OnePlus 9 rumors, new Xbox exclusive games and NFTs explained By TechRadar

Welcome back to the noise-cancelling podcast, the only podcast that brings together some of the industry's best journalists to chat about the last seven days in tech, gaming and entertainment for your listening pleasure. If you like that consider subscribing on Spotify apple podcast, google podcast, wherever you get your podcast, you can find us and without further ado, let's meet who's on the podcast this week, kicking off with Shari hi, I'm share smith, editor-in-chief of laptop mag, I'm jams peck ham phones, editor for tech radar, I'm Amish hector a writer for tech radar and I am Matt Phillips tech radar is a video producer trying to keep the energy up. Cherie always comes in with that American energy and then, as soon as we get the British guess, it's like straight down. I don't like it come on guys we'll keep the energy up. So we're going to kick off this podcast like we do. Every noise, canceling podcast with the big question and one division has come to its conclusion.

Falcon the wind soldier is just around the corner before we get into the actual big question Amish. I want to come to you first because I think everybody's chat about their thoughts about one division on this podcast, except for you. Obviously it's your first time on the podcast. Welcome. Welcome so very quickly give me your spoiler-free review of one division and how excited you are now for falcon winter soldier uh.

My spoiler-free overall view of one division is, I think, early on. Like best thing, the MCU's ever made wow as its time went on, became a little more middle of the pack, but overall, I still think it's awesome uh, particularly as a TV show everything else they've done before has been a film, so it gives you a little longer with the characters. Uh, though, when it comes to a falcon, the winter soldier. I don't know like, on the one hand, kind of excited to see more of the TV styled show, but, on the other hand, is like back to more traditional marvel and the sort of one division was so weird and different. I don't know whether I want straight back to normal again, but I'm excited yeah.

It comes out in a week we'll see how it goes yeah. What do you think jams? Are you? Are you hyped for falcon? Are you a bit over it um, not as hyped, but basically what Amish just said there? I think one division was so interesting. The way it played with those TV tropes and just made something really different. I'm I am excited for fog. When I went to uh Vulcan falcon with soldier um, I am excited for it.

I watched winter soldier two days ago in excitement for it, and I decided to see those characters get a bit more a bit more screen time, especially um, especially falcon, but um yeah uh. It does look like a more traditional marvel affair compared to one division or even Loki like the trailers. We've seen for Loki, look batshit, don't they so um yeah uh. This looks a little more standard, but I could be proved entirely wrong, and they may knock it out of the park. If it's anything like winter soldier, the movie, then we're on to a winner.

Aren't we that's exactly that's exactly it and marvel are good at taking these superheroes, who are far lesser known? You know the comics falcon and the wind soldier aren't a big deal really, but people love those characters now because of movies like winter soldier that feature them, and then they can really flesh them out in the TV show, that's up and coming so based on that. I want to know what minor league superhero you want to see, get their own TV show, and I'm going to attack a little extra question on the end here as well. Who is going to play them? This is dream casting you can pick anybody, I'm going to say you can pick anybody alive or dead to play. Your marvel, superhero character or any superhero character doesn't have to be marveled, and I can see that I have stumped everybody in the podcast by adding that, but hey Misha, I'm going to come to you first and put you on the spot. What minor league superhero do you want to see, get their own TV show, and who will be playing them? Okay, well, uh! I, like I kind of, have a cheat because the two characters I've picked have already been in the MCU.

They already have actors attached to them. That's, okay, I think- and I want to- I want to keep them the same uh. So I want to see uh the collector who's played by Benicia del too and the grand master who's played by Jeff Goldblum, who, in the marvel MCU, were both like trying to gather people or artifacts or whatever for different reasons. I want to see them go on a pinky in the brain or Wiley coyote style show where each week they're trying to do this sort of the same idea. You know get this cool, artifact or species of alien and add them to their collection, but obviously along the way.

It goes horribly wrong because they're both bad guys- and I think these two actors could really carry that style of show it could get really zany and multi-dimensional. You know they could go across to all these different marvel universes and interact with the weirdest stuff that marvel can throw at you. I absolutely love that I wanted to be like 90 improve as well. The best moments of Thor with Jeff Goldblum in it are just him clearly just going way off book like that's going on exactly thrown into this universe, and it's like I'm some guy, I'm some alien person. Yeah.

Look at me. Who's Thor, yeah, exactly he's a hammer, that's kind of cool! I would love to see that I would love to see that share coming to you then who's. The minor league superhero you want to see get their own TV show. I would, I have two that I think about it, but my first, my first choice was uh blue marvel, uh, uh um, Adam brasher. He was one of the first black superheroes.

He was basically forced to retire because the world found out. Furthermore, he was black because he was superhero in the 60s. Furthermore, he got an um congressional medal of freedom, the whole nine, and he was asked to retire because he was found out to be black uh. Furthermore, he came back years later to superhero, but he's like he has uh really cool powers, but he also is super intelligent like to the point where he's one of the smartest people in the marvel universe um. I would like to see him played by uh aha Abdul sateen ii aka, Dr Manhattan aka, do who's playing in uh the upcoming remake of handyman uh, and in that same vein, I would like uh the for the black captain, America uh Josiah.

I can't remember his last day right now. Furthermore, I would like to see that movie I might put uh mike Coulter in that role, even though he's a little stiff, but I don't like I I I might put him in the role but uh for those of you who are familiar uh before Steve got the super serum. It worked. They basically were doing um some Tuskegee level, things uh, meaning they were testing the serum on black shoulders and a lot of people died, but uh Josiah did not and he uh basically served in world wars just like Steve same powers, all that good stuff, but because racism in America he too was um underground and every black superhero knows who this guy is because he stayed in the community superhero showing up when the clan would show up, and then there would be no clan and people be like what happened and all the black people were. Like.

