Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the ever changing world
of technology? Check it Out can help make some sense
of it all, breaking down GeekSpeak into street speak. Technology columnist, author,
and TV personality Mark Saltzman covers consumer technology each week
for every listener. Mark tackles the latest news, reviews, and
how toos to help you understand what's hot, what's not
(00:22):
and why.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Hey. Everyone, welcome to Teck it Out Episode three nine two.
If you're keeping track, hope everyone's doing great today now
that we're well into May, my favorite month, maybe because
my birthday is coming up in a few weeks. Though,
travel picks up for me as well, so little tiring
going back to Italy and then to type. Hey for
(00:45):
Computech's a big convention. I know, little violins, all right,
but hey, we have a great show for you this
week with four different topics. Speaking of travel, I was
in New York on Tuesday doing some TV interviews tied
to Small Business Week, which is next week, and so
I showcase some cool tech, which I'll tell you about
today in about fifteen minutes from now. Before then to
(01:07):
kick off tech it Out today, After New York, I
went to San Francisco, to Visa's much hyped showcase called
Product Drop, where we learned about a super cool and
innovative way to shop in the near future coming in
a couple of months. That leverages ai AI agents who
can not just research products and services for you, but
(01:28):
through your Visa card, actually make the purchase with your consent.
Of course, it's a huge time saver, and so we're
going to start tech it out with an interview about that.
At Visa's event, I caught up with Rubeil Burwadker, He's
head of Growth, Products and Partnerships at Visa. Also on
the show today, I chat with networking giants tp link
(01:49):
about what's new in routers, Wi Fi seven being the
new standard. We'll talk mesh and extenders and other smart
home gear that they have as well. They're best known
for and such home networking, but they have many other
cool products. And finally we'll get our game on with
San Diego Studio that's the team behind MLB the show
(02:09):
twenty five, the new video game for PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo.
All of this and more on an all new tech
it out powered by Visa. Securing the world's payments is
priority one, and speaking of Visa. Let's officially kick off
the brand new show with our first interview recorded at
Visa's Product drop. All right, So, as I mentioned earlier
(02:31):
in the show, I'm here at Visa's product drop in
San Francisco learning all about Visa's forward thinking payment solutions
for customers and businesses alike, fusing technology with finance. I'm
here with Rubail bird Walker, Senior vice president, head of
Growth for Products and Partnerships at Visa. Pleasure to meet you, Rubail.
Thanks so much for your time.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Likewise, and thank you for coming.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
And apologies to our listeners. There's a little bit of
ambient noises a big event that you're hosting here in
San Francisco. Congrats, by the way, as a techie and
as a Visa customer, this is pretty exciting stuff. So
I guess the big news was called collectively Visa Intelligent
Commerce at a high level. Tell us a bit about this, sure.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
So the way we look at the world is today
we have four plus billion Visa cards around the world,
over one hundred and fifty million Visa accepting merchants today.
If you have a Visa card in your wallet, which
I hope you do, you could get on a plane,
go to about two hundred countries around the world, and
you could seamlessly use your Visa cardent It works exactly
the same way with the magic of what we call
how the Visa network brings the reality is as that
(03:35):
physical commerce translates into an e commerce environment, translates into
mobile commerce environment, we try to bring that same consumer experience,
which is frictionless, high trust in a way that you
know that your money is safe working with the Visa brand,
how do we make sure that that exact same seamless
experience and seem as an ubiquitous experience also translates into
(03:55):
a AI platform driven world.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
And we've been very, very.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
Focused on bringing that experience, working with our partners like OpenAI,
like Perplexity, like Anthropical work about several months and figuring out,
like how do we bring that magic of you know,
the four billion plus visa credentials to work seamlessly at
one hundred and fifty million visa plus accepting merchants seamlessly
in a native context in these AA platforms.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
All right, So sixty odd years ago you started using
this piece of plastic to buy things at retail. Then
in the nineties started to buy things online. You hinted
at the mobile revolution using your smartphone to purchase and transact,
and now we're entering this agentic or AI driven world.
