The WAN Show: Unlocking Phones Legal Again! Also GTX 880 & 980 Rumours! - August 1st, 2014

The WAN Show episode dated August 1st, 2014 opens with the hosts greeting the audience and setting a playful, informal tone for a weekly tech news and discussion program. They tease the topics for the night, including legal changes surrounding phone unlocking in the United States and rumors about high end GPUs, specifically the GTX 880 and GTX 980. The conversation quickly moves into a discussion about the Oculus Rift DK2 and how various software updates are affecting compatibility and performance, particularly with the platform’s SDK versions and device screens. The hosts then pivot to a series of sponsor messages, including Dollar Shave Club and Squarespace, before resuming the main topics with a broader glance at tech and consumer electronics news. They revisit the legality of phone unlocking, explaining that a recent law change effectively decriminalizes unlocking in the US, but noting that it does not meaningfully alter the practical ability to unlock or switch carriers in many situations, especially where carrier/device lock policies remain in effect. The discussion emphasizes the tension between consumer rights and carrier practices, highlighting how phones are subsidized in contracts and how this economics can complicate unlocking even when not legally prohibited. The hosts illustrate this with a personal anecdote about unlocking iPhones in different regions, underscoring the practical enforcement challenges and the ongoing debate over consumer choice in the mobile market. They analyze the broader implications for competition, such as exclusive carrier deals and the potential for unlocked devices to enable more flexible pricing and service options. The show then moves to miscellaneous tech industry updates, including news about Sprint’s low-cost wireless plan and its focus on social media apps, with discussion about how such plans interact with data usage and existing music streaming policies. The episode also touches on Crytek’s financing and strategic pivots, presenting a balanced view of the studio’s efforts to restructure and focus on online publishing while maintaining its CryEngine technology. Throughout, the hosts weave in humorous commentary, personal anecdotes, and banter about the show’s production schedule, baby news, and behind-the-scenes dynamics, giving viewers a sense of the show’s culture and camaraderie. In parallel segments, they discuss hardware and software topics like CRYSIS engine considerations for future titles, the Oculus DK2’s hardware integration from Note 3 displays, and the broader landscape of VR development with references to display technologies and persistence. The GeForce ecosystem receives significant attention with references to 880 and 990 rumors and the strategic implications for NVIDIA’s lineup, which leads to a broader conversation about graphics technology, tiling displays, and the evolving standards for high resolution rendering. The talk then shifts to a broad sweep of mobile and display tech, touching on government-grade security standards in Germany and Blackberry’s positioning as a potential secure communications option, including discussions about SE smart security modules and the challenges of Android forks and app ecosystems. The hosts also comment on a range of consumer electronics topics, including a 105-inch 5K TV and a briefing on FreeSync, before spotlighting personal projects and company culture, including a planned shift in Luke’s presence on future WAN Shows and the possibility of creative performance reviews for staff. The episode includes a long-running thread of sponsor integrations, such as Squarespace and Dollar Shave Club, with enthusiastic demonstrations of product benefits and use cases, and a casual, humorous tone about the staff’s personal lives, the studio’s growth, and the team’s expectations for the weeks ahead. In closing, they outline the Straw Polls and engage with audience feedback about show structure, including a plan to integrate more in-depth tech demos and lab-style coverage, while also teasing a dedicated hardware exploration that would span multiple future episodes. The program ends with a lighthearted but earnest appreciation for the team, the guests, and the audience, punctuated by jokes about the show’s ongoing evolution, fan reactions, and the anticipation for new consumer technology announcements and content in the near term.

Topics · science_and_technology · entertainment · media_production · hardware_news · vr_ar_technology