Every Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast, where co-hosts Nilay Patel and Dieter Bohn discuss the week in tech news with the reporters and editors covering the biggest stories.

This week on The Vergecast, The Verge’s Nilay Patel, Dieter Bohn, Alex Cranz, and Tom Warren discuss Microsoft’s take on the metaverse at the Ignite event this past week.

In the next segment, Verge editor Chris Welch joins the show to discuss his review of the Beats Fit Pro and how they may have the AirPods Pro beat.

In segment three, the crew discusses Apple senior vice president Craig Federighi’s speech at Web Summit 2021, where he spoke out against the European Commission’s proposed Digital Markets Act, which, if passed, would allow sideloading on the iPhone.

There’s a whole lot more discussed in this week’s episode of The Vergecast, so listen here or in your preferred podcast player for the full discussion.

Stories from this week:

• Microsoft Teams enters the metaverse race with 3D avatars and immersive meetings
• Microsoft is planning 3D metaverse apps for Xbox and gaming
• Microsoft Loop is a new Office app for the hybrid work era
• Microsoft’s GitHub CEO steps down
• Beats Fit Pro review: sporty AirPod Pros with better sound
• Beats announces Fit Pro earbuds with wing tip design and $200 price
• Apple AirPods (third-gen) review: new design, same appeal
• The best wireless earbuds to buy right now
• ‘Sideloading is a cyber criminal’s best friend,’ according to Apple’s software chief
• Verizon and AT&T delay crucial 5G expansion over aircraft interference concerns
• Facebook is shutting down its Face Recognition tagging program
• Instagram and Twitter finally make link previews work again
• Zillow reportedly needs to sell 7,000 houses after it bought too many
• Ford’s selling electric crate motors based on the one in the Mach-E
• The 2022 Volkswagen ID 5 is a sporty electric SUV with over 300 miles of range
• Gobble, gobble: GE Appliances wants you to trust its smart oven to cook the perfect turkey