I think a lot of my listeners have experimented with chat,
(04:39):
GPT and maybe others like Google, Gemini, there's Microsoft Copilot,
there's Apple Intelligence. So they're interacting generative AI. So they're
interacting by typing in a prompt or using their voice
to ask something like build me a three day itinerary
in Paris, France. But Visa is taking it to the
next level because what would typically happen is the AI
may recommend into a hotel, they may recommend a restaurant
(05:02):
and an excursion, maybe a deal on flights, but it
stops at the point of purchase. This is the problem
that Visa's looking to resolve.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
That's exactly right.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
I think our view of the world is it's not
really commerce unless you've actually solved the payment component of
a discovery process that a consumer goes through when they're
trying to sort of go through a process of either
booking an itinerary, buying a bag, or trying to pay
for a good sort of service that they really really
want and we want to make sure that that payment's
piece is seamless and it's really really integrated in a
(05:35):
clean and trusted way with the discovery process while still
bringing a lot of control in the hands of the consumer.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
All Right, so let's stick with that example of buying
a three day weekend getaway with your family. So with
a partner like Open AI, soon, I believe this year,
I'll be able to do just that if I have
a visa card, unless I need a special kind of card.
Maybe you can talk about that, because I believe it
was said today on stage there are AI powered cards.
(06:04):
I don't know if that's already in existence or coming soon,
but the idea is that I will say, I want
a room for four that's not too expensive, but by
the beach, and I want a steakhouse that night, and
then I'll be actually prompted to pay for it right
then and there.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
Yeah, the simplest way to think about it, to just
directly answer your question. Our goal is that any visa
card should actually work. We call it like AI driven cards,
mostly because we're making sure that our technology works with
our existing Guard.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Boulder base thanks to the clarification.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
Yeah, absolutely, in a way that it actually seamlessly operates
in an AA environment.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
That's one.
Speaker 4 (06:37):
So in the itinerary example that you just gave us,
a very simple example would be maybe you have a
card on file already with Chat, GPT or a different
AI platform. Maybe you don't, you decide to enter it,
and the way our technology works is we take that
card to create a tokenized version of it.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
So look, you know your PII and your.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
Card number is like not like floating around in the
ethernet sitting with an agent or a piece of software
you don't want it to. And then that piece, that
token is transaction, which is then authenticated.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
To exactly who you are.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
Then is associated with any purchase intent that you have.
So say, for example, you're like I want to buy
a North Phase bag or I want to go stay
at this hotel under three hundred dollars. We captured that
intent in a number of variables. At the time of
an intent happens, then it associates itself with the card.
The agent goes and finds the thing that you really
wanted to buy, it confirms back with us and says
(07:27):
it's under five hundred dollars. It's at the wind them
in Miami, we do the matching, and only then, and
only then we enable and give the power of the
card to be actually used with that agent to go
complete the purchase on your behalf.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
All right, So, like you said earlier, trust is a
huge component. Viza has already earned the trust, I would
argue with billions of customers around the world. But AI
makes people nervous, and so that transaction would not be
processed until you could verify it. When you see with
your own eyes at that hotel is exactly two ninety
nine to night. It didn't jump to four. And that
(08:01):
agent as you call it, that AI assistant that's booking
that room for you, is going to go ahead and
process your card for the amount that you didn't approve.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
That's exactly right, except the way it would actually work
is we will capture your intent at the time of
you asking us, and we're going to automatically make sure
that we match it back before we allow the agent
to have the agency to use your money and your
credential for that specific transaction. And again, this is all
going to happen in a matter of milliseconds, no different
(08:30):
than a purchase experience happens in a physical environment or
an e commerce environment on your mobile phone or your
web right.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
The devils and the details, as they say, so, it's
tokenization and then authentication through a password or your face
or other kind of biometrics authentication or verification.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
That's right.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
So like our goal here is to make sure that
the card is ultimately tied to the device for that app,
specifically for a consumer.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
We are chatting with Rubel Birdwatker. He is senior vice president,
head of Growth for Products Partnerships at Visa. It's a
little noisy here. I apologize. We're here at the Visa
product drop twenty twenty five in San Francisco. There are
several journalists and analysts here, as well as other partners
of yours like banks and other financial institutions. It's big news.
So it's called Visa. Intelligent commerce is the collective term
(09:19):
agentic shopping in other words, and certainly other credit card
issuers want to get on board because this is a
huge opportunity if they haven't already. So I guess or
follow up question would be why Visa The.
