Internet, mobile and cable customers of Canadian provider Rogers and its sub-brand Fido have been experiencing major service issues since early Friday due to an outage. As the CBC reports, the ripple effect is impacting payment network Interac and Rogers wholesale service resellers, such as TekSavvy.

"We know how important it is for our customers to stay connected," Rogers wrote on its Twitter support account just before 9AM. "We are aware of issues currently affecting our networks and our teams are fully engaged to resolve the issue as soon as possible. We will continue to keep you updated as we have more information to share." The Fido support account shared the same message shortly after.

TekSavvy noted at 8:25AM that the outage was impacting all internet and wireless users and that there was "currently no ETA" for resolving the issue. "There is currently a nationwide communications outage with a network provider which is impacting the availability of Interac services," Interac said at 8:44AM ET. "We will provide further information as it becomes available." ATM, e-transfer and debit card services have been affected as a result.

Emergency service calls were also impacted. Toronto Police noted at 6:31AM that there were some 911 connection difficulties. Two hours later, it said that although its 911 call center was operational, some users on the Rogers network might have trouble getting through. In addition, a CBC radio station in Ontario was knocked off the air at around 5AM. Service Canada says its facilities, including overwhelmed passport offices, have been affected too.

Rogers experienced another significant wireless and cable outage last year, the CBC notes. The company said the April 2021 issue was the result of an errant software update from one of its telecom equipment suppliers. The cause and extent of the current outage is not yet clear.

The current head of the United States Secret Service, James Murray (pictured), will leave his role to head up security at Snap. Murray, who joined the Secret Service in 1995 and assumed the mantle of director in April 2019, will step down on July 30th. The Washington Post reports that Murray was looking to retire from public service for some time, and that his departure is unrelated to any recent scandals. The Verge reports that Murray will start at Snapchat on August 1st, working on employee protection and acting as a liaison with law enforcement when necessary.

The Secret Service has come under fresh scrutiny in recent years after a number of high-profile incidents dulled some of its reputation. This includes a series of security breaches during President Obama’s tenure, agents soliciting sex workers while on duty. Politico reports that Murray’s decision to allow service agent Anthony Ornato to take a role as White House political advisor to the previous administration was problematic for a body that is meant to be above politics.

Amazon has announced a handful of new perks for Prime members ahead of Prime Day this month, including free deliveries from nearby restaurants. All Prime members in the US will now get access to a one-year Grubhub+ membership, which typically costs $10 a month, for free. Amazon used to have a restaurant delivery service of its own in an attempt to create a homegrown UberEats rival, but the company ultimately shut it down in the UK and the US. This time, it's teaming up with an established delivery service.

Grubhub+ members enjoy $0 food delivery fees, so long as their orders go over $12. They also get rewards that include free food and discounts on their orders. Prime subscribers can redeem their free Grubhub+ membership by going to the official perk page on Amazon, activating the offer and then sharing their Prime status with the delivery service. Even existing Grubhub+ users can claim the freebie, with their free year kicking in after their current billing cycle ends. People who cancel their Prime membership will also lose access to their free year of Grubhub+, while those who stick around will be charged $10 a month for the delivery service after 12 months.

This partnership is part of the commercial agreement Amazon has entered with Just Eat Takeaway.com, the Dutch parent company of Grubhub. Under the agreement, Amazon will receive stock warrants worth 2 percent of Grubhub’s fully-diluted common equity. Grubhub says it "continues to actively explore the partial or full sale" of the company, but whether Amazon will swoop in with an offer remains to be seen. For now, Grubhub expects this partnership to add more members to its subscription service.

Adam DeWitt, CEO of Grubhub, said in a statement:

"I am incredibly excited to announce this collaboration with Amazon that will help Grubhub continue to deliver on our long-standing mission to connect more diners with local restaurants. Amazon has redefined convenience with Prime and we’re confident this offering will expose many new diners to the value of Grubhub+ while driving more business to our restaurant partners and drivers."

HBO Max is halting original productions across much of Europe, Variety has reported. The streaming service confirmed that it will no longer produce originals in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Central Europe, the Netherlands and Turkey, leaving only Spain and France untouched. The news is part of a plan from parent Warner Bros. Discovery to cut some $3 billion in costs following its split from AT&T. 

