Defending the TikTok and DJI ban, best tech gifts for Christmas 2024 and the future of home robots

➡️ This episode is brought to you by NordVPN. To get the best discount off your NordVPN plan - go to https://nordvpn.com/techradar - our link will also give you 4 extra months on the 2-year plan. There's no risk with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee!The podcast crew is back to talk tech, and this week we’re discussing the Google Pixel 9a’s baffling launch and redesign (why did Google get rid of the iconic crossbar??).We also dig into the struggles of the smartwatch market and ask if wearables are doing enough to stay fresh, and Samsung’s One UI 7 woes as it edges closer to being lapped by Android.To take us through all this and more Josie Watson and I are joined by TechRadar’s Fitness, Wellness, and Wearables Editor Matt Evans, US Mobiles Editor Philip Berne, and special guest: T3’s Active Editor Matt Kollat.

This episode is brought to you by NordVPN. To get the best discount off your NordVPN plan - go to https://nordvpn.com/techradar - our link will also give you 4 extra months on the 2-year plan. There's no risk with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee!Another episode, another slew of phones for us to discuss; and this month, it's all about affordable models from the iPhone 16e to the Galaxy A-series and Nothing Phone 3a. That's not all; we'll be discussing the latest Apple Mac and iPad devices, demystifying chipsets and asking whether or not new concept foldable screen technology means creaseless phones are on the horizon!00:36 Intro01:28 ICYMI03:18 Why you should be polite with your AI assistant04:05 New Macs & Mac Studio04:59 New Sky Blue MacBook Air05:21 Mac Studio - new chips, nuts power07:35 iPad Air refresh - where's Apple Intelligence? 10:15 iPad Air audience - family device? 12:42 Affordable Apple tech - we like it13:15 All about Agentic AI: meet the Alexa+ 16:42 The best VPN deal18:27 iPhone 16e - you're all WRONG!!!21:36 The cheapest iPhone to repair25:34 Samsung Galaxy A56: awesome AI28:45 Nothing Phone 3a/3a pro31:48 Tech gets better, the lower-price stuff gets better34:00 Xiaomi 15 Ultra: the best camera phone?40:00 New foldable concepts43:56 Crease talk46:24 Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge to launch in April?47:23 The 'world's thinnest phone'49:40 Low battery life...

This episode is brought to you by NordVPN. To get the best discount off your NordVPN plan - go to https://nordvpn.com/techradar - our link will also give you 4 extra months on the 2-year plan. There's no risk with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee!0:00 - Intro1:20 - ICYMI3:26 - Sony's upcoming film & TV adaptations10:45 - Sims 1 & 2 remastered13:41 - Life simulation games are dead?!15:10 - What makes a good remaster18:35 - Huge PSN outage22:12 - A word from our sponsor24:19 - Nintendo Switch 2 new rumors27:42 - Reading Switch 2 comments28:25 - Is this a Switch Pro OLED?29:29 - Switch 2 vs PC gaming handhelds32:15 - Joy-Con mouse mode37:21 - Joy-Con design woes & Hall effect41:50 - Is gaming too expensive now?44:00 - No, it's more affordable! 46:30 - PS5 is actually good value49:28 - What games to play in 2025

This episode is brought to you by NordVPN. To get the best discount off your NordVPN plan - go to https://nordvpn.com/techradar - our link will also give you 4 extra months on the 2-year plan. There's no risk with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee! This week brings a special CES episode, where we’re talking about all the latest tech to expect in 2025! From Samsung’s new stretchy display technology and robot pal Ballie to Hisense’s absurdly large TV and a plethora of AR glasses, we’ve seen all the best gadgets at the tech mega show. Join Hamish Hector, Josephine Watson, Lance Ulanoff and Matt Bolton from the show floor to learn more. 00:00 Intro 00:50 Hello 02:00 CES trends 05:00 Samsung's Smart Things - Galaxy AI 08:00 TV trends: TVs are getting bigger 09:55 How big TVs are being shipped?! 10:55 Mini-led RGB backlight system in TVs explained (TCL, Samsung, etc) 13:15 Lenovo rollable laptop: display tech 15:05 AR glasses at CES: Xreal One Pro 18:15 Halliday glasses 19:13 Special offers for our subscribers 20:24 Robot vacuums with arms and legs 24:44 Smart locks at CES 27:00 LED mask from Nanoleaf 28:19 Samsung Frame TV for everyone 29:00 Will TVs or smartphones become your smart home hub? 33:00 Breaking gaming news from CES 35:30 Nvidia’s new RTX 5090 38:58 Samsung's robot Ballie 39:58 Stretchable display from Samsung 42:10 ULS Robotics Exoskeleton test drive 42:39 Segway e-bike is unlike anything we’ve ridden before 43:30 Sony's Last of Us exhibit 46:25 L’Oréal’s new tabletop skin analysis gadget 48:00 Byyyye cool tech 🤝 us