I don't know who knows what happened week week week yeah. I think it's a super cool idea and I think it's something I would love to see incorporate into falcon the wind soldier right. You could imagine, like uh, Anthony Mackie's character, falcon right, obviously digging into the background of Captain America and going hang on a minute. There was somebody while Steve was frozen yeah. He was doing all this awesome stuff in the 60s like.

Let's go find this person. That would be super cool way of tying in that character. The coolest time like because he had he um, he has a couple of super powered um ancestors that are also in the marvel universe. But like the coolest time you see him is uh when storm and black panther got married, and this mysterious guy shows up and all the black people know who he is they're like. Oh my god, I can't believe I'm meeting you and everyone else was like huh.

It's a perfect moment. That would be awesome and if they, if they introduce character like that, you know in a show like falcon the wind soldier, then it's just easier for them to get their own showdown the line right, and we can see that stuff work out. So I'm very keen for that. Indeed, peaks, let's come to you then last, who do you want to see mine is so weak. Compared to these two I want a squirrel girl TV show.

I think it's. Oh my god. I want that squirrel girl uh. So if anyone's unaware squirrel girl's main powers are she can SP, she can speak to squirrels um, so essentially that I want that to be like arbitrarily every single episode. The solution is that she has to speak to squirrels.

It should be like she's solving some sort of crimes. Some squirrels watched it. She can be like she's saving the universe in some way the squirrels need to help. I just always want the answer to it that she talks to. She talks to a bunch of squirrels um in terms of casting yeah.

You threw that at me a little immediately. My brain went to free Lassen, but I don't think that's particularly possible. Is it really? We can't have capital unless they just add that power to Captain Marvel's repertoire right. She can do everything else, um and then my mind went to um. I don't think she'd do it, but Sasha Roman uh.

I think that would be a genuine, really fun piece of casting. My brain immediately went to Emma Roberts. Oh, see you playing squirrel girl, I'd be down for that or Anna Kendrick. That was there so star. Alongside squirrel girl, we can go with my answer, which again is kind of a cheat, but I want to see thunder frog and for those who don't know tho rat one point in the comics was turned into a frog for a while and just had to deal with that and called himself thunder frog, and so I think so far let Chris Hemsworth really lean into those comedy antics.

I want to see a three-way show him squirrel, girl and rocket raccoon Bradley Cooper in there as well uh. That's what I want from this, but I think I'm going to have to go with Sharif because I think, like the way that that could tie into the current MCU would be awesome. It'd, be this awesome, callback and uh. I think that's the one I want to see most and that's got me even more excited, never fragmented soldier. I always do this to myself come up with these crazy theories that are never gonna, show pay out and then and then get a little disappointed on the way out, but uh.

But that's okay, I'm okay! With that all right, then, moving into this week's gadget hall of fame and Amish we're welcoming you to the podcast for the first time and as with all new guests for the podcast, we ask you to bring along something to our weird little museum of gadgets. What are you going to bring in to the gadget hall of fame this week? Okay, so the gadget that I want to bring is the first gadget that I ever owned, and I can't remember exactly what it was, but it was. It was like a was a Polaroid camera for sure and looking up online. I think it was a Polaroid one step from like the early 2000s. I just like went through pictures on Google last night, because this camera has since been lost to time.

Furthermore, I don't know where it is. Furthermore, I need to google it sorry for the keyboard noise, everybody, but I need to look at that. Oh yeah, it's sort of it's a traditional sort of looking Polaroid camera. You know it prints out a picture, and you have a bit that pops up. So you can.

You can see the light flash whenever you take pictures- and I remember just loving this thing. You know I was like three four years old, just taking pictures whenever I could, whenever my parents would decide to trust me with any film, and I can tell it was a bad decision on their part every single time. The pictures I took pretty terrible. I was going to say when, when Polaroid cameras was a part of my life, like the fear, was that exactly like Polaroid film, not cheap and so like to be trusted with that at such a young age Nev. I would never give him the privilege uh yeah so, but I had I remember, having loads of fun with it at the time and yeah, and I just adored this thing you know I used to cover in stickers.

Furthermore, I think uh part of the reason I stopped using it for a bit because uh one of my friends covered it in barbie stickers, and I, and I was like I have to hate barbie sure, so I had to shove this camera out the way, but still I just loved it. You know it's. The first thing I was allowed to really use on my own. All the other tech in my life was owned by my parents, and I'd occasionally get a chance to use it, but this this this was my thing and that's why I loved it so much what sort of stuff were you taking pictures of? Is there anything that sticks in your mind that deserves to be put in a plaque? Next to your Polaroid camera in the hall of fame, I think cause. It was probably a awful idea because they all came out really blurry was you know how sometimes it uh Halloween time you can go to people will do up their house huge with all these cool decorations.

Some people would then let you go and explore this kind of. Like haunted house experience- and I remember I took pictures with my camera, but either it was really dark or really bright, with light, which is terrible but sort of taking pictures. So I've got I've got. I remember taking pictures of that sort of thing, but yeah it was an it was. It was an absolutely awful idea because they didn't really develop well at all, but yeah.

So I do, but let me put those next to it off my finest work. I love that first. Camera is something that I definitely remember like. I remember my first camera phone as well and not being like a huge deal I'll, take pictures of everything everybody in my contacts list had to have a picture assigned to them, and they all hated it, but they had to do it because it was a thing that was now available to me. Sharia, I'm wondering: do you remember your first camera? Is that something that sticks in your mind? I remember having Polaroids um.

We did a lot of those disposable cameras uh for a hot second and yeah, like I don't like cameras was like that wasn't my particular tech bag. Even as a kid, it was all about like video games and uh like uh, uh, as I really got into music about Walkman's investments for me, yeah for sure I remember those disposable cameras as well. The disadvantage was right. You wait like four weeks to get those photos back. This is a Polaroid way, just shake it out and see what it was.