"We are reviewing our current content proposition on the existing services," a spokesperson told Variety in a statement. "As part of this process, we have decided to remove a limited amount of original programming from HBO Max, as well as ceasing our original programming efforts for HBO Max in the Nordics and Central Europe. We have also ceased our nascent development activities in the newer territories of Netherlands and Turkey, which had commenced over the past year."

Some of the service's most praised shows including Lust (Sweden) and Kamikaze (Denmark) came from the Nordics and other affected regions. On top of ceasing production, HBO Max will remove those shows along with the Hungarian drama The Informant from its service globally. Projects already in production and other approved shows will reportedly continue — but they may be sold to other platforms, with Warner acting strictly as producer. 

Streaming content production has been a bright spot in Europe, as Netflix and other platforms have hit the 30 percent local content quotas required in major markets there. HBO Max's announcement may put a damper on that, though, as "redundancies are likely across [HBO Max's] European business," Variety noted. 

More ominously, "similar decision-making for HBO Max is currently taking place in all territories where the streamer operates, which spans the U.S., Latin America and parts of Europe," it added. Along with layoffs recently announced by Netflix, it's the first sign of dark clouds during the era of peak TV. 

If your Pixel is in need of some care, you can now buy official parts to try and fix the problem yourself. Parts and detailed repair guides for Pixel 2 and above are now available from iFixit.

The parts include screens, batteries, rear cameras and charging ports. They're available à la carte and iFixit plans to offer more types of parts in the future. You can also buy Fix Kits, which iFixit says include everything that a Pixel user needs to repair their device. Each kit comes with a gizmo to open the phone and official adhesive to seal it back up. The parts have a lifetime guarantee from iFixit — save for batteries, which have a one-year guarantee.

At the outset, iFixit is selling the parts in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and other European countries where Google offers Pixels. The company also plans to support future Pixel models as soon as possible after launch. It will have guides and parts for Pixel 6a this fall, for instance. In addition, iFixit is selling parts wholesale to independent repair shops.

Google and iFixit announced a partnership in April to offer Pixel users official parts. Apple and Samsung have also committed to enabling customers to self-repair devices. The smartphone makers made those moves amid a broader push for right-to-repair rules. 

Earlier this month, the New York state assembly passed a right-to-repair bill, which is now on the governor's desk to sign or veto. Only a few other states have passed similar legislation. The Federal Trade Commission has also taken aim at illegal repair restrictions.

Snap is launching an optional subscription service offering "exclusive, experimental, and pre-release features," it announced. The $4 a month service is aimed at "passionate" snapchat users and launching this week in the US, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

The exclusive features are modest to start with, including the ability to change the app icon, see who re-watched a story and pin a friend to the top of your chat history as a "BFF," Snapchat SVP Jacob Andreou told The Verge. Some of those features like BFF will only be available to subscribers, but others may filter over to the main Snapchat app.

Snap relies mainly on its advertising model for revenue, so the new service is a break from that. It also makes money selling hardware like its Spectacles smart glasses and new Pixy drone, but that revenue is relatively small change compare to its ad business. The company recently announced a hiring freeze during its last earnings report and saw its stock price plunge dramatically over the last two months. 

When Return to Monkey Island arrives later this year, players will finally discover the secret of Monkey Island. That’s the pitch series creator Ron Gilbert made in the game’s newest trailer, which premiered today during Nintendo’s latest Direct showcase. “My name is Guybrush Threepwood, and this is a story about the time I finally found the secret of Monkey Island,” voice actor Dominic Armato declares at the start of the clip.

As you might imagine, the trailer is full of allusions to past Monkey Island games, including some of the series’ best gags. At one point, Guybrush drifts to the floor of the Caribbean, a sign pointing to Monkey Island and noting it’s only a six-minute walk away. Good thing our hero can hold his breath for 10 minutes. 

Many fan-favorite characters also make an appearance in the clip. Among others, I spotted used ship salesman and garish dresser Stan S. Stanman locked in the brig of LeChuck’s ship. Coincidently, you can chat to Stan on Return to Monkey Island’s updated website where he explains he’s in jail for “marketing-related crimes” that may have involved selling non-fungible items.

