Author: Duncan Pike

Despite what you’ll see in marketing material, most folks don’t need a PC with huge amounts of grunt. Gamers and graphic designers will be the first to jump at the chance to validate spending R50,000 or more on a laptop or PC that supports ray tracing or will shave two minutes off their rendering time but those are niche cases. If all you need is a tool that will open a web browser, Excel spreadsheet, or Word document, spending more than R10,000 can be a tough sell. That also applies when you need a PC for other things, like a…

You should already be aware that we’re well into October and Halloween is coming up fast. Whether that’s a big deal for you or not is your business. But if it is then you’ve come to the right place, especially if you already own a PlayStation console and love cowering under a blanket as you clutch a controller and try to remain calm. We’ve already covered spooky games to play from Nintendo and Xbox and the scary things to stream on Netflix, Showmax, Prime Video, and Disney+. The only platform left is PlayStation… you can see where this is going.…

Asus South Africa today launched the new ExpertBook P5, the Taiwanese manufacturer’s next Copilot+ laptop to land in SA. As you’d expect, it’s teeming with AI features thanks to the Intel Core Ultra (Series 2) chipset under the hood. It also benefits from prolonged battery life. At least, that’s how Asus tells it. This is the first time Asus has made its ExpertBook range available for retail and the company hopes the ExpertBook P5 will build its reputation in the executive sphere and prove it doesn’t only know how to make great gaming-focused gear. Circling back to business To that…

American retail giant Amazon could be working on a new online retail platform that would allow it to better compete with the low-balling Chinese retailers like Temu and Shein, according to a report by The Information. The outlet reports that it has seen internal Amazon documents originally meant for merchants which mention price caps for Amazon’s proposed new online store. Amazon low-balls the low-ballers Those price caps include a R140 limit for jewellery, R160 for bedding, R230 for guitars, and R350 for couches when said items originate from Amazon’s centre in Guangdong, China. According to The Information’s sources, orders from…

Meta recently announced the return of facial recognition technology to Facebook and Instagram as part of its toolset to protect users against scams or to assist them in regaining access to an account. If facial recognition on Facebook sounds familiar that’s because the company first tried to integrate the tech three years ago but ultimately pulled the plug when it faced substantial public backlash. Presumably everyone has forgotten about that now. Facial recognition makes a return Meta’s first attempt at using facial recognition involved users being automatically recognised in photos posted on the platform or named in an ‘Automatic Alt…

It’s October and while Halloween doesn’t get as much attention in South Africa as it does in the US, there’s no reason you can’t join the fun this spooky season. If your area doesn’t participate in Big Dental’s annual drive to get more kids in dentist chairs, you could always settle down to a good ‘ole horror movie. It’s not Halloween if you aren’t doing double-takes at every shadowy object or jumping at the slightest bump in the night. But if you’ve ever tried picking something to watch on Netflix, especially from its horror catalogue, you’ll know how hard it…

OpenAI has finally released an early version of a dedicated ChatGPT Windows app for its AI-powered chatbot. But you shouldn’t get too excited. Although anyone can download the app preview from the Microsoft Store, only paid users can do anything with it for now. ChatGPT Windows app plays catchup Similar to the ChatGPT app on macOS, the Windows app is a dedicated chat window where you can ask the bot your questions, upload an image or document for it to analyse or summarise, or generate a ‘new’ image. It even has a nifty shortcut for easy access, open it by…

Summer is upon us. If you abide by meteorological convention, it starts in December and ends in February in the southern hemisphere. However, there aren’t any rules (at least as far as we could find) that say you have to wait until then to get your summer gear out. These days, spring is plenty hot enough to warrant switching on the aircon or having a dip in the pool. But those are far from the only ways to cool yourself off when the temperatures venture into the thirties and beyond. Whether you’ve been looking forward to the hot season or…

Late yesterday, Sonos unveiled its new flagship premium soundbar and refreshed subwoofer – the Arc Ultra and Sub 4. Sonos says it’s achieved a “significant breakthrough in audio engineering” with the Arc Ultra using what it calls ‘Sound Motion’. That’s the fancy-sounding name Sonos has given to its newly designed transducers that came with the company’s acquisition of Mayht two years ago. According to Sonos, the new tech “drastically reduces the size of the transducer while supercharging the bass.” That’s resulted in the Arc Ultra delivering “up to double the bass of its predecessor.” With all that bass, we’re wondering…

Dell Technologies and Moyo, a digital business consultancy based in South Africa, have teamed up to introduce South African potato farmers to an autonomous drone that uses AI to detect potato leaf disease with impressive accuracy. If you’re one of those farmers and thought South Africa’s agriculture sector could do with better crop health monitoring, that’s exactly what this solution promises to achieve. If you’re not a potato farmer, maybe read our review of the new iPhone 16 Pro instead, while the grown-ups put food on the shelves for you to buy. You know what SA needs more of? Drones,…