In MobileViews Podcast episode 599, panelists Jon Westfall and I (Todd Ogasawara) are joined by frequent guest panelist Sven Johannsen.
We start off with thoughts on the new Google Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image), with Todd noting its impressive capabilities. I also shared a recent AI experiment where he fed his 100-song Apple Music Replay All Time list to Google Gemini Pro to generate a playlist for a brisk two-mile walk. The AI successfully curated a 12-song list in the 114-124 BPM range, remarkably close to my average heart rate during a brisk walk, pulling in tracks by his favorite artists that weren’t even on the original list.
Next, we discussed Apple’s upcoming multi-day March product announcement event. I noted my amusement over tech pundits already debating the performance merits (or lack thereof) of the rumored A18 Pro budget MacBook. Sven brings some smart home tech to the table, discussing the Matter-enabled EVE Motion sensor and the frustrations involved in setting it up outside of the native EVE or Apple Home ecosystems. They also touch on the DJI Neo 2 drone, highlighting that a smartphone is required for initial setup and reminding listeners about the necessary FAA TRUST Certificate for recreational flyers.
Finally, we took a nostalgic turn, pondering what we lost when media went digital. Jon discusses his recent eBay purchases of old, inexpensive CD box sets—not just to rip hard-to-find tracks, but to reclaim the physical artwork and ephemera that used to accompany music. This leads to a broader reflection on physical media, including coffee table books, and Todd’s perspective on the tangible value of ownership as a comic book collector.
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MobileViews Podcast on Audible.com