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, Verge editor Chris Welch joins Nilay and Dieter in a phone and gadget-dominated episode.
The discussion starts with news of Apple announcing a spring event coming up on April 20th. The crew reviews which products may or may not be announced next week — from an Apple TV with a camera to new iPads and more services.
The gadget talk continues with a farewell to both LG phones and Logitech Harmony remotes. Last week, LG announced it was exiting the smartphone business. A few days later, Logitech announced it was discontinuing its line of universal remotes.
There’s a whole lot more in this episode — including a review of Sonos’ Roam portable speaker, the future of RCS, and more gadgets to pay attention to — so listen here or in your preferred podcast player to hear the full discussion.
Stories discussed in this episode:
- US recommends pause on Johnson & Johnson vaccine use over extremely rare blood clots
- How the Johnson & Johnson pause could move the needle on vaccine fears
- For many, COVID-19 vaccines come with a side of side effects
- How CO2 sensors might help us return to ‘normal’
- Airbnb is trying to preemptively cancel post-pandemic bacchanals
- Celebrate your COVID vaccination with these off-the-wall tchotchkes
- Expedia launches a new tool to check coronavirus travel restrictions
- Apple officially announces Spring Loaded event for April 20th
- New iPad Pro still coming soon but supply could be short, says Bloomberg
- Apple officially starts letting your iPhone help find lost third-party products
- Samsung’s Galaxy SmartTag Plus with UWB to track items with AR is out April 16th
- Logitech officially discontinues its Harmony remotes
- Apple gets its own button on Roku’s latest remotes
- Roku announces Express 4K Plus streaming player and rechargeable Voice Remote Pro
- Roku OS 10 adds instant resume for streaming apps, brings AirPlay 2 to more devices
- Apple reportedly developing an Apple TV with a built-in camera and speaker
- LG is quitting the smartphone business
- LG had a few smartphone hits, but it’ll still be missed
- LG leaves behind more than a flip phone-shaped hole in our hearts
- Google announces Pixel 5A 5G by denying rumors it’s canceled
- TCL aims to build a better budget phone with the 20 Pro 5G
- TCL’s Fold ‘n Roll concept transforms a 6.87-inch phone into a 10-inch tablet
- Sony announces the Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III with variable telephoto lenses
- US carriers have thankfully abandoned at least one bad plan for RCS
- Apple says iMessage on Android ‘will hurt us more than help us’
- Sonos Roam review: portable potential
- Ikea is working with Sonos on a hidden speaker built into art you hang on the wall
- Spotify’s Car Thing debuts as a limited release for selected US users
- Amazon announces new Echo Buds with more powerful ANC and better comfort
- ONEPLUS WATCH REVIEW: BIG, BASIC, AND BORING
- Microsoft announces Surface Laptop 4 with choice of Intel or AMD processor
- Can Clubhouse keep the party going?
- Apple trusts Phobio for its trade-ins, but maybe you should think twice
- Google is poisoning its reputation with AI researchers
The Vergecast /
The podcast you need to make sense of the week in tech news