CastMedium » TWiT

TWiT 258: It’s The New Sex Talk

Jon Cole — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:20:27 +0000

TWiT starts things off with the recent news of revenue and profit from Microsoft and Apple. While Microsoft still managed to keep ahead of Apple’s total revenue (which hit an all-time high), the guys talk about the strange juxtaposition of Microsoft’s financial success and perceived lack of relevance in the market.

A big question in the law-related tech news world at the moment is FlipBoard and the legality of content scraping. There’s no question whether or not the way FlipBoard presents content is compelling, but the fact that it takes content from various sites via RSS without permission has set the space ablaze with copyright questions.

Wal-mart’s announcement that they’ll be putting RFID tags into men’s clothing has caused an uproar among the privacy super-conscious and TWiT weighs in briefly with their thoughts. Since the corporation promises to remove the tag once the item is bought, most of the guys think this is a non-issue, though they do use it as a springboard to talk about the future of RFID.

Windows 7 sales, RSS/scraping and the law, RFID in your pants, royal flickr, and more.

Runtime – 1:35:18

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TWiT 257: Smell Like Your Grandpa

Jon Cole — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:54:13 +0000

Anand Shimpi joins This Week in Tech in the wake of Apple’s iPhone 4 antenna issues and offers an expert opinion due to his unique coverage over at Anandtech. They tread the issue extensively but not too far beyond the plethora of coverage up to this point, ultimately reaching the conclusion that most people who buy the iPhone could really care less about reception issues.

The recent financial success of both Intel and AMD has inspired some optimism about PC computing, though John takes a little issue with that. While mobile products are taking most of the mindshare of the tech crowd, Anand insists that the increasing power and optimization of desktop processors will continue until it simply can’t be done anymore. Steve adds that desktops are ideal for content creation, while mobile devices are alternatively ideal for content consumption.

Isaiah “Old Spice guy” Mustafa has been massively successful this past week, cranking out over 100 videos targeted to individual people on various social networks to virally advertise Old Spice body products. It’s been a rallying cry for much of the tech audience, including TWiT, due to the simple fact that it shows the power of social networking synthesized with well made advertising content.

iPhone woes, Intel profits, AMD sales, Facebook 500 million, Old Spice, and more.

Runtime – 1:50:12

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TWiT 256: The Shirtless Page Turn

Jon Cole — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:55:33 +0000

As is standard practice for TWiT at this point, Apple talk starts things off, talking about some of the experiences the guys had with the iPhone 4. The high pixel density “retina display” clearly impressed Dwight, who goes as far as to say that the iPad feels old in comparison even for the sake of reading text. Conversation then turns to the iPad, which revolves around the issue that Microsoft has patented the page turn feature employed in iBooks. Leo oddly holds some vendetta against the feature, while Josh admires the sense of style Apple places in small details such as this.

News that Google has invested $100 million in Zynga, the premier game publisher on Facebook, has stirred up more speculation about the future of Google as a social networking hub. Google Me was talked about a couple episodes ago and Leo points out that a “Google Games” service would easily complement the service, acting as a type of infrastructure to get people making those key connections. The big question is whether or not Google can get the mindshare to compete with Facebook and even what the conditions would need to be in order to make Google Me “competetive”.

The show closes out with a lighthearted story about what it takes to be a Starcraft master, namely the ability to click 300 actions per minute.

Innovation moving to smart phone space, Bing gaining traction, Google Games, increasing gadget costs, and more.

Runtime – 1:50:56

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TWiT 255: You’re Holding It Wrong

Jon Cole — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 03:53:18 +0000

On this week’s edition of TWiT, Leo Laporte welcomes some of the old folks onto the show, including Jerry Pournelle and Steve Gibson. To be frank, this results in a somewhat aimless show that hits on very few big topics but covers a lot of small ones. So, as a word of warning, avoid this episode if you’re looking for discussion of the bleeding edge tech news of the week.

The iPhone antenna “crisis” has swept the tech world by storm and of course opens up the conversation this episode. Leo brought in an industry expert to talk about this issue, namely RF Engineer Spencer Webb, who ultimately come to the conclusion that the big problem with modern cellphone antennas is that they’re almost always fully internal. Unfortunately, the only productive light they can shine on the whole thing is a recent analysis by Anandtech which helps quantify the visual signal strength “bars”.

News that the Best Buy staffer who made a hilarious iPhone 4 vs HTC EVO 4G video may be fired has set quite a few people off, including the guys on TWiT. They get a good laugh out of it and quickly move on to the failure of the Microsoft Kin. The show closes out with Jerry’s promise to make a Twitter account.

