The Engadget Podcast

We're still waiting for Valve's Steam Machine to arrive, but until then, the company has finally given us a full look at its new Steam Controller. At $100, it sure is steep, but it looks like a solid way to enjoy games on Steam. In this episode, Engadget's Jessica Conditt joins to chat about her experience with the Steam Controller, and where Valve could be going next with the Steam Machine. And we'll also take some time to chat about the games we're currently playing.

The Apple rumors were true, once again. This week, the company announced that Tim Cook will be stepping down from his CEO role on September 1. Replacing him will be John Ternus, who currently serves as Apple's SVP of hardware engineering. In this episode, Devindra and Engadget's Nathan Ingraham discuss Cook's legacy as Apple's CEO, and pontificate about how Ternus may change things. We're going from Apple being led by a logistics guru, to Apple being driven by a product and engineering wizard. Surely, that will have some impact on future products.

 

Tim Cook steps down as Apple CEO after 15 years, John Ternus will take his place on September 1 – 1:22

Palantir woke up last Saturday morning and posted a comic book villain manifesto on X – 26:01

DHS wants to make facial recognition smart glasses for ICE – 31:53

A lot of people panic bought PCs to avoid RAMageddon – 36:25

Meta faces a new lawsuit over running ads for outright scams –

Employees at Meta will have they keystrokes and mouse moves recorded for AI training – 40:10

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate price goes down, but it won’t include Call of Duty – 44:55

Around Engadget: a great (expensive) Dyson vac with a silly name – 49:15

Working on – 51:58

Pop culture picks – 52:55

So a shoe company turned into an AI company…. That’s it, that’s the joke. In this episode, Devindra chats with Engadget’s Daniel Cooper about Allbirds’ sudden transformation and what it says about the AI economy. Also, they chat about the Artemis II moon mission, Meta being warned about the dangers of facial recognition (again) and how teens think social media is really shaping them.

 

Near-dead shoe company Allbirds is doing AI now – 1:47

Artemis II safely returns to Earth, did you know they had DLSRs and iPhones up there? – 15:57

Meta warned by dozens of civil rights organizations that facial recognition in its smart glasses will enable predators – 28:41

Social media isn’t bad for teens, say teens – 36:00

NAACP sues xAI over data center pollution – 44:30

Around Engadget –  50:28

For a 50-year-old company, Apple remains pretty hip and nimble. This week, Devindra and Senior Reporter Igor Bonifacic dive into Apple's big birthday, the state of the company today and what the next 50 years could bring. Also, we celebrate the successful launch of NASA's Artemis II mission, which will bring us back to the Moon (but just for a close look).

 

Apple at 50: Why it’s still all about personal computing – 1:16

Artemis II is safely on its way to the moon, but they’re having problems with Outlook – 37:48

SpaceX files for the largest IPO ever, what’s driving their hopes for a 1.75 Trillion valuation? – 40:52

Another Starlink satellite broke up in orbit, the second in 6 months – 47:21

Anthropic accidentally leaked source code for Claude Code – 52:17

FCC issues ban on all foreign-made WiFi routers – 57:18

Around Engadget – 1:02:09

Working On – 1:07:18

Pop culture picks – 1:08:20

If you're feeling anxious about AI and what it means for the future of humanity, you should watch The AI Doc: Or, How I Became an Apocaloptimist. As I noted in my review, the film aims to deliver some clarity amid all the AI hype with a plethora of interviews from AI CEOs, boosters, and critics. Now that it's in theaters, we sat down with the film's Oscar-winning director, Daniel Roher (Navalny), to dive deeper into his complicated feelings around AI.