MobileViews.com Podcast

• MobileViews 589: Apple & Google best of 2025 apps; fav 2025 gadgets; guest Sven Johannsen

  In this episode, Jon Westfall and I are joined by frequent guest panelist Sven Johannsen. We dive into the end-of-year wrap-ups: We discuss Apple’s 2025 App Store Awards, with Jon noting that he uses award-winner Strava—though primarily on the Apple Watch rather than its main platform. The conversation also covers Google Play’s Best of 2025 (spanning apps, books, and games) and the latest YouTube End-of-Year Recap. On the hardware front, the rumor mill is spinning regarding an Apple HomePod with a screen (potentially the "HomePod Touch"), with speculation pointing toward an 11-inch display. The hosts compare smart display pricing, weighing the Echo Show 11” ($194-$219) against the Pixel Tablet and Dock bundle ($250 + $129). Sven's new accessories are also highlighted, including the DJI Mic Mini at a competitive $80 and the new clip and card versions of Pebblebee Trackers. Todd’s Segment features the Goovis G3 Max headset, praised for its individual diopter adjustment that allows eyeglass wearers to use the device without custom prescription lenses. The show wraps up with a mention of the Google Pixel 10 Pro and its headline feature: 100x ProRes zoom.

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• MobileViews 588: Aluminium OS? AI workflows? Fav 2025 gadgets

  In this podcast, we discuss: Google Aluminium OS," a potential merger of Android and ChromeOS designed to bring a premium, AI-first experience to desktop devices. The hosts also explore practical AI applications, discussing significant updates to NotebookLM—such as Deep Research and new source support—and how these tools can be optimized for teaching workflows. This episode also introduces a new segment called "Ctrl-Keep-Delete," a Marie Kondo-style guide for tech enthusiasts looking to declutter their gadget collections. On the personal front, the conversation turns to "Holiday Pivots," where the hosts share strategies for adapting when seasonal plans fall apart. The episode wraps up with their top gadget picks for 2025: Jon recommends the Plaud NotePin for AI meeting transcriptions, Sven highlights the MuteMe physical button for managing Zoom calls, and Todd endorses the Logitech Flip Folio for iPad productivity.

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• MobileViews 587: Google AI upgraded; Quick Share; Zotero research assistant; M386 Office mini-rant

  I'm trying something different this week. Instead of the usual text summary of the podcast in the blog I used Google Gemini 3 and Google Nano Banana Pro to create an infographic based on the show notes that Jon Westfall and I used for this podcast.

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• MobileViews 586: Boya Magic Wireless Mics; Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE; low cost Macbook in 2026? Open Broadcast Studio

  Jon and I are back after a brief hiatus, and we had a lot to catch up on, starting with our ever-evolving audio gear! I tested out a new budget microphone, the Boya Measureless, which I’m using in a shotgun mode on a tripod. Jon is actually using the same mic in lavalier format. It’s a pretty advanced 4-in-1 mic that even comes with its own charging case and windscreens. I'm glad it’s working out for both of us! Shifting gears, I needed some help rationalizing a recent purchase: the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE. It was a good bundle from Costco, including the S Pen (which uses Wacom EMR technology) and a nice magnetic keyboard case, all for around $500. I was looking for a replacement for my Pixel tablet, which Google is apparently not going to continue developing. I like that the S10 FE is IP68 water and dustproof, has a micro SD slot (I added a 256GB card for 384GB total storage!), and supports both Face ID and fingerprint login. I'm even learning how to use Samsung's additional windowing system on top of the standard Android UI. We discussed the rumor of a budget MacBook (codenamed J700) possibly coming out in 2026 with the iPhone's A18 Pro processor. I think it would be fantastic in the $499 range, especially for schools and people new to desktop operating systems. We also touched on the mind-blowing news that an AI-written song hit number one on the Billboard country music chart. I remember being wowed by the first all-CGI movie, The Last Starfighter, back in the '80s, and it feels like AI music is on a similar path to becoming normal. Jon then walked me through a cool, old trick for Google Sheets: using the Google Visualization API with a SQL query embedded in a URL to fetch specific data, which he uses for his weekly jokes. Finally, Jon demoed Open Broadcast Studio (OBS), which is a free, versatile tool for broadcasting and recording, offering commercial-level features for mixing audio and video sources.

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• MobileViews 585: 17 years of this podcast! Free Affinity creative suite. Azure DNS outage. Jon's Discord bot

  In this week's episode, Jon Westfall and I kicked things off by discussing "falling back" for Daylight Saving Time and reminiscing about dealing with dark mornings. We then moved on to some podcast milestones. I realized that MobileViews is about to turn 18, with the first episode dating back to November 26, 2008 . We also noted that Jon's 12th anniversary on the show is coming up in December. This got us talking about the early days of podcasting. I recalled listening to pioneers like Adam Curry (the "Podfather") and Adam Christiansen ("The Mac Cast") , and how I was amazed they could produce so much content solo . We contrasted that with today's landscape, which seems dominated by celebrity-hosted shows, and I made sure to thank Jon, as I'm certain the podcast would have ended years ago without him. We discussed the recently released free Affinity all-in-one creative suite for MacOS, which both Jon and I had previously purchased, becoming a free all-in-one app on the Mac following its acquisition by Canva. We also chatted about the recent Microsoft Azure outage , which briefly gave me trouble accessing a file on OneDrive , and shared a laugh about how "it's always DNS". On the AI front, I shared a song I generated with Suno AI called "DNS Blues" and we discussed the news of an AI artist, Xenia Monet, debuting on the Billboard charts. Jon shared his own impressive AI project: in about 30 minutes, he used ChatGPT to build a Python-based Discord bot that can serve up Disney trivia, psychology questions, or bad jokes pulled from his 12-year spreadsheet archive.

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