Speaker 4 (09:31):
Way we think about it is and almost everything that
we build is deeply rooted in data, right, I think
Jack today, during a presentation at the Product ROP shared
that we know for a fact as a data point
that over a billion users around the world are now
starting their discovery journey on AI or ALT platforms, which
means a lot of commerce is going to get translated.
(09:51):
But consumers started their discovery journey on these places. This
is not a hypothetical, it's just data.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
That we're working with.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
If you also do a bunch of consumer research and
consumers have any very clear, like almost two out of
three consumers tell us that they love using platforms like this.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
They love, like you know, figuring out what to shop,
what to.
Speaker 4 (10:08):
Buy, and they want a trusted environment where they can
continue that journey from not just finding the things they
want to pay for, but also doing it in a trusted, seamless,
frictionless way.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
All right, So I think we've covered Visa intelligent Commerce
quite a bit, Rubail, but I'd love to end off
on some of the other big announcements. Crypto maybe isn't
mainstream at this point, but more and more people around
the world are embracing it, and not just to buy
it and hold it, but to transact with it. Can
you tell us a bit about the crypto announcement today
and stable coin maybe it's an extension of what was
(10:39):
announced by VISA last year.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Yeah, I think I think it's a really really good question.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
And look, we have big believers that stablegoin technology has
a lot of good benefit for the pay and ecosystem.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
A couple more minutes with Rubail after this short break.
In fact, I'm going to ask them to first clarify
what stable coins are and what the new announcement was
from vis I'm also going to ask him to look
into his crystal ball and tell us what transacting is
going to look like by the year twenty thirty. Maybe
it's going to be through smart classes and using voice
based AI agents and all that. All right, we'll see
(11:12):
and after we wrap up with Roubail, as I mentioned earlier,
we've got three more topics to get to after that,
and so a very busy check it Out to get
to this hour, So stick with us.
Speaker 5 (11:23):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Listen to check it out whenever you want to find
the check it Out podcast, did I too, or wherever
you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Welcome back to check it out. Just about two and
a half minutes left with Rubail, Birdwatker from Visa. I
caught up with him at the Visa Product drop in
San Francisco on Wednesday to learn all about a new initiative,
Visa Intelligent Commerce, which is agentic shopping, having AI agents
not just research products and services for you based on
(12:01):
your prompts, but actually purchase them with your permission. Before
the break, Rubail, we were starting to talk about stable
coins in crypto, Please continue your thought.
Speaker 4 (12:10):
So a stable coin really is a digital representation and
it's tied to or a peck to a certain commodity,
whether it could be a US dollar or a European
euro or a British pound or a different commodity. Primarily,
the stable coin technology that we've been speaking about and
the work work that we've been doing is primarily has
been focused on the work that we've done with USDC
and like the US backstable coins that we're working with currently.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
And you know, we work with a lot of banks
very closely, and is.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Fourteen and a half thousand of them forty and a
half thousand of them is exactly right.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
And a good example of that is some of the
work that we're doing with BBBA where they want to
issue their own stable coin for a number of use
cases that they want to try out on their end,
and they're working with us very closely to help them
mint and burn some of those stable coins, and we
intend to bring that technology and financial infrastructure for stable
coins to other banks in the coming future.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
All right, Rubel, last question, fast forward five years twenty thirty,
how will transactions look.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
I'm going to try and like stay out of the
speculation land, and I'm going to stick to the things
that I understand best, which is how commerce and payments
are like evolve together.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
And this is what I believe is going to happen.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
Hopefully, we're going to again continue to evolve into an
era where we have more and more frictionless commerce regardless
of where a consumer wants to start their journey and
they want to pay for, whether it's an e commerce environment,
a web environment, a mobile environment, or an AI driven environment.
And hopefully we want to make sure that the control
and privacy is going to continue to stay with the
(13:34):
consumer so they can trust how they're using their visa credentials.
And you know, we want to bring that value and
trust and the promise of our brand to billions of
visa card holders around the world.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
It must be a challenge though, because on one hand,
you know, you want to transact quickly microseconds, right, because
the consumer doesn't want to wait, they're impatient. But on
the flip side, you don't want to be responsible for
fraud you know, obviously makes sense a company like Visa,
nor does the customer want to deal with that or
the business that's selling that item. So it's kind of
(14:05):
like a catch twenty two. You know, how do you
provide a seamless, fast yet also secure frictionless purchase for
both the consumer and the business.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
You said that, right, I mean, these are all trade ops,
but we are obsessive about the consumer experience and the
kind of experience our godholder's face and try to make
it as seamless as frictionless as possible. Things that you
do really really well.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Awesome Roubel. Great to meet you and chat with you.
