McLaren isn't the only British supercar maker that can build a searingly fast hybrid. Aston Martin has introduced a Valhalla supercar that mates a 740HP, AMG-made 4.0-liter V8 with a 201HP dual electric motor system to produce top-tier performance while cutting emissions. The two-door can reach 62MPH in just 2.5 seconds and hit a top speed of 217MPH, but you can also drive a modest 9 miles in pure EV mode if you can live with an 80MPH top speed.

The electric technology also helps save weight. The Valhalla includes an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission that uses the hybrid system for reversing, eliminating the need for a conventional reverse gear. Toss in electric-assisted torque vectoring for the all-wheel drive system and the car should be agile, not just quick off the line. Aston predicts a 6:30 lap time for the Nürburgring Nordschleife, although the brand has yet to make an attempt.

Aston Martin

You can also expect a relatively light (3,417lbs) carbon fiber body and an adjustable ride height to keep the car usable on less-than-perfect streets.

Aston hasn't detailed pricing, or even production numbers. It won't be surprising if the Valhalla is a limited-edition car with every unit snapped up in advance. Even so, it's an important machine. It gives Aston a foil to McLaren hybrids like the Artura and Speedtail. More importantly, the company sees it as a way to "drive the transition" from combustion engines to pure EVs. Don't be surprised if production electric sports cars arrive in the next few years, at least once the company is reasonably stable.

Lyft unsurprisingly axed shared rides as COVID-19 took hold, but it's rethinking them as the pandemic (hopefully) subsides and demand resumes. The company is relaunching shared rides on July 19th with a few tweaks to both streamline your trips and acknowledge the safety issues of a not-quite-normal US.

You can now request these rides up to 30 minutes in advance, saving you money and increasing the chances that you'll get an optimized route. There also won't be any surprise route changes or delays if you choose the "no surprise pickups" options — you won't be late for work because someone hailed a ride at the 'wrong' moment.

Lyft

And yes, you'll still have to abide by some pandemic safety restrictions. Everyone in the car will still have to wear masks, and there will be no more than two passengers (both in the back seats). You can't eat or drink, either. If anyone violates the rules, both the driver and passengers can cancel a ride without penalty.

In some ways, this is as much about coping with Lyft's practical realities as anything. With ridership picking back up, Lyft is facing a shortage of drivers. The shared option could help Lyft keep up while it recruits more drivers, especially among cost-conscious travellers who don't mind some socially distanced company.

Amazon isn't the only one asking for Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan to step away from cases. The Wall Street Journalreports that Facebook has petitioned the FTC to recuse Khan from discussions on whether or not the regulator should pursue another antitrust case against the social network. She can't be impartial, Facebook argued, as she has "consistently" accused Facebook of offenses that would warrant an antitrust case.

We've asked the FTC for comment. Khan has already said she would talk to ethics officials at the Commission if there were concerns she might need to recuse herself.

Khan has been an outspoken critic of not just "Big Tech" companies like Amazon and Facebook, but of a US antitrust system she felt was inadequate for reining in corporate abuses. Those firms are clearly nervous Khan will pursue further action, including an ongoing antitrust complaint against Facebook. Not that recusal will necessarily protect tech giants from disruptions to the status quo — the FTC and politicians haven't been shy about wanting to crack down on these companies before Khan assumed her new role.

You won't have to worry about your kids going on a game shopping spree, at least if you're part of a Windows or Xbox household. Microsoft has updated the Xbox Family Settings app with controls to manage your kids' spending. You can set spending limits, and require that children ask permission to buy content when they don't have the funds in their account. And if you're wondering what your young ones bought, you can check their spending history.

Microsoft pitches this as a way not just to prevent out-of-control spending, but to reward good behavior. You can top up an account when your child finishes their chores, or reward them with money for Minecraft extras when they ace a test.

The refreshed Family Settings app is available now for Android and iOS. The spending tools aren't exactly novel concepts, but they could make all the difference if you want to teach your kids better spending habits — or at least, save yourself from unpleasant credit card bills.

Don't get your hopes up for Amazon's take on Tiger King's Joe Exotic. Variety has learned from would-be show star Nicolas Cage that Amazon has scrapped the series. While the scripts were "excellent," according to Cage, Amazon reportedly felt the project had become "past tense" after taking too long to formulate. The company had lost its chance to capitalize on the Netflix show's success, to put it another way.

Amazon declined to comment. NBCUniversal's Peacock service is believed to still have its own Tiger King project in the works, with Kate McKinnon starring as Carole Baskin.

It's not a surprising decision. Tiger King surged in popularity thanks both to its how-can-this-be-real subject matter and its debut in late March 2020, right as many pandemic lockdowns began. It could have been difficult to recapture that zeitgeist. There's also the matter of riffing on a rival service's show. Amazon might not have been keen to advertise for Netflix, even if its own series garnered critical acclaim.

Volkswagen hasn't been shy about wanting to switch to electric cars, but it's now setting more tangible goals for that transition. CNBCreports that VW has unveiled a "New Auto" strategy where EVs should represent half of all the company's vehicle sales by 2030. "Nearly" all sales in major markets will be EVs by 2040, the automaker said.

The approach would not only include an expanded EV range, but a "leading" car software platform. Early models like the ID.4 have struggled with rough software that struggles to compete with rivals like the Tesla interface or Android Automotive. VW's development firm Cariad aims to fix that with updates that will include a unified infotainment system in 2023 and a "brand new" platform in 2025.