Love that Amish. Thank you so much for bringing that into gadget hall of fame. We are now upping the price of a mission to the hall of fame, because that is such a worthy entry and that'll bring us then into the news for this week. James we're coming to you. First lots going on in the phone world at the moment, one plus nine on the horizon potentially and an event coming on March 23rd, but potentially not by the time you're hearing this, because we're not sure that event is going to stick the landing right.

Yeah, uh. We don't know anything yet, but there are heavy rumors. That apple is having an event on March 23rd, as well as oneplus has confirmed that this virtual event will be their OnePlus 9 launch. Uh, we've heard from a variety of different sources that apple's having it's what some people refer to as a spring event, where it normally announces new iPads um, there's the potential of new AirPods um. We may hear something in the world of computing, but we're not really sure yet um, there's yeah, so that's likely to happen on March 23rd, which company is more likely to move.

We think it's probably gonna, be one plus, because we've had that happen before yeah, I was gonna, say apple, I'm being bullied out of that spot. Come on. Yeah, like apple, like apple, is the bully like exactly oh nice day for your offense. Shame. If something happened to it, yeah I think one plus should commit.

I think they should just go for it. No one will cover who's going to cover it. Who's going to be left on staff to cover it that that is the thing it's its that noise, isn't it and OnePlus is trying to position it itself as an alternative to the iPhone and alternative to apple products. In that way, um they want to be the iPhone of android. Essentially, that's not their official starts, but that's that's what we've seen in their products over the last few years, so I would be very, very surprised if we see both events happen on the same day, there's every chance.

The Apple event may not happen and maybe coming later that may be a false rumor. So it may stick for March 23rd, but I think the OnePlus 9 may be coming a little later in that regard. Um we've heard a few different things about the phones this week as well, and they've confirmed their partnership with Hasselblad, which we've heard about rumored for a little while, but um yeah they've signed a three-year deal with Hasselblad to help tune their smartphone cameras and should hopefully make for uh. Better colors, essentially, is the main, the main focus within their smartphone camera, because that is usually the place where OnePlus phones fall down a little that the camera is never usually um good enough. It's still pretty good, but it's never really going to compete with the absolute top camera phones on the market.

Yeah, it's an interesting move right Hasselblad is, is that brand that makes those extraordinarily expensive cameras. That kind of just do one thing really, really well um, and so it's interesting move to pair with somebody like OnePlus right who is trying to up their smartphone camera game um, I'm curious jams. You know OnePlus always known as kind of having lower price points than your average, especially apple. You know, but we've seen all price points coming down in recent memory right, the s21 launched at kind of lower price, even the iPhone 12 launched at a lower price than a lot of people were expecting. Do we? What do we think for a price range on one plus? Nine? Obviously, we don't know anything concrete yet, but do we think it's going to come, maybe even under 700 pounds, potentially um, potentially um I'd be really I'd, be really surprised.

We've seen OnePlus drive that price up quite consistently over the last few years in terms of adding 50 dollars each iteration sort of thing um. I would be really surprised they're trying to go for cheaper handsets within their other ranges as well. Now we've now got the OnePlus word, for example. Yes, there's also rumors of a third phone uh that would be the OnePlus 9, the OnePlus 9 pro and then an OnePlus 9e um, which is rumored for some markets. Sheree, you didn't seem.

You didn't seem impressed by my uh comments on the camera. Do you not agree? Um? I have. I have yet to it's been a long time since I've touched a phone with a hassle black camera on it. So I do. I would need to reacquaint myself, so I'm hoping that afterward, my phone's person is done reviewing it.

Maybe they could um shoot it to me really quick, so I can play with it and shoot it back, so he could do actual work with it um is it Samsung, uh rumored to be having an event around the 31st for its mid-tier phones, uh yeah, I think, there's an event coming um yeah before the end of the month is that is the rumor at the moment that um we're going to be seeing probably the galaxy a series in some regard as well, which is weird because we never hear about those mid to low tier phones like we hear about them like, oh, by the way this exists, but the fact that Samsung is doing an event for it. I wonder what Samsung has up in sleeve that makes this so important. I wonder if they've potentially just seen the benefit of doing these kinds of events right like through the pandemic right. There's certainly less budget to put them on now when you're not flying out hundreds of people to go, watch them live, and so maybe there is just benefit to them. Staying in the headlines by having an event every three four five months, whatever it is and um they can do it relatively cheap during a pandemic right yeah and also isn't the one of the Samsung a phone, their best-selling phone yeah, um yeah.

So that's probably why they want to do an event. It's like well people love this thing, so let's show them the new version. We know there's a popularity behind it. Let's shove the latest thing in front of them. They go.

Oh, I'm looking to upgrade my phone. Let's, let's go for better of what I already have. Affordability seems to be one of the main talking points at the moment as Matt was saying in terms of the galaxy s21 being cheaper in that way, so Samsung is potentially seeing, as you say, it's the best one of its best-selling phones. So why not push those things harder? Why not give more focus to those a series and from what we've seen in the league so far, there seemed to be a lot of flagship features that are starting to trickle down to that a series. So we're probably going to see a higher refresh rate on a galaxy, a phone which is probably going to be 500 rather than 1 000.

So um, there's those there's this sort of elements there that um that are probably going to be for people who want a cheaper phone, that's going to make that make it a far better year for them than we've. Seen in previous, the previous iterations well I'll definitely be excited to see what comes out of that. But let's go back to something we mentioned earlier on in this segment and the room at Apple event. Shari, I'm curious. You know we mentioned in there potentially, hopefully seeing some more m1 chip style.

Mac books come from this potentially or computing devices. What are you hoping to see from this room at Apple event? Um always laptops, but I guess I should be excited uh that there are rumors of tablets like I personally you know I don't believe in tablets, but you know uh. It was face when you said that was great exist, someone's holding an iPad. You just think they're holding air yeah. I really don't acknowledge them.

