Gadget Lab: Weekly Tech News

It's been a rough year, and the typically stressful holiday season is bound to be even more so. You might be having a hard time figuring out what gifts to give people, or even how to give them. Lucky for you, that's sort of our thing here at Gadget Lab.This week on the show, we talk with WIRED senior product writer Adrienne So about what gifts are going to be big this year, then we offer up our own suggestions for what to give.Show Notes: Find all of WIRED’s gift guides here. Check out more of our favorite small businesses here.Recommendations: Adrienne recommends the movie Bridge of Spies. Lauren recommends The Gilmore Girls and also that you remember to tip the people who help you. Mike recommends Beethoven Around the World: The Complete String Quartets performed by Quatour Ébène.Adrienne So can be found on Twitter @adriennemso. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Sol

Uber and Lyft had it pretty good in the beginning. The companies could roll out their services to new cities, entice a bunch of drivers and riders to their platform, and "disrupt" transit before regulators were able to stop them. It was a playbook that worked for a while, until the people who made the rules started to catch up. Now, city officials and regulators have been less than enthusiastic when new transportation startups start to move in. In many ways, rideshare companies have made life difficult for the scooter companies trying to follow in their path.This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED transportation writer Aarian Marshall joins us to talk about the future of Uber and Lyft, and whether all those micromobility startups will be able to keep scooting along.Show Notes: Read Aarian’s story about how ride-hail companies have made life difficult for scooter startups here. Read more about California’s Assembly Bill 5 here. Read more about Prop 22 here. Also, follow all of WIRED’s coverage of scooters and the gig e

Ebikes are having a moment. Today's electric bikes are powerful, elegant, maneuverable, and, as battery technology improves, they're able to ride for miles and miles. For some people, they're even replacing cars. And as cycling has exploded in popularity during the pandemic, cities have reconfigured streets to better accommodate bikers. That, along with the rise of the ebike, could change how our roads are built and how we navigate through them.This week on Gadget Lab, fellow bike enthusiasts and WIRED product reviewers Adrienne So and Parker Hall come on the show to talk about ebikes and how we ride them.Show Notes: Read our guide to the best electric bikes here.Recommendations: Adrienne recommends the Happylight Luxe sun lamp from Verilux. Parker recommends the three volumes in the Lost Songs series by Gillian Welch. Mike recommends the game Prune, which you can play on Android or iOS.Adrienne So can be found on Twitter @adriennemso. Parker Hall is @pwhall. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotl

Another month, another Apple event. This time around, we saw three new Macs, all with a shiny new chip inside them. Apple's M1 processor is a great big leap forward for the company. It marks a shift from Intel-made chips to designs that Apple produces entirely in-house, a change that gives the company much greater control over the products it creates.This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED senior writer Tom Simonite and WIRED senior associate editor Julian Chokkattu come on to talk about Apple's new chips, operating system, and MacBooks, and what it all means for the future of the company.Show Notes: Read Tom’s story about Apple’s new chips here. Check out everything Apple announced this week here. Stay tuned for our reviews of the new M1-powered Macs, which should publish in the coming weeks.Recommendations: Tom recommends getting a mesh Wi-Fi router (he likes the TP Link Deco). Julian recommends The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix. Mike recommends the new Werner Herzog documentary Fireball on Apple TV+. (Read WIRED’s look

Consoles: They're new, they're shiny, they'll be here next week. Sony's PlayStation 5 and Microsoft's Xbox Series X launch a couple days apart, and together, they're expected to usher in a new era of gaming. But which features actually matter? Is support for 8K resolution even something you'll be able to use? Which console makes the most sense to buy? And is cloud gaming ever going to make consoles obsolete?This week on Gadget Lab, we talk with WIRED service editor Alan Henry about the ins and outs of the new systems, and what the future of gaming will look like.Show Notes: Read more about the Playstation 5 here, and the Xbox Series X here. Read more about cloud gaming here. Read more about the politics of Call of Duty here. Follow all of WIRED’s video game coverage here. Follow Wiredmag on Twitch.Recommendations: Alan recommends the game Genshin Impact. Lauren recommends the show The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix. Mike recommends Soulboxer cocktails in a bottle, specifically the brandy old-fashioned.Alan Henry i