How to hold your phone, what the bars mean, the last twitter holdout, liquid state capacitors, cancelled KIN, and more.

Runtime – 1:34:03

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TWiT 254: Digg 4 Was My Idea

Jon Cole — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:25:58 +0000

TWiT founding member Kevin Rose joins this week’s episode to give some exclusive coverage about Digg 4 and its new social-friendly features. It seems like they main thrust of the update is making news feeds relevant to you and the people who follow you, with later pushes for lending “tastemakers” credibility to help build the quality of the whole network.

Due to Facebook’s decline in popularity in the tech world, just the tiniest spark of news about a Google-powered competitor has set the scene ablaze. Google Me was initially outed by Kevin and clearly interests Leo, though Owen makes the great point that Google hasn’t made a habit of making their products appeal to the general public that might be currently using Facebook.

Unsurprisingly, TWiT devotes a bit of time to the release of the iPhone 4. However, much of their talk is about the ridiculous antenna problems that could be easily solved with a cheap bumper. Leo does flip back to the positive side with his praise of the camera, which he believes blows the Flip HD Camera out of the water.

Digg 4 preview, Google Me rumor, Diggnation news, iPhone 4 impressions, and more.

Runtime – 1:34:03

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TWiT 253: E3 iPhone 4

Jon Cole — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:35:40 +0000

This Week in Tech is more like This Week in Games, which shouldn’t be a big surprise to anyone tuned into the events wrapped around E3. The most interesting thing about this particular episode that it brings together a great set of people to talk about it – Leo Laporte, Jeff Gerstmann, Jeff Cannata, and Veronica Belmont.

They do manage to delve into the major tech announcements at the conference, including Microsoft Kinect, Playstation Move, and Nintendo 3DS. They each manage to hit on a couple of their games of the show, which include Mortal Kombat, Portal 2, Fallout: New Vegas, and Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The E3 segment wraps up with a lot of talk about Rock Band 3, which was universally impressive due to its progressive steps in music gaming.

The only tech-centric news that Leo and the crew manage to cover is the release of the iPhone 4 and the preorder nonsense associated with it, leading to many moans and groans from an Apple-loving audience.

Looking back at E3, forward to iPhone 4, and more.

Runtime – 1:20:52

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TWiT 252: The Legend of Vuvuzela

Jon Cole — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 03:20:46 +0000

As per usual, Apple talk capitalizes the beginning of the show and Brian hits on the biggest theme of the iPhone 4′s announcement – getting less than you expected. He goes on to say that Jobs is the P.T. Barnum of the modern day, selling old tech like video phone calls like they’d never been seen before. Wrapping up the Apple talk, John theorizes that the lack of a partnership with Verizon may be temporary, as they booked a conference room three days after the initial release of the phone.

Hulu has been rumored to be offering some sort of premium service in the near future, which leaves Leo a little underwhelmed considering the likely high price. On a similar note, he also talks a little bit about his plans for the E3 Expo and specifically his unlikely alliance with G4 for broadcasting rights.

Late in the show, the guys discuss the odd behavior of Google in its universal implementation of a background image on their front page, questioning whether or not they should be imitating Bing. John takes the Google ball and runs with it, asking about the relevance of search engines in the near future due to their half-hearted dealing with SEO.

iPhone 4, future carriers, Hulu on Xbox, E3 preview, data in the cloud, and more.

Runtime – 1:46:37

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TWiT 251: Flop Sweat

Jon Cole — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 22:43:47 +0000

For the first time in a while, This Week in Tech doesn’t cast a wide net on topics for this episode, rather focusing in on a couple of big picture stories in the tech industry. With the WWDC Conference taking place this week and TWiT recording on the Sunday beforehand, much of what the guys talk about is somewhat inaccurate in the details yet illuminating in concept. The iPhone 4 is clearly the biggest thing in the collective tech hivemind and the huge dump of related rumors leads Josh to talk a little bit about how Engadget approaches the use of vague information handed to them.

The possibility of Verizon adoption by Apple seemed too good to be true and ultimately was, but the unknowing TWiT crew take that conspiracy theory and run. They discuss the possibilities of the iPhone’s distribution to all of the networks and even Verizon’s rumored 3G iPad, all of which would make the tech community’s mouths water. Wrapping up the huge Apple focus is a brief tangent to Adobe’s huge Flash security hole, to which Leo prophesies Jobs’s elation as a response.

The D8 Conference held by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher from All things D/Wall Street Journal gathered a huge pool of tech luminaries in one place for a set of interviews and Q&A’s. The one that captured the most attention of the bunch was that with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who was embarrassingly left profusely sweating after being pressed about privacy concerns.