Like as a staff of record label for a company um, the reason is that we have, we have big phones, we have phablets, we don't need tablets, I I I just. I just don't believe in them, but that's neither here nor there. We don't need tablets. We have phablets for that. Furthermore, we do like it's a good t-shirt.

That's going to be the first noise cancer, podcast uh merch right there like I can, I carry a note. It's a big fold. We've got full. We've got phones that are literally unfurling for us to give us more screen real estate. Uh like I just don't.

I I I god I haven't believed in tablets, haven't believed in an actual physical device that you could hold in your hands since they could have conceived. Maybe seven years, maybe maybe maybe it's its been. It's like I've been against tablets that long like, but uh. You know people other people do believe in tablets. Some people are excited that uh various models of the iPad might be coming out.

Uh people are speculating that we might see a refresh to the iPad Mini, which has not been touched with a redesign since 2019, so it'd be nice. I guess it'd be nice. If you know apple's like all right hear hear, take this um. If they do it, I hope that they at least get rid of the chunky bezels. The chunky bezels must go uh, uh, and that is not the fat shame.

It's just that. I want more screen real estate if you're going to do that, I love that um and if they do uh, if they do bring out the iPad Mini, I'm hope I don't expect it to have one chip in it, but I do expect it to have like maybe some somebody's hand-me-downs. They will have a hand-me-down chip that will make it that will still make it a better uh choice than the 2019 version and still keep it in that sweet spot of 3 3.99. So I'm expecting to see that uh um, if they do that, I also expect to see the iPad Pro, but I'm really excited about the mac books, because they're just mac books of every size, 14 inches, rumors, 16 inches, rumors mini, led rumors, just rumors out the wazoo, but knowing apple they're not going to give us everything we want, because we need to have at least four Apple events a year, so they are going to give us some stuff uh. There will be no air, there will be.

No air power like there will be like so are the tags supposedly coming out this time? Are the much, much awaited tags? That's not happening. I don't believe them like. I think it's a whole. It's a whole lie. I think it's Bigfoot at this uh current venture uh, the Loch Ness monster whatever you want to call it that brass wing in the sky that you could never reach, but we shall be sorry well, I would say, on apple tags, I agree with you.

I think it's very unlikely that it will happen, but the latest version of ios, 14.4, uh 14.5 part of the part of the beta for 14.5 um switches on an element within the find my app um, which does suggest that air tags are probably coming very soon um. But we've also said that for the entirety of this podcast existence and probably longer so um who knows like it is literally our Moby Dick yeah every other week. We are chat about these ear tags for people who don't know you know this is supposedly apple's version of tile, a very simple tracker that would ping off of your iPhone and everybody else's iPhone to allow you to track something very effectively um. I would love to see it happen right, but what sort of features do you want to see in it that we haven't seen trackers so far, jams that you think would actually warrant apple? Doing this instead of just letting tile have its space yeah? Well. You've already said that really essentially, that um leveraging that network of the find my define my iPhone ability basically or find my Mac in this sort of in this sort of ways.

Um there was like um, there was a rumor before they could. If you've lost your iPhone at a train station, for example, you could find someone else who owns an iPhone, and they would be able to. They would be able to track that down. I don't exactly know how that would work, but that would offer something that tile isn't gonna, isn't going to offer um, so those are the sort of things. Otherwise, it's just going to be another tracker, and it's going to have the apple name on it, so people will buy it because they're already on an iPhone.

There's that that's probably the answer there really um and Apple will see that worth what worthwhile in that way, but I think there 's's something they could probably leverage there within the find my platform that makes them something a little a little different to what tile can do. Yeah, it's interesting right, I think the longer they wait, the less valuable it becomes as they kind of lose market share right as more and more people make the jump over to android. You know with OnePlus and everybody else kind of making these incredible phones in that space, hey Misha, I'm curious, apple tracking tags. Was it something you'd be interested at all? Are you an Apple iPhone user, or are you on the android train, I'm on the android train? I don't have any apple products yeah. Even if I had a tag I wouldn't be able to use it, and also I know, I think tiles sell for about 25.

So I'm expecting the apple tags, they're, probably going to be like 50 or 75 apart. I think even that's a little generous. You know you might want to add a hundred dollars. Under that estimation, I think so, and that just seems like that, if especially, if they don't really add any usability apart from maybe the fact that there's more iPhones out there, so you easier to use find my iPhone. Apart from that, I don't think they're going to be worth it.

I think it's going to be a bit too niche for people to use, especially like I also I live in the countryside rather than a larger city. So if I lose it, there 's's there's a chance that someone might walk past it once a day in London, yeah that might work uh, so yeah find my uh find my iPhone air tags. Get it out of here. I don't care um. I kind of wanted to counter the the tablets' thing go for it because I know phones are getting bigger, but they're also still pretty expensive.

Furthermore, I remember uh at school uh when tablets were sort of coming out, they were quite a cheap option for people to take they're really simple to use. You can write on them like a normal pad of paper or whatever, and so I think that there is still kind of that space. For that say, 300 400 option which tablets can offer, whereas you know these phones that fold out are a lot more than that, often especially because they're newer, and they don't still get quite as big. So I think that a new tablet could be a lot of fun, especially say the mini, because that's the cheaper option for people so that that's maybe what I'm more excited for. I'm still had a little of faith in the tablet.

I wonder if they're looking at kind of the yeah, I wonder if they're looking at kind of the changing landscape right of a lot of students now working from home, a lot of other people working from home, and we're seeing this kind of Chromebook market expand. You know people want simple devices that they can do, what they need to do on them and not worry too much about them, and I think tablets fit really well in that space as well as sort of Chromebooks and those things so Cherie. I'm curious in five years time, if you'll uh come around on the tablet fashion trend. No, the same way, I'm not coming around on Chromebooks. No all right, we'll leave you with your seven thousand pound laptop comments like just and just to be clear there of the current uh laptop staff, there's only one pro Chromebook person.

