Benefit of the Doud

Russell Holly is the Managing Editor at CNET. Before that, he was a manager at Future and he interviewed Adam to freelance there. So with all this experience managing people, Adam wanted to ask him what he looks for in a candidate. The answer may surprise you. Plus, Cliff and Adam talk about a connected tablet, the TCL Tab Pro 5G . This is a budget-friendly 5G tablet that's currently exclusive to...

This month, we sit down with Chris Davies, Executive Editor at Slashgear. Chris started his career at Slashgear and has grown in the industry ever since. During our hour we cover a broad range of subjects from electric trucks that can power your house, to Samsung's latest flagships, to cookie bills (it's a long story).  Special thanks to: Chris Davies , Executive Editor Slashgear Twitter - @Benefi...

Samsung Unpacked introduced three new phones and three new tablets. For the phones, we had the Samsung Galaxy S22, S22 Plus, and S22 Ultra, plus the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8, Tab S8 Plus, and Tab S8 Ultra. Samsung has a ton of power here, but the biggest announcement was that Samsung is building an ecosystem in its devices that could be pretty cool. Links to News of the week available at benefitofthe...

After a shortened January and the introduction of Season 3, Cliff and Adam look back on the half-month that was. We started with CES coverage , and tied in our January edition of Beyond a Doud featuring Nirave Gondhia and moved on into the first of a pair of shows based on Adam's vacations. It's a look at NASA's Kennedy Space Center and museum. Sandwich in between there, we talked about Microsoft'...

For a long time, but especially since the pandemic, our experience partaking in products and services has been taken over by apps and software. From Amazon shopping to skipping the check-in desk at Disney, apps are pushing humans out of the center of the service industry. We're not sure if we're better off for it. So Cliff and Adam are exploring the issue in a very TekBeardian like experience.  Pl...

This week Cliff and Adam take a look at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. This is the place where NASA, SpaceX, and more launch rockets into space. It's also a museum dedicated to the space program, its development, how the space vehicles were built, the astronauts and engineers involved, and more. Adam spent a day there during his vacation and came away quite impressed, but is it worth the cost of adm...

This month for Beyond a Doud, we're talking to Nirave Gondia, CCO of Busy Pixel Media, the parent company of Pocketnow, xdadevelopers, and more. Nirave has his fingers in all those pies and he still writes and reviews devices as well. He's a one-man powerhouse in the tech space. Nirave was one of the few who attended CES 2022, so we wanted to talk to him about it, and what the show was like with s...

This week Microsoft blew the lid off the gaming industry by buying up Activision/Blizzard which is itself mired in controversy and unionization efforts. This is just a crazy deal overall and Digital Trends Gaming Editor Giovanni Colantonio is breaking it all down for us. What is Microsoft buying, why is Microsoft buying it, what could cause this whole thing to fall apart? Those are the big questio...

Cliff and Adam get together to talk about the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that went on but was a lot smaller than usual. But it was still a really great show, with some really neat products. Cliff and Adam talk about their favorites listed below. We had the E-ink BMW, Sony's new concept car, the OnePlus 10 Pro, the Dell XPS 13 Plus, the Samsung Ark monitor, and a Black and Decker electr...

While the podcast is on hiatus, I took the opportunity to appear along with Enrique Villacrez on the How Tech Podcast, and we had a great time! We talk about the year that was, what's coming up, CES, but then to cap it all off, Ricky found some simply amazing news stories from the year and we all know that's on-brand for me, so we had a blast discussing these stories. This is a short trailer for m...

It's the last show of the year and the last show of Season 2. We've got Phil Nickinson from Digital Trends on to talk about the year in review. We cover EV's, phones, computers, YouTube TV, and the entertainment industry in general. It's a great show filled with fun and laughs as we look back on 2020 (1) and look ahead to 2020 too. Links to News of the week available at benefitofthedoud.com Patreo...

This week, we're getting a little weird. Rather than a normal Douding Thomas episode, we've got a normal episode with news, Tech Yeah, and the whole shebang. Then Cliff and I recap the month that was, first talking about David Ruddock and Esper, and then Laurence Moroney and Stargate AI.  Our tech yeah item is a simple cable from Plugable that is a simple USB-C to HDMI cable . It added a third mon...

