Tech Brew Ride Home

Fri. 08/02 - Stop Listening To Me, Siri!

02 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Google and Apple suspend their programs where humans listen in on what you say to your voice assistant, Google will let Android users in Europe pick a...

Thu. 08/01 - Chips Get Faster, Scooters Get Rugged-er

01 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Intel’s faster new chips, Bird’s more durable new scooters, Samsung’s new lack of a headphone jack, Cisco settles with the government, IBM’s f...

Wed. 07/31 - Apple: What, Me Worry?

31 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Apple isn’t selling as many iPhones, but they want you to know that that’s just fine. Samsung isn’t selling as many high end smartphones as they...

Tue. 07/30 - The Capital One Breach Is A Weird One

30 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Another day, another data breach… but this Capital One breach has some odd new wrinkles, the Android smartphone industry continues to be a tough gig...

Mon. 07/29 - Google Leaks, So We Don't Have To

29 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Google continues to leak Pixel 4 details itself, Github bans users from specific countries, will we eventually see a TikTok phone? Consolidation in th...

Fri. 07/26 - The T-Mobile/Sprint Merger Is Approved

26 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The T-Mobile/Sprint merger gets the go-ahead, a whole bunch of odds-n-ends Apple stories, SoftBank announces a new Vision Fund, the biggest earnings w...

Thu. 07/25 - The Galaxy Fold Lives!

25 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Samsung says we will finally see the Galaxy Fold in September, Tesla has a bad earnings miss, Deep Mind and Waymo partner to hopefully speed up AV dev...

Wed. 07/24 - Is Media Piracy Coming Back?

24 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The FTC comes down on Facebook, but is the new DOJ probe really what Silicon Valley should worry about? Cruise won’t be self-driving taxis in San Fr...

Tues. 7/23 - Intel Outside

23 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Apple may buy Intel’s floundering 5G chip division, new rumored iPhone models seem like modest bumps, the attorney general dreams of an impossible e...

Mon. 7/22 - Just the Equifax, Ma'am

22 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Equifax agrees to a settlement over its massive 2017 data breach, Microsoft invests a billion dollars in an generalized AI startup, Huawei is linked t...

(Bonus) Is Tech Making Us- Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stupid?

21 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Is technology really rotting our brains, destroying our society... or is that what everyone has always worried about with every technological advance,...

(Bonus) The Moon Landing With Charles Fishman

20 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

So, today, July 20th 2019 is the 50th anniversary of human beings walking on the moon for the first time. As Glenn mentioned on Friday’s weekend lon...

Fri. 7/19 - This Pentagon Contract Is Not the One You’re Looking For

19 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Microsoft makes boring pay dividends, Trump says he’ll use JEDI mind tricks to examine a Pentagon bid, Orlando ends a controversial facial-recogniti...

Thurs. 07/18 - Netflix's Numbers Visit the Upside Down

18 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Netflix's growth disappoints, but Stranger Things have happened. The Democratic National Committee tells candidates to avoid the photo-aging simulator...

Wed. 07/17 - Neuralink and Boston Dynamics Are Ready For Their Closeup

17 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Google says Project Dragonfly is dead, Apple might be producing its own original podcasts, the Switch regular gets a refresh, and two long-time intere...

Tue. 07/16 - Who Put The Politics In My Tech?

16 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Facebook explains Libra to Congress, Amazon might be next in the EU’s woodshed, Google might be next in Trump’s woodshed, another Tesla lineup sha...

Mon. 07/15 - Don't Naruto-Rush Area 51

15 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The FTC is readying a record fine for Facebook, but is it just a parking ticket? Qualcomm refreshes the Snapdragon lineup, governments want to make mo...

(Bonus) Is Ecommerce Gonna Kill The Grocery Store? With Joe Fassler

14 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Remember that longread from Friday? I knew lots of physical retail was under threat from ecommcerce, but do we have to worry about the grocery store t...

(Bonus) The Superhuman Brouhaha With Mike Davidson

13 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Remember the whole Superhuman kerfuffle of the last week or so? Mike Davidson wrote a blog post calling out some shady stuff in the Superhuman email p...

Fri. 07/12 - Amazon Developing A High-End Echo Speaker

12 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Amazon is developing a high-end Echo speaker, the PC market’s not dead yet, Postmates is having second thoughts about going public and might shop it...

Thu. 07/11 - Bird In Trouble Or Turning The Corner?

