Dominique Luchart's Blog, page 557

Microsoft Flight Simulator is an impressive Xbox Series X workout, Sam Byford

Nothing has pushed my PC further than Microsoft Flight Simulator. That might sound odd for a “game” that’s largely about flying around empty skies by yourself, but Asobo’s latest iteration of the classic franchise is technically groundbreaking and ambitious, with all manner of wizardry going on beyond the scenes to stream in accurate city data, real-time weather effects, and so on. I’ve still had a great time with it, but compared to most AAA games, Flight Simulator asks a lot more of your CPU.

That’s why I was intrigued by the new version for Xbox Series consoles, which comes out on Game Pass tomorrow. In fact, it’s the first Microsoft game for Xbox Series consoles that won’t run natively on any Xbox One model at all, though an xCloud version is also coming to mobile and will eventually hit older Xbox consoles as well. I’ve been playing a preview build provided by Microsoft on my Series X for a few days, and as with my PC, I think it’s the strongest workout for the hardware so far.

Microsoft Flight Simulator is essentially the same proposition on Xbox as it is on PC, offering players the chance to pilot a variety of aircraft around a beautifully rendered version of our planet. The tutorials have been tweaked a little, with a series of shorter missions that should make it easier to get up to speed, and the various commands have been mapped to the Xbox controller in a straightforward, accessible way. You can make the flight model just as complex as the PC version if you want, although right now there aren’t a lot of Xbox-compatible flight stick options.

Microsoft Flight Simulator on the Xbox Series X looks absolutely stunning in 4K. It’s a true graphical showcase for this next-gen console

full video: https://t.co/e3MyKEuImC
? preview pic.twitter.com/JR2MFK52Dm

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren)

July 25, 2021

On the Series X, Flight Simulator runs at 4K resolution and targets 30 frames per second. Overall, I got a more stable experience on the Series X than my own i5 6600K/GTX 1080 rig, which was impressive when I put it together five years ago but somewhat less so now. The frame rate isn’t perfectly smooth — you can drop below 30 when flying low in dense areas like downtown Manhattan, for example, and that’s noticeable. It helped that I played on an LG CX OLED TV, which is capable of variable refresh rates and means you don’t experience tearing or stuttering when the frame rate does fluctuate above or below 30.

Graphical settings are broadly comparable to what you’d get on a good gaming PC, if not quite at the top of the line. The game consistently looks stunning when you’re high in the air, and any seams in the experience are only really apparent when flying close to the ground. That tends to be more to do with how the photogrammetry streaming technology works — again, if you fly quickly into Manhattan or Shinjuku, not every skyscraper is always going to be loaded into memory at once, meaning some buildings might appear a little wobbly at first. I also noticed a few amusing glitches from time to time, like cars driving on the surface of the River Thames in London instead of on Tower Bridge directly above.

As for the Series S, my colleague Tom Warren has spent some time testing that version, and the results are impressive for a tiny $299 box. The game runs at 1080p with reduced graphical effects and draw distances, but as you’ll see from the video, it delivers a solid Flight Simulator experience and will be by far the cheapest way to achieve it.

[embedded content]

Microsoft Flight Simulator has improved a lot since its launch last year, with “world updates” that expand the more detailed photogrammetry data further across the globe. That’s all there in the Xbox version, too, including the most recent Nordics update that includes hand-rendered airports and points of interest across Scandinavia, Iceland, and Finland. (It’s also worth noting that the PC version is getting a further update this week that Microsoft promises should dramatically improve performance across the board — stay tuned for how that works in practice.)

If anything, the Xbox version can feel a little too close to the PC version at times, with an occasionally clunky cursor-driven interface. It’s a little conspicuous to have a graphic settings menu where the only option is to turn HDR on and off, for example. But it’s better to leave too much in than to cut too much out: what matters is that the flying experience is as good as it could be given the hardware on hand.

From what I’ve played of Microsoft Flight Simulator on the Xbox Series X, I don’t feel like Asobo has left much on the table. It’s still an incredible technical achievement, and one well worth checking out when it hits Game Pass tomorrow.

The post Microsoft Flight Simulator is an impressive Xbox Series X workout, Sam Byford appeared first on NEWDAWN Blog.

