Author: Duncan Pike

Spotify recently debuted a new AI-powered DJ companion to its music streaming platform that will create personalised playlists for listeners based on your listening data. The platform already does that with its many algorithmically generated playlists like Discovery Weekly or Release Radar. But those playlists don’t talk back to you. That’s where the ‘AI’ side of DJ comes in. A Spotify DJ in your pocket Introducing DJ ✨ An entirely new way to play your @Spotify, powered by AI. Now rolling out to Premium users in the U.S. and Canada. Head to Spotify now to meet your DJ. pic.twitter.com/sbQr8JrrmF —…

If you’re an MTN subscriber, we’ve got some bad news. The mobile telecommunications company recently announced it would be increasing consumer post-paid subscription or ‘contract’ fees and other rates due to a “challenging market environment”. Contract prices will rise by around 5% on average and will take effect from 1 April 2023, which is probably not the best time to introduce changes like this. MTN could work on its comedic timing While MTN says the fee increase averages 5.1%, it notes that some plans could see a higher increase, up to a maximum of 7.4%. Along with the contract fee…

Netflix recently announced the first official look at its next South African miniseries, Unseen. The new locally produced series is from Gambit Films, the same production powerhouse responsible for the widely successful three-time SAFTA-winning drama Blood & Water. Viewers are in for another top-quality series if their last title is anything to go by. Looking at Unseen’s cast list further confirms that. Unseen features some of South Africa’s best talents both in front of and behind the camera. Travis Taute and Daryne Joshua, who both worked on Blood & Water,  serve as showrunners with Taute also receiving directing credits here.…

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi gave his first State of the Province Address last night during which he announced several technology-driven solutions to the province’s rising crime rates. Like any good premier, he acknowledged that urgent action was needed. “Today, let’s openly admit, our province is a home of heartless and merciless criminals. They do as they wish. If this situation is left unattended it will be the end of all of us.” Technology usually requires electricity Lesufi is of the opinion that technology holds the answers to some of Gauteng’s crime problems. He also mentioned something about a partnership with…

You’re likely already aware that Eskom unceremoniously sent the country into Stage 6 load shedding “until further notice” late on Sunday. Now, the power utility is reviewing its documentation and processes that lay out the plan should we ever hit Stage 8. During Mondy’s press conference, Eskom CEO André de Ruyter highlighted that, while the risk of Stage 8 load shedding is unavoidable, this review process was not a reason for concern and should not be taken to mean the utility is anticipating or expecting it. On the contrary, he said the current Stage 6 cuts are likely to reduce…

Like a rash that won’t go away, Eskom announced late last night that it was ramping up to Stage 6 load shedding ‘until further notice’. But, if you’ve got ESP, you probably knew that already. According to the utility, this results from a whopping eight breakdowns in generation units across the country on Sunday afternoon. Arnot, Hendrina, and Majuba power stations have each suffered the loss of one generating unit while two units at Camden were taken offline after breaking down. No ointment for load shedding A unit at Lethabo also suffered a breakdown on Sunday, bringing the number of…

You don’t have to understand computer architectures to know that your new M1 or M2 MacBook isn’t going to run Windows 11 straight out the box. Aside from both Microsoft and Apple keeping their OS secrets close to their respective chests, the two OSes are fundamentally different. However, it is still possible to run a version of Windows on a Mac thanks to Microsoft’s recent partnership with Parallels Desktop. Different specs for different techs Without too much technical detail, macOS on Apple’s M-series chips and Microsoft’s Windows are built on the Arm and x86 instruction set architectures (ISAs) respectively. You…

Apple’s mythical mixed reality headset has once again entered the conversation thanks to a new report from Apple soothsayer Mark Gurman. Gurman now reckons the long-awaited VR/AR device from Apple will make its debut at the company’s annual World Wide Developers Conference in June this year. Not before, as was previously rumoured. Any day now, Apple This is certainly not the first, second, or even third time the tech company has pushed back the launch. The XR headset was originally planned for a 2019 release. That was then pushed back to 2020, before the world descended into SARS-CoV-2-induced viral chaos.…

So you consider yourself a sports fan, ‘ey? Are you the friend in the group that goes all out with snack platters during the game and tjops oppie braai after? Want to know how you can take your sports viewing up a notch or three? The place to start is with your TV and that’s where we come in. If you’re thinking about upgrading your TV and know you’ll spend most of the time watching sports, we’ve put together a list of specs to keep in mind to ensure sports look their best. The only downside is now you can’t…

If you’ve been following the news at all over the last 18 months, we won’t have to tell you that artificial intelligence (AI) is gaining mainstream traction rather quickly. It seems to be the latest buzzword picked up by silicon valley and Big Tech. But that isn’t to say it just came about. Joseph Weizenbaum created ELIZA, one of the first natural language processing programs, with the intent to make natural language conversation with a computer possible. That ‘conversation’ is laughable by today’s standards but come on, it was the 60s, everyone was busy doing… other things. Inspired by ELIZA,…