Why? Then, you need to hire more diversity in your team? That's what I'm hearing on the podcast! Let's get them on! That's what we need to sort out um, moving on then to our next news story and share, I'm coming to you straight for this one. Microsoft has finally bought Bethesda. It's finally gone through that deal's gone through, and a statement came out with lots of little interesting tidbits of information. So what does this mean for kind of your average game issue? This means that the exclusivity wars might be back on, and they might come out guns of blazing, and that can only be a good thing for Microsoft because of what everyone's been saying since the series x has come out where the games, where the games, where are the games? Where are the games where the games so especially since uh Microsoft has been going on this development house? Buying spree just snapping up houses like candy, like it's like candy. Ah, we've been doing stuff like that.

I love it. I and all of this energy early in the morning. Furthermore, I don't drink coffee, it's amazing, but I love it. Furthermore, I love it so yeah for those people who don't know Bethesda, obviously make huge franchises like the Elder Scrolls games or Skyrim those sorts of games. They also have uh a space.

Epic on the works. I can't remember the name of it star field, star field. Thank you very much again. A lot of people are excited for uh. Microsoft basically came out with a statement.

There was kind of a lot of fluff that gave them room to sort of straddle both side. Defense, if you like saying some Bethesda games going forward, will be console exclusive to the Xbox and some won't be basically, so we don't know if those huge franchises are going to a console exclusive tree. I'm curious! What do you think do you think Microsoft starts turning the knife here in PlayStation's back and saying: you're not allowed Skyrim you're not allowed the next fallout game? I think that those games are already licensed, and they can't go. They can't Welch on that bit. Uh going forward, it's going to be anybody's! Guess what they're going to do um.

I think that I think that it would behoove Microsoft to do timed exclusives, so the way that PlayStation's been doing Xbox for years, like yeah you'll, get it in six months. Maybe a year be patient or buy our system. I think Microsoft is going to be doing that a little with Xbox, because they're like no one's going to leave money on the table, because that really is money on the table like oh well, we could make this exclusive and potentially force people to buy our consoles, or we can make this a timed exclusive, still reward our loyal um consumers that bought that our day, ones that that fought and scrapped and scraped and fought the bots and the scalpers to get their series x and their series s's um, but also still show a little of love and get into the wallets of the PlayStation folk, yeah, absolutely and jams. I want to come to you, then I know you're a PlayStation player if Skyrim, if the next guy in the next Elder Scrolls game doesn't come to PlayStation. Is that hurtful to you like? Is that a game that you enjoy and, and you would maybe even consider picking up a cheaper Xbox to play that game or uh? Or did you not bother at all yeah? That is hurtful.

That is helpful. Did you see the look on his face when you asked that question? I was trying to think of a better word than hurtful, but then, when hurtful came out, my mouth, I saw the look on jams's face. It's like no, that's the perfect word. It's the people like. Why would you say something like that? Yeah, I've come to terms with a little more now um, but yeah.

Now I think uh if they are, if they are added to Xbox games past, and it's a sort of thing that you get it for free basically on day one when you own that console, maybe it would make me go out and buy a series s in that way to have it as a secondary console and then have game pass running alongside what I'm playing on my PlayStation 5 that that may be. That may be the solution. There um also cloud claiming within um. By the time we get a new Elder Scrolls, I'm expecting cloud gaming on tablets that I know they don't exist, but cloud gaming on tablets to be a lot better and connect upper connect up my dual sense controller to that and play that play alongside that. Maybe that would be an option for me um, but again that's playing as playing the sequel to Skyrim on the on a small tablet, not my massive TV.

So that's uh, that's not ideal. Was it yeah? That's the interesting thing right but, like you say when Netflix first started coming out and people were saying your, going to stream, 4k video to your house- that's impossible can't be done now. We do it no problem so yeah in three four five years time. I think we're going to be streaming games, no problem, and therefore you know yes, all right. You might have to stream it to your tablet and then beam it to your TV, maybe or maybe Xbox just come out with a TV app just like Netflix have right, and it's, and it's baked straight into your smart TV, um and yeah.

I think it'd be such an easy way to get so many people in on game pass, which is a monthly subscription service. You're going to get Skyrim two whatever it is day, one on that game pass service instead of paying 70. If it does come to PS5, you can pay 15 and get it for a month on game, pass, and you're golden right, hey, Misha! I'm curious! Are you an Xbox gamer? Do you have game pass? Are you built into that ecosystem? Unlike apple yeah 100? I am, I am all in on Xbox uh, so yeah, I don't have a PlayStation have any of that stuff. Yeah, get it out of here. I don't care if you've got spider-man.

Well, okay, I do care yeah, you can, I don't just yeah, don't play that game yeah. I think that I'm with Cherie that I don't think some bigger hitters are going to be exclusive to Xbox, at least not first, because I mean um talking like from the Sony perspective, Jim Ryan, who's. The president and CEO of that company talked about how some PlayStation exclusive games are now coming to PC and a big part of that is because to afford to make those really cool games. You need to then sell a lot of units and, if you're only selling on one system, that's really hard to do so coming to PC make more money. I imagine games like star field and even like the upcoming Elder Scrolls, six probably were developed and budgeted with the idea.

They'd be coming to Xbox and PlayStation and the rest. So I imagine those then still have to come out, but maybe in four or five years time it might be. We see more games come to Xbox exclusively and then yeah. If they do, even if they do come out on other platforms, they're on game pass, you spend you know 15 a month. You get not just that new game, but a suite of other titles as well.

So I think it's its a win-win for Xbox, whether it comes out exclusively on Xbox consoles or not, the Bethesda acquisition was, I think, a really smart idea for them, yeah, absolutely, and typically in the summer, in e3 sort of time, we would see an Xbox conference. We would also see a Bethesda conference. Both typically have strong showings at e3. Now to have those combined in what we're assuming will be uh. A combined show only strengthens their position yeah.