Amazon reportedly has a ‘key’ to thousands of apartment buildings in US, Jon Porter

Amazon’s Key for Business, a system that allows its delivery drivers to gain access to apartment buildings without having to be buzzed in, has been installed in thousands of buildings across the US, according to the Associated Press. The company is reportedly pushing to get the system installed in more buildings, using a combination of free installations and $100 gift cards as incentives.

The system is designed to make it easier for Amazon’s drivers to make deliveries to apartment buildings. Rather than having to be buzzed in by residents or a concierge, a driver can use the system to gain temporary access to lobbies via the Amazon Flex app. Then packages can then be delivered directly to residents or safely left behind in a mail room or with a doorman. In a technical breakdown of the system published in 2019, Amazon says in a pilot program the system increased the success of first time deliveries from 96 to around 98 percent.

The technology arrived as a pilot in 2018 before getting an official launch the following year. But unlike a similar system from Amazon for homeowners to install in private properties, Key for Business is installed by building managers who reportedly aren’t under any obligation to tell their tenants when the system is in use. This raises potential security concerns for residents about an internet-connected entry device that gives drivers, vetted by Amazon, easy access to their buildings.

Amazon is reportedly pushing hard to expand the number of buildings the system is installed in. According to the Associated Press, it’s pitching Key for Business to building managers and partnering with locksmiths to offer installations, sometimes free of charge. A spokesperson from Amazon was not immediately available to respond to a request for comment from The Verge, and declined to confirm a total number of installations to AP.

As well as making deliveries easier and potentially quicker, the system may give Amazon’s delivery drivers a competitive advantage over its rivals. Buildings are unlikely to install similar systems for multiple delivery companies, ultimately incentivizing their residents to use Amazon.

The post Amazon reportedly has a ‘key’ to thousands of apartment buildings in US, Jon Porter appeared first on NEWDAWN Blog.

This YouTube channel is using AI to gloriously remaster classic game cutscenes, Sean Hollister

Twenty years ago, when photorealistic games were still just a faraway dream, companies like Square sent our imaginations soaring before we played, with big-budget intros and cutscenes. Long before Overwatch normalized the practice of releasing Pixar-quality animated shorts for each new character, Blizzard’s Diablo II and Capcom’s Onimusha 3 put us in the demon slaying mood with incredible mini-movies stretching to six minutes each.

But if you dare try watching these classics on a modern 4K TV or even a 1080p monitor, they’ll look like a pixelated mess. That’s where a YouTube channel named Upscale and machine learning comes in — making them look nearly as good as they did on your old CRT. Or perhaps even better. It just depends how well the game’s art style works with the AI algorithms bringing it back to life.

The Kingdom Hearts intros, for instance, look incredible. I scanned around, and I’m willing to call these the definitive versions currently in existence:

[embedded content][embedded content]

You have to check out the hair in World of Warcraft‘s intro. It left me in awe, and the video includes a before-and-after comparison, too:

[embedded content]

Here’s the legendary six-minute Onimusha 3 opening cinematic at 4K 60 fps. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best I’ve ever seen it. More than good enough to share with people who need to understand this piece of gaming history.

[embedded content]

And here’s 1999’s Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver in 8K. Can you believe this is a PS1 game?

[embedded content]

Upscale can’t quite seem to nail Chrono Cross, I’m afraid, but its second or third stab at Chrono Trigger looks pretty amazing:

[embedded content][embedded content]

And I’m not particularly fond of Upscale’s attempt at Dirge of Cerberus. Thankfully a handful of other YouTube channels are also trying these machine learning techniques, and I think The Gaming Restoration nailed it.

[embedded content]

These enhancements are all made possible through a piece of software called Topaz Video Enhance AI, aka Topaz Gigapixel, and we’ve written a bit about it before — it’s the same generated adversarial network technique some modders are using to upscale the graphics of playable games themselves, now applied to their cutscenes as well. For $299, the company will sell you an app that can spit out videos like these in a handful of hours, depending on your PC’s GPU, how long, and how high a resolution you need. I know, because I took it for a spin with a handful of anime music videos and game trailers myself, and was impressed just how easy it could be.

