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One of the nice things about a mobilized mob of fanatics is ... well, nothing. For the purposes of intelligent discourse and civility, there's nothing cool or helpful about a bunch of heated fanboys rabidly denigrating a new product because it happens to threaten their preferred smartphone. We've talked about this sort of thing before, and now we're talking about it again – this time in the context of Blackphone vs BlackBerry. But we're not using this issue to harp on the dangers of fanaticism; rather, we're seizing on the opportunity to learn something about mobile security. There's also plenty of news to cover in the mainstream smartphone world, of course: Samsung's Galaxy Alpha is here and while it's not packing a big spec wallop, it sure is pretty. Motorola's broken our hearts with an ill-timed event invite. There's new device coverage concerning HTC, Microsoft, Xiaomi, and others. And, improbably, OnePlus has found yet another way to piss off the world. If that's the kind of podcast that brushes your aluminum, then the Pocketnow Weekly is the show for you! Join us, and shoot your questions to podcast [AT] pocketnow [DOT] com for a shot at getting your question read aloud on the air next week.Pocketnow Weekly 109 Recording Date August 15, 2014 Hosts Michael Fisher Taylor Martin Stephen Schenck Joe Levi Producer Jules Wang Podcast Rundown Sponsor (00:01:25) The Pocketnow Weekly is brought to you by Swappa, a marketplace for buying and selling gently used, fully functional mobile devices. Pay them a visit, and tell 'em Pocketnow sent you! Announcements (00:02:21) Our Blackphone review is up! So is our Galaxy K Zoom review! Taylor puts the Xiaomi Mi4 up against the LG G3! (Camera test and unboxing too) We went Zoebombing with HTC's new Zoe! News (00:10:32) Motorola schedules big Chicago event for anyone who didn't go to Berlin Samsung Galaxy Alpha announced with metal frame Galaxy Note 4 pics leak; could this really be it? Three Lumia 830 models in the works, all with different specs? Reversible USB connector standardized: so much for Lightning envy Cyanogen Inc. clashes with Oneplus over treatment of women Smartwatch report suggests big changes needed for public acceptance Learn Something (00:53:36) A segment about getting educated. In today's installment, Joe Levi takes us through the heated "Blackphone vs BlackBerry" argument, and lets us know what kind of security we can –and can't– expect from each. Tough Spot (01:12:50) A segment about hard choices. On today's installment: if you had to choose between a Blackphone and a BlackBerry 10 device as your daily driver for the rest of 2014, which would you choose? Justify your answer. Listener Mail (01:19:45) E-mailed submissions from Jack McKenzie, Tristan Hulsebos, and Philip Mburu Music It may just sound like a ringtone to you, but our transition music track ("Radiation") is a real song, from a real album, by a real artist: Ali Spagnola. You can download that album, along with many others, at Ali's website here, visit her YouTube page here, and follow her on Twitter here! • Thanks for listening! See you next week! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.