HBO’s no good very bad rebrand

It’s not TV, it’s HBO. No, sorry, it’s HBO Go. And also HBO Now. But now it’s HBO Max, except wait, now it’s not HBO at all? It’s just Max? Actually, I’m being told it is once again HBO Max. Thank you for joining us on this wild and utterly nonsensical branding journey. Please keep watching The White Lotus. On this episode of The Vergecast, Nilay, David, and The Verge’s Jake Kastrenakes start the show with some personal news before digging into Warner Bros. Discovery’s decision to rename its streaming service again this week, re-embracing the HBO brand after eschewing it only a few years ago. (Now that we think about it, maybe we should have seen this coming from a company that couldn’t come up with a better combined name than “Warner Bros. Discovery.”) The hosts also talk about the rest of the news in a busy week in streaming, from ESPN’s upcoming service to the plan for Fox One. [Media: https://megaphone.link/VMP2266932384] Subscribe: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Pocket Casts | More After that, it’s time to talk gadgets. Apple’s next-generation CarPlay, now called CarPlay Ultra, is finally here, but it’s not at all what we expected. Google revealed the colorful, bouncy future of Android, and we really like it — but we’re not sure who’s actually going to get to see it. Ahead of Google I/O next week, we have plenty of questions about what’s next for Google’s phone plans, and for Gemini in general. Finally, in the lightning round, it’s time for another edition of Brendan Carr is a Dummy. We also talk about the strange, uncanny future of sponsored content — and why “the Oscar goes to… Coca-Cola!” is a sentence we might need to get ready to hear. And we discuss the new Airbnb, and whether the company’s pivot to experiences and services will actually pay off. If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started, beginning with streaming: * HBO gives up, calls it HBO Max again * Max was an all-time bad rebrand * How HBO’s creatives survived corporate chaos * ESPN’s standalone streaming app launches this fall for $30 a month * Fox One streaming service will arrive just in time for football season * Netflix is bringing back Star Search as a live show And in Android and CarPlay news: * Apple’s CarPlay Ultra is finally here, if you have a new Aston Martin * From Top Gear: New Apple CarPlay Ultra tested: hands-on with every new feature * Apple’s fancy new CarPlay will only work wirelessly * Android’s youthful new design language just dropped * Gemini is coming to TVs and cars, eventually And in the lightning round:’ * From Ars Technica: FCC threatens EchoStar licenses for spectrum that SpaceX wants to use * From Fast Company: WhatsApp’s new Netflix doc on F1 is a master class in turning advertising into entertainment * Warner Bros. is launching a cinematic universe for brands * Here’s How NBCU Is Integrating Brand Sponsors for SNL50 * Airbnb’s new app has all of your vacation extras in one place * From Wired: Airbnb Is in Midlife Crisis Mode