11 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Apple quietly brings the hammer down on Zoom’s hidden web server, Apple also turns off Walkie Talkie in order to fix it, Google Assistant is listeni...

Wed. 07/10 - The New Switch Lite Drops The... "Switching"

10 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The Nintendo Switch Lite is a smaller cheaper Switch that doesn’t “switch,” HBO Max is ready for the streaming thunderdome, is Slack falling beh...

Tue. 07/09 - Apple Culls The MacBook Herd

09 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Apple culls the MacBook herd, YouTube returns to FireTV, a weird zero day exploit in Zoom’s video conferencing app, Elon Musk shakes up his autopilo...

Mon. 07/08 - The Rise of the Professional Dungeon Master

08 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Your driver’s license is already being used for facial recognition surveillance, VC investment in Chinese startups is plummeting, I have an answer t...

(Bonus) The Man Who Could Have Been Bill Gates? (Pt. 2)

07 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Part Two of the legendary Gary Kildall Story... Sponsors: Tiny.website CognitoHQ.com Subscribe to the ad-free feed!   Learn more about your ...

(Bonus) The Man Who Could Have Been Bill Gates? (Pt. 1)

06 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Part One of the legendary Gary Kildall Story...  Sponsors: CognitoHQ.com Tiny.website Subscribe to the Ad-Free Feed! Learn more about your a...

Fri. 07/05 - Apple Waves the White Flag on Keyboards?

05 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

A Superhuman mea culpa, no mea culpa but Apple might be ready to tacitly admit the butterfly keyboards were a mistake, inside Walmart’s turf battles...

Wed. 07/03 - Why Is Everyone Arguing Over Superhuman?

03 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Telsa sold a lot more Model 3’s than anyone expected, more signs of tech manufacturing fleeing China, Uber’s new Dine-In service is kinda brillian...

Tue. 07/02 - Are ISP Caps the Achilles Heel of Game Streaming?

02 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We know when the Galaxy Note 10 is coming, we don’t know why Microsoft is teasing Windows 1.0, Nvidia refreshes the RTX line, meditation app Calm is...

Mon. 07/01 - Was Jony Ive Burned Out AT Apple or BY Apple?

01 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Was Jony Ive burned out at Apple or was he burned out BY Apple? Again, Roku as the quiet mega-player in the streaming wars, how TikTok is spending its...

(Bonus) Bitcoin- What the Heck? With CoinTalk's Aaron Lammer

30 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

I didn’t cover it, but you might have noticed that this week, bitcoin did indeed cross that magical $10,000 mark, in fact, got to $13,000 a coin onl...

(Bonus) Silicon Valley and Monopoly With Matt Stoller

29 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Is it really different this time? Is the regulatory hammer about to come down on Silicon Valley? Matt Stoller is a fellow at the Open Markets Institut...

Fri. 06/28 - Jony Ive Leaves Apple

28 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Jony Ive is leaving Apple, health tech is having its first big IPO, Amazon looks like it is finally ready to kill UPS, I’ve got issues with Google’...

Thu. 06/27 - The Mystery That Is Superhuman

27 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Twitter still allows public figures to break its rules, but it will warn you when they do, Zuckerberg says you need him on that wall, the US Wireless ...

Wed. 06/26 - Apple Acquires Drive.ai

26 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Apple buys Drive.ai, the days of the phone notch might be numbered, the first solar powered electric car, fighting over the streaming rights for The O...

Tue. 06/25 - Bill Gates' Biggest Mistake

25 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

LinkedIn’s changes mean peak newsfeed is truly behind us, hackers have been stealing a massive amount of phone data without touching phones, early i...

Mon. 06/24 - Why Tonight's SpaceX Launch Is So Important

24 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The Raspberry Pi 4 might finally be a full PC replacement, the first real bipartisan bill around data collection has arrived, is the Echo Show 5 the b...

(Bonus) E3 Wrapup and the Gaming Space with Brian Heater of TechCrunch

23 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

E3 was last week, not even this past week, but I did want to get a debrief on what went on there, so I had to wait for everyone to get back from E3 an...

(Bonus) CoinDesk's Brady Dale On Libra and the "Crypto Spring"

22 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Well, given the news of the week, I knew we needed to do a deep dive on Libra, so I called up our friend Brady Dale at CoinDesk and we get into it. Wh...