The important thing to know, though, is the images the computer spits out aren’t necessarily “truth” — it can invent details that aren’t there, or smudge ones that are, in the sometimes-inappropriate pursuit of clarity. I found 4K videos would sometimes look better than 8K, and you really have to pick the right algorithm for the content you’re trying to upscale and compare quick previews before you commit.

Here’s two different algorithms trying to enhance the same scene in Gundam Wing, so you can see what I mean.

Topaz’s “high quality” setting gets rid of the intentional blur / bokeh and flattens the image.A lower quality “aliased and moire” setting does a more faithful job at the expense of clarity.

To be clear, these are both enhanced images, but one is arguably wrong: this is an ethereal, dream-like sequence where the background is supposed to be soft and blurred, not sharp and flat. Of course, the algorithm doesn’t know that.

If you’d like to see a couple examples where I tried to enhance some old content myself, click here and here, and make sure to change your YouTube quality setting. ExtremeTech‘s Joel Hruska also has a great series about trying to remaster Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Truth be told, I’ve hesitated to write about Upscale for The Verge, because I figured lawyers would shut it down any minute, or Upscale’s creators would get bored and stop posting. But I’ve been waiting and watching for nearly a year, and it hasn’t gone away yet. If you’re a big video game industry executive, would you perhaps consider not firing ze copyright missiles?

At least until you’ve done a better job of remastering these cutscenes yourself, I mean.

The post This YouTube channel is using AI to gloriously remaster classic game cutscenes, Sean Hollister appeared first on NEWDAWN Blog.

MLB will try encrypted transmitters and bone conduction to stop sign stealing, Sean Hollister

Baseball has a sign stealing problem — or at least, a technological one, seeing how reading another team’s pitches is technically legal, but using Apple Watches or telephoto cameras and then suspiciously banging on trash cans is very much not. But soon the MLB may try fighting fire with fire: on August 3rd, it plans to begin testing an encrypted wireless communication device that replaces the traditional flash of fingers with button taps, according to ESPN.

The device, from a startup called PitchCom, will be tested in the Low-A West minor league first. As you’d expect from something that’s relaying extremely basic signals, it’s not a particularly complicated piece of kit: one wristband transmitter for the catcher with nine buttons to signal “desired pitch and location,” which sends an encrypted audio signal to receivers that can squeeze into a pitcher’s cap and a catcher’s helmet.

The receivers use bone-conduction technology, so they don’t necessarily need to be up against an ear, and might theoretically be harder to eavesdrop on. (Bone conduction stimulates bones in your head instead of emitting audible sound.) That said, it sounds like introducing the tech may come with other risks. Here’s a list of restrictions as cited by ESPN:

Players found to be wearing a receiver while batting will be ejected; only the active catcher, and no other players or coaches, is allowed to use the transmitter; a backup transmitter is provided, but it must remain in the carrying case during games; and if players and coaches need to confer because of an issue with the device, they can notify the umpires and not be charged a mound visit.

MLB seems optimistic about the idea so far. “The PitchCom devices were tested in side-sessions during major league spring training, and the feedback from players, coaches, and front office staff was extremely positive,” reads part of an internal memo obtained by the Associated Press. “Based on those preliminary results, we are optimistic that these devices have the potential to be a viable long-term option to reduce sign-stealing risk and improve pace of play, particularly with runners on second base.”

Photo: FCC OET

I wasn’t able to find records for a startup named PitchCom, but one of its founders, a Craig Filicetti, appears to be the same one who sells “ProMystic” wireless tech for magicians and mentalists, such as a box of crayons that can wirelessly send a signal corresponding to the crayon that someone removes. ESPN cites Craig Filicetti and John Hankins as co-owners of Pitchcom, and two men by those names formed a “JHCF, LLC” in November 2020. Both ProMystic and JHCF have a Scottsdale, Arizona address in common.

The post MLB will try encrypted transmitters and bone conduction to stop sign stealing, Sean Hollister appeared first on NEWDAWN Blog.

The Pentagon says DJI drones still pose a threat, disavowing its own earlier report, Mitchell Clark

After months of government bans on DJI drones, with lawmakers questioning whether the company was sending information to the Chinese government, the Pentagon has admitted that the drones being used might actually be safe (via The Hill), with a report saying that two “Government Edition” DJI drones are “recommended for use by government entities.”

