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PlaceboCast

PlaceboCast

By Tony Hue and Joseph Chang

Two nerds talking about the latest in mobile and web technology.
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PlaceboCast 19: The Apple TV 4

PlaceboCastNov 05, 2015

00:00
55:08
PlaceboCast 19: The Apple TV 4

PlaceboCast 19: The Apple TV 4

Joseph and I are back after a long overdue retirement stint to bring you the latest and greatest in media streaming devices. None other than the Apple TV 4. Caught in a crowded onslaught of competing devices out in the market, the Apple TV features a completely redesigned touch-based Siri remote and the new tvOS […]
Nov 05, 201555:08
PlaceboCast 18: But can it bend?

PlaceboCast 18: But can it bend?

Undeterred by the Fire phone’s abysmal sales, Amazon has unleashed a flurry of new hardware gadgets including its fascinating new home personal assistant, Echo, and the Fire TV stick (aka Match Stick). How will these products fare and who builds better hardware products: Google or Amazon? As always, thanks for listening and have a fantastic […]
Nov 24, 201452:22
PlaceboCast 17: Rocky Yosemite

PlaceboCast 17: Rocky Yosemite

In this edition of the PlaceboCast, we find out firsthand just how much unfinished work Apple has before Mac OS X Yosemite’s official public release. But with Joseph’s magical audio technician-caliber abilities, you won’t notice anything amiss with this episode. Speaking of Joseph, check out his band’s debut album, Your Call EP. As always, thanks […]
Jul 30, 201454:41
PlaceboCast 16: This Phone is on Fireeeeeeee

PlaceboCast 16: This Phone is on Fireeeeeeee

Today, Amazon lifted the wraps from their much-rumored smartphone, the Fire Phone. Make no mistake, this phone was built for Amazon Prime subscribers. Firefly could be a shopper’s ultimate companion, with the ability to quickly identify nearly 100 million items in the real world. Jeff Bezos just hopes you won’t be pointing it at a […]
Jun 19, 201441:30
PlaceboCast 15: WWDC 2014 Rapidfire Discussion

PlaceboCast 15: WWDC 2014 Rapidfire Discussion

Apple’s annual developer conference kicked things off this week with its much anticipated keynote. CEO Tim Cook and Craig “Superman/Hair Force One” Federighi announced a slew of upcoming updates to iOS and Mac OS X as well as “the mother of all releases.” One thing’s for sure: Apple has had a very busy year. As […]
Jun 04, 201430:31
PlaceboCast 14: Getting Punched in the Face for $1500

PlaceboCast 14: Getting Punched in the Face for $1500

In this episode: Flappy Bird, Nintendo, T-Mobile’s latest moves, Amazon’s Fire TV, and the security bug that sent the Internet ablaze. Thanks for listening! Subscribe via iTunes Subscribe to the RSS Feed MP3 file 43.4 MB Table of Contents: Flappy Bird – [01:05] Nintendo’s Smartphone Problem – [09:10] T-Mobile’s $40 Simple Starter Plan – [19:00] […]
Apr 15, 201401:00:15
PlaceboCast 13: Fresh Prince of Twitter

PlaceboCast 13: Fresh Prince of Twitter

Android Wear is Google's first major step into extending its mobile OS to the emerging smartwatch arena. With industry giants like Samsung, LG, Motorola slated to release both updated and new smartwatches this year, it's going to be an exciting time ahead. In other news, we discuss the motivation behind Amazon Prime's recent price hike. […]
Mar 21, 201450:17
PlaceboCast 12: Look out Dropbox. You’ve got a new competitor in town.

PlaceboCast 12: Look out Dropbox. You’ve got a new competitor in town.

In this episode, we talk about Apple’s product announcements from the prior week – Mavericks, iWork, iPads, Mac Pro, you name it. Also, Joseph unveils the details of his new private cloud service and how he built it. Lastly, we wrap things up by discussing Twitter’s upcoming IPO. Apologies in advance for the audio quality. […]
Oct 28, 201301:16:13
PlaceboCast 11: What’s better than a new iPhone? Two new iPhones

PlaceboCast 11: What’s better than a new iPhone? Two new iPhones

In this episode, we discuss Apple’s two new iPhones, the 5C and 5S. Also, who needs to go outside anymore if Amazon can figure out online grocery? As always, thanks for listening. Subscribe via iTunes Subscribe to the RSS Feed MP3 file [23.7 MB] Table of Contents: Apple’s iPhone Event – 0:50 Visiting Apple HQ […]
Sep 16, 201349:18
PlaceboCast 10: What happens when two Apple fanatics talk about Microsoft?