Fri. 06/21 - Google Abandons Tablets

21 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Google is getting out of the tablet business, there’s a MacBook Pro recall but not because of keyboard issues, a startup is aiming to disrupt the bi...

Thu. 06/20 - Slack's (kinda) IPO

20 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Slack debuts as a publicly traded company, there will be Congressional hearings about Libra, a Florida city pays ransom money to hackers, getting your...

Wed. 06/19 - The Fallout From Facebook Coin

19 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

More revelations about the horrible job that is Facebook Moderation, Best Buy now doubles as a Genius Bar—sorta, YouTube has some new AR tricks and ...

Tue. 06/19 – Is Facebook Now in Crypto... or Just Payments?

18 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Facebook announces Libra, Twitch acquires Bebo, are unmanned convenience stores something people even want, Facebook wants more houses in Silicon Vall...

Mon. 06/17 – The 5G iPhones Might Be Both Bigger and Smaller

17 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The 5G iPhones might be both bigger and smaller, both Huawei and the chip industry prepare for tough times, Genius says it caught Google red-handed, i...

(Bonus) The Business of Content With Simon Owens

16 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Simon Owens is a journalist who, in his writing, podcasting and newsletters, covers the whole gamut of digital media, from the creator side to the pub...

(Bonus) Among the Amazon Robots With Matt Simon

15 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

That Wired longread that I suggested yesterday, about Amazon’s warehouse robots really stuck with me for personal reasons you’ll hear in a second....

Fri. 06/14 - Are Foldable Phones Cursed?

14 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Are foldable phones cursed—and will we ever see one? Facebook coin might be coming as early as next week, the hottest crypto is up 330% YTD but you’...

Thu. 06/13 - The Most Interesting Startup I've Heard Of In A While

13 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Telegram is getting DDoS’d, Google pulls a Radiohead on Pixel phone leakers, Bird buys Scoot, my dream TV is a wall, and the most interesting startu...

Wed. 06/12 - The DOJ is Telegraphing its Possible Punches to Silicon Valley

12 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The state of the Internet according to Mary Meeker, Houseparty joins the Fortnite party, Uber Elevate is planning some important firsts, the DOJ is te...

Tue. 06/11 - "Any data that is collected, WILL be breached."

11 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

An abject example of the maxim, “any data that is collected, will be breached,” Foxconn isn’t worried about a trade war so maybe Apple doesn’t...

Mon. 06/10 - The New Xbox Looks Like a Beast

10 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The next generation Xbox sounds like a beast, Salesforce buys Tableau, Apple might buy a self-driving car startup, we finally get some details on Quib...

WWDC Debrief With John Voorhees of MacStories

08 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Does what is says on the tin. John Voorhees helps us sum up WWDC, get act dev reaction from the floor of the conference, and pick up some of the stray...

Fri. 06/07 - Walmart Wants To Deliver to Your... Fridge...

07 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Now you can’t get Facebook on new Huawei phones, Barnes and Noble waives the white flag, WarnerMedia abandons that tiered streaming plan idea, Walma...

Thu. 06/06 - This is Google Stadia (?)

06 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Google Stadia details are revealed, Amazon shows off its delivery drone and Uber debuts Uber Copter, Facebook is going to do an official white paper f...

Wed. 06/05 - YouTube Takes Action-ish

05 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

YouTube actually DOES make some changes, Peloton is going public, could Prime open Amazon up to anticompetitive scrutiny, more on that Sign in with Ap...

Tue. 06/04 - What's The Problem With Sign In with Apple?

04 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

It looks like Washington is serious about going after Big Tech in a big way, Firefox blocks cookies, why are developers trepidatious about that Sign I...

06/03 - All the WWDC News

03 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

All the news and headlines from WWDC, the anti-trust brigade might be coming for Google in the US, a big chip acquisition, big news on the payments fr...

WWDC Preview and Consumer Startups With Dan Frommer

01 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Y’all know Dan Frommer. Veteran tech journalist. We’re gonna do a WWDC preview here today, but before that, Dan has his own, excellent newsletter,...

Fri. 05/31 - Does Amazon Want To Be A Mobile Carrier?

31 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Might Amazon get into the cellular carrier game and thus make a Sprint/T-Mobile merger more palatable? Uber’s first quarterly report as a public com...

Thu. 05/30 - Google Tells Adblockers To Jump Off A Bridge

30 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Microsoft brings the Xbox Game Pass to PCs, Google gives the finger to adblockers (and all of us), the DOJ will only approve the Sprint/T-Mobile merge...

