Gadgetory

and good morning on Tuesday October 17th it's the big 304 the 359 podcast i'm BVG i'm in house with roger chang alfred and the grand return of John soules we brought her back just for this episode special no we brought our own for specific purpose we're gonna be talking about well first off we'll be talk about the pixel to our reactions to us review of it then we'll be talking about Netflix a little bit about their earnings as well as the upcoming or price cuts upcoming is it already going through or it's or if you aren't a subscriber now you're gonna be paying for the price cut I know we should have brought your laptop right now and we'll be talking about the ZTE axon M which is a foldable phone the interest is very building in it oh it's a cool phone dang it I'm gonna I'm gonna speak up for it's a cool phone it's not the prettiest phone but it's a cool phone in my mind alright whatever as always if you have any questions about these topics we'll also take any questions about the crack Wi-Fi attack Alfred is around to answer any questions life in general life in general if you need any advice on you know your career or talk to Alfred yeah Alfred's wearing a jacket today career advice grown-up business Alfred would job application I think already ok I guess say if you have any questions on these topics and career advice for Alfred leave a comment section Brian we'll get to the pick out the best we will get to them in three minutes to 59 second yeah hang out everybody we're gonna record this four minute podcast and then we'll be back and we want to hear from you in the chat so just bear with us while we get the important stuff out of the way and then we're gonna waste your time for 20 minutes so hang out in 3 minutes and 59 seconds from 3:00 to welcome to the 359 I'm Roger J I'm Alfred Inge I'm Joanie Sussman and we're here at top of the pixel to the reviews are out and mostly positive right uh excellent camera makes up for the fact that there is no headphone jack which Alfred no you're still bitter about yeah I actually tried a pair of bluetooth headphones over the weekend I was given a loaner pair from David Carr Noi and would you think they didn't turn on the battery was dead there's there's a lot of I did I charge them overnight and then that held the charge when I had it plugged in and that's the perennial complain about the Bluetooth yeah it's an extra thing you have to think about and you're in the middle of a movie and that's when it goes down it's front it's extremely frustrating so I I still think the lack of a headphone jack is a deal-breaker I tried seeing it from the other side I bought I denied him by him I got Bluetooth headphones I got bluetooth headphones to need me to charge them I did charge it I charged it and it worked when I had it plugged into the USB so it worked but it didn't hold a charge all right why don't we talk about the phone itself look we were Lyn law and Jessica Delacour do some tests on it the pixel 2 of the camera is excellent as I said it is the highest rate from DxO mark higher than the iPhone upcoming iPhone 8 and 10 and it does portrait mode kind of well yes with one lens yeah I'm very impressed by that so the way that they were able to do it is using like the AI for the camera instead so it's basically saying we don't really need the best hardware for a good photo as long as we have like great software backing it which is kind of in Google's mo well so Stephen Shanklin actually did a sort of deep dive on the camera and AI behind it it's interesting how they perform this trick is the the AI is smart enough to recognize a human face and then the background and it knows the blur the background but they gave the example like if it sees something it doesn't recognize like example that gave was a person kissing an alligator like it would not know that the alligator was in the foreground so it would blow out the alligator because it didn't recognize it I would also not recognize that well humanize how could a person love an alligator love all right next up we got to talk about Netflix report earnings that we're pretty good right yeah Joan our necks are pretty good but they the thing that was relevant from attorney says it came on the heels of a price increase so if you haven't if you're already a member then your prices are gonna be going up probably $1 or $2 unless you have the very cheapest plan in the next couple months but to just sort of distract everyone though from the fact that they're raising prices the CEO and head of content of Netflix decided in the middle of their earnings call to put on blinking stranger things sweater well we're watching that now and it's freaky he looks freaky actually except this kind of evil grin going how relatable and cool of this multi owner it was it was very cringy super super fellow of the stranger things it's because Netflix is getting into March they're selling merchandise related to stranger things in anticipation of its arrival on October and they need more money at this point or they're spending how much on content next year they're gonna be spending 7 to 8 billion dollars they'll begin with a bunny with a B on making more shows more movies if you were having trouble keeping up with every new show that's coming on a Netflix it's only gonna get worse all right laughter lastly we wanted to talk about this weird phone that's been announced