Thanks so much for your time. I encourage our listeners
to head on over to Visa dot com and click
on news or tap on news to get all the
details for Visa Intelligent Commerce.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Thank you so much for coming so.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
As I mentioned earlier in the show, I had a
lot of fun on Tuesday in New York doing TV
interviews across the country tied to Small Business Week, and
so I wanted to share with you what I showed
on TV. Let's start with laptops. The HP Elite Book
X flip G one I is a lightweight, yet powerful
and secure laptop that includes a flexible fourteen inch touchscreen
(15:01):
under the hood and has an Intel Core Ultra processor
offering up to forty eight tops of NPU power. Forgive
the geek speak in plain English. This accelerates your AI
workloads to help you get more done in less time
and with all day battery life. On a related note,
this Elite Book also features HPAI Companion. It's an award
(15:22):
winning tool for personalization and document summarization. As for printers,
the HP office Jet Pro ninety one twenty five E
all in one is perfect for small and medium sized
businesses because it delivers reliable and fast performance up to
twenty two pages per minute. In fact, there's also a
large two hundred and fifty sheet input tray, duplex scanning
(15:45):
via an automatic document feeder, and seamless mobile and app
based printing. When you couple that with the HP Instant Inc.
Subscription service, small and medium sized businesses can save up
to fifty percent on printing costs as replacement inc Is
sent out to you when the office jet probe detects
it's running low Super convenient. Next up, some software businesses
(16:06):
can simplify financial management with quick in Business and Personal.
It's designed to meet the needs of self employed and
small business owners by allowing you to seamlessly manage all
your business and personal finances from one app. It lets
you effortlessly manage cash flow, invoice clients, managed deductions, and
of course prepare for tax season. Let's face it, no
(16:28):
business owners should have bookkeeping stress on their minds, and yes,
Quick in Business and Personal can help you manage finances
for up to ten businesses alongside your personal accounts at
a low monthly cost. In fact, it's usually seven ninety
nine a month to start. It's now down to under
four dollars a month for a limited time. Next up,
Video communication. The HP six twenty five FHD webcam delivers
(16:52):
full HD resolution, a wide seventy seven degree field of view,
and automatic low light correction, helping small business owners show
up sharp and clear in every meeting, whether it's a
client pitch or a virtual team huddle. It quickly connects
to a laptop or desktop via USBC or with an
included USBA adapter in the box. It has a privacy
(17:14):
shutter for when you're not using the webcam and an
activity light that shines when you are visible. An underrated
feature of the HP six five, in my opinion, is
a microphone with AI noise reduction for distraction free audio
and yes that includes barking dogs in the background for
those who work at home. And then finally, I ends
it off on good lighting. I showed the True Red
(17:36):
Bright Well five to one productivity light by Staples, designed
for those who work at home or in an office setting,
or both, as the adjustable light can boost productivity, enhance focus,
and promote well being. It's under forty dollars at Staples
dot com, so it's an affordable and portable light that
provides five unique lighting modes meeting focus, happy, breathing, and busy.
(17:59):
It's a great tool to help guide you through your
entire workday. If you want to see videos of these products,
head on over to inthnews dot tv. Again, that's inthnews
dot tv, Happy Small Business Week more. Check it out
when we return. Want to follow Mark Google, Mark with
a C and Saltsman with.
Speaker 6 (18:17):
A Z.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Breaking down geeks peak into street speak.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
This is check it Out. To check it out with.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Technology columnist, author, and TV personality Mark Saltzman.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Welcome back everyone you're listening to check it out. We're
now well into spring, so fresh air during outside walks,
maybe getting your garden ready, cleaning your grill for barbecue
season cookouts, and of course baseball is back and that
includes the premiere Baseball video game as well to one
wind after a long day at the office or after
(18:59):
some homework, MLB The Show twenty five has stepped up
to the plate and to tell us all about this
year's game. We're joined on the line by Ramon Russell,
director of Product Development, Communications and brand Strategy at San
Diego Studio. That's the team behind the MLB the Show franchise.
Welcome back to the show, Ramone, good to chat with
you again.
