Mashtalk

The Mashable team is back from CES 2018, and we have lots of things to say about what impressed us, disappointed us, and just plain weirded us out. This year's show was filled with driverless cars, wall-sized TVs, and enough talking gadgets to fill, well, a convention hall. On this week's MashTalk we break down the show, pick our highlights and our lowlights, and try to grok some greater meaning. Check out our top picks from the show. Follow MashTalk on Twitter.

After it was revealed in late 2017 that Apple intentionally slows down the performance of older iPhones when their batteries deteriorate, people freaked. There were explanations, recriminations, apologies, lawsuits, and, finally, solutions.   But in the wake of that specific controversy, a question arose: Does this happen to Android phones, too?   For the most part, the answer seems to be no. While the nature of and Android ecosystem -- with its hundreds of manufacturers, all using different chips and software layers -- makes a comprehensive investigation difficult, there's evidence that suggest Android vendors slowing down older phones because of old batteries isn't a thing.   For starters, several major companies, like Samsung and Motorola, declared that they simply don't do it. But there's a more reliable way to check, and that's by going to the same set of data that exposed the iPhone issue: Checking the benchmark scores of older Android phones to see if there are enough of them gett

If you did some online shopping this holiday season, chances are you bought something from Amazon. And if you did, you certainly saw a splash ad for the company's own devices, including one for the Fire TV Stick, whose price was slashed from the regular $39.99 to just $24.99. I know I did. And when I saw the ad for the 17th or 18th time, even though I wasn't planning to buy the Stick (I already had a first-gen device, which lacks Alexa integration), I found myself clicking "Add to Cart."   I wasn't the only one. Amazon says its customer bought 2.7x times as many Fire TV Sticks over the Black Friday shopping period than it did over the same period last year. It also claimed to have sold "millions" of Alexa-compatible devices.   That's impressive. It also might make you wonder: How can any other purveyor of video streaming devices compete? Apple didn't help itself when it decided to offer its Apple TV 4K at a prohibitive price point, starting at $179. To be fair, the Apple TV 4K more directly c

Got a smartphone? Then you must also have a wireless plan, and if you live in the U.S., chances are it's with one of the big four — Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, or Sprint.   However, there are a bunch of other carriers you may have seen around, carriers with names like Cricket, Jolt, metroPCS, and Virgin. These are MVNOs, or mobile virtual network operators, and they exist by leasing spectrum from the major carriers. They're also often a better deal, thanks to selectively targeting demographics and relying heavily on Wi-Fi to support the network.   One of those MVNOs is Republic Wireless. Founded in 2010, it made a name for itself in the following years by putting Wi-Fi calling on the map. Thanks to a Wi-Fi-centered strategy, Republic was able to offer incredibly cheap deals, which had the potential to cut big money off a wireless bill — a Mashable editor actually saved over $150 every month by switching. The big catch: The phones that actually worked on Republic was very limited; n

The video conference is one of the least-liked parts of modern office culture.   Despite the plethora of video conferencing services -- Google Hangouts, BlueJeans, Highfive, Skype, FaceTime, and dozens more -- the first five minutes of every meeting tends to be a series of fruitless attempts to get everyone's audio working correctly. And even when it does, dropped connections, poorly timed muting/unmuting, and quiet talkers often ruin the flow.   The truth is video conferencing is hard. Layering random internet services on top of ad hoc equipment on top of users with virtually no training means you get a grab-bag of results. Sure there are sleek corporate systems, but their cost often puts them out of range of most startups.   Will things get better for video conferencing? Or will Gen Z need to get used to the facepalm-setups millennials (and others) have endured for years? On this week's MashTalk, Mary McDowell, the CEO of video conferencing mainstay Polycom joins the podcast to talk ab

Is hardware really that hard?   OnePlus pointed to the borderline-cliché catchphrase, "Hardware is hard" at its event on Thursday to launch the OnePlus 5T. But the company's own product release schedule appears to belie the saying, with the 5T coming a mere five months after its predecessor, the OnePlus 5.   However, if you look at OnePlus' ambitious launch timeline and conclude the opposite -- that hardware is easy -- you'd be jumping to the wrong conclusion. The China-based company has simply gotten really good at leveraging its natural advantages (for instance, its proximity to prototype facilities in Shenzhen) to fuel its nimbleness.   OnePlus also earns its reputation as a bold upstart. It doesn't think in the same new-flagship-every-year-on-the-dot terms as bigger brands like Samsung, and LG. The company just ships phones when they're ready, and the "T" suffix it has attached to its second-gen releases is an unsubtle dig at Apple's "S" upgrades.   Still, are they going too fa

Apple's catchphrase, "Think different" is so well-known, that it's not often used in its original context, more often pulled out as an ironic dig when the company does something users don't like (eliminating a certain jack comes to mind).   In the case of the iPhone X, though, the irony disappears. Users will definitely need to think differently as they encounter an iPhone with no home button, a front camera that can scan your face, and a "notch" — all firsts for the iPhone. The iPhone X doesn't just have new features; it has a whole new way of interacting with the device.   Will owners get used to the new features quickly, or will they be a continual source of frustration? To answer that question, the MashTalk podcast spoke with two of the only people outside of Apple who have used the device for more than a week: Mashable Chief Correspondent Lance Ulanoff and BuzzFeed Personal Technology Reporter Nicole Nguyen.   Both Lance and Nicole were part of the first group of tech reviewers to

