MobileViews.com Podcast

MobileViews Podcast 541: Airing of Tech Grievances "hosted" by Google NotebookLM synthetic hosts

The MobileViews Podcast is usually co-hosted by Todd Ogasawara and Jon Westfall. However, for this special post, Google NotebookLM's Audio Overviews feature will host the podcast with "AI" synthetic podcast hosts (after a brief introduction by me). I also used the beta Interactive Chat feature to interject a few comments that the synthetic hosts responded to.

This podcast focuses on the old Seinfeld TV show’s fictional Festivus holiday tradition of the Airing of Grievances. We’re going to focus solely on technology related grievances. It can be about hardware, software, services, or even technology trends. Hence, this is the "Airing of Tech Grievances".

MobileViews Mini-podcast 49: Google NotebookLM synthetic podcasting

The first podcast section was recorded outdoors to test the iRay DW40 4-channel wireless lavalier microphone kit.

The second section was generated by Google NotebookLM's Audio Overview feature to create a synthetic podcast-like discussion using text-based source material. For this example, I wrote a text discussing three of my 2024 tech grievances (with a nod to Seinfeld's Festivus). A PDF of this text was uploaded to NotebookLM as a source document.

 

In the first section I mentioned testing the relatively new NotebookLM Audio Overview "chat" feature which lets you (the human) interject into the synthetic podcasters' ongoing discussion and have "them" respond to the newly introduced material. Unfortunately, it turns out that the audio file saved only included the originally created audio summary. I'll use an external recording setup to record my next attempt to use this feature to create a longer Airing of Tech Grievances for a full podcast that will include grievances from several friends.

There were a couple of spots where the synth-podcasters misinterpreted what I wrote in the source document (mild "hallucinations"). However, overall, I'm impressed by NotebookLM"s podcast output.

MobileViews Podcast 540: Closing out 2024

In this last podcast of 2024 for Jon Westfall and me, we discuss:

• One more affordable tech gift idea: Raspberry Pi 500 & Raspberry Pi Monitor
• Android OS 15 finally hit my Pixel 7a
• Google NotebookLM - engage with AI hosts during a Audio Overview
• Android XR: Gemini for headsets and glasses
• December Pixel update: Clear voice feature for Google Android Recorder app
• iOS/iPadOS 18.2 released
• Apple 2024 App Store/App Award winners
• Jon: TailScale for VPN/Mesh setup. Based on Open Source WireGuard

MobileViews 539: Affordable tech gifts holiday ideas. Guest: Don Sorcinelli

In this podcast, Jon Westfall and I are joined by frequent guest panelist Don Sorcinelli. We discussed:

• Not a gift idea (unfortunately): Google said to have stop developing future Android Pixel Tablets
• Gemini (AI) now available in Google Sheets
• Holiday tech gift ideas:
• USB-C hubs wwith integrated NVMe SSD enclosures
• Sub-$100 mechanical keyboards
• High power (120K+ RPM) electric air dusters
• Full circle: Cash (distant past), gift cards (recent past), digital cash (current)
• Nomatic collapsible collection of travel bags. Nomatic MagSafe phone wallet
• A one-year AI service subscription bundled with personal tutorial for friends and family to learn how to make productive use the AI service
• Home automation pros and caveats

MobileViews 538: Impressions of our new M4 Macs; new AI tools; WorkOutDoors app

In this podcast, Jon Westfall and I discuss:

• iPadOS 18.2 public beta 2 - Image Playground
• YouTube Premium new AI "Ask" function for YouTube Android app
• Todd's M4 Mac mini impressions
• Jon's M4 Pro MacBook Pro impressions
• Homebrew package manger for Jon's new Mac installation
• Jon finally got around to trying the WorkOutDoors app
• Jon subscribed to ChatGPT Premium to make custom GPTs. His first project: Constructive Student Paper Feedback

MobileViews Podcast 537: Waiting for our M4 Macs; Apple AI imaging waitlist; Google Learn About

In this podcast, Jon Westfall and I discuss:

• Waiting for our new M4 based Macs. Rationale for models/configurations chosen
• iOS/iPadOS 18.2 public beta 1. AI imaging features waitlist
• Running Clipchamp in a browser on my Mac to produce SRT caption files
• Google Learn About
• New AI features for Windows Paint and Notes for Windows Insiders
• Microsoft bundling CoPilot Pro in Microsoft 365 personal/family license - but NOT for US customers
• Using ChatGPT to reply to repetitive text messages

MobileViews Podcast 536: Fall Back! New Macs, ChatGPT Search, Apple bought Pixelmator

For this podcast, Jon Westfall and I are joined by frequent guest panelist Sven Johannsen. We discuss:

• Testing iOS 18.1 iPhone Call Recording in MobileViews mini-podcast 47
• iPadOS trade-in wiping weirdness. Todd had to use the MacOS Apple Configurator to prepare an iPad mini 5 for trade-in
• ChatGPT Search
• Apple bought the Pixelmator photo editor app team
• Microsoft Windows Calculator
• Todd's mini-rant: Personal info persistence during customer support calls and an Eero/Echo Dot mesh network issue
• Jon's mini-rant: Nomatic Packable Tote hidden bag secrets
• Apple's October M4-based Mac announcements. Who's buying what and why?

MobileViews mini-podcast 47: Testing the iOS 18.1 iPhone Call Recording feature

MobileViews mini-podcast 47 is a 2 minute recording testing the new iOS 18.1 Phone Call Recording feature. It is an iPhone to iPhone call. I used the 15 Pro Max's built-in microphone to while Jon Westfall used the iPods Pro 2 mic. At the start of the recording both Jon and I heard a low volume "This call will be recorded" message.Duirng the call recording my display showed an audio volume graph, call duration, and a red button to stop recording without dropping the voice call. Despite also using an iPhone on his side, Jon did not see any recording indication after the brief start of call notification.

After the recording was stopped, an M4A audio file and an embedded text transcript was saved to the iOS Notes app. The transcript identifies the called party (Jon Westfall).

MobileViews 535: Discussion with Jared Kuroiwa - AR/VR glasses; ARM PCs; keyboards

For this in-person lunch in a restaurant recorded podcast, I'm joined by Jared Kuroiwa. We discuss AR/VR glasses, ARM PCs, and some recent keyboards (Logitech in both our cases) we've been using. Note that there is a complete separate discussion and video recorded demonstration of Jared's Brilliant Labs Frames and Xreal Air 2 Ultra AR glasses. This discussion is available on YouTube and linked on the MobileViews blog.

MobileViews 534: Adobe Fresco free; iPad mini 7; new Macs?: Jon's AI assisted programming experiment

In this podcast Jon Westfall and i discuss:

• Adobe Fresco for iPad now completely free?
• iPad mini A17 Pro (aka mini 7)
• New Macs expected to be announced week of Oct. 28
• ARM vs. Qualcomm and its impact on Microsoft's Copilot + PC platform?
• Apple HomeOS-based smart display in 2025?
• Jon's coding with Microsoft CoPilot experiment