Bless the101 down in Africa
Rain’s been having a rather successful year so far. It’s closer than ever to bringing GeForce Now to the country, it’s keeping its own 4G network alive and it’s launching its own Rain-branded 5G router later this week. It’s dubbed ‘the101’ and it’s only available as part of the provider’s rainOne package.
It’s also massively overqualified for the job. The101 is packing 4×4 MIMO AX3600 wifi and chugs along on a MediaTek T750 platform, with a quad-core ARM CA55 processor to back it all up. 2GB of RAM and 32GB of NAND storage – all designed to keep the router’s many functions and touchscreen display (yes, there’s a display) powered.
The main attraction is easily its display. It’s built to help alleviate the stress of using Rain’s app which… the less we say about that the better. That’s for the built-in signal strength indicator and allows the router to perform an internal speed test at the press of a button. We’re curious to see if the integrated ‘Tap for Support’ button offers the powers that rain’s promising.
It’ll supposedly do all that and look prettier than your average router too. The101 is designed to accommodate a set of skins that match your home’s vibe, of which you’ll pick a set of two when placing your order. It’s worth noting that this is only for current rainOne customers (though we can’t see why cancelling and reapplying would be a problem).
.ing domains are a thing now, we guess
Domain names are important. They’re usually tied to your geographical location (.co.za) and can be an important first impression to people visiting your website. But sometimes they’re weird – like Google Registry’s latest offering: .ing domains. Yup, that’s real. And as expected, all the good names have already dried up.
Want to own th.ing for instance? It’ll cost you. A lot. That’s partly due to its exclusivity, and part of Google’s early access program that’ll force interested buyers to pay “an additional one-time fee” before .ing domains officially go live on 5 December 2023.
Until then, you’ve got some time to find some of the more affordable ones still up for grabs. This one, for example, is garnering far less attention than we’d have thought. Are we disappointed? Yes.
.ing won’t be the only new domain you see come 5 December, however. It’ll be joined by the new .meme domain which is sure to drum up some big numbers. It’s also going through a limited registration period before officially opening its doors to early-access buyers on 28 November.
Max Payne 1 and 2 are coming
We’re currently living in a post-Alan Wake 2 world, meaning it’s time to instantly begin badgering its developer – Remedy Entertainment – on what will be coming next. Fortunately, Remedy’s beaten everyone to the punch, having recently just published an update on what’ll be coming next. One of those is the recently announced Max Payne 1 & 2 remakes which have reportedly entered the “production readiness stage.”
“We have gained clarity on the style and scope of the game, and we have an exceptionally well-organized team working on it. With these accomplishments, we are excited about the project and its future success,” Remedy added.
We’re still ages away from a release date or even a trailer, but it’s good to know that work has commenced. We also know that both games will be built on the same engine behind Control and Alan Wake 2. Remedy Entertainment is handling everything to do with the game’s development and has enlisted Rockstar Games to secure the appropriate funds and publish the game. If GTA V Online’s figures are any indication, Max Payne won’t be going hungry anytime soon.
WhatsApp’s updates just keep on rolling
Honestly, we wouldn’t mind if WhatsApp’s update team took a break. It’s been pumping out changes faster than usual lately, and it’s about to deliver another. One that doesn’t copy what Telegram or Discord have already done. WABetaInfo first spotted the new feature – known as Alternate profiles – through the most recent WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.24.4 update.
Rather than having two separate accounts on one device (another update Meta is hard at work on), Alternate Profiles allows users to have two profiles on display – one for your more personal contacts and another for those that aren’t quite as close. You get to choose who those are, too. Anyone who’s blocked from seeing your original profile picture will be treated to whatever you deem worthy of your ‘business’ side.
It feels as if the feature is custom-built to go hand in hand with the unique username update that still hasn’t gone live yet on the platform. It’s possible the two will launch alongside one another down the road. There’s no telling when that’ll be, however. It’s yet to reach the beta testing phase according to WABetaInfo, meaning a public rollout is likely still months away.
