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Zoom has exploded in popularity as people turn to video calling software amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The moment of huge growth has seen Zoom rocket to the top of iOS and Android app stores as people gather around it for yoga classes, school lessons, and virtual nights out. Even the UK government has been holding daily cabinet meetings over Zoom.

With all this extra attention, Zoom is now facing a huge privacy and security backlash as security experts, privacy advocates, lawmakers, and even the FBI warn that Zoom’s default settings aren’t secure enough. Zoom now risks becoming a victim of its own success.

Zoom has battled security and privacy concerns before. Apple was forced to step in and silently remove Zoom software from…

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Author: Tom Warren

MMORPGs aren’t a perfect substitute for real-life socializing. But these days it’s about as close as you can get.
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Author: Cecilia D’Anastasio

It doesn’t matter if you have the Samsung Galaxy S20, S20 Plus, or S20 Ultra—a case to protect your new phone is a good idea.
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Author: Julian Chokkattu

Dan Seifert / The Verge

When Amazon bought Eero just over a year ago, I wrote that the whole thing felt disappointing. It was a small, independent company that made a tech product people loved in part because it was made by a small, independent company. But it got purchased by a big tech company and so we had to worry what the big tech company would do with the small, independent company. We had to worry about what would happen to the product we loved, and also worry that the fate of all good, small companies is to get absorbed by a giant one.

Anyway, Apple acquired the popular weather app Dark Sky yesterday.

For iPhone users, the Dark Sky app will continue to exist and continue to cost $3.99. It will continue to provide hyper-local weather forecasts that are…

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Author: Dieter Bohn

Some environmentally conscious people are trying to give up flying. For some trips, there’s a great, cleaner alternative: It’s called a train.
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Author: Alex Davies

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

It’s been clear for weeks that Amazon faces an unprecedented challenge in coping with the fallout from COVID-19. With tens of millions of Americans now dependent on online delivery for their food, medicine, and other essential items, the nation’s No. 1 e-commerce company is buckling under increased demand. And as fulfillment center employees are diagnosed with the virus across the country, Amazon’s already-restive workforce has escalated its efforts to win better pay and safer working conditions. Among other things, employees at affected locations have simply walked off the job.

You’ve likely felt the affects of the crisis on Amazon if you attempted to order anything from the company in March. Once lightning-fast delivery times stretched…

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Author: Casey Newton

Photo by Brennan King / The Verge

Samsung phones are notorious for dropping in price quickly — the S20, for example, went on sale for $200 below its MSRP within weeks of its first release. Perhaps as a way to mitigate that reality, Samsung has introduced an unusual buy-back program for its own store (via Droid Life) that gives customers 50 percent of the value of an S20-series phone if it’s returned within two years.

That could be a pretty great deal given the usual market for used Samsung phones two years after their launch. A refurbished Galaxy S9, for example, can easily be found on Amazon for under $270 right now, though it cost $720 upon release. If you’re buying a $1,400 128GB Galaxy S20 Ultra today, then, the prospect of getting $700 back in 24 months probably…

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Author: Sam Byford

Rick & Morty has a return date, courtesy of a new trailer below. The second half of Season 4, comprised of five new episodes, will begin airing weekly from May 3, Adult Swim has confirmed. The season’s sixth episode will air on this date at 11:30PM ET.

The back half will, based on the trailer, feature all of the wacky action, family drama, child negligence, and general weirdness that fans of the series are accustomed to.

Watch the trailer below and mark your calendar.

This announcement follows a brand-new Rick & Morty anime short released on Adult Swim’s YouTube channel. Rick and Morty was confirmed for at least 70 more episodes ahead of Season 4 debuting, but it could be a while before we see Season 5, as the gap between seasons keeps getting longer.

Rick & Morty co-creator Justin Roiland has been very busy lately outside of his duties on this show, working on both the Quibi series Gloop World and the Hulu exclusive Solar Opposites.

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Author: James O’Connor

Terraria, the 2D construction game that first released in 2011, has just hit a major sales milestone. According to the game’s website, Terraria has now sold 30 million copies across PC, consoles, and mobile, with the majority of those sales being on PC.

The game has sold 14 million units on PC, 7.6 on consoles, and 8.7 on mobile. The console number is lower despite the game having been made available on eight different systems since it launched–PS3, Xbox 360, Vita, PS4, Xbox One, 3DS, Wii U, and Switch. Terraria hit 20 million sales back in February 2017, and has evidently continued to sell well since then.

The game, which will receive a substantial Journey’s End update soon, is currently discounted on Steam to celebrate its huge sales milestone. Until April 3, the game and its soundtrack are discounted by 50%, so you can see what has attracted 30 million prior customers.

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Author: James O’Connor

Edgar Wright (Baby Driver, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs The World) has been attached to direct an adaptation of the upcoming novel Set My Heart To Five. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the book and film will be about a robot learning how to love, and the script will be adapted by the book’s author, Simon Stephenson.

Set My Heart To Five will be set in 2054, and will be about Jared, an android dentist who makes it his mission to invest robots with feelings after he becomes obsessed with films from the 80s and 90s. Jared will set out to find his creator and write a script that will “change the world.”

The book is set to debut later in 2020, if you want to read it before the film gets made.

Edgar Wright’s next film, currently in post-production, is Last Night in Soho, which is a horror-thriller about a time-traveling fashion designer. It’s due to release September 17, 2020, and stars Anya Taylor-Joy and Thomasin McKenzie. He also has plans for a Baby Driver sequel.

Fans of Edgar Wright’s work might be pleased to see the stars of Shaun of the Dead parodying a scene from the movie in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. You can also find him as an NPC in Death Stranding.

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Author: James O’Connor