Tech Weekly Podcast UK

Happy New Year from the UK Tech Weekly Podcast!We are back this week to discuss what we have been watching (or not watching) over the festive period, including Scott Carey on the meme-marketed sensation of Bird Box and what this says about Netflix's ability to dominate the cultural conversation. Then Tamlin Magee jumps in to talk about the interactive Black Mirror movie Bandersnatch and why it may have been destined to fail.Lastly David Price steps out of the hosting chair to talk about bendy iPads and Apple's strange rhetoric.

Scott Carey is in the hosting chair this week as we have a rotating cast of staffers from across Macworld, Tech Advisor, Techworld and Computerworld to discuss our two favourite techie things of the year, from the best games and films, to our favourite devices and even, microchips.Thank you for listening this year and for your continued support for the UK Tech Weekly Podcast and we will see you in the new year.

Two’s a crowd for this week’s games and Christmas pod with Consumer Tech Editor Henry Burrell and Games Editor Lewis Painter. Lewis lines up reviews of the awful Fallout 76 and the excellent online mode of Red Dead Redemption 2 – two polar opposites in how to make a decent online multiplayer game.We also discuss smartwatches we’ve recently reviewed that left us feeling cold and why Apple is still king of the hill.And to get into the festive vibe, interspersed throughout as we enter December are our top tech Christmas gift picks, both cheap and indulgent.Everything we recommend is linked below:Google Home HubTile Bluetooth trackerRed Dead Redemption 2 (PS4)Super Smash Bros – Ultimate (Switch)Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! (Switch)Turtle Beach Elite Pro 2 + SuperampAmazon Kindle PaperwhitePlayStation ClassicPlayStation VR Starter PackThe best budget smartphones

David Price is in the host's chair this week, as the team talk about the latest hot tech topics. Tamlin Magee has got the drinks in - futuristic meal-replacement drinks called Soylent, which he forces everyone to try and which are apparently not people. Then Dominic Preston talks us through the positive and extremely negative sides of Amazon's Black Friday activities, before Sean Bradley attempts to explain why Bitcoin is tanking and what the future holds for crypto currencies. Cheers!

We were all surprised this week with the weirdly excellent trailer for Detective Pikachu with Ryan Reynolds voicing the yellow pocket scamp. Dom Preston drops in to tell us how Nintendo is getting into film and we laugh about the Bob Hoskins Mario film. We also talk about the moving new Tetris game (yes, it's made people cry).Scott Carey then lays out the latest Facebook expose and asks if Zuck and Sheryl Sandberg are ruling the company properly - should it be actively siding politically and morally against misuses of the platform? Or is it too big for them to even control?

This week we are talking about Apple's New York event, where Digital Arts editor Neil Bennett was in attendance for the launch of a fresh new iPad, Mac Mini and a new Macbook Air. We discuss if the Apple laptop range is a mess and who the new iPad is really for.Later on we have games editor at Tech Advisor Lewis Painter on to talk about the biggest game of the year: Red Dead Redemption 2 and if it lives up to the hype, and if it's worth the 'crunch' put in by overworked Rockstar developers.