
MobileViews Podcast 605: Google Gemini Notebooks; democratization of app dev?; guest: Steve Hughes
April 13, 2026 · 53 min · Season 18 · Episode 605
About this episode
The episode discusses Google Gemini's new features, the democratization of app development, and the implications of digital sovereignty in the EU.
In this podcast Jon Westfall and I were joined by our long-time friend Steve Hughes, who returned to the show after a long period of heavy travel. I used the opening of the show to test a new Boya CM40 condenser microphone, comparing its sound quality to my MacBook’s built-in mic, my 4K USB camera, and my AirPods. It is always fun to play with new toys.. I have become a massive fan of NotebookLM and the new notebooks feature within Google Gemini,. I recently fed hundreds of our podcast show notes and blog posts into a Gemini notebook to see how it handled the data. We discussed how this technology is becoming popular in academia as a tool for students to engage with material, though it poses a significant threat to the textbook industry by easily creating the same supplemental materials publishers charge for,. I’ve even been using it to build animated video presentations and conduct additional research, which are features included in the $20-a-month AI Pro subscription,. Our conversation turned toward the concept of "digital sovereignty," a movement in the European Union to reduce dependency on U.S. tech giants. We looked into the history of open-source office suites, from…
People in this episode
Host: Jon Westfall
Guest: Steve Hughes
Topics covered
- Google Gemini
- app development
- digital sovereignty
- open-source software
- education technology
- AI tools
Keywords
- Google Gemini
- NotebookLM
- digital sovereignty
- open-source
- education technology
- AI Pro subscription
- EuroOffice
- OnlyOffice
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: European Union, Microsoft Office, LibreOffice, StarOffice
Products: Boya CM40 condenser microphone, MacBook, 4K USB camera, AirPods, NotebookLM, Google Gemini, EuroOffice, OnlyOffice
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