The Engadget Podcast

At long last, iPhone users have access to Apple's AI image generation tools, Genmoji (for customized emoji) and Image Playground. But based on our testing, these Apple Intelligence features aren't fully baked. In this episode, Devindra and Cherlynn discuss why these AI tools aren't very useful and dive into some of Apple's most egregious image generation fails. iOS 18.2 AI image generation arrives half baked. Genmoji are fun, but weird – 1:13OpenAI’s Sora video generation model was finally released – 37:17GM kills its Cruise robotaxi project – 45:43Google’s Gemini 2.0 is now available for preview – 49:51Tiktok is running out of options to avoid a ban in the U.S. – 57:36Working on – 1:00:04Pop culture picks – 1:02:20 

Our review-in-progress of the Kindle Scribe 2 is live, and this week on the Engadget Podcast our host Cherlynn Low talks about Amazon’s latest writing tablet with noted ereader aficionado Alex Cranz. The pair are joined by Engadget’s own ereader expert Valentina Palladino, and they all get deep on the state of reading on books, tablets and phones. Our hosts also dive into what’s happening at Intel, as well as modern cars and personal listening habits. Kindle Scribe 2, Kobo, Boox and more: the state of ereaders in 2024 – 2:12Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger retires – 45:13Intel claims its $250 Battlemage Arc GPU can top the NVIDIA RTX 4060  – 50:57MSI’s upcoming Claw 8 AI+ and 7 AI+ are faster than ever, but you still need to navigate Windows with joysticks – 52:18Jaguar’s strange concept EV doesn’t even have a rear window – 57:26It’s music streaming recap season! How do you feel about yours? – 1:04:33Working on / Around Engadget – 1:09:13Pop culture picks – 1:11:20  

Senior reporter Jess Conditt joins host Cherlynn Low and producer Ben Ellman on a quiet news week to talk about the latest developments at Sony, Threads, TikTok and more. We also take a look at some gadget announcements and discuss the impact that social media and technology have had on the way we work and how we think of celebrity and success. A chill Thanksgiving week chat: Social media and how it affects all of us – 1:07Gaming news with Jess: Sony is reportedly working on a new portable console – 21:18PlayStation’s head of indie games Shuhei Yoshida is leaving Sony after 30 years – 28:34Obsidian’s Avowed looks like a great reason to pick up an Xbox controller – 31:53FTC warns that most connected devices aren’t supported for very long – 37:08Working on – 41:14Pop culture picks – 42:17

Well, the rumors were true: this week the DOJ argued that Google should sell off Chrome to make up for its monopolistic search practices. On top of that, the US government also suggested a potential sale of Android if it can't stop prioritizing its own search on Android smartphones. In this episode, Devindra and Producer Ben discuss why neither outcome seems likely under the upcoming Trump 2.0 administration, which will likely focus on defanging any sort of regulation. U.S. regulators want Google to sell its Chrome division (and why that probably won’t happen) – 1:05Comcast spins off Rotten Tomatoes, Fandango, and a handful of cable networks into their own company – 22:23Sony is in talks to buy Kadokawa, Japanese publisher behind FromSoft games and Kill la Kill – 24:38German authorities suspect Baltic Sea data cables between Lithuania and Sweden were sabotaged – 26:21Pokémon Go devs Niantic reveal plans to create a Large Geospatial Model to power future AR and robots – 32:26Working on – 45:49Pop culture picks – 51:38