C (2:55)

The companies say they're not gambling, that they're offering financial products and that people who use Their platforms are trading against each other, not a house, which is different than going to a casino, for instance. But gambling and addiction experts have raised alarm bells because what we're seeing across the country is an increasing prevalence of problem gambling among young men, in particular people age 18 to 35. And prediction markets do bear many similar features to online gambling apps. You can bet on sports. Kalshi even recently began offering a different way to view the platform that's much more similar to a traditional sports book.

D (3:31)

And how is it affecting college athletics specifically? I saw that the NCAA released a statement sort of condemning these apps.

C (3:40)

The NCAA has taken a pretty negative tone towards prediction markets. It's asked the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, the federal agency that regulates prediction markets, to try to bar them from offering markets pertaining to college sports. Its worry is really about the integrity of college athletics. We've seen that when people are able to bet on college sports, it's possible that there are instances of activity like point shaving and match fixing. The NCAA is trying hard to prevent that. It also knows that when people are able to bet on college sports, college athletes come in for abuse if things don't go the way that bettors had wanted them to.

D (4:19)

Are there any further regulations on these apps or their marketing that are in the works?

C (4:23)

A variety of lawmakers have proposed legislation that would restrict trading on prediction markets by government officials. The reason that we started getting into this is because people age 18 and up can trade on prediction markets. But most states prevent people who are under 21 from gambling on things like online sportsbooks. And that creates an opportunity for prediction markets to sign up new users who are between 18 and 21. It's a three year window where they can really attempt to dominate the market.

B (4:53)

So how have Kalshi and Polymarket responded

D (4:56)

to folks concern about their services or their marketing?

C (5:00)

Polymarket has said that its collaboration with student groups help it to gain insights about its platform and its products. And as of this taping, Kalshi has not yet responded to our request for comment.

B (5:11)

That was Wall Street Journal investigative reporter Katherine Long. Polymarket has a data partnership with Dow Jones, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal. What do you think about this new era of betting? If you're a listener on Spotify, be sure to leave us a comment with your thoughts. Coming up, Apple is returning to some nostalgic design styles from the aughts and the price might be right for a new set of customers. That's after the break.

D (5:37)

Foreign.

E (5:43)

Schwab is now powered by Ameritrade, giving you Even more specialized support than ever before, like access to the trade desk. Our team of passionate traders ready to tackle anything from the most complex trading questions to a simple strategy. Gut check. Need assistance? No problem. Get 24. 7 professional answers and live help and access support by phone, email, email and in platform chat. That's how Schwab is here for you to help you trade brilliantly. Learn more@schwab.com trading.

B (6:19)

Apple's latest releases could help them go after a fresh market Their newest laptop and phone are colorful and cheap by the company's standards, which might open the door to some younger customers. This week Wall Street Journal personal tech columnist Nicole Nguyen Co. Got her hands on the new devices and is here to give us the lowdown. So Nicole, tell me about these new products that Apple's unveiled.

F (6:41)

The number of the week is 599. Apple unveiled two quote affordable devices this week, a new laptop called the MacBook Neo and a new iPhone called the iPhone 17e. And both cost $599. Not exactly cheap, but because this is Apple, this that's cheap in Apple dollars. But especially for the MacBook Neo, what

D (7:04)

was your experience like using them?

F (7:06)

I was immediately struck by how colorful the new laptops were. And you know, colors are just aesthetic and they don't actually like matter to the performance of the machine. But I think like in the real world, color plays especially to a younger audience and when you use it it feels a lot like a MacBook Air. But upon closer inspection, there are some trade offs. So for example, there's no backlit keyboard. There are only two USB C ports and only one of those ports works with an external display. There's no quick Release, easily detachable MagSafe charging port. So you have to use up one of those USB C ports to charge. There are only two speakers. It's a smaller screen also. And so you can start to see where Apple cut corners in order to make that price $599, which is a huge delta between the $1099 MacBook Air. But I think for the kind of person who doesn't care about any of those specs I just mentioned it could be a really good option and introduce the Mac to the kind of person who would get a low cost Chromebook or a budget Windows laptop. So so I think that this is the most interesting thing that Apple's put out in a while.

B (8:27)

It sounds like it's also the latest

D (8:29)

installment of color and design being such a significant thing for Apple. Can you tell me about that significance and what this means with the company's history.

F (8:40)

Apple has a long history of super colorful devices, starting with the imac that had all these different flavors like grape, blueberry, lime, like there was also like a flower power one with a bunch of daisies on it and obviously like the ipod mini that came in a bunch of colors. It strayed away from that for probably 10 years to go after this more elite premium consumer. Their more recent devices have been like this austere silver and gray. I'm like looking around the studio like we all have these very austere industrial looking Apple devices. It hasn't grown as much in its hardware categories in recent years. And I think it sees this moment in this global memory chip shortage as an opportunity to gain a new customer. Apple has crazy supply chain leverage. It's more immune to the chip shortage than its competitors. And so I think that it's taking the moment to go after this kind of consumer as prices rise for their competitors.

D (9:41)

Does this also signal a strategy shift for Apple or anything about the wider market that these are such a huge price change from the other products that Apple has out?

F (9:52)

Apple is not going to let go of its high end consumer. In fact, its more premium products are getting more expensive. The MacBook Air this year is 100 more dollars than it was last year. And so it's kind of an interesting split. They are also now offering devices for this new set of customers, but I don't think that they're going to de invest in their more premium products as a result.

D (10:15)

In your piece you talk about how the new laptops remind you of a laptop that you had in the early aughts. And I remember vividly from growing up the ipod shuffle. Is this a return to that sort of style?

F (10:29)

Yeah. That laptop, which was my first circa 2000 was the iBook G3. It was the same laptop as Elle woods and Legally Blonde. I was orange, had this clam shaped hardware and bright tangerine accents. And also my favorite thing ever, this carrying handle so you could tote it around kind of like a purse. I can feel like the keys as I'm thinking about this laptop because I loved it so much. And the iBook G3 is very similar to what the MacBook Neo is trying to do today. It's bringing color to this form factor that didn't have color before. In 2000 a lot of the PC laptops were just blah black rectangles and it was a different shape. It was super bright. Trying to appeal to a younger audience. It was priced at around 1600, which was not cheap then, but it was kind of mid range for laptops at the time. And I think it was Apple making a statement. It's like, oh, we're going after a distinct and different audience. And I think the same is true for the MacBook Neo.

B (11:38)

That was Wall Street Journal personal tech columnist Nicole Nuit. And that's it for Tech News Briefing. If you're a listener on Spotify, be sure to leave us a comment. Today's show was produced by Danny Lewis and Julie Chang with supervising producer Katie Ferguson. I'm Peter Ciampelli for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back later this morning with TNB Tech Minute.

D (11:57)

Thanks for listening.

G (12:17)

How are artists, musicians and filmmakers using AI tools to help bring storytelling and creative expression to life? To find out, search for Google's new series A New Era of American Innovation. Wherever you get your podcasts.