Author: Duncan Pike

Apple Inc. is reportedly considering allowing users to download and install third-party app stores and side-load apps to comply with inbound European Union regulations. If the reports turn out to be true, this will mark the first time Apple allows its precious ecosystem to be tainted by filthy, unapproved apps. Seeing as the reports come from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, someone with a seemingly transcendental connection with Apple, we’ve no reason to doubt them. That being said, nothing is confirmed until Apple announces it into being. The awful no-good very bad DMA The reason for the seemingly sudden about-turn from Apple…

All the way back in January 2019, Google publically announced the changes coming to how browser extensions would work in Chrome – the most popular internet browser in the world. The newly proposed system, called Manifest V3, would take over from the current system, Manifest V2. These changes were supposed to start rolling out in January 2023 with experiments running on all three Chrome builds. But now that’s been delayed. We hope you like ads The main reason for the proposed changes – according to Google – is to make web browser extensions more secure. But Manifest V3 faced backlash from…

Dyson, the British company best known for its vacuums and blade-less fans, has announced the price and availability of its wearable air purifier that also features noise-cancelling headphones. The Dyson Zone will set you back a staggering R16,460 ($950) at today’s exchange rate and will be available to purchase in the US, the UK, Hong Kong, and Singapore in March 2023. Daft Punk meets the health-conscious That price tag would be ludicrous to most sane people. But for audiophiles looking to fill their collections with something unique, or for the kinds of people who keep a fully stocked underground bomb…

You might have already heard that the European Union officially passed legislation to make the USB-C port mandatory for any electronic gadgets sold in Europe. This includes but is not limited to smartphones, laptops, tablets, e-readers, earbuds, digital cameras, headphones and headsets, handheld video game consoles, and portable speakers. Essentially, if it’s sold in Europe and charges from a cable, that cable has to end in a USB-C connector. The ruling, which you can read in full here, gave tech manufacturers a little over two years to comply with the changes needing to be completed by 28 December 2024. Laptop…

It’s been a pretty good year for gaming monitors. We had the first QD-OLED gaming monitor in the Dell Alienware AW3423DW, we saw Sony enter the monitor space with its Inzone range, and now Samsung is trying something new with a big format gaming display (BFGD) that seems like it’s trying to bridge the gap between TVs and gaming monitors. When the Samsung Odyssey Ark showed up at our office for review, we were excited. That quickly faded when we saw the box. It is gigantic. Was it even going to fit? Well, usually the best way to find out…

You might need to try extra hard to find things to get excited about this holiday what with how the rest of the year has gone. But, if you’ve bought an LG smart TV in the last four years (and it’s running webOS 4.0 or newer) and haven’t yet signed up for Apple TV+, there’s something you need to know. Apple TV+ for free? Sign us up If you just purchased yourself a new LG TV – and we’re only talking about the legal means of acquisition here – then you’re eligible for three months of free Apple TV+. The…

To the rest of the world, the US can seem like a strange place. There aren’t too many countries that could produce a story like this, and that’s without Florida Man. But it’s happened and it might not be as pointless as you’d think. The US Space Force – the world’s only independent uniformed outfit of its kind – competed in last year’s Call of Duty Endowment (C.O.D.E.) Bowl and won. Now, ahead of the league’s third annual competition on 16 December 2022 and to defend its title, the US Space Force’s esports team has raised the bar, so to…

It hasn’t been a particularly good few months for LastPass, one of the most prominent password managers in the world. Should you opt to use one, a password manager is one of your first lines of defence in your cyber security arsenal. Having it breached can range from ‘less than ideal’ to ‘catastrophic’. Well, that’s exactly what’s happened to LastPass. Again. LastPass has been pwned You might recall our report from a few months ago in August that the service had suffered a data breach. There, an unauthorised party gained access to the company’s source code and “other proprietary information”.…

Uber recently launched a new feature in its Uber Travel suite of offerings that aims to make everyone’s travels slightly easier. We probably don’t need to tell you that December is one of the busiest travel times of the year. Wouldn’t it be nice if all of your travel plans could be viewed in one place? That’s where the ‘Smart itineraries’ feature comes in. Well… Uber hopes so, anyway. Folks with Apple, Microsoft, or Google accounts have already given those services access to their calendars. Since they already have your data, why not add one more? Uber’s new Smart Itineraries…

Samsung has filed a new trademark application in the US that could indicate the world’s second-largest smartphone maker by market share is looking out for its customers. First spotted by SamMobile, the filing indicates that Samsung is working on a new mobile app called ‘Self Repair Assistant’. Judging by the name and proposed app icon in the filing, it will likely assist customers that would rather repair their own devices than send them to a repair centre. Because if you paid money for it, then it’s yours and you should have the right to fix it, right? That’s what the…