You might not have to pick up your local Facebook Marketplace purchases in the near future. Meta has confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that DoorDash is now handling Facebook Marketplace deliveries as part of an "early" partnership. Couriers will deliver orders that are small enough to fit in a car trunk and come from sellers up to 15 miles away, The Journal's sources said, and should complete their dropoffs within 48 hours.

The feature is currently free to reel in customers, one tipster said. It's not clear how Facebook and DoorDash would charge customers later on. The companies have been testing the offering in multiple US cities in recent months.

The reasoning for the team-up is reportedly simple. Meta has learned that Marketplace is one of the few Facebook features young people use when they're not jumping to TikTok, according to the sources. DoorDash could help spur demand, particularly among younger users.

For DoorDash, the alliance could help reduce its dependence on restaurant orders. The company has already been delivering groceries and convenience store essentials for years. This would give DoorDash a steadier stream of income, and might help it compete with Uber Eats' nationwide shipping service.

The longstanding green car partnership between BMW and Toyota is relatively close to bearing more fruit. As Autoblogexplains, BMW sales chief Pieter Nota told Nikkei in an interview that the brands aim to sell jointly-developed hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as soon as 2025. Nota didn't hint at what to expect, but stressed that fuel cells are "particularly relevant" for large SUVs like the iX5 Hydrogen concept (above). Small-volume production of the iX5 is expected to start by the end of this year.

BMW and Toyota have collaborated on numerous cars over the years, including the recent revival of the Supra sports car. They formalized their green vehicle tech alliance at the start of 2013, but didn't expect to complete work on an inclusive fuel cell system until 2020.

It may seem odd to continue work on hydrogen-powered vehicles at a time when EVs are much more popular. However, Nota pointed to a number of familiar defenses for the technology. Fuel cell cars can be refilled in just a few minutes where EVs take several times longer to recharge, for instance. Nota also said that BMW didn't want to pour all its investments into one technology, and that hydrogen models aren't as prone to supply shortages as their electric counterparts.

Regardless, BMW might soon ramp up EV development. Pure electric cars have represented a larger slice of sales than previously expected, and Nota suggested the company could reach its 50 percent EV sales target (including brands like Mini and Rolls-Royce) "one or two years earlier" than the current 2030 goal. While BMW still has a stake in the combustion engine world, it might not last long.

Qualcomm was apparently the victim of a sophisticated fraud. The Los Angeles Timesreports the federal government revealed charges against former Qualcomm research VP Karim Arabi and three others for allegedly tricking the chip maker into spending $150 million in 2015 to acquire technology that it already had. After Arabi developed a quicker method of testing processors, the four launched a scheme to falsely claim that a Canadian graduate student (Arabi's sister) had invented the technique and was commercializing it through a startup. Arabi purportedly hid his involvement through the entire process (his sister even changed her name), leading Qualcomm to buy the startup even though it legally owned the executive's inventions.

Arabi left Qualcomm in June 2016. Prosecutors further alleged that the quartet laundered money through methods that included interest-free loans and purchasing foreign real estate. The penalties could be steep if the court convicts Arabi's group. Each could face up to 20 years in prison and fines of either $250,000 or double whatever they gained through the fraud scheme. 

Qualcomm sued Arabi, his sister and the startup's CEO in 2017. That case was dismissed without prejudice in 2018, opening the door to another lawsuit, but the company didn't discuss the possibility of another suit in a statement to The Times.

Now is a good moment to catch up on the Resident Evil series ahead of next year's RE4 remake. Humble is offering a "Decades of Horror" bundle that includes most Resident Evil games for PC. Spend enough to get the full 11-game collection and you'll play remastered and remade versions of the first three titles, the existing versions of RE4 through RE7, and side games like the Revelations series and RE0. You'll also receive a 50 percent off coupon for Resident Evil Village if you want to start on it before its first DLC arrives.

You can pay as little as $1 for a three-item pack that includes the original Resident Evil, Revelations and the first episode of Revelations 2. An in-between six-game bundle includes RE1, RE0, RE5, RE6, Revelations and Revelations 2 Deluxe Edition. As usual, you can pay extra to contribute more of your purchase to charity.

The bundle comes on the heels of Netflix's live-action TV series. There are clearly some gaps dictated largely by platform support — you won't find Code Veronica, alas. All the same, this could easily be worth the investment if you're new to Capcom's survival horror series or just want to fill out your collection.

SpaceX may soon handle some of the US government's highest-priority satellite missions. Bloombergreports the Space Force has certified SpaceX to launch top secret spy satellites using Falcon Heavy rockets equipped with reusable boosters. The move gives SpaceX more high-profile government missions, of course, but also promises to save federal money by reducing the costs of ferrying these satellites to orbit. The Space Force has already saved over $64 million for GPS missions by using reusable Falcon 9 rockets, Space Systems Command's Falcon chief Walter Lauderdale said. 

The Space Force issued the certification in June, but didn't disclose the approval until now. SpaceX can carry spy satellites aboard Falcon 9 rockets, but they don't always have the power needed for heavier payloads. The first Falcon Heavy-based launch is expected sometime between October and December, when SpaceX will deliver a National Reconnaissance Office satellite.

This could represent a significant if temporary blow to rival rocket producers. The Boeing and Lockheed-Martin joint venture United Launch Alliance still hasn't received similar approval for a version of its Vulcan rocket using Blue Origin motors. Air Force officials are still reviewing the approach to 39 national security launches slated for fiscal 2025 through 2027. SpaceX isn't guaranteed to win business that would otherwise go to ULA, but its earlier certification could influence any decisions.

