Hands-On Tech 248: Home Theater PC Replacement

The App Store Awards are in, and this year's breakout games are shaking up what we expect on iOS, iPad, and even Apple Vision Pro. See which titles are worthy of the hype, who's pushing boundaries, and why the winners really matter for Apple device owners. Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket Wins iPhone Game of the Year Dredge Named iPad Game of the Year: Sinister Fishing Adventure Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition Takes Mac Game of the Year Apple Vision Pro Game Spotlight: Portals and Puzzle-Solving in Porta Newbie What the Clash Tops Apple Arcade Picks for Multiplayer Fun Cultural Impact Winners: Art of Fauna, Chants of Senar, Despalote iFixit Launches FixBot App for DIY Repairs and Battery Tracking Shortcuts Corner: How to Backup and Restore Apple Shortcuts Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Rosemary Orchard Contact iOS Today at [email protected]. Download or subscribe to iOS Today at https://twit.tv/shows/ios-today Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsor: NetSuite.com/IOS

Jacob Ward of The Rip Current joins Mikah Sargent on the show this week! Lego unveils its Smart Brick. Jacob kvetches about AI's overwhelming presence at CES. We get some on-site reporting from CES. And Utah becomes the first state to allow artificial intelligence to renew medical prescriptions. Mikah talks about Lego's new Smart Brick technology that allows you to interact and play with your Lego sets more directly. Jacob shares his thoughts about the overall theme of AI that has become front and center at this year's CES event. Stephen Robles of beard.fm joins the show live from CES to talk about what he saw at the event. And Ruth Reader of POLITICO stops by to talk about Utah being the first state to allow artificial intelligence to begin renewing medical prescriptions for patients. Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Jacob Ward Guests: Stephen Robles and Ruth Reader Download or subscribe to Tech News Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: joindeleteme.com/twit promo code TWIT zscaler.com/security

Windows is gearing up for a transformational year, with smarter Copilot actions, streamlined widgets, and the groundwork for running background AI agents. Discover what these changes could mean for your productivity and privacy. Host: Paul Thurrott Download or subscribe to Hands-On Windows at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-windows Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsor: threatlocker.com/twit

Think you know the Health app? Think again. This episode unpacks Apple's quiet rollout of powerful and important features, from crash detection to real-time medication reminders, that are quietly transforming the way you can track your wellbeing. Dive into emergency SOS, medical ID, and safety alerts Apple Watch-exclusive notifications: heart rate, crash, fall, and walking steadiness Hypertension and blood pressure notifications arrive for Apple Watch users Cardio fitness, ECG, and irregular rhythm alerts explained Court drama and a workaround for Apple's blood oxygen feature Monitoring vitals, hearing safety, and sleep apnea detection AFib history versus irregular rhythm notifications Health data trends and fresh health records notifications Sleep tracking, wind down routines, and schedule-based alerts Medication reminders with smart time zone adjustments Mental wellbeing tracking with state-of-mind check-ins and depression/anxiety quizzes Walking steadiness notifications and quick access to the checklist Host: Mikah Sargent Download or subscribe to Hands-On Apple at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-apple Want access to the ad-free audio and video and exclusive features? Become a member of Club TWiT today! https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.

The next generation of over-the-air TV is ATSC 3.0, also known as NextGen TV. Michael Heiss talks with Scott Wilkinson about what it is, how it works, how you can get it, and why it's important. Host: Scott Wilkinson Guest: Michael Heiss Download or subscribe to Home Theater Geeks at https://twit.tv/shows/home-theater-geeks Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.

Jason Hiner gives us a look at the AI products at CES 2026, as big tech and chip makers blurred the lines between consumer gadgets and enterprise innovation, leaving even veteran insiders wondering: will this tech boom actually benefit everyday users? NVIDIA's Christmas Eve 'Hackquisition' Miracle No, Grok can't really "apologize" for posting non-consensual sexual images Introducing ChatGPT Health 'We have to reject that with every fiber of our being': DeSantis emerges as a chief AI skeptic Waymo Updates Vehicles to Better Handle Power Outages - But Still Faces Criticism The most exciting AI wearable at CES 2026 might not be smart glasses after all 2025's AI-fueled scientific breakthroughs Google engineer says Claude Code built in one hour what her team spent a year on Microsoft CEO Begs Users to Stop Calling It "Slop" Stanford's AI class on YouTube Tamiflu Babka from Zabar's (or elsewhere) Happy birthday Nic Cage Floor796 Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Paris Martineau Guest: Jason Hiner Download or subscribe to Intelligent Machines at https://twit.tv/shows/intelligent-machines. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: monarch.com with code IM joindeleteme.com/twit promo code TWIT helixsleep.com/machines