PlaceboCast 10: What happens when two Apple fanatics talk about Microsoft?

After nearly six months, we’ve finally recorded our tenth episode of the PlaceboCast! Onwards to number 100! In this episode, we talk about some new podcasting equipment (thus the return to our more familiar audio standards), Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Apple’s rumored iPhone 5C event, and fixing our various desktop computer ailments. As always, thanks […]
Sep 05, 201349:10
PlaceboCast 9: Google’s New Toys

PlaceboCast 9: Google’s New Toys

We’re back! Hopefully, you didn’t write us off for good. This is our first time recording the podcast without being collocated. The audio isn’t as great as it was before since I was relying on my laptop mic (Psst! Buy me a microphone…). But! It’s a work in progress. Hang in there! In this edition […]
Aug 07, 201325:41
PlaceboCast 8: Apple WWDC 2013 and E3

PlaceboCast 8: Apple WWDC 2013 and E3

Apologies in advance for the audio. My voice wasn’t captured as clearly as previous podcasts. In this episode, we discuss the big topic from the previous week, Apple’s WWDC. Yes, it’s a tad bit late but that’s not the reason why you tune into our show, right? We dive into the controversial first look at […]
Jun 19, 201354:49
PlaceboCast 7: Big Brother Doomsday

PlaceboCast 7: Big Brother Doomsday

In this week’s episode of the PlaceboCast, we talk about the NSA’s secretive program PRISM. Are Silicon Valley tech juggernauts like Facebook, Microsoft, and Google all implicit in this massive data surveillance scheme? Also, with Apple set to kick off WWDC this upcoming Monday, we talk about what you can expect to see including Haswell, […]
Jun 08, 201340:28
PlaceboCast 6: Ditching iOS for Android

PlaceboCast 6: Ditching iOS for Android

It was a big week of announcements for Google as the company hosted their annual Google I/O conference in San Francisco. From a Google+ redesign, a new messaging app, and a Pandora-like service, Google reminded everyone that they’re not a company that likes to sit around. Also in this podcast, we talk about building custom […]
May 19, 201357:07
PlaceboCast 5: How does Bitcoin work?

PlaceboCast 5: How does Bitcoin work?

Time for another edition of the PlaceboCast! In this episode, Joseph and I talk about WWDC, The Internship, Samsung SGS4 reviews, and bitcoin. Best of all, we also returned from our one episode hiatus from talking about Mailbox! As always, thanks for listening.
Apr 27, 201346:13
PlaceboCast 4: The Facebook “Phone”

PlaceboCast 4: The Facebook “Phone”

In this week’s episode of the PlaceboCast, Joseph and I discuss the unveiling of Facebook’s “phone”, T-Mobile getting the new iPhone, and the upcoming release of iOS 7. Apologies in advance for the brain fart at around the 38:22 mark. I’m so glad we aren’t doing video recordings yet.
Apr 05, 201350:45
PlaceboCast 3: The Samsung Galaxy S4 Circus

PlaceboCast 3: The Samsung Galaxy S4 Circus

It’s a new world record. We’ve talked about Mailbox in every single one of our podcasts and today’s episode was no exception. Just when we taught we had exhausted all discussion about the much-hyped email app that failed to blow Joseph’s mind, Mailbox announces earlier this morning that they were acquired by Dropbox! As you can tell from my reaction, I was pretty stunned by the news. As we learned from Draw Something, hype certainly can lead to quick acquisitions.

Mar 15, 201347:57
PlaceboCast 2: We can finally use Mailbox!

PlaceboCast 2: We can finally use Mailbox!

We’re back with a followup to our debut podcast. Thanks again for everyone who has provided feedback to us so far. Joseph and I are pretty excited about this new style of blogging and we hope that you find it interesting to listen. If I can’t convince Joseph to write me a blog post, might as well record a podcast with him!
Mar 10, 201341:49
PlaceboCast 1: Don’t call this a pivot. Yet.

PlaceboCast 1: Don’t call this a pivot. Yet.

In an effort to spur creativity, Joseph and I decided it was time to explore a different model for discussing the latest in technology: podcasting.
Feb 23, 201356:46