Summer’s over and El Kaiser and J.D. prepare for the fall with a round-up of news headlines, including a breakdown of what was announced at Apple's annual September product prom. El Kaiser also reviews two models of Soundbrenner’s in-ear monitors and offers his opinion. All this and more on PTJ 393!

• Apple Unveils the iPhone Duo, a Foldable Phone That Costs $1,999 (NYT)

• Ride or Die (Amazon Prime Video)

• GPT-6 Astra Is Here — and OpenAI Thinks It May Kick Off the AGI Era (WIRED)

• YouTube cracks down on ‘ghost creators’ (Semafor)

• AI tools that take notes for GPs could miss vital information, study suggests (BBC News)

• Microsoft opens up Xbox Cloud Gaming with new pay-as-you-go option (The Verge)

• 'Dungeons & Dragons' Live-Action Series in the Works at Netflix (The Wrap)

• ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ Officially Sets Disney+ Streaming Release Date (Collider)

• Why The Mandalorian & Grogu Flopped At The Box Office & What It Means For Star Wars' Future (ScreenRant)

• Soundbrenner in-ear monitors

On this episode of Pop Tech Jam, El Kaiser holds forth on recent summer films and J.D. rounds up the news, including new Pixel phones from Google, what retro tech people are rediscovering and the emerging business for A.I.-powered holographic clones. Tap into PTJ 392 to hear it all.

• 7 can’t-miss updates from our Pixel 11 launch (News From Google)

• Stay present while taking pictures with Magic Capture on Pixel 11. (News From Google)

• Check out what's new in Android 17 (News From Google)

• Why typewriters are making a comeback (NBC News on YouTube)

• Disney Is “Exploring” Launching Its Own FAST Offering (The Hollywood Reporter)

• “Ted Lasso”s return drew nearly 300 million minutes of viewing time on Aug. 4 and 5. (The Hollywood Reporter)

• “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” Fastest Movie To Cross $700M At U.S. Box Office (Deadline)

• GTA VI is getting an ‘extended look’ at the end of August (The Verge)

• Some of tech's CEO suite is cloning itself with AI. What happens next? (BBC News)

• Proto Hologram

• AI arms race in line for a reckoning after OpenAI hacking incident (ArsTechnica)

• OpenAI makes ChatGPT Health available to all US users (TechCrunch)

• Nvidia, Microsoft, Meta warn against ‘premature restrictions’ of open-weight models (CNBC)

• Tesla, Alphabet lose hundreds of billions in value in post-earnings stock plunge (CNBC)

• Apple Plans Overhaul of MacBooks, iMac in Push to Meet AI Demand (Bloomberg)

• Patreon Lays Off 20% of Employees as Part of ‘Painful’ Restructuring (Variety)

• Amazon Adds Video Games Into Prime Video in Expansion Push (The Hollywood Reporter)

• Microsoft is testing free, ad-supported cloud gaming for Xbox Insiders (The Verge)

• Meta Gives Facebook Marketplace Its Own App Called Seller (The New York Times)

• Meta launches new Facebook Verified badge for actual, real humans (Engadget)

• Connecting Real People on Facebook (Meta Newsroom)

• Introducing selfie for sign-in: a new, easy way to access your Google Account (News from Google)

• Google Turns a Selfie Video Into Your Account’s Spare Key (Wired)

• Salty, Buttery, Astonishingly Lucrative: The $100 Million Market of Popcorn Buckets (The New York Times)

• AMC Popcorn Buckets (AMC Theaters)

On this episode of Pop Tech Jam, El Kaiser and J. D. discuss review-bombing, Meta’s A.I. recent adventures and much more — including the decline in reading and watching long-form content without distracton. Spin up PTJ 390 here, and then go treat yourself to a new book or binge!