Speaker 5 (19:18):
It's good to chat with you as well. Thank you
for having us again.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
So hey, before we talk about what's new with MLB
The Show twenty five, please give us a high level
look at MLB this show, the franchise as a whole, well.
Speaker 7 (19:30):
It is the twentieth anniversary of MLB The Show this year, coincidentally,
So we've been making baseball video games at the San
Diego Studio for over twenty years, and it's one of
the longest standing successful franchises in the PlayStation portfolio. And
we've been really lucky to continue to work on this
amazing game that we all love and try to bring
a digital version to our fans across you know, PlayStation, Xbox,
(19:54):
you know, and Nintendo Switch.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
It used to be a PlayStation exclusive. Now you're making
this game of avail on other platforms as well, which
is really great for those who may opt for a
different platform. So for those who have played the game
in the past but not this year's version yet, please
tell us what's new with MLB The Show twenty five.
Speaker 7 (20:14):
You know, as I alluded to about our pedigree and
history of making baseball games for so long, I think
with every game, including sports game, it always boils down
to gameplay.
Speaker 5 (20:24):
Everything starts and ends with gameplay.
Speaker 7 (20:26):
If the gameplay is not good, it doesn't matter, you know,
what else you put in the game. So we've been
very lucky. You know, our senior gameplay director has been
the same for the entirety of the franchise, and so
every year we lead with gameplay and MLB. The show
twenty five is no different. We added hundreds of new
gameplay animations, hundreds of new presentation animations. We added a
new hitting method called Ambush Hitting, where you can look
(20:47):
inside and outside, and for our crazy hardcore fans who
loved that challenge, we even added a crazy difficulty mode
called Goat Difficulty. And so there's so much to discover
in gameplay alone. But it doesn't stop there. You know,
all those changes you notice and road to the show.
You know, this is the first time we can start
out in high school and then end up choosing to
go to college enroll to the show. Franchise mode received
(21:08):
a lot of love and it's always our fan favorite
game mode. Diamond Dynasty is back. Sets and seasons are
no more. We have this really crazy interesting feature called
Diamond Quest, which our fans are really really loving. And
last but not least, you know, we're introducing storyline season
three where we educate and enlighten and inspire by introducing
our fan base to a new set of Negro League
(21:30):
legends which they probably haven't heard about.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Right, So, season three of that, which is really great
for storylines. And you've touched on some of my favorite
modes like Road to the show Diamond Dynasty. There's also,
of course March October Franchise mode, but tell us a
bit more about Diamond Quest. So this is a bit
of a departure. This is almost like a card game,
if you will, which is great because not only does
(21:54):
your game every year have depth, but now it's got
even more breadth as well.
Speaker 7 (21:59):
Yeah, so like we're always trying new things and that
can be difficult in a yearly cycle.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
When dimon Quest was one of those things that was
on the menu this year.
Speaker 7 (22:07):
It's a board game, let you earn more players to
add to your rosters. And what basically how dimon Quest
works is it's a single player only mode. You'll find
in the menu of Diamond Dynasty and you're presented with
a board and you try to navigate that board completing
challenges in exchange for treasure. We love roguelikes here, so
if you played a roguelike, you'll notice some similarities there.
(22:28):
And we want to keep everything. You want to keep
everything you've earned, like you don't want to end your run,
So there's that rich reward factor there, and you kind
of have to beat that final mission, which is a
stadium challenge to be able to keep those rewards and
take them.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Thanks for that. And I called it a card game
because it looks like baseball cards that you would collect
when you move along the board and you start playing
through these challenges. So thanks for the clarification. It is
not a card game. It is like a roguelike board game.
Speaker 5 (22:55):
It's a roguelike board game where you earn cards and rewards.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Fair thanks for that. And you roll like a six
sided die right to move along the squares.
Speaker 5 (23:04):
That's great.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Yeah, it's so cool. But at its core, if you're
into baseball as a spectator or you play with your friends,
you know, whether it to pick up game or in
a league. At its core, you still can play as
or against your favorite MLB team. But also, as you've
touched on, there's so many other modes, more of a
managerial mode, a collecting mode. There's the franchise, the storylines
(23:26):
going back in history to play as baseball's often overlooked
legends of the game. There's so much unpack here. But
I'm going to ask you in a second ramone what
your favorite feature is out of everything that's new this year.
