Author: Duncan Pike

As most of the world, save for the fanatic crypto-loyalists, collectively loses interest in cryptocurrencies amid an ongoing economic slump, South Africa has jumped on board with its own stablecoin. The ZARP Project launched in November last year and claims to be “fast, safe, efficient, and the only fully audited Rand stablecoin.” It also just partnered with Old Mutual Wealth as the custodian to manage its cash reserves. The future financial system? If you’re still in the dark as to what a stablecoin is, it is a cryptocurrency that’s ‘pegged’ to a fiat currency (government-issued tender) or exchange-traded commodity, like…

Artemis I: Round 3 NASA’s engineers have completed the necessary repairs to the space agency’s new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Engineers found the pesky leaky fuel line seal and replaced it. It was this leaky seal that was responsible for the cancellation of the second launch attempt on 3 September. The crew at Kennedy Launch Center attempted to troubleshoot and fix the problem three times on the day but to no avail. While they had the rocket off the launch pad, engineers also replaced another seal on the hydrogen “bleed-line” responsible for cooling the engines before ignition. That faulty…

It might have been Apple’s big day yesterday but that didn’t stop Bose from announcing its updated QuietComfort II earbuds. Maybe the Bose folks didn’t know Apple was also announcing new earbuds. Perhaps they did but thought theirs were better because this time they ship with what Bose is calling “Bose CustomTune sound calibration technology”. Either way, if you want the latest earbud technology, you have two more options. That’s the way it Bose The headline feature in the new buds is CustomTune. This is supposed to “intelligently personalize audio and noise cancellation performance” for your individually shaped ears. Bose…

NASA delays Artemis 1. Again. NASA’s Artemis 1 lunar mission was supposed to launch on Saturday from the Kennedy Space Center but was aborted once again following the detection of a hydrogen fuel leak. The agency detected the leak early on Saturday morning and made several attempts to find the cause and fix it inside the two-hour launch window. It was unsuccessful, obviously. After three failed attempts the launch was postponed. A hydrogen fuel leak isn’t like your check engine light that you can just ignore and hope it goes away.The space agency is running out of launch windows following…

Sony’s noise-cancelling headphones have enjoyed a lofty position atop reviewer shortlists and Top 10s for years. The third and fourth iterations of the WH-1000X range traded blows with the Bose Quiet Comfort and Sennheiser Momentum product lineups and, recently, the Apple Airpod Max for those in Apple’s ecosystem. The older Sony models shared a lot of similarities in design, feature set, and sound profile with the company making relatively minor adjustments between the two. Now, the WH-1000XM5 is here and it is a departure from the formula. Changes were made, some for the better and some… not. But, wherever your…

Popular password manager LastPass issued a statement yesterday that it had suffered a breach. Two weeks ago, an unauthorised party gained access to and stole source code and other proprietary information from the company. Before you rush to switch to a different service, the company says, “we have seen no evidence that this incident involved any access to customer data or encrypted password vaults.” Also, it was two weeks ago. If they did get to your passwords, it’d already be too late. Who goes there? In a statement issued by the company on Tuesday, it revealed that the unauthorised party…

Audi Centre Centurion has something new for Audi e-tron owners. Not only has it utilised the power of the sun to offset its own energy consumption and charge electric vehicles on-premises. It also offers a smaller home-based solution. This means that if you’ve just bought an Audi e-tron electric vehicle, you needn’t rely wholly on the national grid to charge your vehicle. SMA Solar Technologies from Germany and locally-based ANH Technologies have partnered up on the hardware side to provide the equipment and installation expertise, according to Peter Preusse, the dealership’s managing director. The future is looking bright for EVs…

It’s officially official. Apple has released imagery and the slogan for this year’s iPhone and Apple Watch launch. “Far Out” could refer to anything, but probably has nocturnal connotations. If you’ve been paying attention, all signs point to the iPhone 14 and Watch Series 8 coming on 7 September 2022. The event will be broadcast live at 19h00 SAST from the Steve Jobs Theatre at Apple HQ on all the usual platforms. We’ll be covering the event on the night but from the comforts of our respective homes. Apple isn’t flying us to Cupertino, California to join them in person……

Pokémon is no stranger to weird and interesting collaborations. It has previously partnered with Samsung for a limited edition Galaxy Z Flip 3. That came in a Pokeball-themed box, with a red pouch for the phone. The latest collaboration is a lot more ambitious. Remember the Mini Concept Aceman that the British car manufacturer revealed in July? Well, now there’s a Pikachu-themed edition. The concept from Mini and Pokémon was revealed at the Opening Night live event of Gamescom. Mini, use projection Like the Samsung, we aren’t talking about a completely custom car here. The Pikachu-themed Mini Aceman concept car…

Have you ever held a vibrating controller and thought ‘I want this on my ears’? Nor have we. But someone at Razer did. Back in 2018, a whole team thought it would be a good idea to put haptic motors in each earcup of the Razer Nari Ultimate, right where the audio drivers are. That was a risky move that turned out to be not an awful idea. At the time many critics expected that, with some refinement, it might become a staple of gaming peripherals. Well, Razer must’ve agreed because it continues to release headsets with the haptic tech…