However, on July 23rd, the Department of Defense released a statement on the report, saying that its release was “unauthorized,” and reiterating its position that DJI’s drones “pose potential threats to national security.” (via Reuters) It says that its policy around the drones is unchanged, and that there is an investigation into how the “inaccurate and uncoordinated” report was released.

Last year, the Department of the Interior grounded all its drones, citing concerns of potential spying by the Chinese government, and the Department of Commerce put DJI on its Entity List after the company allegedly provided the Chinese government with surveillance tech for its Uyghur Muslim detention camps. That second claim wasn’t addressed at all by the Pentagon’s report.

But, according to The Hill, the Pentagon’s (unauthorized) report said that it didn’t find any malicious code when it analyzed two drone models. The Department of Homeland Security previously ran tests on the DJI Mavic Pro and Matrice 600 Pro in 2019, and didn’t find evidence of data being sent places it shouldn’t, and a new administration has seemingly come to a similar conclusion today. Another report that looked at three DJI drones, including the Government Editions of the aforementioned drones, came to the same conclusion in early 2020.

The Pentagon’s report wasn’t an all-clear for DJI’s relationship with the US government, even before the DOD’s statement on July 23rd. As of June 1st’s revision, DJI is still on the Entity List, which prevents US companies from selling any of their technology for DJI to use, and the Pentagon’s report comes as Congress is considering a law that would ban the government from buying Chinese drones for five whole years, starting in 2023. They’d have to rely on other approved drones from companies in the US and France instead; as restrictions have been placed on DJI, others have made drones with hefty price tags to fill the government’s needs.

We’re also talking about pretty old DJI drones that have gotten the all-clear; we reviewed the consumer model of DJI’s Mavic Pro in 2016, and the company’s offered many far more competitive models since then.

None of the government scrutiny keeps you from buying a DJI drone. Despite all the accusations, DJI has still been able to continue creating and selling its consumer products.

Lawmakers are still trying to decide what to do about other Chinese products perceived to be a security risk as well: while the Department of Defense has rolled back the designation of Xiaomi as a “Communist Chinese military company”, the Biden administration seems like it still intends to keep a ban on Huawei products from being used in US infrastructure. The government has been so worried about equipment from Chinese companies like ZTE and Huawei acting as part of its network infrastructure that it’s even considered removing the parts already in use. Last September, the FCC estimated it would cost $1.8 billion to “rip and replace” Chinese telecom equipment currently embedded in US networks.

Update July 25th: Updated to reflect that the Department of Defense has released a statement, calling the release of the Pentagon’s original report “unauthorized” and “inaccurate.”

The post The Pentagon says DJI drones still pose a threat, disavowing its own earlier report, Mitchell Clark appeared first on NEWDAWN Blog.

Doctor Who’s 13th season is a single story, and here’s the first trailer, Sean Hollister

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed Doctor Who to do something it hasn’t done in the modern era — dedicate an entire season to a single story. That’s the word from showrunner Chris Chibnall in a new Doctor Who panel at the online-only San Diego Comic-Con today. Oh, and did I mention we’re getting our very first fleeting glimpse at Series 13 in a teaser trailer? Hit that video play button above to watch it.

We’d learned last year that the new season would just be eight episodes long, but Chibnall says it pushed the BBC to go big: “The big thing that we’re going to be doing this year is it’s all one story, so every episode is one chapter in a bigger story,” he says.

More:

There were two ways you could go: we’re just going to do lots of tiny episodes in one room with no monsters, or we could throw down the gauntlet and go “we’re going to do the biggest story we’ve ever done, we’re going to go all kinds of different places, we’re going to have all kinds of characters and monsters, and it’s all going to be part of a bigger whole.” I think it’s definitely the most ambitious thing we’ve done since we’ve been on the series.

While many previous seasons of Doctor Who slowly introduce a mystery and then resolve it by the end (“Bad Wolf,” the crack in the wall, and so on), this sounds a bit different.

