MobileViews 600: Looking back and looking forward – especially the new budget MacBook Neo


Jon Westfall and I (Todd Ogasawara) were joined by frequent guest panelist Frank McPherson who was on the podcast with me way back in 2008.

Frank first joined us all the way back on Podcast #2 on Nov. 28, 2008, when the hot topic was the T-Mobile G-1—the very first Android phone. Jon hopped on board with Podcast 69 on Dec. 22, 2013, to discuss the transition from Windows Mobile/Phone to other platforms and Microsoft Project Siena.

We also mentioned frequent guest panelists Sven Johannsen and Jack Cook on Podcast 109 in Feb. 2015, discussing the state of Windows Phone two years before it was discontinued.

Our discussions included Apple’s upcoming 50th anniversary on April 1, my anticipating the delivery of the new “budget” MacBook Neo A18 Pro powered laptop, Frank’s skeptic’s few on “what is low cost?”, and the Google March 2026 Pixel Drop. A key part of our discussion was how Android devices extend seamlessly to connected displays. This feature was previously enabled only in developer mode but is now a standard capability.

Frank had some specific thoughts about Android desktop mode on his blog. I noted that while my Pixel 10 Pro supports this, I was disappointed to find that neither the Pixel Tablet nor the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE does.

Jon showed off his latest project: an Elecrow e-Ink screen which will be a remotely programmable office door sign. We also discussed the Elecrow CrowView Note, which is an interesting portable monitor with keyboard that functions as a “phone-to-laptop” device (somewhat reminiscent of the old Celio REDFLY Mobile Companion).

Available via Apple iTunes.
MobileViews YouTube Podcasts channel
MobileViews Podcast on Audible.com