We are chatting with Ramon Russell. He's with San Diego Studio.
This is the folks behind the MLB the Show franchise
celebrating its twentieth year, creating games not just for PlayStation anymore,
(23:47):
but other consoles as well. So, yeah, Ramon, out of
all the new animations, and there's always so much added
year after year to keep things fresh, and that's got
to be a huge challenge as well, because on one hand,
you don't want to veer away from what made the
franchise so popular to begin with, but you also want
to add some new elements in there to justify the purchase.
(24:10):
So that's a fine line like that. That's an interesting dance.
But with everything that's packed into the new game, what's
your favorite? If I had to press you on one thing.
Speaker 5 (24:18):
It would be then the entire package.
Speaker 7 (24:21):
Because you know, we know that fans engage with MLB
the Show in a multitude of ways. Some fans only
play Franchise Mode, they won't touch anything else. Some fans
only play Road to the Show, some fans only play
Diamond Dynasty. We have a subset of fans who only
play storylines, presents the negro leagues. So it's it behooves
us to always try to improve every aspect of the
(24:41):
game in major way since we're a yearly title and
now we can't do everything because we only have, you know,
a handful of months, but we always try to add
something to every mode to make that fan happy. So
it would be the entirety of the development cycle and
the entirety of our feature set this year, that would
be thing that I love the most about the game
this year.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
And there's a couple of versions too, right, isn't there
like a digital deluxe version that has some extra content
that is correct?
Speaker 7 (25:09):
Yeah, So we have a standard edition of the game,
which is great for everybody, and we also have a
digital Deluxe edition of the game, which is kind of
for our more hardcore fans. And what we do there
is we give you a lot of value for a
premium skew, and that skew really talks to our Diamond
Dynasty crowd and it's been a very very popular skill
for since we introduced it a few years ago, and
it's probably something we'll keep doing. So no matter what
(25:31):
you like, whether you just want to buy the base game,
or you want to jump in the Diamond Dynasty, there's
a skew for you.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
And is there a companion app as well?
Speaker 6 (25:38):
This year?
Speaker 2 (25:38):
I think you introduced that last year, right there.
Speaker 5 (25:40):
Is there is a companion app, yep.
Speaker 7 (25:42):
And you can go to the Show dot Com and
you can learn everything there is to know about MLB
the Show. And that's where you can sign up for
the companion app and our scouting report so you get
emails about all the latest news involving the MLB The
Show franchise.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
All right, So it's simply the show dot Com. That's correct,
all right. Always great to chat with you. Thanks so
much for your time and congrats on the launch of
yet another MLB The Show game in the franchise. Here's
to the next twenty years.
Speaker 5 (26:09):
Oh hopefully.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Thank you so much for having me really appreciate it.
When we return on Tech it Out, we're going to
catch up with TP link to talk Wi Fi, seven
smart home gadgets, and more.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
We'll be right back breaking down GeekSpeak into street speak.
Check it Out hosted by Mark Saltzman.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
Welcome back to Check it Out. There are many home
networking brands out there that create wireless routers and other
related products. So what separates tp link from the pack.
Joining us on the line to talk Wi Fi and
other products for the home in the tp link family.
We've got on the line, David Lux, marketing director at
tp link. Welcome to the show. David, good to have
(26:58):
you on the program.
Speaker 6 (26:58):
Thanks for having me. Mark.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Before we talk tp link, let's maybe chat at a
high level about the importance of good Wi Fi at home.
I guess it could be argued it's the common thread
between all of the devices we use today.
Speaker 6 (27:12):
Of course, I always like to say that Wi Fi
is that unseen essential in our homes. If you think
back ten years, you know how many devices were actively
using your WiFi. Probably just a handful a laptop, maybe
a smartphone, and perhaps a tablet. Fast forward to today,
(27:32):
it's not uncommon to have dozens of devices vying for bandwidth,
including smart TVs, security cameras, thermostats, appliances, even electric vehicles.
This surge is coinciding with dramatic increases in Internet speeds. Additionally,
today's smart home is complex. We have more devices than ever.
(27:53):
We're seeing a surge in devices with increased accessibility, sophistication, integration, capabilities.
It's easier than ever to build a smart home thanks
to do it yourself solutions like those from tplink that
make it easy for homeowners to improve their homes without
requiring professional installation. You have voice assistant integration and hands
(28:17):
free operation that have become very commonplace. And now we're
on the cusp of AI powered automation, which will bring
a new wave of personalized experience within the smart home.
