Is Here (The Atlantic)• Matt Damon Says Netflix Wants Movies to Restate the ‘Plot Three or Four Times in the Dialogue’ Because Viewers are on ‘Their Phones While They’re Watching’ (Variety)

In this episode of Pop Tech Jam, El Kaiser and JD discuss the highlights of Apple’s 2026 World Wide Developers Conference, Google’s adventures with Gemini and recent developments in space. All this, plus lots of extra banter on PTJ 389!• WWDC26: Apple unveils next generation of Apple Intelligence, Siri AI, powerful parental controls, and an expansive set of software improvements (Apple)• 10 Biggest Apple WWDC 2026 Announcements: Siri AI, watchOS 27, and More (TechRepublic)​ • Apple hinted at three new products this week with fall launches rumored (9to5Mac)• Google can be liable for false AI Overviews, court rules (Malwarebytes)• How we're combatting AI scams with security, legislation and more (Google)• SpaceX market cap tops $2 trillion after shares of Elon Musk’s rocket company gain 25% on debut (CNBC)• NASA Announces Its Artemis III Astronauts (The New York Times)• Blue Origin’s Rocket Explosion Complicates a Return to the Moon (The New York Times)• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Paramount+)

On this freshly handcrafted episode of Pop Tech Jam, El Kaiser shares his thoughts about the past, present and future of “Doctor Who,” before jumping into the news with J.D. to discuss recent developments in streaming TV, games, shopping and aggressively priced high-fashion iPhone slings. Just press Play for Episode 388! • “Doctor Who” (BBC)• Why Disney Ditched ‘Doctor Who’ (Deadline)• Verizon to Cut About 15,000 Jobs (The Wall Street Journal)• Netflix Tries Bringing Family Game Night to Your TV (The New York Times)• Disney+ Exploring “Game-like Features” And AI-Driven, User-Generated Content In Streaming (Deadline)• MLS, Apple TV to bring games outside of extra paywall in 2026: Sources (The New York Times)• Facebook Marketplace gets new collaborative and social features, Meta AI integrations (TechCrunch)• Google will let users call stores, browse products, and check out using AI (The Verge)• Apple to Reportedly Pay Google $1 Billion a Year for Siri's Custom Gemini AI Model (CNet)• New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and AirTag Were Expected This Year — Where Are They? (MacRumors)• Introducing iPhone Pocket: a beautiful way to wear and carry iPhone (Apple)• £220 'for a cut-up sock' - Apple's new iPhone Pocket ridiculed online (BBC News)• Costly iPhone Pocket sells out nearly immediately (Apple Insider)

On this episode of Pop Tech Jam, El Kaiser and J.D.  discuss — among many other things — electronic playing-card shufflers, Oreos, A.I. slop, robot hands and “Peacemaker.” Listen in on PTJ 387!• How Hacked Card Shufflers Allegedly Enabled a Mob-Fueled Poker Scam That Rocked the NBA (Wired)• Real Estate Is Entering Its AI Slop Era (Wired)• Phony AI-Created Receipts Become Real Problem for Businesses (PYMTS.com)• OpenAI reportedly developing new generative music tool (Tech Crunch)• Oreo-maker Mondelez to use new generative AI tool to slash marketing costs (Reuters)• The ‘Hands Problem’ Holding Back the Humanoid Revolution (The Wall Street Journal)• Robot umpires approved for MLB in 2026 as part of challenge system (CNN)• Trump and Xi will ‘consummate’ TikTok deal on Thursday, treasury secretary says (TechCrunch)• TikTok may not be Chinese-owned anymore, but there still is a privacy problem (Brookings)• Exclusive: US Department of Energy forms $1 billion supercomputer and AI partnership with AMD (Reuters)• Apple Newsroom announcements• Apple Readies Its First Ever Touch-Screen MacBook (Bloomberg)• What’s Next for iPad Pro? A Vapor Chamber Like the One on the iPhone 17 Pro (Bloomberg)• Ads likely coming to Apple Maps in 2026 (Apple Insider)• New MacBook Pro Nears Mass Production, But Four Bigger Upgrades Expected Next Year (MacRumors)• Apple Shelves Vision Headset Revamp to Prioritize Meta-Like AI Glasses (Bloomberg)• Google’s “G” gets a brighter look. (Google blog)• Podcasts and News Fact Sheet (Pew Research Center)

