Weekend listening: Google Alphabet, Samsung vs. Apple Pay

LOS ANGELES — August is supposed to be that slow time of the year when everyone goes on vacation, and nothing much happens in the tech world.

Try telling that to the folks at Google, who woke up this week to find themselves a part of a new company called Alphabet. We saw new phones introduces by Samsung, and a preview of its new mobile payment system, set to debut in September. We met Vroom, a new way to sell your used car online, and reviewed a new app that debuted Thursday, MSTY, which marries popular songs with texts.

Sit back and dive in, to our collection of tech podcasts from the week.

We start with Google's new alphabet, as explained by San Francisco bureau chief Jon Swartz and digital editor Laura Mandaro.

Next, Visa exec Jim McCarthy tells Ed Baig about the challenges ahead for Samsung as it attempts to take on Apple Pay.

Whisper president Mark Traughton, a former financial industry exec, weighs in on the challenge as well, during our Talking Tech Roundtable. On the show, we also look at whether Verizon's new wireless plans are good for consumers, review MSTY, and introduce you to Whisper as well.

With a new iPhone waiting in the wings for a September debut, I offer a wishlist of features I'd like to see in a new iPhone camera.

Finally, don't forget to tune in Thursday at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT for our Talking Tech Roundtable, which will have a live studio audience for the first time. Our theme is Future Tech for the Home and Car, and we've got reps from Belkin's WEMO and Hyundai to peer into the future for us, plus Kim Horcher from The Young Turks' Nerd Alert show. You can listen live on TuneIn right here: http://tunein.com/radio/USA-TODAY-s234044/