I kind of hope that they keep that separate, because I like because when the world opens back up, I like Bethesda. Typically, it's one of my favorite press conferences because they go all out like uh. They have food, they have drinks, they have all like these big set pieces uh, and I really wouldn't want that to go. Go away like I really enjoy Bethesda's uh efforts during e3. It's its always a fun time, so I would hope that they would allow them to maintain that and not try to suck them into the uh, make them go to the where, where is that the staples? It's not the staple centers, it's that coll.

Furthermore, it's that coliseum thing it's fine, but I prefer Bethesda and Bethesda feeds us. I wouldn't be surprised if it goes either way. You know they've kept uh. This sort of doorway open with the think, they're calling it the vault right, which they're putting animal into, and they're going to say some games are going to be published through the vault, which potentially gives them that opportunity to say it's, not a Microsoft studios game, so it can live on PlayStation, and so they could do like a vault press conference right and keep those things separate, uh and have people enjoy it that way, but moving then into the future of gaming and Shari, something I know you're very excited about VR, obviously Xbox. We haven't seen venture into VR PS, VR, we've been hearing even more about, and now we're hearing more about new oculus devices, new HTC devices Facebook getting into AR what is going on SRI break it all down for us.

Is it exciting or is it all just more fluff and VR won't be a real thing as Gareth says, Gareth is, so he's just such a hater. I love you Gareth, but you're a hater um. So, according to um Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of uh Facebook uh people like to call him data for some. Well, it's not a Dodd reason. He kind of does look like data, but that's neither here nor there um.

He has stated that fix your algorithms uh Facebook stop blocking um folks up in jail for just saying for defending themselves uh, but back to the story. Apparently, both the Oculus Quest, 3 and 4 are currently being worked on. Um I like and there's going to be a heavy focus, at least for the three and probably the four um on I and face tracking overall, which is a perfect thing. It makes sense for Facebook oculus, because Facebook would like to make VR as social as humanly possible um and what it's got so far with its avatars uh. For the quest too, with the face tracking, it's already impressive like if you have an um quest to uh or if you don't, you really should try to check what out find a friend or spend the money and check it out, because it really is a really cool experience, uh being able to have eye contact real legitimate eye contact with someone in VR and the mouth is moving with their words.

It really just creates that immersion. Like oh, I'm really talking to someone and I like it, I'm I'm shocked that second life hadn't moved over to oculus, but I guess it like, but no actually that makes sense, because second life is so advanced and complex and all the modding that goes into second life. I don't think oculus is ready to open up that level of freedom to a world like sec, like second life, but I think that's the goal for Facebook. With this um HTC five not to be uh left out of the conversation they have been flashing. Uh they've basically been snap chatting us uh, sending us little flirty uh pics of some new device like hey, hey, no, you can't see it yet: hey, hey, like um, just making us all hot bothered and intrigued uh, particularly because it looks like there is a module that is designed for lip tracking so again, which is again a great thing, because if you are being social and all of that you want to have that realistic movement uh, and so it really points toward the future of what VR is looking for it like they want that social aspect, because if you don't have like tech without other people holding the same tech, it's kind of like the sound of one hand clapping.

Can you hear this maybe a little like you could probably hear a little of that uh like it's fun, but after a while it gets lonely? So you it's its better, especially when you're playing games, it's always good to play a friend, it's dangerous to go alone. Take this being social socialist um in VR! So uh I'm really excited to see what both companies have up their sleeve. In regard to this, I'm assuming in the case of the quest that we won't see anything until oculus uh connect time, which you are usually late September or early October, um HTC typically likes to drop around March. So I don't. Who knows, we might see an announcement down the line because they do.

They do love a march April type of showing, but who knows, but they have definitely been sending us those flirty little pictures, and I am much intrigued yeah. I love this. I love this and everything that gets me excited about this is you know when you think back to sort of video games in the 90s, and people were saying if this looks so good, it can't look any better than that. Compare that to like the last of us part two, which just looks phenomenal. Like you say all, this technology is already really impressive.

Where will be in 10 years time with it, I think is going to be absolutely phenomenal and if the pandemic has taught me anything, it is that I need to go to the pub desperately and if that's a virtual pub I will take it, I will take it with both hands. Uh Amish, I'm curious. Where do you fall on this VR spectrum? If you like, have you tried VR out? Are you a believer, or do you not believe it's a real thing like sharing tablets? Yeah, I've had the option to I do. I believe it in VR. I have had the option to try it out at different things.

Furthermore, I don't own my own headset, but it's something I definitely want to at some point, particularly like the Oculus Quest, because it doesn't need the PC. It doesn't have all the wires. That kind of thing seems really cool, so the fact that new ones might be coming out soon. That excites me uh. The thing that kind of worries me about some of these announcements, though, like the ht clip tracking is seems like a cool idea.

I'm right, like Shari's, probably right that it will make socializing way more easy and feel more natural, but it feels like it's kind of a niche add-on for niche tech, particularly because, like not many people have VR headsets right now and then fewer people have a specific one. So then having something that not everyone will want attached to a headset that not everyone has seems like it might let some really great ideas sort of be discarded because they can't make any money, and so I feel like the potential future for VR add-ons should have to be maybe more like third-party. So you can get this lip tracking thing that would work on a quest on the five on say, like a valve index or PSB or whatever you've got because then it sort of lets more people be able to buy this thing kind of like how we were talking about with exclusive games, because then, hopefully these really cool tech pieces can be used by everybody on anything yeah. I think you're absolutely right. There is that barrier to entry with it right now, and it is quite an exclusive thing for it to become mainstream price needs to come down.