Wed. 05/29 - Riders Can Now Get Banned From Uber

29 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Amazon has a new Echo Show to go after the Google Nest Home Hub, the NYC subway is entering the mobile era, Uber says it will now ban RIDERS who get b...

Tue. 05/28 - The iPod touch Lives!

28 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The iPod touch lives (and got an update), Dell’s whole laptop lineup got an update, the apocalypse is coming for small vendors on Amazon, MacKenzie ...

Helvetica® Now With Monotype's Charles Nix

27 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Nerds and tech folk have always had a special fascination with typeface and font design, and especially with the venerable Helvetica. Today we're goin...

Fri. 05/24 - iFixit Tears Down the MacBook Keyboard Tweaks

24 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The Facebook cryptocurrency could be here in about six months, SpaceX launches its first batch of internet satellites, iFixit tears down the MacBook k...

Thu. 05/23 - An Indie Game Boy for the 21st Century

23 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The Playdate is a Game Boy for the 21st Century, GitHub launches a Patreon for open source developers, Amazon is working on a health app that can moni...

Wed. 05/22 - The Huawei Mess Metastasizes

22 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The Huawei mess metastasizes, the EU goes after Google again, Qualcomm loses to the FTC, and Comcast—of all people—is getting into health tech. Sp...

Tue. 05/21 - Has Apple fixed the MacBook keyboard problem?

21 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Has Apple fixed the MacBook keyboard problem? Huawei gets a 90 day reprieve, Instagram wants to copy Snapchat AND TikTok, the first self-driving mail ...

Mon. 05/20 - Why 5G Could Ruin Weather Forecasting

20 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Why Google ghosting Huawei might lead to a chain reaction for all of tech, the Sprint/T-Mobile merger gets a shot in the arm, GM sort of gets the poin...

The Streaming Wars With Eric Jackson

19 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Eric Jackson is an investor at EMJ Capital Ltd. He’s deep in the media space, he’s deep in the streaming wars, as I think I say in this episode, h...

Jay and Farhad Show Reunion Part II

18 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

You know them, you love them, Jay Yarrow of CNBC, Farhad Manjoo of the New York Times. It’s another Jay and Farhad Show Reunion! Today’s topics: U...

Fri. 05/17 - Is Minecraft Earth The Killer App For AR?

17 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Can Minecraft Earth be the killer app for AR? Are the best and brightest shunning working at Facebook? Has drone maker DJI beaten GoPro at its own gam...

Thu. 05/16 - The Hammer Comes Down on Huawei

16 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The hammer is coming down on Huawei, China blocks Wikipedia, Google clarifies the Works with Nest shutdown, a 1TB microSD, more 5G rollouts, what shou...

Wed. 05/15 - Is Google Effectively Deprecating Search?

15 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

There’s a new major chip flaw called ZombieLoad, the major tech companies sign on to the so-called Christchurch Call to Action, San Francisco bans f...

Tue. 05/14 - The Insane WhatsApp Flaw

14 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

WhatsApp discovered one of the craziest flaws I’ve ever heard about in mobile, Disney now controls all of Hulu, now we’ve got folding laptops, the...

Mon. 05/13 - The App Store Has A Supreme Court Problem

13 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

A Supreme Court ruling might spell trouble for Apple and others, Amazon is automating the boxers out of a job, Discord is doing some serious MAU’s, ...

The Rise of Huawei with Dexter Thillien

12 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Not too long ago I did a longreads suggestion about Huawei and listener Dexter Thillien got in touch, because he’s a telecoms analyst, and he was ac...

Is Uber A Good Business? With Shira Ovide

11 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

I knew Uber was going public this week, and it occurred to me that since this podcast started, my default position has been: Uber: super cool company,...

Fri. 05/10 - The Uber IPO

10 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Uber’s big IPO had some issues, smartphone shipments are at a 5 year low, do you need an app for unsubscribing to things and of course, the weekend ...

Thu. 05/09 - Chris Hughes Wants To Break Up Facebook

09 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes says it’s time to break up Facebook, more developer details from I/O, Uber has an arbitration problem, shoe tech is...

Wed. 05/08 - The Pixel 3a and Flagship "Lite" Phones

08 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Google is talking big on privacy, but going after cookies helps their bottom line as well, why the Pixel 3a might usher in a new era of flagship “li...