PC makers are shaking up CES with wild designs and next-gen chips, but the real story is Microsoft's bold software moves, AI's hardware hunger, and a candid debate over whether any tech company still puts users first. Come for the Windows updates, stay for the whisky warnings and robot bathroom assistants. CES 2026 is here with the 4K hummingbird feeder of your dreams New PCs and more from HP consumers/commercial, HP gamers, Lenovo, others The first official Copilot+ PC desktops Snapdragon X2 Plus joins X2 Elite and X2 Elite Extreme Intel Panther Lake has meaningful CPU and graphics performance gains, but predictable reliability issues AMD Ryzen AI 400 series is a minor bump Windows Paul was the first to report that Microsoft is refactoring it all with Rust A Microsoft distinguished engineer wrote about his desire to refactor all C/C++ code in the company with Rust by 2030 Some mistook this to mean "rewriting Windows with Rust,ˮ so he had to issue a clarification. But I never wrote that. Heads-up: That will happen, but this is really about Azure first and the core underlying code in Microsoftʼs most important platforms Microsoft released hardware-accelerated BitLocker in late 2025 and never told anyone. It requires the latest PC CPUs Copilot app update that adds text editing actions to Copilot Vision across channels Dev and Beta got first previews of AI agents on the Taskbar, starting with the Researcher agent, plus underlying Agent Launchers experience IDC says the global memory shortage (thanks, AI!) could screw up PC and smartphone growth this year AI ChatGPT now has an app store, but it has a ways to go Mozilla Firefox will have a "killswitchˮ for AI Our national nightmare will soon be over, LG will let users remove Copilot app from their smart TVs Xbox and gaming First Xbox Game Pass releases of 2026 include Resident Evil Village and Star Wars Outlaws Xbox Cloud Gaming is coming to Hisense smart TVs and to the latest Fire TV smart TVs GOG goes independent, will continue DRM-free push "Have a blastˮ and other FPS throwbacks from the 1990s Valve quietly killed the LCD Steam Deck model Tips and picks Tip of the week: Itʼs time to give Little AI a look App pick of the week: Bonjourr RunAs Radio this week: What AI can do for SysAdmins in 2026 with Cecilia Wiren Brown liquor pick of the week: The Singleton of Dufftown 12 Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: threatlocker.com/twit cachefly.com/twit

Why are code signing certificates suddenly getting shorter, pricier, and more restrictive? Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte expose the "cabal" rewriting the rules for everyone who builds software—and what it means for your security and your wallet. Code-signing certificate lifetimes shortened by two years. Sadly, ChatGPT is heading toward an advertising profit model. The Python Package Index is strengthening its security. BitLocker gets hardware acceleration, but not today. New York City's mayoral inauguration banned Raspberry Pi's. An astonishingly good British time travel series. A critical link between Vitamin D and Magnesium. A look inside the very bad MongoBleed vulnerability Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1059-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page. For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: meter.com/securitynow threatlocker.com/twit material.security bitwarden.com/twit

A look back at what Apple did, and did not deliver in 2025. What will Apple do in 2026? Could Apple benefit from Alan Dye, former design lead for Apple, leaving the company? And you can watch an upcoming NBA game, live, in the Vision Pro! 2025 will be remembered for what Apple didn't deliver. And Stay Out! It's hard to justify Tahoe icons. Wish List: A more flexible Apple display strategy. AppleVis announces winners of the 2025 Golden Apple Awards. Los Angeles Lakers games on Spectrum Front Row in Apple Immersive tip off January 9. Apple scores at the Critics Choice Awards with top wins for global hit feature "F1" and Best Comedy Series "The Studio". Pluribus season 2 isn't happening for a while, says Vince Gilligan: 'We're working on it'. Steve Jobs' Desk, Bow Ties, 8-Track tapes, and other personal ephemera featured in Apple 50th Anniversary auction Picks of the Week Shelly's Pick: PiccyBot Andy's Pick: Bounce Jason's Pick: LosslessCut Hosts: Leo Laporte, Andy Ihnatko, and Jason Snell Guest: Shelly Brisbin Download or subscribe to MacBreak Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/macbreak-weekly. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor: material.security

Happy New Year! NVIDIA just spent $20 billion to hollow out an AI company for its brains, while Meta and Google scramble to scoop up fresh talent before AI gets "too weird to manage." Who's winning, who's left behind, and what do these backroom deals mean for the future of artificial intelligence? Andrej Karpathy admits programmers cannot keep pace with AI advances Economic uncertainty in AI despite massive stock market influence Google, Anthropic, and Microsoft drive AI productization for business and consumers OpenAI, Claude, and Gemini battle for consumer AI dominance Journalism struggles to keep up with AI realities and misinformation tools Concerns mount over AI energy, water, and environmental impact narratives Meta buys Manus, expands AI agent ambitions with Llama model OpenAI posts high-stress "Head of Preparedness" job worth $555K+ Training breakthroughs: DeepSeek's mHC and comparisons to Action Park U.S. lawmakers push broad, controversial internet censorship bills Age verification and bans spark state laws, VPN workaround explosion U.S. drone ban labeled protectionist as industry faces tech shortages FCC security initiatives falter; Cyber Trust Mark program scrapped Waymo robotaxis stall in blackouts, raising AV urban planning issues School cellphone bans expose kids' struggle with analog clocks MetroCard era ends in NYC as tap-to-pay takes over subway access RAM, VRAM, and GPU prices soar as AI and gaming squeeze supply CES preview: Samsung QD-OLED TV, Sony AFEELA car, gadget show hype Remembering Stewart Cheifet and Computer Chronicles' legacy Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Dan Patterson and Joey de Villa Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: zscaler.com/security canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT monarch.com with code TWIT Melissa.com/twit redis.io