It needs to become more accessible and easy to use and um it is an it is a have to use it to believe it type thing right like the best thing you can do is get a friend to your house, which you're not allowed to do right now pandemic. Don't do it but um. The best thing you can do is get a friend of your house. Let them play with it for an hour, and they will be sold on it right. There's no doubt in my mind and so the more that that can happen.

The closer we're going to get to ready player, one-star lives, and I'm all about it, give me that ready player one life, that's what I want! That's what I want. That's what I want uh all right, then so we're going to move on now to the news blast and Gareth was down to do this. Unfortunately, he's not here this week, so I'm going to take over probably do a terrible job of it, but share, would you mind bringing up a timer and timing me for the news blast for those of you who don't know this is where I run through as many news stories as I can in 60 seconds. I have to explain more than just the headline and uh see if I can beat the current reigning champion, who I believe is Gareth with 14 or is it Gerald I can't remember, I never can. I think we're going to need to start.

Furthermore, I think it's both of them at joint 14 is that I think we need to start a new season of this. You know nobody's got that close ever since, so we need to rejig the uh the table. I think, but we'll get to that at some point right now. I'm ready sharia, you ready, I'm ready and a one and a two and a skinny skittish do go. Furthermore, I don't know: okay, we're starting uh.

The Sonos roam has been announced last night by Sonos. It's everything you'd expect from a Sonos speaker, but in a much smaller package the Google Pixel six could have a special selfie camera that will like take flip. That will allow you to take 4k photo and video selfies. Who wants that? Not me? I don't need it. Uh black widows theatrical release plans have not changed.

They still want to bring that movie to cinemas. Please just put on Disney plus, so I can watch it. I am dying for it. Uh rumors say that changes might be coming to the call of duty war zone map. Apparently a nuke is going to go off on the first anniversary and completely changed the way that game plays.

I'm looking forward to it. The Samsung s21 mid-range successor, we've already talked about it. It's ruined the news blast, I'm gonna, move on Disney plus has reached 100 million subscribers in a year and a half. That's insane a lot of that down to probably the MCU films and, of course, the closures of cinemas World of Warcraft burning cascade classic. I don't know what this is closed.

Beta may kick off later this month. I didn't read into that story. I apologize. Google is creating wolverine style earbuds with bionic learning a hearing. Sorry what I don't! I didn't read that one I didn't get that far in the news blast.

I didn't think I'd get that far close come out your hands put the headphones in. How are google making wolverine just the fear in his eye? Like I don't know what this is? I didn't yeah. I didn't think I'd get that far down the list. Furthermore, I'm honest with you, so I stopped researching that it's a whole thing, but I'll give myself seven points how's about that. It's that sort of headline that as you like it, you're like what the more I read it the less sensitive I couldn't, I couldn't get through it.

I couldn't get through it um, but I'm curious. I want to get somebody's thoughts on one of these things that we talked about, so the Google Pixel 6 could have a 4k selfie camera jams. Furthermore, I want to come to you. Is this necessary in any way shape or form, or is it a complete waste of time and money? Um complete waste of time and money there. It is that that laughter told you all.

You need to know. Listen, it's not it's not about. Do you need it! It's about the opulence and the extravagance. It really is going to say, give Cherie an excuse to spend more money on a device, and she will happily spend more money on that. Absolutely more is more like did.

We need 108, megapixel cameras, no, but we've gone beyond we're still pumping them up, so yeah bring that on. Well. There is no way that I will be happy with that. I look bad enough in 1080p. I don't need 4k close-ups on my face.

Furthermore, I don't need it. Furthermore, I don't need it uh. Moving on then to the final segment of the show, and it's called I'm sorry help me. I don't understand this thing. Please explain it to me.

Amish explain, NFTs to me, I've been hearing all about it. Apparently I can make millions of pounds with NFTs selling weird abstract concepts to people on the internet. It's like bitcoin, but 10 years later. Explain it to me. Is it a massive scam? Do I need to be buying NFTs what is going on? Okay, uh? So I don't know if it's a massive scam.

I don't know if I'll be able to answer that question uh, because who knows maybe the pop-up will pop? Maybe this is game stunts? But if you ride it up, then you might succeed. Uh but anyone's wondering NFT. Uh stands for non-fungible token, which is two words that you've probably heard of and then fungible thrown in the middle, which is actually yeah. So something fungible is something where it's not unique. It's like a commodity.

So if you uh, if a recipe says you need a hundred grams of granny smith apples, any 100 grams of granny smith apples will do because they're fungible uh, if, if you've got 10 bucks, Matt and I've got 10 bucks, and I swap you my you know my note for your note. That's their effectively the same thing right. So that's what something fungible is so something's non-fungible. It's special and unique. A great example might be like the Mona Lisa.

Even if you had the world's best camera- and you took a fantastic picture of the Mona Lisa printed, it out spent loads of cash. You know you, you've got Shari's printer, so it's the best printer that money can buy, and you will then take that to Paris and be like yo. Can I swap you this photo for that painting they go? No, of course not. This is the Mona Lisa. It's unique! It's special uh, so that's an example of something non-fungible.

Then the token is bringing that idea and making it digital. So have you guys heard of the Nina cat GIF worth famous gift? It's a cat with, I think it's a pop-tart body and uh rainbows coming out of its backside, and it's just a simple moving image. It's the Mona Lisa of the internet, if you like yeah right, but that that's a gift that is digital online, it's copy and pasted everywhere you can find it on YouTube. Google Bing, if you really want to, but now somebody owns that GIF, they have a token a sort of digital certificate. That says you have this thing and this token is non-fungible, because it's made using blockchain, which is the technology behind cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and Ethereum and blockchain is based this way of saying it is really complex.

Weird, I don't fully understand it, and I wasn't asked to explain what blockchain is, so I didn't bother looking into it next week. It's! It's not like. You know a file where you can just copy and paste it. So I can't just say: I've got 100 bitcoin and copy and paste that and say I'm now, rich uh blockchain makes it non-fungible. It makes each bitcoin unique.