You might not have to worry about charging your EV the next time you're shopping for build-it-yourself furniture. IKEA has struck a deal to bring Electrify America's fast chargers to more than 25 stores in the US. The rollout will bring over 200 individual chargers to shops in 18 states, including California, Florida, New York, Texas and Washington. They'll offer charging speeds between 150kW and 350kW, and will serve both customers as well as IKEA's fleet.

The first chargers will be available near the end of 2022. The companies expect to complete the rollout by the end of 2023.

The IKEA deployment is tiny compared to Electrify America's overall expansion plans, which should have 1,800 fast charging stations (10,000 chargers) in place across North America by the end of 2025. However, this is still a significant launch. This guarantees reasonably speedy charging for compatible EVs (such as the Ioniq 5 and Taycan) at one of the most popular furniture chains in the country — you can buy that dresser knowing you'll have the range to carry it home. That could spur EV adoption, not to mention help IKEA support its claims of being eco-friendly.

The Federal Trade Commission is officially starting its efforts to broadly regulate data security. The agency has published an early notice of proposed rulemaking that asks the public to comment on commercial surveillance and data gathering practices, such as camera monitoring or protections for sensitive info. Officials not only want to understand the harms and benefits of technologies, but gauge interest in rules that could require stricter safeguards (such as tougher encryption) and bans on deceptive security claims.

The FTC's request for input also touches on specific issues, such as biased surveillance systems and algorithmic errors. Similarly, regulators are interested in whether or not existing data security practices hurt children.

In explaining the proposal, the FTC was concerned that enforcement by itself wasn't enough to protect consumers. The Commission can't seek civil penalties for first-time violators, for instance. In theory, new rules would encourage stronger security policies, provide more relief to hack victims and ensure a more consistent approach to cases.

On top of the comments, you'll have a chance for more direct feedback. The FTC is hosting a virtual public forum on September 8th that will give people two minutes each to share their views. The session will also include a panel discussion.

The FTC is still far from outlining rules, let alone putting them into effect. Even so, there's plenty of pressure to act. Governments at multiple levels in the US are increasingly banning or withdrawing at least some uses of surveillance tech, and there's a growing backlash against companies that either misuse personal data or are prone to data breaches. New regulations could reduce violations and otherwise ensure that data holders show more respect for your privacy.

Google's merger of Meet and Duo may be confusing, but it should deliver some useful upgrades in the bargain. The company has added a live sharing beta feature that lets users of the revamped Meet share Spotify and YouTube streams during chats. You can play games like Uno Mobile and Kahoot, too. The functionality will sound familiar if you've tried SharePlay, but you can't use Spotify or YouTube with Apple's media feature.

The Meet upgrades include scheduled recurring meetings, virtual backgrounds and in-meeting chats. As with the Meet features coming to Duo, live sharing has been rolling out over recent weeks. The rebranding of Duo as Meet will take place throughout August for mobile devices, and is coming later for everyone else.

Google has pitched the Meet-and-Duo union as an adaptation to the modern realities of video calls. Live sharing clearly reflects this. I's an acknowledgment that many people use video chats as social spaces, particularly when remote hangouts are more common than they were before the pandemic.

Twitter is both reviving and improving its election misinformation strategy ahead of the 2022 US midterms. The social network has reactivated enforcement of its Civic Integrity Policy to prepare for the vote, and there are a handful of upgrades in store this year. To begin, it will avoid recommending misleading tweets through notifications — falsehoods might not spread as much as in the past. The company is considering this approach for "other surfaces," too.

You should also see redesigned fact-check labels that are better at prompting people to read. Twitter first tested these labels in late 2021.

Other efforts will be more familiar. You already see candidate labels for any Governor, House or Senate hopeful who qualified for the general election ballot. You can expect "prebunks" that counter bogus claims before they become hot topics. You'll find a dedicated US Elections tab in Explore, along with state-specific hubs. Twitter plans to ramp up protection for candidates as well, with "more sophisticated" detection of suspicious activity as well as more login safeguards and speedier account recovery should the worst happen.

These aren't dramatic changes to Twitter's methods from previous elections, including those outside the US. However, it's clear the firm is bracing for trouble in light of the fallout from 2020. The question is whether or not this will be enough. Critics warned of shortcomings in social media companies' anti-misinformation efforts during the previous elections, and tweaks to recommendations and labels aren't guaranteed to address those issues.

Apple is no stranger to basing TV shows on podcasts, but it now appears eager to snap up that content as quickly as possible. Bloombergsources claim Apple has signed a deal with Suave producer Futuro Studios that will fund podcasts in return for the first chance to turn any series into a TV+ movie or show. The tech company has also been negotiating comparable deals and spent as much as $10 million so far, according to the tipsters.

Past adaptations have focused on already popular shows like WeCrashed and The Shrink Next Door. The claimed Futuro agreement would go one step further by effectively granting Apple the rights to a series as soon as the company sees potential. It wouldn't have to risk losing a hit show or spending a fortune in bidding wars.

Apple's TV wing is reportedly leading the initiative, not the podcast team. That's not surprising, however. The firm has historically treated its podcast platform as a neutral ground where studios don't have to compete against Apple itself. First-party podcasts have typically been linked to TV+ productions like The Problem With Jon Stewart.

Both Apple and Futuro declined to comment. If the rumor is accurate, this is less about competing with podcast originals from Spotify and Wondery and more about beating streaming TV rivals like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Apple TV+ could land more hits without paying a premium for the rights.