This month we're talking to Enrique Villacrez, or as I know him, RickyVtech. He's been writing for GSMarena for over five years and pretty much started there right out of college. We dive into his origin story. Plus, we talk about CES 2022, our shared appreciation for roller coasters, and bringing Android games to the PC. It's a great way to close out the year! Patreon bonus for this episode : Ear...

AI and machine learning have given us some of the greatest advancements in tech. But even more important than that, it brought us more new Stargate! Laurence Moroney is the Lead AI Evangelist at Google and he worked with Executive Producer Brad Wright to build an AI model that could create new Stargate scripts by combining the data from 17 seasons of previous Stargate Episodes. It's pretty awesome...

This month was a busy month at the podcast. We started off with our official iPhone 13 Pro review , which is a great phone, but basically the same phone as last year. Next, we looked at the Soundcore Frames , and asked whether Soundcore had solved the problem I was worried about. Next up, we talked to Russell Holly from CNET about Meta and the Metaverse. Finally, we circled up with the owner and o...

This week, we're talking to David Ruddock, former Editor-in-Chief of Android Police. Esper is an Android-powered software as a service company geared toward fleets of single-use tablets. Esper hired David, plus Mishaal Rahman and Cameron Summerson to spread the word about Android and Esper's mission. So what's a story that needs three former EICs to tell? We'll find out. Plus, we're looking at my...

This week, we're talking to Marty Pirolli who is the owner and operator of Gamer's World, a chain of gaming stores across the Chicagoland area. From trading cards to Dungeons and Dragons, Gamer's World has a little bit of everything. It's not very tech, but very nerdy, so that's why we talked to him.  Plus, this week we've got a giveaway from our friends at Lenovo. Find out how to enter, and get y...

This week, we're taking a look at the Metaverse, such as it is. Facebook/Meta has made a big deal about the metaverse, and it seems to be the only one. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, other plans are in place, and it's going to take a while to sort everything out. Plus, we've got a long-overdue look at the Swagtron Swagboard warrior Hoverboard, just in time for winter. Sorry about that. Links to New...

This month, we're talking to Jason Howell, one of the OG podcasters out there. Jason pilots the USS All About Android and is very active all over the TWiT network. He's been there for eleven years, and he's been a music maker and producer for even longer. Jason and I talk about music, facial hair, the Pixel 6, and more. Patreon bonus for this episode : Early Access Special thanks to:Jason Howell -...

This month, Cliff and I get together and talk about our top stories from October. We lead off with some #TeamPixel, #Pixel6 talk , followed by some additional thoughts on the Microsoft Surface Duo 2 . After that, we talked about some photography shooting tips from Michael Fisher. We followed that up with some Pixel 5a final thoughts and wrapped it all up with some Apple Watch talk.  Links to News...

The Xiaomi Redmi 10 is a budget phone available in most markets, except of course the United States. That didn't stop us from getting our hands on it. Cliff put the Redmi 10 through its paces and we're ready to talk about it. Is this the best budget phone we've looked at this year? Then, we take a look at the Soundcore Frames. They gave me a chance to test a theory I've had about smart glasses. Li...

This week, Clifton M. Thomas and I get together to chat about the iPhone 13 Pro. Overall, it’s a minor upgrade over the previous generation, the iPhone 12 Pro. The screen size is the same, the notch is a bit smaller, and everything is just a bit better. Is it enough to justify an upgrade? Possibly, but only if you can sell your iPhone 12 Pro for an amazing price, which I did. Plus for Tech Yeah, w...

Happy Halloween! This is our spooky Halloween show, or at least as spooky as things get around here. I started off the week hanging out in person with Co-producer Cliff and we did a live stream on the YouTube channel talking about the Pixel 6 and a lot of other stuff. I cut out the "other stuff" in this edited interview (the full version is on Patreon and YouTube ). Plus, we take a look at a Lenov...

This week saw the release of new Apple hardware, new Pixel phones, and new Samsung bespoke options. Plus, reviews of the Microsoft surface Duo 2 dropped which brings us to our top story of the week. Cherlynn Low, Reviews Editor from Engadget dropped by to talk about the Surface Duo 2 with me as we compare notes from our respective reviews. Did Microsoft take full advantage of this opportunity, or...

This week we're pulling back the curtain on another aspect of reviewing - photography. One of our jobs as reviewers is to properly evaluate the camera on a phone, and to do that, we often have to put ourselves in challenging photographic situations. So I sat down with Michael Fisher to talk about it, and where he goes to evaluate the cameras he tests. Links to News of the week available at benefit...