Tue. 05/07 - All The Headlines From Google I/O

07 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

All the news that I could possibly grab from Google’s I/O keynote, again, Alexa IS spying on you, Cruise Automation raises a big round... and will w...

Mon. 05/06 - Headlines From Microsoft's Build Conference

06 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

All the announcements from Microsoft’s Build 2019, Mozilla fixes the Firefox snafu, we think, a grab-bag of Apple rumors and why Netflix’s competi...

Fri. 05/03 - Facebook Coin Is Coming For Credit Cards

03 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This Facebook cryptocurrency is real, people, Microsoft has a blockchain product as well, Verizon is looking to unload Tumblr, Softbank is considering...

Thu. 05/02 - How Much Apple Actually Had to Pay Qualcomm

02 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Facebook might get a federally appointed privacy official, Google lets you set a time-limit on what it tracks about you, what Apple had to pay Qualcom...

Wed. 05/01 - Apple’s Earnings Were Bad, But Investors Rejoiced

01 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Apple’s earnings were bad, but investors rejoiced, Andreessen Horowitz is continuing its transformation, Eric Schmidt is leaving Google’s board, d...

Tue. 04/30 - All The F8 Announcements

30 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

All the news from the Facebook F8 conference, Cheddar gets acquired, Alphabet shows weakness, and why does Ring, the smart doorbell, need a news edito...

Mon. 04/29 - Do Millennials Want Vertical TVs?

29 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

There’s no reason the hotel chains can’t do what Airbnb does, why superzoom lenses might be the real innovation in smartphones right now, we’re ...

Security Checkin with Dave Bittner of Cyberwire

28 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

I wanted to talk to Dave Bittner of CyberWire because the CyberWire podcasts are my go to source for keeping up with the security space in a broad way...

Using Tech For Good? With Jigsaw's Dan Keyserling

27 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This one requires a bit of explaining. Remember that segment I did about Change A View, that subreddit that was becoming its own site to try to create...

Fri. 04/26 - Prime Delivery Changes

26 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Amazon wants all Prime deliveries to be one-day shipping, Slack files for its IPO and Uber sets its price range, someone with a personal vendetta to f...

Thu. 04/25 - Tech Earnings Bonanza!

25 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

It is just an earnings bonanza: Facebook? Good! Tesla? Bad! Microsoft? Really good! In fact, king of the world again! Nintendo? Not so good. Oh, and t...

Wed. 04/24 - The Podcast Wars... Begun They Have?

24 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

iFixit thinks it knows why the Galaxy Fold is having issues, Wing becomes the first drone delivery operator cleared by the FAA, why Netflix has gone d...

Tue. 04/23 - Tesla's Autonomous Vehicle Distortion Field?

23 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Tesla has an event that some people say is all reality distortion field, Facebook makes some interesting hires, Twitter is quietly chirping a tune Wal...

Mon. 04/22 - The Galaxy Fold Is Delayed

22 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The Samsung Galaxy Fold is delayed, Sri Lanka blocking social media is complicated, how you’re being tracked in the airport and at work, and why the...

The AMA/Listener Call In Episode

21 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Listeners ask questions. I try to give coherent answers. Sponsors: VistaPrint/ride remars.amazon.com, promo code: ride Learn more about your a...

Uber, Lyft and Bird- The Economics of Sharing with QZ's Alison Griswold

20 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Lyft has gone public. Uber will do so soon. So will Airbnb. Quartz’s Alison Griswold covers this stuff every day, and she has a great newsletter, co...

Fri. 04/19 - With Facebook, It's Eternally Groundhog Day

19 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Facebook finds a new way to handle the privacy scandal of the day, free, ad supported music from Amazon and Google, Dieter ended up reviewing the Sams...

Thu. 04/18 - Why The Galaxy Folds Are Breaking

18 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Samsung responds to the Galaxy Fold review unit issues, Google and Amazon end their streaming video spat, Pinterest and Zoom have their IPOs and could...

Wed. 04/17 - Qualcomm Makes Apple Cry Uncle

17 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

There’s no other way to describe it: Qualcomm got Apple to surrender, are things back on for an Apple Car, Microsoft has a new Hub and a new Xbox On...

Tue. 04/16 - YouTube's Algorithms Continue To Suck Out Loud

16 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

YouTube’s algorithms are abhorrent in a new way, details on the next Playstation console, Google makes nice with developers, and three interesting s...