today the ZTE axon M M is for a multi-user multi window multitasking it is a foldable phone there are two screens that there's a hinge there so you can hold back it's a little bulky it doesn't look great but it is kind of cool and I think it does but it hints at a future where we do see more foldable phones it reminds me of the sidekick yeah it was actually a believe the Kyocera echo which came out six years ago from Sprint that had this foldable phone the same concept two screens very clunky very slow and really works so well this one does work pretty well there's a mirror mode you can actually extend it across both screens so it's like a super large display but I don't know feels like a first-gen product I feel like they should just make tablets like that where instead of like having out as a phone mm-hmm just have like tablets that are foldable that's a great idea you can have that super I should make that somebody higher all right if you like to think you saw our heard here chicken sounds see net Raju Chang I'm out for hang I'm Johnny thanks for sitting Wow we got a off the rails what are you talking about we're pretty on the rails they're not the first minute Alfred's crappy headphones the pixel to that was related to that Bluetooth because if I wanted if I wanted a pixel to I'd like to literally have to switch to Bluetooth headphones one thing that they don't hold the charge is one thing I forgot to mention I wanted to say on the podcast was Lin recommend that if you're looking to upgrade to a pixel - and you don't mind and you really don't mind the size the pixel to excel is the better options got their display sharper screen same camera both phones but it's just a better yeah better specs for it right on as to kick off the conversation as I'm kind of filtering through all of the questions in the chat right now and there are plenty to go through so bear with me for a second I don't care about the Netflix price hike I mean when they jump up a buck like that's that's cost of living that that kind of people I mean when you think about in the sense that if it goes up a dollar that's 12 dollars more a year right and given just how much content Netflix is churning out because Netflix isn't paying for their content with your dollars that you pay them it's mostly taking out a bunch of debt so it's able to charge you a very little bit more to be giving you a whole lot more television and yeah my my gripe with it was that they were raising the prices at the same time that all these other networks were taking their shows that I wouldn't see there's like crazy off it so it's like they're removing all these shows and they do lose Disney yeah and they're spending all that money on shows that like on all these original series that I don't have like a connection with at all yeah and that's I mean you're unique there are folks who have a connection to a lot of these shows no I mean I watched like original well like it's the ones that are like already like critically-acclaimed where it's like I watch like Bojack horseman stranger things American vandal like all these shows that you're you know are like good Netflix originals but I feel like for every good Netflix original they spend like millions of dollars on Adam Sandler's like wild wild west which is actually like the most popular content they make my point being like what doesn't resonate for you resonates for other people we do come from a society where reality TV was king for how many years it's the lowest common denominator and that's how it's always gonna be sorry you know it's it's gonna be you know if they take off like Big Bang Theory or How I Met Your Mother then I'm like I'm done with Netflix because this Big Bang Theory I think it's off yeah but if they take off How I Met Your Mother then you know yes okay it's hard to keep track of what's on off cuz they you know they rotate everything I love the CBS shows that's great alright moving on to actual questions Leslie's not listening right now Alfred let's start out with this comment on the Aksum accent em phone yeah just from Karen in the in the chat rising the first questions it wasn't the first question but I want hit this Lucas is that a Nintendo you know sod like with the screen off it kind of looked like a DES yeah Bouldin totally did in the audio too but it is two large displays I believe it's their five inch displays but yeah I mean it's very similar form factor is there a chance that like one screen could break and then the other ones perfectly fine that is possible there is a mirror mode so you can you know you could have your one screen the other ones kind of screwed up but I mean they said they've got guro gorilla glass on both sides so it's supposed to be non pervious but harder to crack than normal the layest gorilla glass and then they've also designed a special case that you can buy for it that that's supposed to protect the glass I wonder how much it would cost to like at the screen replaced on that I don't know a question I'd be really annoying it was like oh my left screen is broken oops I imagine that would be really tough to this it's not like you can go down a common ZTE authorized repair those out there I mean to prepare that happened with like the D s a lot to wear like one screen would crack open this is the screens are the outside they fold out so it gives you a chance to crack it twice yeah literally like