On this episode of Pop Tech Jam, El Kaiser and J.D. dive into the ocean of Apple announcements and other recent tech news — and ponder Japanese-style 7-Eleven stores on this side of the Pacific. All this and more in Episode 386!• iPhone 17, iPhone Air, AirPods Pro 3, and everything else announced at Apple’s hardware event(TechCrunch)• Apple October Event 2025: 5 New Products Coming Soon (Gadget Hacks)• Apple still has 10 more product launches in the pipeline, here’s what’s coming (9to5Mac)• Apple’s new iPhone charger is a first of its kind (The Verge)• iPhone 17 Pro Max vs. Google Pixel 10 Pro XL: I compared both and here's the winner (ZD Net)• Google Gemini is the top free iPhone app (9to5Google)• What to expect at Meta Connect 2025: 'Hypernova' smart glasses, AI and the metaverse (Engadget)• Amazon announces fall hardware event (The Verge)• How to use ChatGPT at university without cheating: ‘Now it’s more like a study partner’ (The Guardian)• Rolling Stone Publisher Sues Google Over AI Summaries (The Wall Street Journal)• Google misled users about their privacy and now owes them $425m, says court (Malwarebytes blog)• Sizing Up A Possible Paramount-WBD Merger, Hollywood Wonders If This Episode Is A Repeat (Deadline)• Is America Ready for Japanese-Style 7-Elevens? (The New York Times)

On this episode of Pop Tech Jam, El Kaiser and J.D. discuss Google’s new Pixel 10 phones, Apple’s upcoming iPhone plans and dumb things done by artificial intelligence, all before pondering new trends related to GenZ’s growing fascination with “predigital” technology. Listen up here on Episode 385!• “What We Do in the Shadows” (FX/Hulu)• Google Pixel 10: 9 new AI features and updates (Google blog)• 10 Crazy Features Powering Google's Pixel 10 Phones (and Watch) (WIRED)• Apple’s three-year iPhone plan is a break from the boring (The Verge)• Apple is in talks to use Google’s Gemini for Siri revamp, report says (TechCrunch)• Elon Musk's xAI sues Apple and OpenAI over AI competition, App Store rankings (Reuters)• Citizen Is Using AI to Generate Crime Alerts With No Human Review. It’s Making a Lot of Mistakes (404 Media)• Wired says 'AI-written' story did not have 'proper fact-check process'  (Press Gazette)• Stephanie Shirley, Who Created a Tech World for Women, Dies at 91 (The New York Times)• Ozzy Osbourne, ‘Prince of Darkness’ Turned Reality TV Star, Dies at 76 (The New York Times)• Narrative Podcasts Are Disappearing. What Happened? (Rolling Stone)• Bluesky blocks service in Mississippi over age assurance law (TechCrunch)• 'KPop Demon Hunters' Leads Box Office Over 'Weapons' in Theatrical Debut (Variety)• Taylor Swift’s new album comes in cassette. Who is buying those? (CNN Business)• Why Gen Z Is Resurrecting the 1990s (The New York Times)

On this week’s episode, El Kaiser and J.D. wade into the river of recent news about artificial intelligence — while stopping to pour one out for the soon-to-be-discontinued AOL dial-up modem service. Hear it all (and more) with one click of the Play button for PTJ 384!• Alexa Got an A.I. Brain Transplant. How Smart Is It Now? (The New York Times)• OpenAI Brings Back Fan-Favorite GPT-4o After a Massive User Revolt (Gizmodo)• GPT-5: Overdue, overhyped and underwhelming. And that’s not the worst of it. (Gary Marcus Substack)• Apple App Intents Voice Control Feature for Siri, Apps; iOS 26 Release Timing (Bloomberg)• Apple’s new Siri may allow users to operate apps just using voice (TechCrunch) • Computer Science Grads Struggle to Find Jobs in the A.I. Age (The New York Times)• Inside the Multimillion-Dollar Gray Market for Video Game Cheats (Wired)• Reddit will block the Internet Archive (The Verge)• End of an era: AOL to discontinue its dial-up internet service after 30 years (The Guardian)