GeekWire

Slack, the messaging and collaboration tool for teams, is all the rage right now inside many companies, and it has some big new competition from Google, Microsoft and others. We're going inside this growing market today with our guest, Samir Diwan, the co-founder and CEO of Seattle startup Polly.ai, a bot that runs polls and surveys in Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Hangouts Chat.

This week marked GeekWire's 6th anniversary, and it's been quite the wild ride for co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook. On this GeekWire Podcast special, they talk about their experience so far as entrepreneurs, and how Seattle's tech scene has changed over the past 6 years. 

It's going to be a formative year for smartphones: the highly anticipated Samsung S8 and the upcoming LG G5 are just two of the phones that will have a big impact on the future of smartphones, and particularly their design. On this week's episode of GearedUp we take a look at a G5 demo phone and leaked images of the new S8, and discuss the directions the industry is taking. Plus, we talk about the Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft's new game subscription service.  

Nintendo's new video game console, the Switch, is a big deal. It's a new era in combining home and mobile gaming, and it's also Nintendo's chance for a comeback after their last home console, the Wii U, flopped. Today we go hands-on with an advanced copy of the console, which will launch in stores Friday, March 3, and we play it's most anticipated game, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. 

It was a big news week for the tech world. A small typo in an Amazon Web Services command caused half the internet to go down, Snap made its debut as a public company in the biggest IPO since Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and Seattle said hello to two new giant tech offices. Get the inside story and analysis from GeekWire editors and reporters on this episode of the Week in Geek. 

Host Todd Bishop discusses T-Mobile's new unlimited plan, Seattle tech, and U.S. government surveillance, what does the government know about you?

Airbnb and Uber are two of Silicon Valley's most disruptive companies. In his most recent book, author Brad Stone dives into the unique figures at the heads of these companies, as well as the negative and positive disruption they're causing in marketplaces around the world. He spoke with GeekWire's Todd Bishop at Seattle's Town Hall for this episode of the GeekWire Podcast. 

The internet makes access to information incredibly easy, and we normally see that as a good thing. But what if the information being accessed is details of our private lives? And what if the person accessing them is a government intelligence agency? This week we speak with Jennifer Granick, author of "American Spies" and director of civil liberties at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society, about the quest for privacy in the age of surveillance. 

Apple Music is taking on more and more TV shows, including James Corden' Carpool Karaoke and a brand new series called Planet of the Apps. What are they up to, and can they take on other TV streaming services? Plus, we take a look at the wars over wireless data plans, and a Windows 10 PC that's the size of an iPhone.

Saving the world is no easy task, but Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates won't let that get him down. In this one-on-one interview with GeekWire, Gates explains why he's still optimistic about the future of the world. Plus, inside details about his conversation with President Trump, and his take on Microsoft's progress under Satya Nadella.

It's official: the Snapchat Spectacles have landed in Seattle! This week on Geared Up, we get a our very own pair from the new Seattle machine and revel in the frenzy of the mysterious glasses. Plus, we discuss the Coros smart helmet, the current favorite accessory of GeekWire editor Todd Bishop, which lets riders listen to music or podcasts through their bones. And we take a look at the newly released Beats X, wireless earbuds and competitors to the AirPods. 

Front row seats to every game? Personal concerts from world-famous rock stars? Nope, you haven't won the lottery: these things might be common after the widespread adoption of "mixed reality" technology, a combination of virtual reality and the real world. This week we speak with tech evangelist and author Robert Scoble about mixed reality, which he calls "the fourth transformation" in tech, also the title of his new book.