Want to watch the panel yourself? It’s free and features stars Jodie Whittaker (The Doctor), Mandip Gill (Yas), and new cast members John Bishop and Jacob Anderson too! (Anderson played Grey Worm in Game of Thrones, if you’re wondering why he looks familiar.)

Here you go:

[embedded content]

Don’t expect any spoilers, though: “We pick it up with the Doctor and Yas who’ve been traveling together for some time, we come and meet them mid-adventure, and they stumble across some man named Dan Lewis, that’s all I’m going to tell you,” says Chibnall.

The show actually teased Dan Lewis, Bishop’s character, during the holiday special on January 1st:

[embedded content]

Whittaker’s only hint for Whovians: she’s most looking forward to “some incredible interactions with old monsters,” too. We don’t have a release date for Series 13 yet, just that it’ll be out later this year, and likely exclusively streaming on HBO Max and BBC America in the US.

The post Doctor Who’s 13th season is a single story, and here’s the first trailer, Sean Hollister appeared first on NEWDAWN Blog.

Banned brand Aukey is still selling earbuds on Amazon, Sean Hollister

When Amazon started cracking down on mobile electronics companies with shady reviewer programs, Aukey and Mpow were the first to get whacked — and yet Aukey is still selling at least three sets of wireless earbuds at the giant online retailer, The Verge has found.

Two weeks ago, I pointed out to Amazon PR that both Aukey and Mpow had seemingly found a way around their bans. Mpow had an “xMpow MFly” set of wireless Bluetooth headphones, and Aukey was selling several different sets under its “Key Series” sub-brand.

I’ve been watching their product pages ever since, and today I noticed that the xMpow MFly has disappeared. But Key Series is alive and well with three products. Aukey appears to be paying Amazon extra to promote them in search, too, as you can see from their “sponsored” disclaimers:

Aukey is paying to promote two of its wireless earbud sets at Amazon despite being thrown off the platform two months ago.Screenshot by Sean Hollister / The Verge

There’s no question that these are Aukey products. You can see the Aukey brand printed on top of the charging case for those EP-N7 earbuds above. Aukey introduced the brand with an official press release in May 2019, and at least two Key Series products, including these T-10 wireless earbuds, have YouTube videos on the Aukey channel.

It’s vaguely possible that Key Series was spun off, or that these Amazon listings are run by a reseller, though. The Key Series website contains no official references to Aukey, but it does have one mention of a Primtech Limited based in the UK.

But it also seems that Key Series had additional products on Amazon that did disappear. Similar to other electronics companies that were booted from Amazon, there are several blank spots on the brand’s Amazon seller page.

Related: I’m still collecting photos of your inserts from Amazon packages, whether they’re suspicious or not. They’ll help me with a future story. If you haven’t already, could you send me pictures of them at sean@theverge.com?

Today is Amazon Prime Day.

Humble request:

If you get any insert cards in your new purchases (they don’t need to look this suspicious), please send me photos of them at sean@theverge.com for a story. pic.twitter.com/7337ookNPp

— Sean Hollister (@StarFire2258)

June 22, 2021

The post Banned brand Aukey is still selling earbuds on Amazon, Sean Hollister appeared first on NEWDAWN Blog.

New trailers: Dune, Star Trek: Prodigy, The Last Duel, Blade Runner: Black Lotus, and more, Kim Lyons

Happy Saturday! Posting the trailers roundup a day early this weekend since I’ll be on vacation starting Sunday (and shout out to the reader who said he preferred when we did the roundup on Saturdays, you got your wish at least for this weekend).

The internet (or at least the little corner I inhabit) seemed divided into camps this week: people who really like the Apple TV Plus show Ted Lasso and people who… don’t. It’s OK to not like things! I had a longer rant prepared about how the effort to look cool online seems so exhausting but really, who cares, Ted Lasso has returned for season two and it’s still a lovely, warm-hearted show about a bunch of very likeable weirdos.

We ended up with a very sci-fi themed roundup this week which was not by design, but happened thanks to several new releases coming out during Comic-Con @ Home.