• She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (Disney+)

• Instagram’s AI image generator alarms privacy experts (The Guardian)

• Meta’s new AI image generator is using your public Instagram photos (Proton)

• Meta Is Toying With the Idea of Smart Glasses That Record Everything, All the Time (Gizmodo)

• Commission preliminarily finds the addictive design of Instagram and Facebook in breach of the Digital Services Act(press release)

• Google will now disclose which ads are made with AI (TechCrunch)

• Netflix looking for engagement in live TV and bundles while Apple TV app integration is right there (9to5Mac)

• Official renders for Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 8, Watch 9, Watch 2 Ultra and Z Fold 8 leak (Engadget)

• Exclusive: Official Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 Renders in Three Colors (Android Headlines)

• The End of Reading Is Here (The Atlantic)

• Matt Damon Says Netflix Wants Movies to Restate the ‘Plot Three or Four Times in the Dialogue’ Because Viewers are on ‘Their Phones While They’re Watching’ (Variety)

In this episode of Pop Tech Jam, El Kaiser and JD discuss the highlights of Apple’s 2026 World Wide Developers Conference, Google’s adventures with Gemini and recent developments in space. All this, plus lots of extra banter on PTJ 389!

• WWDC26: Apple unveils next generation of Apple Intelligence, Siri AI, powerful parental controls, and an expansive set of software improvements (Apple)

• 10 Biggest Apple WWDC 2026 Announcements: Siri AI, watchOS 27, and More (TechRepublic)

​ • Apple hinted at three new products this week with fall launches rumored (9to5Mac)

• Google can be liable for false AI Overviews, court rules (Malwarebytes)

• How we're combatting AI scams with security, legislation and more (Google)

• SpaceX market cap tops $2 trillion after shares of Elon Musk’s rocket company gain 25% on debut (CNBC)

• NASA Announces Its Artemis III Astronauts (The New York Times)

• Blue Origin’s Rocket Explosion Complicates a Return to the Moon (The New York Times)

• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Paramount+)

On this freshly handcrafted episode of Pop Tech Jam, El Kaiser shares his thoughts about the past, present and future of “Doctor Who,” before jumping into the news with J.D. to discuss recent developments in streaming TV, games, shopping and aggressively priced high-fashion iPhone slings. Just press Play for Episode 388!

• “Doctor Who” (BBC)

• Why Disney Ditched ‘Doctor Who’ (Deadline)

• Verizon to Cut About 15,000 Jobs (The Wall Street Journal)

• Netflix Tries Bringing Family Game Night to Your TV (The New York Times)

• Disney+ Exploring “Game-like Features” And AI-Driven, User-Generated Content In Streaming (Deadline)

• MLS, Apple TV to bring games outside of extra paywall in 2026: Sources (The New York Times)

• Facebook Marketplace gets new collaborative and social features, Meta AI integrations (TechCrunch)

• Google will let users call stores, browse products, and check out using AI (The Verge)

• Apple to Reportedly Pay Google $1 Billion a Year for Siri's Custom Gemini AI Model (CNet)

• New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and AirTag Were Expected This Year — Where Are They? (MacRumors)

• Introducing iPhone Pocket: a beautiful way to wear and carry iPhone (Apple)

• £220 'for a cut-up sock' - Apple's new iPhone Pocket ridiculed online (BBC News)

• Costly iPhone Pocket sells out nearly immediately (Apple Insider)

On this episode of Pop Tech Jam, El Kaiser and J.D. dive into the ocean of Apple announcements and other recent tech news — and ponder Japanese-style 7-Eleven stores on this side of the Pacific. All this and more in Episode 386!

• iPhone 17, iPhone Air, AirPods Pro 3, and everything else announced at Apple’s hardware event(TechCrunch)

• Apple October Event 2025: 5 New Products Coming Soon (Gadget Hacks)

• Apple still has 10 more product launches in the pipeline, here’s what’s coming (9to5Mac)

• Apple’s new iPhone charger is a first of its kind (The Verge)

• iPhone 17 Pro Max vs. Google Pixel 10 Pro XL: I compared both and here's the winner (ZD Net)

• Google Gemini is the top free iPhone app (9to5Google)

• What to expect at Meta Connect 2025: 'Hypernova' smart glasses, AI and the metaverse (Engadget)

• Amazon announces fall hardware event (The Verge)

• How to use ChatGPT at university without cheating: ‘Now it’s more like a study partner’ (The Guardian)

• Rolling Stone Publisher Sues Google Over AI Summaries (The Wall Street Journal)

• Google misled users about their privacy and now owes them $425m, says court (Malwarebytes blog)

• Sizing Up A Possible Paramount-WBD Merger, Hollywood Wonders If This Episode Is A Repeat (Deadline)

• Is America Ready for Japanese-Style 7-Elevens? (The New York Times)