Author: Duncan Pike

The week when E3 was supposed to happen has been and gone without an E3. In its place, we got the Geoff Keighley-run Summer Games Fest. This served as a rather wide umbrella for most of the companies that would’ve had showcases at E3. We’ve rounded up the best trailers and reveals, with a few honourable mentions, so you don’t have to slog through a week’s worth of events. Sony’s State of Play https://youtu.be/wQkAfmvjWgs Sony’s State of Play took place a little before Summer Games Fest kicked off. This is where we heard about the Spider-Man games coming to PC…

Google employee suspended for believing AI model is sentient Google placed an engineer within its Responsible AI division on paid administration leave after he broke a confidentiality agreement by speaking to a House Judiciary (That’s an American political thing) committee member. That conversation included details about his work and Google’s alleged unethical activities around AI. He revealed to The Washington Post that he believes one of Google’s AI projects, LaMDA or Language Model for Dialogue Applications, has achieved sentience. He also revealed that he came to his conclusions from his experience as a priest instead of a scientist.A read-through of his…

Microsoft has announced that, from 30 June, Samsung TVs will be able to play Xbox games without the need for another device. This will be achieved through its Xbox Cloud Gaming app. Microsoft says it will launch the feature on Samsung TVs first and then pursue partnership deals with other TV manufacturers thereafter. Why can’t we have nice things too, Xbox? Cloud Gaming, which is still technically in beta, has been available on PCs, Xbox consoles and mobile devices as part of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription for a while. But this new collaboration means you can achieve the…

The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) has apparently had enough of the country-wide scourge of motorists not renewing their driver’s licences. Don’t bother trying to use valid excuses like the system being offline to work your way out of this one if you’re one of the offending parties. At the launch of the newest DLTC (Drivers Licence Testing Centre) at the Midrand Gautrain station, Makhosini Msibi, RTMC CEO said they had already alleviated the 1.5 million driver’s licence card backlog. Those cards had expired during the COVID lockdown months of March 2020 to August 2021. Don’t bother arguing with facts…

If you like to go round and round really quickly, you might be interested in getting paid for that. Mettlestate, Incredible Connection, and Logitech are all teaming up to launch another All Star Gaming tournament. This one is aimed at sim racers and will take place on virtual tracks within Assetto Corsa Competizione. Go fast and get paid Registration for this All Star Gaming tournament opens today, 9 June. There will be three two-hour qualifiers every Saturday starting on 18 June. Each week will feature a different track and a new chance to qualify. If you don’t make the cut…

Honor is looking to establish itself in the South African smartphone market after splitting from parent company Huawei in November 2020. Most recently, it is trying to do that with its flagship Magic 4 series. The Magic 4 Pro will be available to South African consumers from 10 June. It will be unencumbered by American sanctions and will ship with access to Google’s full suite of apps. The handset was initially unveiled in February in China and released in April of this year. With only a two-month difference, this one is still relatively fresh. Samsung and Huawei better watch their…

Apple is holding its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) this week. If you’ve been online at all, you would already know that. You might also know that the tech giant announced it’s new M2 chip and accompanying MacBooks alongside various operating system updates. What you might not know is that Apple isn’t just dropping support for some older iPhones but some older Macs, iPads, and one lonely watch. It isn’t unusual for companies to drop support for older devices. Every single company does this to varying degrees. It just seems like a particularly long list this year after the relatively short…

European parliament has finally ruled that USB-C will be the universal charging standard for consumer electronics going forward. The reasoning behind this decision is to reduce the e-waste created by needing a new charger and cable every time you purchase a new device. While this change is specific to European countries, the effects will probably be felt globally. It wouldn’t really make sense for Apple, for example, to manufacturer two slightly different iPhone models. But that isn’t to say that it won’t, if it’s in their best interest. Laptop and camera manufacturers could see the biggest changes Most of the…

Apple’s WWDC event last night featured a host of notable announcements. Along with the mostly bland news of operating system updates, came the company’s new M2 chip and a new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 13in. One of those operating system updates was a bit more flavourful than the rest. Like, that one chip stuck in the corner of the bag that catches you by surprise. Last night, Apple was the first of the big tech companies to show the world what a passwordless future might look like and how it would work. Passkeys will replace passwords soon (hopefully) Last…

We’re sure you already know that Apple held its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) last night. You’d have to try really hard to remain unaware of that. We’ve covered the company’s latest home-brewed silicon, the M2 chip, as well as the new MacBooks it’ll appear in already. The company also announced the newest version of its mobile operating system — iOS 16. But with the great innovation that comes from copying Android features, comes disappointment for some. Not every iPhone will be eligible for the shiny new iOS version. All those “new” features come at a price If you’re still using…