It makes each NFT unique and so yeah there's all this money, particularly with art, because you can say, like you sure anyone can look at this picture on the internet you're the person that owns it, jack, Dorsey, who's, the founder of Twitter, he sold his first ever tweet kings of Leon are selling their album as a NFT, but I think the difference there is they're not selling it. As like a unique NFT, you don't suddenly become the owner of that single album. I think it's more. Like you're buying a CD, so it's kind of like you own, something which says I have definitely bought this. I've got this digital token that I am confirmed the owner of this.

This album or one of the owners of this album in that kind of way, and I think there's some cool future for the tech yeah. I think that's that's the interesting space it's in right now, where people are kind of just using it for everything, and nobody really has a specific idea of what it is right. I've heard the idea that, yes, you can buy these kings of Leon NFT and then maybe that could give you priority ticket access to their next tour right, and so now I understand the value of it right. Furthermore, I think that the kind of more dodgy areas are yeah jack, Dorsey selling, his tweet, a tweet that he made right and that he's earning commission on that selling. Of that, I believe and then and therefore anybody who goes on to resell that NFT.

He will also earn commission on that, and so it's this really weird space at the moment where how can you define the value of a tweet like? I don't understand that as much right? Well, I guess in that way it's like how do you define the value of a painting like I used the Mona Lisa earlier that sure it's an it's a picture of a woman, but is it the world's best painting a lot of people say it is, and they've given it something like a billion dollars or something ridiculous is how much it would cost to buy it. But is it really worth that there's probably better paintings out there? I, I certainly prefer other pictures and stuff. I wouldn't want to spend a billion dollars on sure on the Mona Lisa of all things. But someone said its worth money and I guess it kind of is and like yeah, the taking commission, maybe on the tweet. That could be a bad idea, but the there's a cool thing for like artists, because you know if you sell a painting for ten dollars when you're starting out that's okay, you might seem that fair at the time, but if you become super-duper famous, suddenly your art might be selling for way more, but you're not getting a cut of that.

So this idea of potentially giving artists a way to take commission on future selling of their art is a way to give them more money, make it more fair and hopefully help everybody win, but everybody wins. Situation seems too good to be real exactly it does a little sometimes, but share. I'm curious to get your thoughts on this as somebody who loves extravagance. What are your thoughts on this NFT space? Is it a bubble? That's going to burst, or is it the future? I'm still learning about this. I think it's very interesting.

Furthermore, I think that um, it might be a new way to cut out the middle man of the, especially when it comes to the art to the art world, the art critic. Furthermore, I mean the um, the art gallery because uh, as I understand it right now when, if you are an artist, and you take your work to a gallery, it gets sold. You get money off of that initial sale, but after that, when it's sold, or it appreciates the value of some kind of way, you never see another dime of it. The person who sells it sees all the money you just get to see. You just get the warm fuzzy feeling that my art appreciated and like people are clamoring for it, but you never see you never see anything except that initial uh, whatever you were saying, whatever you sold it for it, if you're a starving artist, it probably wasn't much yeah, that's the interesting space as well.

Right, like you know, we've talked a little about this ready player, one future we're all going to be living in these virtual worlds. Well, if you come over to my house- and I have the Mona Lisa right- that is the one- it's not a screenshot I took of it. That is the one. Obviously, the Mona Lisa is a bad example here, but that could actually mean something in the future right. James, do you think we'll ever get to at that point, or is that just sci-fi films getting my hopes too high uh? I don't know um yeah you're, gonna, you're going to display your NFT, like your end of t's on the wall is that your plan yeah, you played like your kings of Leon.

Fifth album war, whatever it was uh framed on the wall, yeah um. I think it is probably a little sci-fi at the moment, but yeah. It did again. We would have said this about bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, probably even uh five years ago, let alone 10 years ago, when the technology was first coming out, even probably earlier than that, but yeah um. It probably is too sci-fi at the moment, but it is could definitely be the future.

Who knows, indeed, if you're, watching this podcast on YouTube or wherever you're listening to it? Let us know down in the comments below if a ft's are fad. Let us know what you think: don't go out and spend all your money on ft's we're not at that point. Yet don't do it. It's not a good idea uh, but thank you so much for listening to the noise-cancelling podcast. We will leave it there today.

Thank you so much for joining me, my wonderful guest. If you enjoyed this podcast, please do consider subscribing on Spotify iTunes, apple podcast, wherever you get your podcasts uh and just to close out then jams. If people want to hear more of your thoughts on the tech world, where can they find you in the internet sphere, I'm at jams rap on Twitter, and please come to tech radar and read: read my articles, please, that would be lovely. Wouldn't it share. Where can the people find you uh? The people can find me on Twitter and Instagram smith11, that is m-I-s-s smith 11 and, of course you need to go over the laptop.

You need to learn about laptops and this these things that I don't believe in Chromebooks tablets. Yeah. We talk about them, I don't necessarily believe in them, but for some reason: they're there uh. So we have, we have copious information about things I don't believe in, but it is what it is, what it is: uh VR headsets uh headphones, all the like and, of course, laptop then laptop now and hey Misha, as it's your first time on the podcast, you need to outdo Cherie's outro just there. So where can the people find you they can find me on tech radar or on Twitter at Amish? Underscore hector, that's it.

I won't tell you that tablets don't exist. If you come and follow my twitter, you can believe in tablets. Still that's that's. What's happening, believer, inclusive, that's nice to see you believe in tablets. Oh, I bet you.

Thank you so much for listening. Everyone. If you want to follow me, you can follow me video on all these social things, but the important thing remember go over to techradar. com and not laptop mag, because they're rubbish, we love you. We love you guys.

Thanks for listening, we will catch you on the next episode, bye-bye goodbye.

Source : TechRadar