The show closes out with a some thoughts on Steve Ballmer’s conversation at D8, focusing in on the strange tablet-focused non-Windows 7 “Windows Embedded Compact 7″ OS.

Android fragmentation, Apple’s WWDC, AT&T vs. Verizon, Zuckerberg melts at D8, Flash security alert, and more.

Runtime – 1:39:17

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TWiT 248: Drowning In Connectivity

Jon Cole — Thu, 20 May 2010 04:03:56 +0000

Everyone on TWiT this week has a bit of a history in the podcasting space, so things kick off with an interesting conversation about Leo and Patrick’s history at TechTV as well as the nature of the podcasting medium as a whole. After that tangent, the guys talk about the newfound “oomph” of a lot of Android phones like the HTC EVO 4G and the HTC Incredible that truly give the iPhone a run for its money. Patrick got to check out the EVO specifically, being impressed by both the hardware and some of Sprint’s offerings in particular.

The big topic this week is undoubtedly the Facebook privacy debacle, which may have proven to be the primary reason Jason needed to be on this show. In a recent email newsletter titled “The Big Game, Zuckerberg and Overplaying Your Hand”, he outlines a lot of telling trends and highlights several news stories and editorials that truly ask whether or not Facebook’s founder has ethics. Most of the guys agree that Facebook is indeed stepping over the line, which is evidenced clearly by Leo’s departure from the service altogether.

The podcast closes out with a little bit of news about the RIAA and the U.S. Copyright Group making big moves on the music and video piracy groups, respectively.

Android vs. iPhone, the new Steve, Facebook playing games, Google changing rules, and more.

Runtime – 1:32:35

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TWiT 247: Made In America

Jon Cole — Tue, 11 May 2010 01:35:26 +0000

As always, This Week in Tech manages to hit on a lot of huge issues, but somehow avoids talking about Apple for most of this week’s show! Starting things off, the guys talk about the aggrevating steps that the FCC is taking to appease the MPAA. They’ve recently ruled that the MPAA and associated movie studios have the right to disable analog video output for films broadcast through set-top boxes, in a move to offer pre-release access to movies on the track to sell on DVD.

Facebook has been in the news a lot lately for their controversial stance on privacy and the TWiT team gets to weigh in. Leo and Cali agree that Facebook remains a great tool for people in their public positions to hone social interest, but the use of the service ends when personal information gets involved. Facebook is overstepping on yet another level, though, as rumors tell of Zynga’s impending move away from the service. This is speculated to be due to Facebook’s intention to have an integrated game credit service so they can take a monetary cut from successful games with microtransactions.

The show closes out with some talk about new Skype features, Darth Vader coming to TomTom, and Clearwire’s possible move away from WiMAX.

FCC gives MPAA control, selloff blip, Facebook and 3rd-parties, Zynga Live, and more.

Runtime – 1:41:32

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TWiT 246: Two And A Half Journalists

Jon Cole — Wed, 05 May 2010 19:11:29 +0000

Things start off in a fairly predictable manner, hitting on the iPhone 4th gen scandal news that precipitated earlier in the week. However, that issue is clearly not the biggest story, as Leo pointedly wants to “get it out of the way” at the beginning. HP’s acquisition of Palm is the biggest shift in technology, marking the possibility of yet another major player into the mobile space. Due to HP’s pedigree, however, there’s much speculation as to their tablet strategies wielding WebOS (especially in light of the rumors that the HP Slate has been shot dead in the water).

Apple’s acquisition of Siri may hint at the future of Apple, but Steve Jobs’s essay on Adobe and Flash does a lot more than hint at his opinions. In far more words, he accuses Flash of being a closed platform that stifles battery life and isn’t complementary to touchscreen interfaces, properties that are increasingly prevalent and necessary in Apple’s mobile strategy. Flash/HTML5 talk and the bulk of the conversation wraps up with a little discussion of the merits of H.264 with respect to other video codecs.

HP and webOS, developer fate, beyond Flash, Boy Genius, the end of the PC era, and more.

Runtime – 1:33:13

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TWiT 243: Eat A Hot Bowl Of Nintendo Wiis

Jon Cole — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 22:43:12 +0000

In this week’s “Leo loves the iPad” segment, TWiT’s new cast of characters get to throw their two cents on whether or not they love Apple’s latest device, coming out decidedly more unimpressed as a whole. Veronica got a chance to use Ryan Block’s iPad, remarking that it’s a bit inconvenient to not have multiple user profiles for an “appliance” device like this one. Brian Brushwood adds that the lack of camera and extra $30 monthly fee for 3G service is enough to have him hold off, despite his excitement for some of the offered features.