So what I'm driving at is it is an exciting
time in the smart home space, and I think good
Wi Fi is, of course the foundation of that evolution.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
Fair, yeah, all good points. We have more devices on
the network, and we also need faster Wi Fi for
things like four K streaming, multiplayer gaming, AI applications, and
so on. So tp link is probably best known for
your networking gear. I know we're going to talk about
some other products that you already hinted at, but please
tell us a bit about the company.
Speaker 6 (28:57):
That's right. We've been a leader in networking globally for
a long time. We introduced innovations like the first Wi
Fi seven router, and we continue to offer next gen
technology for our users and make those technologies more and
more accessible. Keep the link is so much more than networking.
We really are the complete smart home brand. We make
(29:19):
award winning purpose driven devices that includes vacuums, in doorbells
and lighting, and a host of devices that users would
use around their home. We also are unique in being
a leader in wireless technology. We know how to get
devices connected. After all, a smart home is only as
(29:40):
smart as its network, and that's really what our wireless
expertise provides, all.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
Right, So we will talk more about the other products
in a minute. I just recently reviewed the Doorbell video
doorbell with pum reading capabilities, which is pretty wild. But
just going back to wireless internet, I guess today people
are buying a new router, are upgrading their router to
maybe Wi Fi seven. Maybe you could talk to us
a bit about that, or if they feel like they
(30:05):
need to stay with their Internet service provider, their ISP's
router that they may be rent or is provided by them,
that they may augment that router with a mesh system
that will expand the wireless connectivity throughout their home, blanket
their home with broader Wi Fi. So why don't we
start there with what's available from you?
Speaker 6 (30:26):
Yeah, great questions, It's true, it's a competitive space. There's
a lot of choices out there in this category. There
are a few things that make tp link really unique
in this area. First is the breadth and depth of
our offering in networking. In particular, we have a host
of devices, from routers, to mesh systems, to extenders and more.
(30:49):
Whatever you need, we probably have a solution for you.
Making the latest technology accessible is also a hallmark of
what tpulank is really really well. As I mentioned, not
only were we first to market with a Wi Fi
seven router, but we've continued building on what we call
(31:10):
our Wi Fi seven for Everyone mission, and we've introduced
a variety of devices that support our users, covering virtually
any use case, from small apartments to the largest homes, indoors,
outdoors and beyond, and at virtually every price point from
under one hundred dollars to sixteen hundred dollars. We take
(31:31):
pride in paving the way for massage option of next
gen technology and making Wi Fi seven technology more accessible.
The other thing that's really important to mention here is
that what supports how we're able to come to market
with such a competitive lineup of devices. The secret is
(31:52):
vertical integration. What's common in our industry is outsourcing manufacturing
to original design manufacturing or ODMs overseas. Atipuy link, the
secret to our successes is really simple. We make our
own stuff, so instead of relying on ODMs or a
third party or middleman, we design, engineer, and manufacturer components
(32:15):
in house. We even make products in our own factory
in Viennam. This allows us many advantages, such as going
to market with new designs or new technology like Wi
Fi siven very quickly. But that level of control also
offers a host of benefits to end users in terms
of quality, security, and of course value.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
We're going to continue chatting with tp link after this
short break, but first a shout out to sand Disk,
an official partner of mine on tech it out. I
always trust sand disk solid state drives, USB, thumb drives,
SD cards all that to back up my important files
on a regular basis, but it's also fast enough to
work off those drives as well. As a content creator,
(32:57):
I always have external media from sand disc plugged into
my life laptop and my mobile devices like phones and tablets,
and I encourage you to do the same. Sanddisk dot
com has more including some great sales. More with tp
link when we return after this short break.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
Follow Mark Saltzman on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram Listen
to check it out whenever you want.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
We are chatting with David Lux, marketing director at tp link.
We're hearing about its networking equipment as well as other
smart home devices, and then going back to the router
and mash systems, which again is a form of range extenders.
I'd argue that you you mentioned earlier. There's also a
Tapo app and parental controls. There's also cybersecurity built in
(33:48):
or baked in to these devices too, with something called
home Shield. Can you tell us a bit about that?
