Dave Podnar

Apple’s Camera AirPods and an AI Tamagotchi? | AwesomeCast 792

August 19th, 2026  |  59 mins 26 secs

ai pocket pet, ai tamagotchi, air traffic controllers, airpods camera, alltrails hidden tracks, apple airpods, apple visual intelligence, boston dynamics robot dog, creator monetization, dungeon crawler carl, faa gamers, factory automation, five nights at freddy’s, freddy fazbear’s pizza, gadget podcast, google street view game, hello kitty godzilla, hop earth, hyundai ev factory, hyundai metaplant, kevlar, mcdonald’s happy meal, pittsburgh tech podcast, roblox safety, snes demake, stephanie kwolek, super mario bros wonder, sweekar, tamagotchi, tech news, technology podcast, tiktok privacy, tiktok voice calls, youtube analytics, youtube views

Could Apple be preparing AirPods with tiny cameras? Can an AI-powered Tamagotchi grow up, develop a personality, and remind you to take a break?

Sorg, Katie Dudas, and Dave Podnar explore those questions in AwesomeCast 792. The crew examines the Sweekar AI pocket pet, a possible Apple AirPods camera leak, and TikTok’s new voice-calling concerns.

Also discussed:

• Hello Kitty x Godzilla Happy Meal collectibles

• Hop Earth’s Google Street View driving game

• Stephanie L. Kwolek and the discovery of Kevlar

• Roblox safety litigation and a real Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza

• The FAA recruiting gamers as air traffic controllers

• AllTrails Hidden Tracks

• A Super Mario Bros. Wonder SNES demake

• Autonomous sleds and robot dogs inside Hyundai’s EV factory

• YouTube’s new approach to public view counts

• Turning Dungeon Crawler Carl fandom into a subscription business

Support the show and unlock bonus AwesomeCast content at https://www.patreon.com/awesomecast.

Xbox Games on Mac & Linux? Freddy Fazbear Goes IRL & Video Stores Return | AwesomeCast 791

August 11th, 2026  |  59 mins 40 secs

adobe project indigo, ai photo editing, ai photography, american dream, amusement parks, atari, betamax, binge buster, cedar point, cloud gaming, computational photography, dave podnar, diablo, digital ownership, doom the dark ages, dvd, ea, electronic arts, five nights at freddy's, forza horizon, freddy fazbear's pizza, gaming news, geforce now, grand theft auto vi, gta 6, lawrenceville pittsburgh, lewis latimer, linux gaming, lost lizard pittsburgh, mac gaming, michael sorg, movies anywhere, nature calls run, netflix, nvidia geforce now, physical media, pittsburgh apps, pittsburgh tech, pittsburgh technology podcast, pittsburgh weather, quake, quake 30th anniversary, reddit pittsburgh, restroom finder, running apps, six flags, sorg, stormfreak, streaming movies, streaming services, tech news, technology podcast, vhs, video stores, xbox, xbox game pass, xbox on linux, xbox on mac, xodus

Sorg and Dave Podnar explore what happens when new technology collides with some very old ideas. Binge Buster turns streaming discovery into a virtual video-store experience, Pittsburgh's Lost Lizard is actually renting VHS, DVD, and Betamax again, and disappearing digital movie purchases have Sorg wondering whether physical media deserves another look.

Steam Game Cartridges Are Real?! Xbox’s Disc Comeback & AI Love Island | AwesomeCast 790

August 4th, 2026  |  56 mins 16 secs

ai reality show, ai slop, ai video, apple health, artificial intelligence, august interactive, battlefield 6, brother p-touch, creator tools, cybersecurity, dave podnar, digital ownership, ea layoffs, electronic arts, fitbit, fruit love island, gadget podcast, galaxies, game preservation, health technology, katie dudas, kevin mitnick, label maker, lsst camera, lunar science, michael sorg, moon impact, moonbase y, nasa games, national social engineering day, pc gaming, physical media, pittsburgh podcast, playstation discs, social engineering, sony playstation, space photography, spacex, steam cartridges, steam games, tech news, technology podcast, travel apps, travel technology, vera c rubin observatory, wrinkles app, xbox, xbox backwards compatibility, xbox disc to digital

AwesomeCast 790: Steam Game Cartridges Are Real?! Xbox’s Disc Comeback & AI Love Island