A victor has been called on the big Comcast vs FCC lawsuit and let’s just say net neutrality fans aren’t very happy about it. Most of the guys agree that the FCC shouldn’t have free reign to regulate the internet, but Comcast’s ongoing acquisition of NBC along with the their moves against BitTorrent show that total free trade isn’t so hot either. Baritunde goes on to say that free trade really doesn’t exist for most people as far as internet options are concerned, an excellent point.

The rest of the show largely focuses on the iPhone OS 4.0 update and specifically on their ban on applications not coded in a C-based language, essentially shutting out Adobe’s recent moves to make converting flash programs into apps.

Apple hits Adobe hard, Comcast-FCC, Twitter buys Tweetie, iPad, and more.

Runtime – 1:44:44

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TWiT 242: The Earth Moved

Jon Cole — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 01:39:38 +0000

TWiT starts off with iPad talk, as you may have expected. Luckily, Leo managed to bring in a fairly diverse cast of characters with disparate opinions on the device, Jason Calacanis probably coming out most negatively right out of the gate asking why Steve Jobs wants to “cripple” his devices by not including simple features like a USB port or a webcam. Robert Scoble shoots back by pointing out the increased usability and complexity due to the more simple surface elements, making an apt comparison to fuel-injection systems vs carburetors in cars.

Xeni Jardin was one of the lucky few who got a review iPad, so she has more hands-on experience than most of the other chatters. She says that the keyboard is surprisingly usable, though she thinks that it’s far more complementary to short-form writing just due to the fact that it’s not hardware. Next up is games talk, with Leo confessing his deep love for Plants vs Zombies HD. Robert also talks about the interesting Adobe tech that allows for easy conversion of Air apps to iPhone/iPad format and possibilities for multiplatform games and apps.

Obviously this week is heavily dominated by iPad talk, so if you dread conversation about Apple’s halo device, it may be a week to stay away from TWiT.

The big iPad launch, Cory Doctorow differs, MITS Altair creator remembered, LisaTickledPink, and more.

Runtime – 1:46:30

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TWiT 240: The Texas Reach-Around

Jon Cole — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 22:46:11 +0000

Twitter’s birthday starts things off for this show, allowing Leo to plug @LisaTickledPink and give another mention to the associated iPad giveaway. Next up is Sprint’s deceptive marketing in their recent commercial, advertising their 4G services while showing an iPhone accessing 4G via their wi-fi mobile hotspot. Wrapping up the mobile talk, Leo talks a little bit about Palm’s recent drop in stock prices while John essentially holds a funeral for the company.

The biggest mainstream tech news of the week is the story of a “hacker” who used a remote blackbox system to disable over 100 random cars after being fired from a car dealership. Leo takes issue with the wordage of the news, saying that the guy didn’t “hack” anything, rather getting system access from a friend still employed by the company. John says that the system was broken from the start and that people would be enraged to know that their vehicle could be arbitrarily repossessed at any time.

Yelp has also been getting a little bit of mainstream attention, following rumors that companies were being blackmailed by the siterunners with threats of to their review structure in exchange for advertisement. Leo and John agree that online reviews of this nature are subject to a heaping grain of salt, along with an intelligent assessment of individual reviewers who may be suspect.

Twitter’s birthday, Sprint iPhone 4G, Palm goes down, Piracy too sexy, remote car disabling, and more.

Runtime – 1:42:37

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TWiT 239: Meat Up

Jon Cole — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 03:09:14 +0000

Leo Laporte was in Austin, Texas this past weekend attending SXSWi (South By Southwest Interactive) and brings a guest-packed show from a live panel he had at the event. Since there are so many people on the show, several different panels were discussed as well as a ton of different news stories.

Since SXSW is one of the biggest social media events of the year, it seems appropriate that social media topics dominate the first half of the show. Dana Boyd’s keynote raised a lot of eyebrows when she suggested that privacy isn’t necessarily the big problem in many social websites, rather it’s the amount of control that a user has over their private information. Many of the TWiT panelists are quick to agree, pointing to the recent Google Buzz controversy and how it could have been better handled if Google realized the private nature of Gmail.

In other big SXSW news, AT&T managed to keep their network afloat despite the keen eye of many attendees who suffered poor coverage at previous years’ events. The show closes out with the news of a Twitter hoax perpetrated by NSFW’s Brian Brushwood, who managed to convince hundreds of NSFW panel attendees to tweet that Conan O’Brien joined Revision3. Using the hashtag #OMGConan, Brushwood actually earned a Universal World Record for Most Tweeted Hoax.

This Week in Tech comes to you live from South By Southwest in Austin Texas.

Runtime – 1:31:12

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