The PC Pro Podcast

Get ready for the PC Pro Podcast's festive quiz extravaganza! Darien Graham-Smith returns as quizmaster, challenging podcast regulars Barry Collins, Tim Danton, Lee Grant, Jon Honeyball, and Rois Ni Thuama on 2024's biggest tech stories. From AI to product launches, our panel will put their tech knowledge to the test.

The team discusses the arrival of new, smarter AI systems – plus one that’s accused of endangering impressionable kids. We also welcome an innovative battery technology and cast an eye over the latest hardware offerings from Raspberry Pi. Out Hot Hardware candidate is the HP OmniBook Flip, a slim but versatile laptop that ticks all the boxes.

The team discusses the surprise ousting of Intel’s CEO, questions the planned merger between Vodafone and Three and asks what dangers might be lurking in an innocent-looking USB cable. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Smartech GoChess Mini, an intelligent chess board that plays against you.

The team discusses reports of yet another antitrust investigation in the offing against Microsoft, and the company’s latest attempts to get people off Windows 10. We also look at how Google is injecting content onto other people’s websites, and consider whether we’d buy a new phone from Huawei that ditches Android in favour of the company’s own HarmonyOS Next platform. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Showscreen 14in portable touchscreen, a slimline display that does precisely what you’d expect for under £100.

Microsoft announced that it would be selling companies a $349 black box that's ideal for big rollouts - all you need is a Windows Cloud subscription, a monitor, keyboard and mouse. Jon, Tim and Barry deliver their verdict. Plus all the other highlights from Ignite 2024, Flight Simulator 2024's failure to launch and a business-friendly Moto phone that might just win Tim a hot hardware of the week...

The team discusses the accelerating exodus from Elon Musk’s social media platform, the EU’s latest quarrel with Apple and what’s coming in Wi-Fi 8. Lee Grant also walks us through a quartet of sustainability-related news stories, and our Hot Hardware candidate is the tiny but powerful Mac Mini.

The team asks whether Windows 10 users will pay $30 to keep using the OS for another year, discusses ChatGPT’s new search capabilities and ponders whether Intel’s latest financial losses are anything to worry about. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Apple Thunderbolt 5 cable, a pricey interconnect with a whole lot of bandwidth.

Tim, Rois and Jon dissect all the just-announced products from Apple, particularly the M4 Mac mini, before discussing why email remains such a danger. Plus, regular listener Geoff Campbell nominates a Raspberry Pi case as the Hot Hardware of the week. It went down rather well...

Regular magazine contributor Olivia Whitcroft joins Barry, Darien and Jon as we discuss a new AI tool that can control your PC, proposals to ban smartphones at school and an acrimonious dispute at WordPress. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Krafted Connex, a pocket-sized multi-adaptor that can be used to charge a variety of devices from a regular USB socket.

In the second part of our special live podcast, Barry Collins, Tim Danton, Darien Graham-Smith, Jon Honeyball and Rois ni Thuama look to the future and predict how technology will change the world in the next decade. We also nominate our Hot Hardware picks of the past 30 years, and take questions from the audience on quite a range of themes.

Part one of a special two-part podcast with a live audience to celebrate 30 years of PC Pro. Barry Collins, Tim Danton, Darien Graham-Smith, Jon Honeyball and Rois ni Thuama look back and discuss the most significant tech innovations and events of the past three decades, before pitting their knowledge against audience members in a short, unseasonal quiz.

The team discusses all that’s new in the Windows 11 24H2 update, explores the innards of the latest iPhone and cautiously welcomes the arrests of four individuals believed to be major players in the murky world of ransomware. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max, the biggest and most powerful iPhone ever.

The team discusses a new law that should make it easier to cancel unwanted subscriptions, the latest announcements from Meta’s Connect conference and legal woes for celebrity YouTuber MrBeast. Our Hot Hardware candidate is Intel’s Lunar Lake SoC, which promises new heights of laptop performance and battery life.

The team explore some of the technical explanations to the exploding pagers detonated in the Middle East. We examine Apple's iOS18 efforts to satisfy right to repair legislation then try not exhaust ourselves from the excitement of Microsoft Copilot Wave 2.Our Hot Hardware candidate for this week is the Honor Magic 3 phone...or..camera with phone...you decide...

The team discusses Apple’s new iPhone 16 handsets, asks whether AI is really stealing jobs and argues over whether kids should be banned from social media. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Netgear Orbi 770, the first home mesh we’ve seen to support Wi-Fi 7’s multi-band MLO capability.

The team discusses the latest launches at IFA, including the new chips that Intel hopes will put it back on the map. We also ask whether the USB Type-A connector is finally on its way out, and whether we need to worry about a new vulnerability discovered in Yubikey security tokens. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the IcyBox IB-180MC-C31, a USB M.2 enclosure that’s every bit as versatile as its name implies.

Before we get to the worst hot hardware ever, you will discover the team's take on Telegram's CEO being arrested in France; non-buying-advice thoughts on Nvidia's latest share price; back doors baked into RFID passes; and discover exactly what the Plaud NotePin is. And then you will be swept up in amazement when Barry pitches a mechanical keyboard that he clearly doesn't like much as Hot Hardware of the Week.https://www.plaud.ai/products/notepinhttps://www.hhkeyboard.com/uk/products/hhkb-studio

The team discusses the untimely death of British tech mogul Mike Lynch, while Elon Musk flounces out of Brazil and Microsoft prepares to roll out its controversial Windows Recall AI feature. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the MSI Cubi NUC 1M, a powerful PC with a compact case and a (reasonably) modest price.

The team eyes up the new Pixel devices launched at Google’s annual “Made by Google” event, asks what Mozilla can do to stay relevant and ponders the news that fresh Windows 11 installations will now have full-device encryption enabled by default. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Keychron K8, a sturdy wireless keyboard with mechanical switches and a charmingly retro colour scheme.

Nicole Kobie joins the podcast to discuss her new book, “The Long History of the Future: Why Tomorrow's Technology Still Isn't Here”. We also discuss the government’s shelving of unfunded plans for an AI supercomputer, Elon Musk’s latest antics and the significance of a US judgment that finds Google used illegal means to maintain its monopoly on web searches. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Inateck BK2007, an affordable keyboard case for the 2024 iPad Air.