The PC Pro Podcast

This week the team discuss: how to make Microsoft feel better about itself; what the future might hold for Windows; how Project Canvas might affect TV delivery; how Light Peak might affect the world of device interconnects; and, inevitably, the verdict on the Apple iPhone 4 in Hot Hardware of the Week.

In this week's edition, we take a look at the looming e-reader price war that's threatening to shake up the market; take a look at the newest dual-screen laptop that lacks a keyboard; wax clueless about battery chemistry and carbon nanotubes; wonder if reports of the death of mobile broadband are premature; and put a staggeringly cheap internet-access laptop through the Hot Hardware of the Week grinder, to see what comes out the other side.

On this week's podcast we ponder whether Linux is really a safer OS than Windows, cast an unsympathetic eye over Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system and mourn the passing of O2's unlimited mobile data plans. A study suggesting that young children should be kept away from computers has Darien and David waxing nostalgic, just for a change. And we coo over not one but two shiny new pieces of hardware, namely the new Apple Mac mini and the joojoo internet tablet.

This week we have to kick off with a mention of that Apple phone again. We also discuss the interesting ideas in the new version of Safari; wonder at the wisdom of giving every printer its own email address; marvel at the Microsoft sync tool that's completely out of sync with itself; and take a look at one of the biggest software releases of the year in Hot Software of the Week.

In a faintly shambolic podcast this week, we discuss the latest brilliant Ofcom ideas; hail the arrival of Windows 7 tablets; examine the motivations of Google in its apparent abandonment of Windows; argue over the merits of USB-powered monitors; and look at an Acer tablet in Hot Hardware of the Week.

Our old friend Google has caused no end of controversy in the past week, wasting people's time with Pac-Man nonsense and then playing around with its web analytics tool. The team separates the hype from the hypocrisy, and still finds time to praise the new BBC iPlayer beta. Plus, we rail against authority: is the OFT right to take a swipe at behavioural advertising? Should we mourn Becta's passing? And are the Liberals and Conservatives being two-faced by letting the Digital Bill survive? And finally, Jon Bray attempts to persuade a reluctant audience that the Cowon J3 MP3 player is worthy of being Hot Hardware of the Week.

It's the special Flying Dog podcast this week. Less importantly, we also discuss Facebook's issues of unprivacy creep; Amazon's Kindle app for Android; the fact that not much is happening with Acer and Chrome netbooks; drag Hotmail out of Gmail's shadow and dust it off; and assess Windows 7 multi-touch in the context of Samsung's U250 all-in-one PC. And did we mention the flying dog?

In the first podcast of the new UK Government, we discuss the technological fallout from the new coalition; have a look at what AMD is up to with its latest launches; marvel at the cost of iPad 3G access; fail to lament the passing of colon-forward-slash-forward-slash; and argue for ages about Sony's latest VAIO in Hot Hardware of the Week.

This week the team discusses a host of new goodies from Intel, ponders the growing role of technology in the general election, mourns Microsoft’s never-produced dual-screen Courier tablet and briefly muses on legal threats to Apple over Steve Jobs’ banning of Flash. Our Hot Hardware candidate isn’t hardware at all, but the free Google Maps Navigation service for Android mobile phones.

On this week's PC Pro podcast Tim finally makes it back from Japan to host a discussion on McAfee's decision to compensate customers whose PCs were damaged by its antivirus software. Also on this week's show we discuss Spotify's new software, Microsoft's claim to Android patents, and whether companies can really block off employees' personal email.

It's the special Volcanic Ash edition of the PC Pro podcast! And this week we discuss Google's new UK-specific satnav system; see what Microsoft is doing to embrace an open Web; wonder at the future of the worst-named OS in the world, MeeGo; marvel at Sony's strange new marketing ploy; and take a look at the device that may finally beat the iPhone, in Hot Hardware of the Week.

Another historic podcast this week as we introduce a new section: hot software of the week! But before that, we discuss the latest Apple news; take another look at Palm's possible future; wonder if the film industry has finally done something clever; and become depressed about the state of British Parliamentary debate.

This week we have an actual, real iPad in the studio! But before that we talk about the protracted gestation of the Digital Economy Bill; shed no tears at all over the possible death of Bebo; and talk about industry reaction to the iPad. And did we mention that we have a real, actual iPad in the studio?

It's the start of a new century, and to kick off we look at a cautionary tale of cold-calling scams; put the boot into Ofcom for its limp response to ISPs flouting the rules; assess whether the Times website has a chance of getting people to pay for its content; celebrate the integration of Flash into Chrome; look at the (very) Hot Hardware of the Week in the form of Nvidia Fermi; and annouce the winner of Hot Hardware of the Century.

An historic moment this week as the PC Pro Podcast reaches its 100th sparkling edition. And to complement it we have some sparkling wine, courtesy of generous listener Roy Tait. In more technology-related areas, we discuss Google's China predicament; the sound political grounding of the Pirate Party; the memory card that's more expensive than gold; the future of Palm; and we invite you our listeners to vote for what you consider to be the hot hardware of the century.