putting a target on both sides of your phone yeah and I think though again the the thinking is that you know the latest growth glass is strong enough that I'll withstand scratches and cracks theoretically we'll see we'll see staying on the same con topic here dr. Faye says I want to be able to aggressively slam that phone after a call like we used to yeah you would be able to do that again I think they are offering like a special case that allows you to at least have some protection on both sides what if the case had another screen on it ooh like an inception of like a triple screen thing it'll be like the science project from like middle school where yeah that's the that's the new that's the new phone that this is a volcano there that three screens baby yeah thanks to everybody for all the well wishes and happy 300 out of everyone let's get back into the chat and let's talk about well let's talk about Netflix shall we let's do it bring back Futurama Matthew - are the - in the chat what's up - he's asking is the price increase only for Netflix or as DVD com going to be affected as well Joan there shouldn't be any effect or if you are one of those lingering Netflix DVD subscribers there shouldn't be any change okay but how do I get the VHS is we all know that there were no VHS was when you were born oh yeah I was on I was raised on Betamax cuts deep cuts all right staying on the Netflix train as I do 3000 things at once here Michael Brown asks when do you think a Netflix film will get an Academy Award and and expanding on that when do we think we're gonna see Netflix hit theaters so Netflix first question that's the question that Netflix executives are asking themselves they it's their kind of one thing that they have it's a golden ring they haven't been able to grasp is getting an Oscar and Amazon beat them to it by just like shelling out hand-over-fist money to buy Manchester by the sodium this last year that won a couple Oscars but it's been elusive for for Netflix I think partly because Hollywood's a little bit annoyed at how much Netflix doesn't play by their rules but um they're annoyed at Netflix but not Amazon though because Amazon does play by their rules at Amazon well that actually leaves segues well into the question about theaters Amazon lets movies that it pays for and makes play in theaters for like a typical amount of time and only then does it bring it on to their streaming service Netflix doesn't like to do that they like to have it in theaters and a small number of theaters at the very same time that it's available to stream so for a theater owner that's a really annoying Drafthouse thing or something like yes so what they do so what because in and the only reason that netflix has movies in a very small number of theaters it's to qualify it all comes together is to qualify for the Oscars you have to have a movie in a theater in Los Angeles County and a certain frame of time in order to be qualified to yeah no kind of sense that's the reason that Netflix really does put anything theaters but this this upcoming year they're gonna be having um I think actually before the end of the year they're gonna have this movie bright oh that's kind of like their biggest like chance yet at a sort of blockbuster style movie and it'll be interesting to see if they have it and just that really tiny amount of theaters or if they'll want to try to have it streaming and in a lot of theaters at the same time and that that's not right yeah I really hope Netflix is like the new Leonardo DiCaprio where they show up every year true story true story it's good the crap out of my girlfriend when he actually won because I usually am not invested in the award show so I don't really pay attention but she watches them and they'll be on and like I'm not opposed to them and which is usually distracted doing something else and I was like on the edge of my seat when he was up for for the revenant right sorry and I jumped out of my chair and just what's wrong with you what is wrong with you like that much of a Leo fan I mean he's had such a cool career it should have a second he's done some cool stuff one of my favorite movies of all time is catch me if you can everything about it maybe him and Tom Hanks are like such a good team well one for last year the year before what was the role that no I I felt like he should have won for like something in like kings of New York New York was awesome yeah it was a great movie that's true yeah he did I mean he was oh my god like really any pixel questions I'm really surprised that are like few pixel questions uh okay so let's let's talk to Archie Blair he says what do you think of the pixel accel having the bezel the screen but the pixel does not I mean it does still have a bezel it's not like they don't they advertise it as bezel lists I would say it's not I watched you because you wear a I would say the I mean it's if you're looking for that kind of seamless edge to edge design you're not really going pixel to or Excel you're going to the note where you're buying an iPhone X sorry iPhone 10 you know I think it's a small change working the design it doesn't it's not that different from the smaller pixel to the Excel was okay it's not as bezel-less as some of the other business phones not like the essential with the little dot exactly the notch all right here's one from Danelle says do you think OMS will go