As it has evolved from digital storefront to ecommerce empire, Amazon built up a lot of trust over the years. Now it's testing the limits of that trust with Amazon Key.   It's a simple enough concept, which really solves a problem: The main thing Amazon does is deliver packages to your door, but there's always the question of what happens when you're not home? In many cases, that package may find a different home if it doesn't get through your door right away.   Amazon Key, which includes a smart lock and security camera, will let the delivery person in your front door and let you keep an eye on them -- from wherever you are. In cities, where lots of people live in apartments, the idea has a lot of merit.   It also has a lot of connotations Amazon would like to avoid. The company is already a presence in many households through its Echo devices and Alexa voice assistant, and Amazon Key feels like a bridge too far. It also speaks to just how much we're willing to allow tech companies to encroac

What does Google know about hardware that no one else does?   If you said software, you're almost right. What Google likes to think is its secret sauce is artificial intelligence, which manifests in its consumer products as the Google Assistant. The Assistant was front and center during the company's big hardware event earlier this month.   From the new Pixel 2 phones to the Home Mini and Home Max smart speakers to the insanely powerful Pixelbook laptop, Google pointed to its command, "OK, Google" again and again as a key way to interact with its devices and get information.   Nowhere was the power of AI more clear than in the Pixel Buds earphones, a set of wireless headphones that can translate spoken language on the fly. AI is also a big selling point of Clips, the camera that Google intends to be a kind of intelligent life logger: You set it down on the a shelf or floor, and it will smartly capture only the moments that matter to you.   Are all these smarts compelling or creepy? And ev

Another day, another data breach.   That would definitely be an apt catch phrase for 2017, with major, high-profile hacks or breaches coming with disturbing regularity. Equifax and HBO were all hit hard, and the WannaCry ransomware crippled infrastructure around the globe. Even Instagram wasn't spared.   With every breach, another refrain is typically heard: That it was preventable. If only the people in charge had invested more in cybersecurity, or updated their systems, or simply weren't incompetent, then the hack never would have happened. Yet those same people often face little or no direct consequences.   Some people want to change that, and one of them is Todd Thibodeaux, CEO of CompTIA, a technology association that promotes standards and helps guide the IT industry. Thibodeaux thinks, when it comes to poor network security, accountability for private companies needs to happen at the highest level: the board of directors.   Joining the show this week, Thibodeaux goes into detail ho

Should you get the iPhone 8? Depends: Are you easily bored?   Because the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are definitely the ho-hum iPhones this year. Although Apple would never say it, the improvements over the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are mostly incremental, with wireless charging and some new camera tricks (including Portrait Lighting) being the highlights. The real star is the iPhone X, which isn't coming for another month.   That's the consensus from most reviewers, too. It's not that the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are bad phones -- far from it, they're some of the best-performing smartphones you can buy -- it's just that Apple spoiled its own launch party by also announcing the iPhone X, which has demonstrably major upgrades, like an edge-to-edge screen and an advanced front-facing camera module.   On this week's MashTalk, Time's Lisa Eadicicco joins us to compare notes with Mashable Chief Correspondent Lance Ulanoff and Senior Tech Correspondent Ray Wong, all of whom have tried out the iPhone 8 and iPho

This is no ordinary iPhone year.   After three years of dual-release events -- where Apple would launch two phones with generally the same abilities but different sizes -- we finally got something new. On Sept. 12, 2017, Apple announced three new iPhones: the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and the forward-looking iPhone X (pronounced "ten").   You might be thinking, "What happened to iPhone 9?" But the iPhone X has much more severe consequences for next year's iPhone, something we explore at length on this week's MashTalk podcast. For the iPhone 11 (or whatever it's called), will Apple take advancements -- like the edge-to-edge OLED display, the TrueDepth camera system, and advanced camera system -- and simply put them in two different-size phones? Or will Apple keep its premium tier, and continue to sell a higher-end phone for those willing to pay extra for the latest features?   To help predict the future of the iPhone, MashTalk turns to the past: Christina Warren, former Mashable Senior Tech Corr

When Apple throws its annual iPhone bash on Tuesday, everyone will finally get their first look at the most awaited gadget of the year, the new "premium" iPhone, the so-called iPhone 8.   Everyone except Mark Gurman, that is.   The Bloomberg reporter has already held a prototype of the iPhone 8 (or iPhone X, or iPhone Edition, or iPhone Pro, or whatever it's called) and delivered an extensive report on how the home button -- or rather the lack of one -- would work.   On this week's MashTalk, Gurman joins the podcast to share a little more detail on his experience with the iPhone 8, give his predictions for everything else Apple might have in store for its Sept. 12 event, and address any concerns about whether or not Apple will be able to meet the sure-to-be-enormous demand for its top-tier iPhone.   Also joining the show is Jim Dalrymple, editor in chief of Loop Insight. With his deep knowledge of Apple and its history, Dalrymple gives us needed perspective on just how big a moment this i