New year, new episode! This week we're all about fitness as the New Year's get fit resolutions pour in, and we've got some excellent tips for everything from habit building to fitness apps and even some exciting futuristic fitness tech that can help you cross the finish line. From AI-generated workouts and personal trainers to biohacking with continuous glucose monitors, wearables and more, these are the biggest digital health tech trends as we head into 2024. 00:00 intro 00:40 Happy New Year! 01:20 ICYMI: the biggest wearable news from 2024 03:43 AI dumbbells 06:52 blood-glucose monitors: pros and cons 08:35 Health insights, incredible AI and blue poop 16:00 Gemini and ChatGPT designed our workouts 28:00 habit building tips 40:00 fitness apps: what to download 41:09 great free fitness app 42:25 VR fitness apps 45:11 Bye! See u in Las Vegas

Happy Holidays from all of team TechRadar! To celebrate we've put together a very special podcast with friend of the show Jon Devo, discussing some of the biggest stories from 2024 with plenty of silly festive fun along the way 🎄🎁 Are the impending potential TikTok and DJI bans a good thing? What's the ultimate tech gift of 2024? Can brain-computer interfaces help us ignore the otherwise inescapable end times? What's in the box?! For our Christmas special, we've got some nonsense in store as we discuss some of the biggest stories in tech from 2024. 00:00 Intro 00:40 Christmas Episode 01:27 ICYMI: biggest news from 2024 03:55 Naughty/Nice debate game 05:05 DJI ban: is it possible to defend it? 08:25 TikTok ban: what's happening? 12:05 Self-driving cars: Naughty or Nice? 16:48 Brain- computer interface: pros and cons 21:23 our tech Christmas wish list🎄 27:00 the hottest tech to gift this Christmas 28:45 the best Android phone to buy this Christmas 32:13 What's in the box? hohoh 🎁 42:00 Christmas devices you wish existed 45:00 Buyyyy! See u in 2025

In this episode, we dive into Apple’s latest hardware updates, discussing the new MacBook Pro with a nano-texture display (is it really just matte? 🤨) and the powerful yet tiniest M4 Mac Mini. Plus, our verdict on the PS5 Pro, a breakdown of Apple Intelligence features, and everything you need to know about the new Sonos Arc Ultra soundbar. Josephine Watson, Hamish Hector, Lance Ulanoff, Axel Metz, and Matt Bolton will answer your burning questions about the latest tech. 00:00 Intro 00:45 Hello! 01:30 ICYMI 02:51 new Macs! 05:45 Apple’s nano-texture display explained 08:42 next year could be all about matte displays 10:55 M4 Mac Mini - desktop killer? 13:44 Magic Mouse power button 16:18 Apple Intelligence- features to try 26:19 Qualcomm Snapdragon summit- the new chip 33:11 PS5 Pro verdict 38:12 Sonos Arc Ultra - apology tour? 48:46 Bye

This month’s episode of the TechRadar Podcast is a spooktacular special where we talk about Elon Musk’s controversial Tesla event, learn more about Meta’s new Orion smart glasses and read up on Amazon’s latest array of Kindles. Plus, we’ll recommend the best Halloween movies this season and compare our horror survival plans. Join Josephine Watson, Hamish Hector, Lance Ulanoff and Matt Bolton as we answer your burning questions about the next generation of tech.

This week’s episode of the TechRadar Podcast sees our (mostly Android-fan) panel talking about Apple’s new devices, Sony’s big PS5 Pro announcement and debate who won the big phone and wearable showdown of 2024. Join Josephine Watson, Hamish Hector, Matt Evans and special guest Rob Dunne as we answer your burning questions about the next generation of tech. 00:00 intro 00:34 Hello! 01:40 ICYMI: the biggest tech events 02:50 Lost your table tennis bat? Try using the Honor Magic V3 foldable instead 03:40 DJI Neo: cute and affordable drone 04:30 Sony unleashed the PS5 Pro 11:05 Apple Watch series 10: what's new 13:26 Apple Watch redesign 15:25 Battery life - give us more!! 19:00 AirPods: hearing health features 22:50 iPhone 16 series TWO new buttons 26:00 Camera Button impressions from an Android-fan 30:00 AI or Apple Intelligence: market issue 35:40 Who is the winner of this year? iPhone? Foldables? Samsung? 43:00 Barbie phone from HMD 44:15 Wearables winner 50:10 Outro

In this special episode of the TechRadar Podcast, we flew out to Cupertino to see all of Apple’s new devices, joined by tech content creator Katarina Mogus and Rich DeMuro, KTLA tech reporter in Apple’s podcast studio to share our first impressions. Do we love or hate the new Camera Capture “button”? Are we going to call it a button even though Apple doesn’t want to? Will the AirPods Pro 2 become the next generation’s hearing aids? Tune in to find out this and more.