[embedded content]Dune

Beautiful people looking wistfully at each other across sweeping landscapes as the wind tousles their hair– the first few seconds of the Dune trailer almost feel like a perfume commercial. But then we get down to brass tacks and the trailer… pretty much tells you the movie’s entire plot, as my colleague Chaim Gartenberg noted in a first look. Yes, the sandworm makes an appearance. Directed by Denis Villeneuve, the much-awaited and oft-delayed Dune, starring Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Stellan Skarsgard, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, and Javier Bardem, comes to HBO Max and theaters on October 22nd.

[embedded content]Star Trek: Prodigy

In this new 10-episode series, a group of young aliens steals an abandoned Starfleet vessel called the USS Protostar, and are slowly trained in the ways of the Federation by a hologram version of Star Trek: Voyager’d Captain Janeway (with Kate Mulgrew voicing the character she played on the series). Star Trek: Prodigy comes to Paramount Plus this fall.

[embedded content]Star Trek: Lower Decks

The popular animated series that pokes fun at Star Trek lore returns for a second season, following the support crew of the USS Cerritos as they work aboard Starfleet’s least important ship. Star Trek: Lower Decks has already been renewed for a third season, and while last season took a few episodes to get its footing, the show ended up on a lot of “best of 2020” lists. Season two of Star Trek: Lower Decks also debuts on Paramount Plus this fall.

[embedded content]The Last Duel

Based on a true story (and a book by Eric Jager), The Last Duel tells the 14th-century tale of the last judicial trial by combat in France. Jodie Comer (looking very different from Eve) plays Marguerite de Carrouges, wife of knight Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon). She accuses Jacques LeGris (Adam Driver) of rape, which he denies. King Charles VI (Ben Affleck), grants permission for them to settle things with a duel that will determine who is telling the truth. Oh and if her husband loses the duel, Marguerite gets burned at the stake for bearing false witness. Ridley Scott directed The Last Duel, which comes to theaters October 15th.

[embedded content]Blade Runner: Black Lotus

This is the first trailer for this anime series, just revealed at Comic-Con. Blade Runner: Black Lotus is set in Los Angeles in 2032– so roughly halfway between the Harrison Ford Blade Runner movie and the Ryan Gosling sequel. A replicant named Elle (Jessica Henwick in the English-language version and Arisa Shida in the Japanese-language version) aka Black Lotus, has special powers and is being chased by some scary people. Directed by Shinji Aramaki and Kenji Kamiyama, the English version of Blade Runner: Black Lotus comes to Adult Swim and the Japanese version comes to Crunchyroll this fall.

[embedded content]UFO

JJ Abrams is executive producer on this four-part documentary series that according to Showtime will explore “unsettling theories of a subject that recently reached national headlines,” namely a 2017 New York Times article about a secret UFO program at the Department of Defense. UFO debuts on Showtime August 8th.

The post New trailers: Dune, Star Trek: Prodigy, The Last Duel, Blade Runner: Black Lotus, and more, Kim Lyons appeared first on NEWDAWN Blog.

Robinhood’s IPO roadshow answered questions I wasn’t asking, Elizabeth Lopatto

“What’s your favorite planet?” is a real question that Robinhood execs really picked to answer during the Q&A section of its retail investor roadshow.

“Definitely Pluto,” says long-haired CEO Vlad Tenev. He is having a good time. He goes on to explain that there will be a great view of Venus tonight after sunset.

Many of the questions the management picked have been lackluster; asked if Robinhood will add a customer support line, Tenev cheerily explains there already is one. Another question is wasted on whether the stock will pay dividends — anyone who read the prospectus knows the answer is no.

I am watching this roadshow — my first, and the first, I suspect, of many who are watching — because Robinhood plans to sell as much as a third of its IPO to its users. The roadshow is part of a plan to put retail investors on an “equal footing” (per the prospectus) with institutional investors. At the top of the presentation, I’m told that this is basically the same set of materials institutional investors get.

And why am I spending my Saturday on this? Well, it’s going to be the first meme IPO. And if this works, other companies may choose to boost the proportion of their shares they allocate to retail investors, says Pitchbook’s Robert Le, a senior analyst. Most IPOs allocate only 1 percent to 3 percent of their shares to retail investors, he says. If Robinhood ends its first day of trading higher than where it started, other companies may follow in its footsteps. However, if the stock trends down, institutional investors may steer clear of IPOs that include a large chunk of retail traders, Le says in an email.