On November 3, Massachusetts voters will get to weigh in on Question 1, a proposal on the ballot that would make the data on a car’s computer available to third-party repair shops. This would change the status quo—where only dealerships are allowed to access that data—and present a big gain for proponents of the Right to Repair movement. The RTR folks argue that consumers should have the ability to fix, alter, and otherwise access the inner workings of the technology they purchase, whether that’s a car, a vacuum cleaner, or an iPhone. This week, WIRED senior associate editor Julian Chokkattu joins us to talk about Question 1, the current state of right-to-repair legislation in the US, and what this ruling could mean for those of us who don’t live in Massachusetts. In the second half of the show, we’ll share our own stories and experiences with repairing our own gadgets and gear.Show Notes: Read the text of Question 1 and the arguments for and against at Ballotpedia. Also see op-eds from The Boston Globe and T

This week, the US Department of Justice filed an antitrust suit against Google. It accuses the company of stifling competition and operating a near-monopoly on the search advertising industry. Naturally, Google disagrees with those charges. And so the stage has been set for the biggest antitrust battle in decades. It's a complicated case, one with tens of billions of dollars at stake, behind-the-scenes political machinations in play, and the future of how we navigate the internet in question.On this episode of Gadget Lab, we talk with WIRED politics writer Gilad Edelman about the ins and outs of the DOJ's case against Google, and what it might mean for the future of web search, Android, and iOS.Show Notes: Read Gilad’s story about the suit against Google here. Read Steven Levy’s story about how the DOJ’s case may lack teeth here.Recommendations: Gilad recommends lemon wedges. Lauren recommends the book How to Be Successful without Hurting Men’s Feelings by Sarah Cooper. Mike recommends a book about Radiohead

Less than a month after its last hardware event, Apple held another one this week where it announced a slate of new iPhones. The standout feature of all four (4) phones is 5G capability. Apple, along with other phone manufacturers and network providers, are all touting 5G as the next big thing in wireless connection. But the rollout of 5G networks has also been hampered by a number of controversies, from technical problems to international diplomatic battles between the US and China. Despite the marketing hype, 5G might still be a long way from becoming useful.This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED senior associate editor Julian Chokkattu and WIRED senior writer Will Knight join us to talk about these roadblocks and whether anyone will actually be able to use the 5G features on Apple's new phones.Show Notes: Read Will’s story about 5G in the iPhone 12 here. Check out everything Apple announced this week here. Read about all the new iPhones 12 here. Read Brian Barrett’s story about the return of the no-compromise smal

Trying to be a functional human being in 2020 can feel exhausting. Our devices send us constant notifications, social media demands all our attention, and even simple daily tasks start to feel Sisyphean when they pile up. In many ways, the same technology that was supposed to make our lives easier and more efficient has led to a mental health crisis that shows no signs of abating: widespread burnout.This week on Gadget Lab, we talk with Anne Helen Petersen, author of the book Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation, about the ways that tech has driven many people to the breaking point. Also, we've got some tips on how to prevent burnout and cut yourself some slack.Show Notes: You can find Anne Helen Petersen’s book here and read an excerpt about how work became an inescapable hellhole in WIRED here. Subscribe to Anne’s newsletter here.Recommendations: Anne recommends the show Pen15 on Hulu. Lauren recommends WIRED’s 2020 election coverage, in particular this story about the battle over votin

In the past few weeks, we’ve seen hardware announcements from Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google. In them, there’s been a lot of emphasis on gadgets and services for the home. (Like Amazon's crazy indoor security drone.) But it all raises the question—why do these tech companies want to be literally hovering in your house? In some ways they’re using the pandemic as part of their marketing: We’re all home, so use this tech! But it’s also another way, of course, to learn more about you as a “user” as you share more of your personal data.This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED senior associate editor Julian Chokkattu comes on the show to talk about Google's latest announcements and how they stack up with the other tech companies that want to live in your house.Show Notes: See everything Google announced at its hardware event here and more about Pixel phones here. Read more about Amazon’s home drone here.Recommendations: Julian recommends building your own PC. Lauren recommends Apple TV+.Julian Chokkattu can be found on

