Travis Larchuk

In this hotline episode, guest host David Imel gives his thoughts on digicams, iPods, E Ink, and whether the TI-84 graphing calculator should be in the Version History Hall of Fame.

Jolly’s got new competition: OpenAI just launched its competitor to Muse and Grok Bot. It’s called Dots, and the headline feature is that it’s also cute, with fuzzy lil triangles and clouds and hearts that you can give access to your personal accounts to do things for you. The Verge’s senior AI reporter Hayden Field joined guest host David Imel from San Francisco, right after OpenAI’s DevDay presentation.

The Pokémon Trading Card Game isn’t just a game, it’s an economy. Livestreamers provide vicarious dopamine hits to viewers who tune in to watch them open booster packs, and the rarest cards can resell for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. The game’s 30th anniversary collection just launched, putting more copies of the game’s rarest cards back into circulation. Guest host David Imel talks about the state of the Pokémon TCG market with The Verge’s film, TV and pop culture reporter Charles Pulliam-Moore.

Meta and Snap both want to get on your face. The Verge’s Victoria Song and Jay Peters tried out all the new hardware: Specs, audio-only Ray-Bans, and Meta VR. Today, they join guest host David Imel to talk about how these new smart glasses feel, both physically and emotionally.

Transportation editor Andrew Hawkins is here to answer your questions about the confluence of cars and gadgets. Could a folding phone replace a dashboard display? What to do about the iPhone Pro Max not fitting the Tesla’s built-in wireless charger? And we hear from a listener who — shockingly — doesn’t care about CarPlay.

Nvidia’s new DLSS 5 (Deep Learning Super Sampling 5) rendering technology uses AI to (theoretically) improve video game graphics. When it was announced, social media declared that it was “yassifying” video game characters, changing faces in a way game developers didn’t intend. Linus Tech Tips’ own Linus Sebastian and David Gauthier join guest host David Imel to break down the the hype and controversy.

We tried out the new Googlebooks, which are essentially Chromebooks evolved with an Android elemental stone. They’re made by Dell, Lenovo, HP, Acer, and Asus (not Google), but all have the new Googlebook OS, heavy integration with Android phones and Gemini, and a built-in “Glowbar.” Laptop reviewer Antonio G. Di Benedetto went hands-on with the new devices, and reports back to guest host David Imel.

Find out who lives and who dies as Verge staffers travel the treacherous Oregon Trail in a live playthrough of the classic edutainment game. This season, Version History is going back to school: We’ll talk about the TI-84+ graphing calculator, One Laptop Per Child, Chromebook, LeapPad, and the overhead projector. Our premiere episode about The Oregon Trail is already live!

Senior reviewers Allison Johnson and Victoria Song trade host and guest duties in a Vergecasting ouroboros that’s never been attempted before and will probably never be attempted again. Allison talks about the iPhone 18 Pro’s new camera, Victoria talks about the Watch 12 and Ultra 4’s new sensors, and they both give their verdicts on who should upgrade.

Last week, an Anthropic researcher resigned and posted on X, “The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.” These warnings are nothing new, but this one managed to go mainstream. So, do the people making AI really think it could kill us all? How? And if it really could be as dangerous as they say, why would anyone continue to work on it? Senior AI reporter Hayden Field joined us to answer your questions about the AI freakout.