Thank heaven for social media.   That sentiment was definitely on the minds of many people caught in the path of Hurricane Harvey, which is shaping up to be one of the worst disasters in U.S. history. It dumped 24.5 trillion gallons of water on Texas -- enough to cover the entire state of Arizona in a foot of water. More than 32,000 people were displaced and forced to go to shelters. The official death toll stands at 46 (at the time of the podcast it was 35).   That last number might have been higher if not for social media. In the early hours of the hurricane, 911 systems were overwhelmed, and many people reported not being able to get through to emergency services at all. With the water level rising and no help coming, lots of people turned to social media to plea for rescue.   Public figures felt the power of social media in the wake of the disaster, too. Popular Houston-based televangelist Joel Osteen was forced to respond when Twitter stirred up criticism that his massive Lakewood Church

After months of leaks and a year of explosion jokes, Samsung's Galaxy Note 8 is finally here and it's packing some serious hardware with dual cameras and new S Pen features.   It might even be Samsung's best phone yet, but it's got a lot of competition this time around. The iPhone 8 is around the corner, Google's Pixel 2 is expected after that, and the Essential Phone just launched with a screen that's to die for.   Can Samsung fend off attacks from three sides?     That's the question that'll be on many people's minds as they decide which phone to upgrade to. If you thought picking a new phone was hard last year, this year's even more difficult.   The Note 8 is a fine phone, loaded with all of the features you'd expect. Here's a list of all the major features that makes it so attractive: Beautiful glass and metal design 6.3-inch edge-to-edge screen Dual 12-megapixel cameras 64GB of storage with microSD card slot for expansion IP68 water and dust resistance Impro

For those who obsess about the iPhone, it was the mother lode.   After a long period without any substantive informations (although plenty of whispers, speculation, and questionable photos), if finally happened: the biggest iPhone 8 leak so far. In what looks like an understandable but massive mistake, pre-release firmware for the Apple HomePod somehow got uploaded to a public server.   There's a lot of interest in HomePod — the Apple "smart speaker" that's meant for music and has Siri built-in. Apple plans to release it in December, so getting a look at the software four months early is definitely a big deal.   But that was just the beginning. The HomePod software actually included a lot of information about a new iPhone — what has generally been called the iPhone 8 — including details on the exact shape of its edge-to-edge screen, a new kind of biometric security that involves facial recognition, and other features.   One of the key people in deciphering the leak

Guys, did you hear the news? The robots are going to kill us.   At least that appears to be the primary fear of tech mogul Elon Musk regarding artificial intelligence. This week, when fellow tech titan Mark Zuckerberg was hailing the promise of AI in a Facebook Live Q&A, he ended up subtweeting Musk, calling AI naysayers "irresponsible" for playing up "doomsday scenarios."   Musk fired back on his favorite medium, Twitter, saying Zuck has a "limited understanding" of AI. The resulting headlines made more hay from the tech CEO slap fight than the underlying issue: How much should we be concerned about the growing power of AI, what are the potential dark sides of the tech (Skynet included), and can we do something about them?   To help answer these important questions, Mariya Yao joins the show this week. Yao is the CTO of Topbots, a company that helps other companies build and implement AI solutions to the problems they're trying to solve -- and to do so "wisely." She's also the co-author o

It's been a big week for emoji

The internet five years from now could look a lot different than what it is today.   Building an online business might be harder than ever thanks to the FCC throwing out the rules surrounding Net Neutrality -- the premise that all data on the net should be treated equally regardless of origin or destination. Without Net Neutrality, providers would be free to create so-called "fast lanes" on the internet, prioritizing services that they're friendly to, and relegating those that don't pay up to the slow lane. At least that's the future many envision if Net Neutrality is thrown out, and those protested this week in the Net Neutrality Day of Action, which saw many major tech companies -- including Facebook, Snapchat, Amazon, and Google -- add their voices to the chorus of entities calling for Net Neutrality to be preserved.   However, Net Neutrality will likely be changed or thrown out no matter what, so the question now becomes: What happens next? On this week's MashTalk, we explore what a future with

It's right there in the title.   Amazon Prime Day, which is Tuesday, July 11 (though it technically starts on July 10), boasts some of the best deals you'll be able to get on tech, appliances, beauty products, and all the other junk we buy online. But the point of Amazon's fake holiday (which first arrived in 2015) is clear: Get as many people to sign up for Prime, the company's loyalty program that costs $99 a year.   Does that make it a better deal for Amazon or its customers? This week the Mashable crew unpacks the whole idea of Amazon Prime Day, looking at how it's evolved since it first arrived in 2015, and the new emphasis on services and voice deals. We also have plenty of tips for how to get the most out of Prime Day, predict the best deals, and reminisce about the weirdest deals of years past (remember that barrel of lube?).   Business reporter Emma Hinchliffe joins Pete, Lance, and Ray on this week's podcast. Follow @mash_talk on Twitter or attach the #MashTalk hashtag to