If you missed the news in April, Return to Monkey Island marks the, well, return of Ron Gilbert to the series he created back in the late ‘80s. Gilbert wrote and directed The Secret of Monkey Island, and went to work on the second game before leaving LucasArts in 1992. Fellow Monkey Island veteran Dave Grossman is also working on the new game, which will take place after the first two games. On consoles, Return to Monkey Island will arrive first on Nintendo Switch.   

There's some good news if you've been waiting to get your hands on a Steam Deck. Valve says it has boosted production and will be shipping more than twice the number of units each week than it has over the last few months.

The company planned to start shipping the device in December, but supply chain issues forced it to delay the Steam Deck until February. It now appears Valve has found the parts and production capacity it needs to build units at a faster pace and get them out to customers more quickly.

Were you to reserve a Steam Deck now, you likely wouldn't receive it until at least October. However, since Valve is ramping up the volume of shipments, it may be able to bring down the wait time. Hopefully, it will soon get to the point where it can ship a Steam Deck within days of someone deciding to order one. 

Valve says those who had an expected shipment window of Q3 will start receiving reservation emails on June 30th. When you do eventually get your Steam Deck, though, it's probably best to avoid swapping out the built-in storage. Valve hardware designer Lawrence Yang warned that the power requirements of off-the-shelf SSDs could cause a Steam Deck to overheat and shorten the lifespan.

Disney+ is continuing its experiment with live events, this time with a special from one of its own theme parks. The platform will livestream Harmonious Live!, a musical special that will be hosted by Idina Menzel and performed at the Epcot theme park in Walt Disney World, reportedVariety. The live orchestra performance will feature a repertoire of songs from a number of classical Disney films, including Moana, Aladdin, Coco, The Lion King, Mulan and others.

The choice to air Harmonious Live! will no doubt please Disney fans of all ages, especially those who haven't been back to a theme park in a while. After a nearly two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, Disney resumed live entertainment at its theme parks again this year. And unlike live shows performed at the park, fans will be able to watch re-watch Harmonious Live! on the Disney+ platform at any time they like.

Disney+ subscribers can expect even more live offerings this year. The upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars will air on the platform, likely in September 2022. Meanwhile, Harmonious Live! will air on June 21 at 6 p.m. PT/9 ET in the US and Canada. You can watch a preview below.

Early buyers of Rivian’s latest electric SUV are facing another delivery delay. A number of customers who pre-ordered Rivian’s R1S SUV received an email this week informing them that an expected June or July delivery window has been pushed back several months. According to Auto Evolution, customers posted on Rivian’s forum that their delivery window had been updated to August or September 2022, or as late as October through December 2022. The EV maker first debuted the seven-passenger vehicle — which has a starting price of $72,500 — back in November 2018, and has pushed back deliveries multiple times, citing production delays and supply chain issues. Deliveries of the first batch of R1S SUVs were originally slated for August 2021.

The company in its email chalked up the latest delay to ongoing supply chain issues and its limited service infrastructure. It said that it would prioritize deliveries to areas that are close to Rivian service centers. Rivan currently operates service centers in only 14 states, so customers in other areas will likely have an even longer wait.

“As we continue to assess our supply chain and build plans, we want to provide an update on your estimated delivery window,” wrote Rivian in its email to customers. It stated that the customer’s updated delivery window was based on three factors: their preorder date, delivery location and current configuration. But a number of early customers seemed puzzled at how Rivian calculated the new delivery window. One customer noted that they pre-ordered the R1S SUV back in November 2019, yet was assigned to the later delivery window of the fourth quarter of 2022. Many customers who lived in especially remote areas or in a state without a Rivian service center also reported later delivery windows. “The irony of an off-road adventure vehicle delivered only to major cities,” wrote one Rivian customer on the company's forum.

Rivian has struggled to scale up production of its vehicles amidst a global parts shortage, including semiconductors. The Tesla competitor isn’t able to rely on existing relationships with parts suppliers, which traditionally prioritize the larger, more established car companies, the Wall Street Journal noted.