Speaker 6 (33:53):
Definitely. So tp link has a great software experience to
complement our hardware. That's also an advantage to making our
own stuff, which gives us the ability to ensure the
entire experience works seamlessly for our users. The Tapo app
is a great example of that. From the front door
to the backyard one subscription free app to Tapo app
(34:16):
is kind of all you need to build a powerfully
smart home with hundreds of automations, compatibility with your favorite
voice assistance. The app really provides effortless control over your
smart home, and that's why millions of vouseholds use the
app today. On our networking products, we have what we
call home Shield, which is a built in sort of
(34:37):
available on routers and decomesh systems, providing a home networking
protection suite with network security, rental controls, reports on your network,
and much more. We also have a home Shield Pro
tier that users can pay for, which adds more advanced
(34:58):
network security, more detailed parental controls, device antivirus software, and
a host of other features for users who want more
production and the ability to really configure their network to
their needs.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
For those listening who are in the market for upgrading
their router or other home networking gear, what are some
of the latest tp link products that they should keep
in mind?
Speaker 6 (35:23):
Well, how much time do we have? We do have
quite a list, So how about I highlight a few
that I'm really excited about. First, For networking, our decomesh
systems have always been one of our most innovative products.
These provide users with a seamless, wireless mesh network that
serves as that unseen backbone of any smart home. The
(35:45):
latest additions to the Deco lineup include outdoor nodes to
let you extend Wi Fi seven coverage to the backyard,
patio or pool area and ensure reliable performance in all
weather conditions. Our smart home cameras are also one of
my favorite advices thanks to the breath, the features and
foreign factors, flexibility of local storage, and access to advanced features.
(36:10):
With how To subscription is huge out of the box.
You have an amazing way to keep an eye on
kids or pets, or just have a watchful eye over
your property without taking the product home and being surprised
by required subscriptions, although we do offer that as well
for those who do prefer to store their data in
(36:34):
the cloud.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
Yeah, it's one of my pet gives. With some of
the video doorbells companies that sell them, even some of
the biggest ones, don't make it clear that if you
want to look back in time to see who was
at your door, whether it was five minutes ago or
five days ago, you have to pay for that. Like
it's always free to talk live with someone who rings
your doorbell, whether you're home or not, but if you
want to see what time, I don't know your teenagers
(36:55):
came home last night, or if that package was delivered
while you were at work, you have to pay. So
it's good to hear that there's an option for Tpling
to have local.
Speaker 6 (37:04):
Storage, absolutely, and that's something that we hear from our
customers all the time as well. The local storage capability
is really a huge differentiator for those that don't want
to be paying for that extra subscription when they really
don't necessarily need it.
Speaker 2 (37:20):
And then, David, before I let you go, tell us
a bit about the Tapo robo facts that you've got.
I know that I just looked at one as well
for a Yahoo article.
Speaker 6 (37:28):
Yes, our latest generation of Capo robot vacuums are getting
a really warm reception from reviewers and users alike. There's
so many vacuums on the market, and it's great to
see the RV series getting recognized for its value. The
Tapo lineup also includes wired and wireless smart doorbells. We
have smart locks with multiple ways to access your home,
(37:50):
and smart lighting solutions, just to name a few. So
it's great to see us build on that great lineup
of smart home devices with the full lineup of robot vacuums.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
All right, awesome? And then David, where can we learn
more about all of the products we chatted about today,
be it networking gear or smart home tech.
Speaker 6 (38:12):
Yeah, the best way to learn more is to check
out tplink dot com. That's tplink dot.
Speaker 2 (38:18):
Com, tpdashlink dot com. Great to chat with you, David.
Thanks so much for your time and I hope you
have a fantastic rest of your spring.
Speaker 6 (38:25):
Name to you, Thank you, Mark.
Speaker 2 (38:26):
And thank you check it Out listeners on the radio
or in podcast land. Thank you for tuning into a
brand new show. Hope you enjoyed it with our four
different guests. A big shout out to Visa, thank you
for your support. And it was awesome to attend the
product drop in San Francisco on Wednesday for the official
unveiling of Visa Intelligent Commerce. Very exciting future of shopping,
(38:50):
leveraging AI agents to help save you time. And Hey,
I hope you have a fantastic rest of your day,
great week ahead, and I look forward to catching up
with you next week and for another brand new episode
of Tack It Out. Chow for now