Robinhood hasn’t offered its investors IPO access before, and that concerns David Erickson, who was co-head of global equity capital markets at Barclays until he retired in 2013. (He is now a lecturer at Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania.) “They don’t have the best internal controls,” Erickson says in an interview, pointing to Robinhood’s history of outages. “For a company supposed to be in the business of keeping your money secure, they aren’t necessarily doing a good job of that.”

During the roadshow, Tenev, his cofounder Baiju Bhatt — who is also rocking some lustrous locks — and CFO Jason Warnick appear to be in an expensive and uncomfortable facsimile of a living room. They are seated on a white couch, with random wooden slats behind them; plants hang from the slats. In front of them, there are small wooden tables. Bhatt and Warnick are clearly reading from teleprompters. Many speakers featured on the call wore a pin of Robinhood’s feather logo — but not Tenev.

There were real, substantive questions eventually. Though Robinhood doesn’t give a timeline, it is apparently working on creating wallets for its cryptocurrency users, allowing them to transfer in their crypto from elsewhere. Eventually there will be a beta, but because it’s impossible to recover cryptocurrency if it’s been handled wrong, Robinhood is proceeding slowly, Tenev says.

And as for payment for order flow, which makes up 81 percent of the first quarter revenue in 2021, Robinhood plans to work with regulators to answer concerns. This sounds suspiciously like Robinhood is planning to lobby — and it may also explain the former SEC employees hired at Robinhood. As for the angry meme stock customers that might leave? Tenev dodges the question. Outages? Well, Robinhood says it’s investing resources to create redundancies so they won’t keep happening. (We’ll see!)

The most interesting remarks are saved for the end. First, Robinhood is considering IRAs and Roth IRAs, two types of retirement accounts, as products it may offer. (Whether people want to save for retirement on their fun gambling app is an open question, but sure!) Second, Robinhood thinks that retail investors are in the market to stay; it’s working to diversify by building out Robinhood Gold, its paid product, as well as cash management, more cryptocurrency offerings and fully paid securities lending.

There is one notable omission in the roadshow. Despite its lovey-dovey mission statement about democratizing finance, the founders’ Class B stock gets 10 votes per share, while IPO investors’ Class A stock gets just one vote per share. Erickson, the Wharton lecturer, doesn’t like that, either. “This one bothers me like WeWork bothered me,” he says.

The post Robinhood’s IPO roadshow answered questions I wasn’t asking, Elizabeth Lopatto appeared first on NEWDAWN Blog.

GM, Cruise suing to stop Ford from using the name ‘BlueCruise’, Kim Lyons

General Motors has filed a lawsuit to try to prevent Ford from using the name “BlueCruise” for the hands-free driving feature it announced earlier this year. First reported by the , GM claims the name is too close Super Cruise, the name of is own hands-free driving technology introduced in 2017, and to its autonomous vehicle subsidiary Cruise. GM is suing Ford for trademark infringement and unspecified damages.

In the lawsuit filed Friday, GM said in that the companies had been involved in “protracted discussions” over the name but were unable to resolve the matter. “Ford knew exactly what it was doing,” GM alleges in its complaint, adding that if Ford “wanted to adopt a new, unique brand, it easily could have done so without using the word ‘Cruise.'”

Ford announced BlueCruise as the name for its hands-free driver assist system in April, and said it would begin pushing the feature via an over-the-air software updates to select vehicles later this year.

GM didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment Saturday. The company told the Free Press that it would have preferred to resolve the situation amicably but was “left with no choice but to vigorously defend our brands and protect the equity our products and technology have earned over several years in the market.”

A Ford spokesperson called GM’s Cruise claim “meritless and frivolous,” in a statement emailed to The Verge, saying that cruise control is a well-known term. “Every automaker offers it, and ‘cruise’ is common shorthand for the capability. That’s why BlueCruise was chosen as the name for the Blue Oval’s next evolution of Ford’s Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control,” the spokesperson added (the “Blue Oval” refers to Ford’s logo).

Indeed, there are several other automakers who use the word “cruise” to describe their hands-free driving features, including Hyundai’s Smart Cruise Control, and BMW’s Active Cruise Control.

The post appeared first on NEWDAWN Blog.