Two Voice Devs

After months of conferences and busy schedules, Mark Tucker and Allen Firstenberg return to discuss Microsoft’s surprising Build conference announcement: Project Solara. Moving from the legacy voice-first consumer world of Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, Microsoft is pioneering a secure, business-focused "Agent-first" platform.

In this episode, we unpack Microsoft's two new concept devices, a desktop smart display and a wearable camera-equipped badge, and explore the Android Open Source Project (AOSP)-based platform behind them: the Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform (MDEP). We discuss how Project Solara integrates enterprise security standards like Intune, Windows Hello for Business, and Entra ID to allow agents to act on behalf of authenticated users. We also dive into the future-proof promise of "Just In Time UI" (Generative UI) which dynamically adapts interfaces to any form factor, and explore how these agentic tools could liberate deskless workers from being "slaves to a slab of glass."

More Info:
* https://commandline.microsoft.com/project-solara-build-2026/

Timestamps:
[00:00:00] Intro & Catching Up
[00:00:49] Transitioning from Voice-First (Alexa/Assistant) to Agent-First
[00:01:35] Designing for Echo Show and Google Assistant vs. GenAI
[00:02:37] Project Solara: Custom Agentic Devices for Business
[00:03:09] Google Glass & the Early Spark for Enterprise Use Cases
[00:04:30] Smart Displays and Wearable Badge Concept Hardware
[00:05:12] Built on Android (AOSP) vs. Google's Android XR
[00:05:46] Security: Microsoft MDEP, Intune, and Alexa for Business
[00:07:10] Bring Your Own Agent (BYOA) on Azure
[00:08:41] Just-In-Time UI & Generative UI
[00:12:09] Developer Availability and Future Outlook
[00:13:26] Rethinking Computers: Lessons from Google Glass & Assistant
[00:14:32] Wrap Up and Future Form Factors (Watches, Rings, Glasses)

#ProjectSolara #MicrosoftBuild #AgentFirst #VoiceFirst #MDEP #GenerativeUI #GenUI #AOSP #BYOA #EnterpriseTech #TwoVoiceDevs

Episode 274

Allen and Mike record live from Google I/O in the Builders podcast space. They discuss their impressions of this year's conference, the evolution of I/O over the years, and the big announcements from the keynote. Key topics include Gemini's "any output from any input" vision, how the new NanoBanana and Omni models are different than Imagen and Veo, the state of Android XR development, and the introduction of App Functions (Android MCP) for better AI agent integration. They also share their thoughts on the new Gemini app UI and what they hope to see in the world of wearables by next year.

More info:
* Android XR Developer Program: https://developer.android.com/develop/xr/catalyst

[00:00:11] Live from Google I/O Builders Podcast Space
[00:00:37] Reflections on I/O over the years
[00:02:01] Gemini's "Any Input to Any Output" Vision
[00:02:54] What's the big deal with NanoBanana and Omni?
[00:03:41] Android XR and the future of intelligent eyewear
[00:06:02] New Android developer tools and AI coding agents
[00:08:29] App Functions and Android MCP
[00:13:08] Spark, Halo, and AI agents on Android
[00:15:07] The new Gemini app UI and design feedback
[00:17:26] Looking ahead: Hopes for I/O 2027 and wearables

#GoogleIO #GeminiAI #AndroidXR #AndroidMCP #AppFunctions #GoogleGlass #TwoVoiceDevs #AIAgents #AndroidDev #Wearables #AppFunctions #NanoBanana #GeminiOmni

Allen and Noble are live from Google I/O! This episode breaks down the biggest keynote news: agentic coding in Search, the power of Generative UI, and the future of "intelligent eyewear." They share what these changes mean for the venerable Google Search, what works (and what doesn't) with the new Google Glass, and how Android XR fits into the picture. From wearable AI to interactive search, find out what's here and what's coming this fall.

More info:
* Agentic Coding in Search: https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/search-io-2026/#agentic-coding
* Android XR Developer Program: https://developer.android.com/develop/xr/catalyst

[00:00:00] Introduction from Google I/O
[00:01:32] Agentic Coding in Google Search
[00:04:00] Generative UI: Beyond the Chatbot
[00:08:19] The Three Pillars: Models, Coding, and Agents
[00:11:00] Intelligent Eyewear and the Return of Glass
[00:13:09] Hands-on with the AI Sandbox
[00:15:44] The Human Impact of Real-Time Translation
[00:16:47] Android XR and the Developer Experience
[00:18:36] Developer Opportunities and Early Access

#GoogleIO #IO26 #AndroidXR #GeminiAI #GenerativeUI #GoogleGlass #IntelligentEyewear #GoogleSearch #AgenticAI #TechPodcast #TwoVoiceDevs #AI #IOCreatorStudio #GoogleForDevelopers

Episode 272

Allen and Alice are on the ground at Google Cloud Next, breaking down the biggest shifts in the AI landscape. This episode explores the transition from focusing on models to building agents with the launch of the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform. They discuss the new TPU v8 hardware, the power of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) for Workspace integration, and how tools like Workspace Studio are making agent development accessible to everyone. Plus, a look at the incredible AI-powered Wizard of Oz experience at the Sphere!

Timestamps:
[00:00:12] Live from Day Two of Google Cloud Next
[00:01:13] New Hardware: TPU v8 for Training and Inference
[00:02:53] Gemini's Current State and Future Models
[00:04:27] Vertex AI Rebrands as Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform
[00:06:14] Building Reliable Agents: Identity, Registry, and Observability
[00:07:18] Powering Agents with Model Context Protocol (MCP)
[00:11:06] Workspace Studio: Automation for Everyone
[00:15:00] Immersive Experiences at the Sphere
[00:17:12] Final Thoughts and Where to Follow

Hashtags:
#GoogleCloudNext #Gemini #AIAgents #VertexAI #TPU #MCP #WorkspaceStudio
#TwoVoiceDevs #GenAI #QueenOfSpreadsheets

In part two of this insightful conversation, Allen and Sam Witteveen dive deep into the rapidly expanding world of AI models beyond the "big three." They explore the impact of open-weight and Chinese models like DeepSeek, Mistral, and Qwen, discussing their impressive efficiency and coding capabilities. The conversation shifts to the rise of agentic workflows and how tools like Claude Code are fundamentally changing the day-to-day lives of developers.

They also tackle the tough questions: Are junior developers being replaced? Is AI just the next level of abstraction in programming? Finally, they cover the enterprise side of AI, from on-premise deployments to the evolving landscape of prompt engineering and observability frameworks like LangChain.

Timestamps:
[00:00:00] Introduction
[00:00:49] Exploring Open Weights and Chinese Models
[00:03:41] The Value of "Thinking" Models and Distillation
[00:06:41] Running Models Locally
[00:08:34] The Shift Towards Agentic Workflows
[00:12:17] How AI is Changing the Role of Developers
[00:29:04] AI as the Next Level of Abstraction
[00:35:00] Best Models for Tool Calling and Coding
[00:39:04] On-Premise Models and Enterprise Solutions
[00:44:49] The Future of Prompt Engineering and LangChain
[00:48:37] Outro and Where to Find Sam

Hashtags:
#TwoVoiceDevs #AI #OpenWeights #DeepSeek #Mistral #Qwen #ClaudeCode #Gemini #LangChain #SoftwareEngineering #AgenticAI #MachineLearning