back to a single camera setup now that the portrait effect can be accomplished in a single camera pixel si in the future no and I think the s8 was that was a bit of a misstep but I think they were supposed to go dual lens but you know they obviously didn't have enough time that's why I showed up in the note 8 I would imagine the s9 will have dual Lance I think that's become a de facto standard for premium phones you know apples sort of set that trend Samsung has followed not everyone else sorry yeah well I was gonna try to mention this on the show but we didn't have enough time but I was kind of hoping that you know with you know Google pushing out oh you don't need the dual lens we have the software for it yeah that lower end phones would start being able to take better photos you know I think there's gonna be I don't know how willing Google is to share some technology with everyone because it's not I don't think it's court Android is yeah and also it requires a fairly powerful processor and all that stuff and lower end phones have slower processor so I don't know if it could even work but I hope I don't think what Google did was kind of unique to Google and theirs and so I don't really see it I don't see a lot of single lens cameras trying this and yeah you see a lot more dual lens cameras couple of questions here before we call it a day lost legacy do you expect Samsung and the rumor 20/20 foldable iPhone will have the same approach as the X and M ah that's what you say yeah that's really hard to say I mean I think Samsung has already confirmed publicly that they're gonna make a foldable phone I really don't see what other way you can fold it unless you do it like it like a sandwich fold like it's a triangle that'd be terribly awful everybody like the office tablet they're like trying neighbors Sabre pyramid right yeah no I I think it's gonna be a little more elegant because Samsung has got more resources when it comes to display technology we kind of saw hint of this last year or earlier this year with Lenovo they showed off a foldable phone with a glass itself actually folded yeah which wasn't that one of their laptops - uh no no no I think it was like a wrist almost i watch that kind of folded around and so that's what I'm hoping to see like stands on the bowl yeah almost like a mobile like the screen itself will fold and and and that's that's really tough technically I imagine the phone whatever foldable phones will see them that coming here they're probably gonna be thick like the X on em and like because they're first generation products they're gonna be big and bulky I think this will be more attractive as a second or third generation product but I like I like where it's going because I want to see more focal phones I think that's a very logical way to evolve where the phones are you know it's really great when the rollable like phones come out like when they just roll up in a scroll just through people will still complain that there's no headphone jack in this piece of paper alright just a couple more quick ones we have a lot of really great questions about how the phone performs about the pixel yeah how the pixel performed yeah and like first hands-on issue is how the screen light like the actual screen viewing capabilities etc we in this room do not have our hands on it we're paying to you to go to cnet.com and look at the official review from who was at Lin and I think when love didn't love you Jessica did a follow-up story so they've got the scoop on how it performs however Jeffrey Browns got a rhetorical question for us Roger you can probably floor this one since you're the pixel user in the room do you think Google pixel will ever have wireless charging oh yeah I mean I imagine it's gonna come next year next year yeah I'm making my my claim my bold prediction now I mean they should have done it this year like at this point with with Apple getting on that bandwagon a lot of phones are I mean that's sort of the cue for everyone to kind of follow along and Samsung has had it for a long time mm-hmm this isn't new technology at all and I imagine they were kind of kicking themselves a bit I mean this new pixel is water resistances resistant which is a kind of year behind everyone else and so I imagine wireless charging store that next feature it's becoming you know it's that standard feature for for high-end phones and it'll be normalized soon but you're saying as early as next year I think so Wow I hope so that's pretty brave perhaps courageous if you will it's a year away people will forget what I say episode 300 Roger shame predicted that the pics of book 3 will have wireless charging yeah and it's easy to remember the episode name because it's 300 and what do we do if you're wrong in the Chairman what know in the chat tweet at us tell us what we have to do to punish Roger if he's wrong about wireless charging on pixel 3 I hope so Google's watching this now it's like you know what waiting for you-know-who to come out of the blue and just be like punch him in the face no we're not doing that again all right all right that's it that's about it we should time to time to wrap it up all right if you liked anything you saw or heard here check us out on CNET our podcast is also available on iTunes TuneIn stitcher SoundCloud Feedburner and Google Play Music Joe and thanks for coming back see y'all tomorrow bye everybody you