In August, Trump signed executive orders that labeled both TikTok and another Chinese-owned app, WeChat, as national security threats. Unless they could broker a deal that would transfer majority control of the services over to American tech partners, both apps would be banned from the United States. The scramble that followed involved multiple competing companies and interests and raised the already heightened tensions between two feuding countries.This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED staff writer Louise Matsakis joins us to talk about TikTok, WeChat, and how this fight might shape diplomatic relations between the US and China for years to come.Show Notes: Read Louise’s coverage of the TikTok controversies here and here.Recommendations: Louise recommends the book The Overstory by Richard Powers. Lauren recommends the show Schitt’s Creek. Mike recommends SF Urban Hiker’s Stairway Project and also just going on a hike yourself.Louise Matsakis can be found on Twitter @lmatsakis. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael

Apple's September product events are usually noteworthy for their hardware announcements. But this year, like with just about everything else, was different. Apple did unveil new Watches and iPads, but the company’s most significant announcements came in the form of services. There's a new set of subscription bundles that lumps all of Apple's streaming services together, and a new service for connected home workouts (called Fitness+) aimed squarely at competitors like Peloton. These offerings are feature-packed, relatively affordable, and meant to draw you even deeper into the Apple ecosystem.This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED senior associate Editor Julian Chokkattu joins us to talk about Apple's announcements and what they mean for the gadget buyers among us.Show Notes: Read up on all of Apple’s announcements from this week. Also read our deeper look at the new Apple Watch Series 6, and our list of the standout features in iOS 14.Recommendations: Julian recommends the Fluance RT80 turntable but also just gettin

Even before the pandemic, Peloton was the clear leader in connected, at-home workout equipment. So it was really no surprise that when gyms closed down and people found themselves stuck inside, Peloton's sales surged. Along with the success of Peloton, a growing industry of semi-affordable personal exercise machines is changing the way we work out. After all, why risk going to a gym when you could bring one into your living room?This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED digital director Brian Barrett joins us to talk about Peloton and the future of gyms.Show Notes: Read Lauren’s story about Peloton and the future of the home gym here.Recommendations: Brian recommends the Cromwell Trilogy by Hilary Mantel, starting with the novel Wolf Hall. Lauren recommends I May Destroy You on HBO. Mike recommends Reverb’s YouTube channel.Brian Barrett can be found on Twitter @brbarrett. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashwo

Whether you're prepared for it or not, the United States is hurtling toward another presidential election. Like just about everything in 2020, the voting process has been disrupted by the pandemic. More people than ever are planning to avoid polling places and vote by mail. This has led to a very loud, very political debate about public safety, potential voter fraud, and the role technology plays in the voting process.This week on Gadget Lab, we talk with WIRED senior writer Lily Hay Newman about election security and why the US is so far behind other countries when it comes to online voting.Show Notes: Read Lily’s guide on how to vote by mail here. Read more about the partisan hand-wringing about mail-in voting here. Follow all of WIRED’s 2020 election coverage here.Recommendations: Lily recommends The US Election Assistance Commission’s state-by-state registration and voting guide. Mike recommends the memoir Year of the Monkey by Patti Smith. Lauren recommends these long sleeve stretch-knit bamboo pajamas f

As smart speakers for the home continue to grow in popularity, police departments have started to take notice. Now, whenever attorneys and law enforcement officials are investigating a crime, they can put your virtual assistant in the hot seat. They can cross-reference a variety of information from smart devices, including location data, audio recordings, and biometric data. Together, it can paint a picture of where a suspect was and when, often far more reliably than any human witness.This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED senior writer Sidney Fussell joins us to talk about the strange murder case where a smart speaker became the star witness. We also share tips about how to manage the privacy settings in your own smart tech.Warning: This episode features a brief conversation about domestic violence and assault.Show Notes: Read Sidney’s story about law enforcement collecting information from smart speakers here. Find more episodes of the Get WIRED podcast here.Recommendations: Sidney recommends the show I May Destro

