The PC Pro Podcast

Barry Collins and Jon Honeyball report from CES in Las Vegas, discussing the latest news from the world's largest technology show and delivering their verdicts on announcements and demos from Nvidia, Samsung and others.

It’s time once more for our annual festive quiz: Darien Graham-Smith takes the chair and subjects podcast regulars Barry Collins, Tim Danton, Lee Grant and Jon Honeyball to a thorough grilling on technology old and new.

The team discusses the prospect of rival app stores on the iPhone, a social media misstep for the Raspberry Pi team and a new AI chatbot that could help you renegotiate your bills. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Mercusys Halo H80X, a fast but very affordable wireless mesh.

The team discusses a major ransomware attack at cloud services provider Rackspace, the future of Moore’s Law and the new AI bot that’s been flooding your social media timelines. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Microsoft Surface Studio 2+, the company’s latest large-scale fold-down all-in-one PC.

The team discusses the latest tweak to the UK’s Online Safety Bill, warnings over unscrupulous computer repair shops and Epson’s exit from the laser printer market. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Elgato Stream Deck+, a customisable controller for any application, game or workflow.

In a somewhat gloom-themed podcast, the team asks whether technology is ruining football, considers whether Alexa is on her last legs and holds a candlelight vigil for Twitter. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Acer Chromebook Vero 514, an environmentally conscious Chromebook with a capable Core i5 processor.

The team of Barry, Jon, Lee and Tim tackle this week’s big tech topics: what on Earth happened at FTX and what does it mean for crypto currencies? Was the UK government’s Discord server such a great idea? Why are lithium-ion fires on the rise? Is Elon Musk right to ask only the hardcore to stay working at Twitter? Plus, Jon praises the virtues of the Microsoft Windows on Arm dev kit - but is it ho...

It’s a packed episode, with a special NIBs section dedicated to Twitter, some facial theft, the story of bricked Samsung watches and the release of a rival to Adobe Creative Suite. And Jon attempts to persuade us that a £400 Wi-Fi access point is a worthy Hot Hardware candidate. Does he succeed? You’ll have to listen to find out.

The team discusses Twitter’s first week under the stewardship of Elon Musk, a controversial licensing change in Adobe’s creative apps and the possible future of the web browser. Editor Tim discusses design and repairability with Brian Leonard, Lenovo’s vice president of design, and our Hot Hardware candidate is the Pixel 7 Pro, arguably Google’s best phone ever.

The team discusses the UK’s plans to recognise and regulate cryptocurrencies, Microsoft’s new ARM-powered mini-PC and a big drop in Meta’s share price as it continues to throw money at the “metaverse”. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Pinecil V2 soldering iron. For details of Jon Honeyball’s upcoming talk at the Centre for Computing History, see http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/69477/TechTa...

The team discusses the latest feature update to Windows 11, a new release of Firefox that includes a PDF editor, and yet another confusing update to the USB standard. As happens from time to time, our Hot Hardware candidate is actually a piece of software, namely Adobe Lightroom 2023.

The team catches up with the long-running saga of Elon Musk’s Twitter purchase, discusses the closure of Google’s Stadia cloud gaming service and ponders an enforced switch to USB Type-C for future iPhones. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Apple Watch Ultra, Apple’s biggest and most expensive wearable yet.

The team discusses a splurge of new hardware from Amazon, search updates from Google and Adobe’s pricey acquisition of design rival Figma. And, as DALL-E 2, the AI-based image-generation tool, opens its doors to all comers, we consider it for the coveted title of Hot Software of the Week. Read more about Google’s new search features: https://blog.google/products/search/search-on-2022/ Check out Ba...

The team discusses what’s new in the Windows 11 22H2 update, asks whether Ethereum’s big move away from mining has genuinely saved energy, and ponders the implications of a major security breach at Uber. By popular demand, our Hot Hardware candidate is the Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 G1, the first laptop we’ve seen with an AMD Ryzen Pro 6000-series CPU.

The team discusses an eco-friendly revolution in cryptocurrency, Google’s abandonment of the next Pixelbook, new challengers for Microsoft Office and a warning that a future AI could eliminate humanity. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Asus Zenbook 17 OLED Fold, a 17in folding laptop with, you guessed it, an OLED screen.

The team discusses Apple’s latest iPhone and Watch upgrades, some long overdue updates to Twitter and reports of problems with the integrated computer platform that underpins the UK’s legal system. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Samsung G950 Odyssey Neo G9 monitor – an ultrawide 49in screen that’s ideal for really big Excel spreadsheets, and perhaps the odd game as well.

The team discusses a decidedly old-school cyber-attack that involves sending infected USB flash drives through the post; a move to end passwords for good; and a controversy over “phantom” traffic police who exist only in navigation apps. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Sony Xperia 1 IV, a shiny smartphone with a high-end camera and a 4K OLED screen.

The team discusses new ransomware attacks on critical UK services, what’s new in Android 13 and a restaurant that’s run completely by robots. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Logi Dock, an all-in-one desktop dock that handles both peripherals and communications.

The team discusses the latest phones and watches from Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event, Amazon’s acquisition of Roomba manufacturer iRobot and Epson’s self-destructing printers. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Plume HomePass, a mesh Wi-Fi system that comes with an annual subscription. … and if you wish to watch the all-star Excel championship as described by Lee Grant, you can find the video at h...

The team discusses hard times for Intel, a new edition of ChromeOS for personal devices and updates to both Apple and Google’s mobile app stores. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the new Apple MacBook Air, with an updated design and the latest M2 processor.

The team asks whether AIs are plagiarising human artists, welcomes a huge computer-assisted medical breakthrough and mulls the rise of so-called “protestware”. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Acer Predator Orion 3000, a desktop PC that promises gaming power and style at a very reasonable price.

The PC Pro podcast isn't immune to the world around it: we discuss the (temporary?) death of the Online Safety Bill, why the hot weather is causing outages, the "exciting" new features in Microsoft Teams, and our feelings about VR in the workplace. Jon nominates the Blackmagic ATEM Mini Pro as Hot Hardware candidate: https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/uk/products/atemmini .

The team discusses a dangerous new vulnerability in AMD and Intel CPUs, the first all-British smartphone, and a partnership between Microsoft and Netflix. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Fancii USB desk fan. If you fancy a Fancii fan of your own, you can buy it from: https://pcpro.link/601fan

The team discusses the arrival of digital codes on UK stamps, an ambitious amendment to the Online Safety Bill and a surprise new security feature for Apple devices. We also celebrate our 600th episode with a look back on 15 years of the PC Pro Podcast; our Hot Hardware candidate is the Microsoft Surface Go 2.

The team discusses a sophisticated new malware attack targeting routers, some odd clauses in Amazon's acceptable usage policy and a disappointing discovery about Apple's latest laptop. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Logitech MX Master 3S mouse.