New Auto will also introduce a more Tesla-like "controlled" battery supply chain, complete with a harmonized battery format and six European gigafactories by 2030. The first, in Skellefteå, Sweden, will be run by a partner (Northvolt) when it starts production in 2023. Another factory is due in Salzgitter, Germany by 2035.

The goal is a significant one for car brand on the scale of VW, which owns brands like Audi, Porsche, Seat and Skoda. However, there are questions as to whether or not those goals are ambitious enough to meet both VW's other targets as well as those of key countries and states. The company wants to stop selling combustion engine cars in Europe by 2035, while the UK, Canada and US states like California all plan to ban sales of those passenger vehicles by the same year. Smaller rivals like Volvo plan to go all-electric by 2030. VW won't have much time to finish electrifying its lineup in some places, and it may seem slow in comparison to a few brands.

Electrify America's EV charger network still pales in comparison to Tesla's Supercharger grid, but that gap might narrow over the next few years. The Volkswagen-owned company has unveiled a Boost Plan that aims to "more than double" Electrify America's charging infrastructure in the US and Canada by the end of 2025. When the plan is complete, there should be over 1,800 fast charging stations and 10,000 individual chargers — many of them 150kW or 350kW chargers to support newer EVs like the Porsche Taycan and Hyundai Ioniq 5.

Electrify America

The company didn't provide much detail for its expanded coverage, but the expansion will bring Electrify America to the Dakotas, Hawaii, West Virginia, Wyoming and Vermont for the first time, not to mention the Canadian prairies and Maritimes. There's also denser coverage in a few southern states (including new cities like Austin) as well as upgrades to densely-packed regions. If all goes well, you'll have more cross-country routes in addition to more capacity along existing routes.

The expansion could put pressure on Tesla for the first time in a while. The company had 1,101 Superchargers in North America as of February 2021. While that number is likely to grow significantly by 2025, it now needs to build aggressively if it's going to stay ahead of Electrify America. Not that prospective EV owners will mind. The competition should go a long way toward making EVs more practical, particularly for drivers who can't always charge at home.

Don't despair if you've been yearning for a budget Google phone but wanted something more powerful than the current Pixel line. Amazon is selling the 64GB Pixel 4 for just $400, with B&H Photo matching that price. That's an all-time low for the former flagship, and makes it more affordable than a new Pixel 4a 5G — worth considering if processing power matters more than the latest wireless technology.

Buy Pixel 4 (64GB) at Amazon - $400

Buy Pixel 4 (64GB) at B&H - $400

You can also buy the 128GB version at a discount on both sites, although B&H currently offers a better deal at $430 versus Amazon's $470.

There are some caveats. The Pixel 4 is nearly two years old, so it won't get many more Android updates (Android 12 is one of them). Battery life and screen brightness are strictly so-so. And Google's Motion Sense gesture feature never really panned out — it's a nice bonus, but not something you'll likely use on a daily basis.

In return, though, this might be a better value than the current Pixel 4a and 5 models, especially with the premium Pixel 6 series likely on the horizon. You're getting a reasonably quick device with a smooth display and still-great cameras for as much or less than slower, typically less capable phones. So long as you can live with the quirks, it might deliver a better overall experience.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

You'd think that Elon Musk and Richard Branson would hold grudges against each other when they both have space tourism plans, but that's not true — if anything, they're surprisingly buddy-buddy. Virgin Galactic told the Wall Street Journal in a statement that Musk bought a ticket aboard the company's air-launched rockets. It's not certain just where the SpaceX founder is in the queue, but it's safe to say his ride will garner some attention.

The feeling is mutual. In an interview with the Sunday Times, Branson said Musk was a "friend" and suggested he might fly on a SpaceX ship "one day." He even went so far as to tweet a photo showing him and Musk together.

Just don't expect that kind of warmth and camaraderie from Jeff Bezos. Blue Origin was more than a little eager to trash-talk Virgin ahead of its first fully crewed spaceflight, claiming that Branson and team were merely brushing the edge of space. While the company later wished Branson a "great flight," we wouldn't expect Bezos and Branson to have heart-to-heart coffee chats any time soon.

It's not a complete shock that Branson and Musk would be so cozy. However well their personalities mesh, the two aren't quite direct competitors. Virgin Galactic is aimed primarily at space tourists content with suborbital flights, while Virgin Orbit is focused on launching satellites for outfits that can't justify expensive conventional rockets. SpaceX, meanwhile, has focused its tourism efforts on lunar flybys and usually carries costlier payloads into space. This isn't to say the two execs will start feuding if their businesses truly overlap — just don't count on the positive vibes lasting forever.

Spoofed scam calls are bad enough, but neighborhood spoofing is worse — it can all be too tempting to answer when you see a number eerily similar to your own. Verizon (currently Engadget's parent company) might have a solution. It's updating its free Call Filter app with a "Neighborhood Filter" that blocks calls from numbers that share your area code and prefix. Scammers who try to reach you will go straight to voicemail.

You can specify other neighborhood numbers if you know scam artists use them, provided you pay $3 per month for Call Filter Plus. And yes, you can make exceptions. Any number in your contact list or allowed numbers will still get through, and you can correct an accidental block by telling the app to ignore the filter for future calls.

The updated app is available now for Android and iOS. Neighborhood filtering isn't the most sophisticated defense against scam calls, but it's arguably overdue. This kind of spamming is frequent, to the point where you might get multiple calls per day. A simple filter could lead to far fewer annoyances, not to mention greater trust in those calls that do come in.