Maybe you aren't a political dissident engaging in top secret conversations over text messages. But if you care about privacy, you should probably be using Signal—or really, another encrypted service—to send your messages. Encryption can be a hot-button issue, with governments demanding backdoors into private data stores and executives at companies like Facebook having wildly different opinions about how secure your communications should be. Plus, at a time when we're relying more and more on digital services to talk with each other, it's important to know who has access to your conversations.This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED digital director Brian Barrett joins us to talk about the ins and outs of encryption, and why you'd want to use a secure messaging service in the first place.Show Notes: Read Brian’s tips for using Signal here.Recommendations: Brian recommends the show Detroiters. Lauren recommends the show Selling Sunset and the video where WIRED’s Nick Thompson, Pia Ceres and Adrienne So talk about the di

This week, Microsoft's dual screen Surface Duo became available for sale. Like many other folding devices, the Duo has been marketed as a product for busy workers on the go. But now, months into a pandemic where many workers are still sheltering in place (if they're lucky enough to have a job at all), the appeal of such gadgets is questionable at best. Nevertheless, Microsoft and other companies soldier on, searching for ways to make their expensive devices feel relevant. Foldables are here, whether people want them or not.This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED senior associate editor Julian Chokkattu joins us to talk about Microsoft's "not-a-phone" phone and the future of foldables.Show Notes: Read more about Microsoft’s Surface Duo here. Read all of WIRED’s coverage of folding devices.Recommendations: Julian recommends rearranging your workspace if you work from home. Mike recommends Bachan’s Japanese Barbecue Sauce.Julian Chokkattu can be found on Twitter @JulianChokkattu. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Lauren Goo

Used to be that if you wanted a new phone, you had to choose between something cheap and something good. But a recent slate of smartphones like the new Google Pixel 4A and the Apple iPhone SE offer an appealing compromise: Most of the features and processing power of a $1,000 phone for somewhere around $400. These devices come with some tradeoffs, of course. The cameras aren't quite as fast, and the screen might not be buttery smooth or blisteringly bright. But the growing market for budget phones shows that premium features aren’t everything, especially at a time when people are less and less likely to splurge on fancy gadgets.This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED senior associate editor Julian Chokkattu joins us to talk about the Pixel 4A possibilities and limitations of cheap phones.Show Notes: Read Julian’s review of the Pixel 4A here. Read Adrienne So’s story about the duffel bag from The Expanse here.Recommendations: Julian recommends the Herman Miller Embody chair (but don’t pay full price for it). Mike recom

If you have an Amazon Prime membership (maybe it’s where you’ve been buying all your toilet paper during the pandemic) then you’re likely aware of the key benefits: free shipping, access to special deals, and the free streaming movies and TV shows. But there are a host of other, lesser-known benefits available to Prime customers, like free Kindle books, free Twitch Prime, free kids’ content, and a few ways to earn credit on future purchases. This week, we’re joined by WIRED staff writer Louryn Strampe, who tells us about all of the free and discounted stuff you can get from Amazon that you didn’t even know about.Also, we discuss how the pandemic has shaped online retail in general, and how Amazon’s poor track record with worker’s rights and third-party seller relations have led some to shop at other online stores, even if that means a diminished experience.[#iframe: https://playlist.megaphone.fm?p=DGT6274552575](100%x482)Show Notes: Read Louryn’s full list of hidden Amazon Prime perks. Her roundup of the WIRE

All the kids are talking about it. And now, so are government officials and corporate bigwigs. An app typically known for short, clever videos (and lots of dancing), TikTok has recently found itself at the center of international scrutiny. Critics say that TikTok’s massive presence in the US is a national security risk because the app is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese tech company. Business leaders are also worried, in some cases asking their employees to delete the app from their devices. But what risks does TikTok really pose? And is this debate more than just a proxy for rising tensions between the US and China?This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED staff writer Louise Matsakis joins us to talk about TikTok culture and what would happen if the app actually got banned.Show Notes: Read Louise’s story about the national security risks TikTok poses here. Read more about Amazon’s “accidental” TikTok ban here. Read Louise’s story about inmates who use TikTok in prison here. Read more about WitchTok users hexing the moon