China has some big ideas about smartphones

In this episode, what's old is new again, and what's new is... AI again. The Verge's Allison Johnson and Dominic Preston join David to discuss their experience at Mobile World Congress 2025, where they saw the latest devices from Xiaomi, Samsung, Realme, and others — and found themselves confronted with some big, surprising new ideas about how our smartphones should look and work. After that, Kevin Rose and Justin Mezzell talk about the process of bringing Digg back, and how AI can improve the way social networks operate. Digg got a lot of things right two decades ago, and plans to do it all over again now. Finally, we answer a question about printers from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com!), with some help from Framework CEO Nirav Patel.

Further reading:

• MWC 2025 was all about the odds and ends
• What if your phone’s camera was much, much bigger?
• You spin me right round, baby, right round.
• Xiaomi 15 Ultra review: ugly phone, beautiful camera
• Digg Reboot
• How Digg helped invent the social internet
• Digg is coming back, with founder Kevin Rose and Reddit’s Alexis Ohanian

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