Author: Duncan Pike

With the local launch of the Magic V2 and Magic 6 Pro, it’s clear that Honor is committed to cementing a strong position for itself as a leading smartphone brand in South Africa. It was never going to be an easy task contending with global powerhouses like Samsung and Apple but Honor has laid a strong foundation over the last few years with decent entry-level and mid-range offerings. Thankfully, its latest flagship devices continue that trend – albeit with varying degrees of success. Better late than never The Honor Magic V2 landed in SA only a few months after it…

After months of teasing and waiting, e-retail giant Amazon has finally announced the launch of Amazon.co.za without much fanfare. While South Africans have long been able to order from Amazon, that often incurred heavy shipping and import tax fees. Not to mention the weeks-long waiting period. With South Africa now an officially supported region, goods ordered from the local storefront are displayed in ZAR with the promise of same-day and next-day delivery. What’s in it for us, Amazon? As part of its Day One launch, Amazon South Africa is offering customers free delivery on their first order. If you move…

OpenAI and Google Gemini rival Anthropic recently announced two important updates to its Claude 3 AI language model. The first is a new subscription tier aimed at making teamwork within the platform easier. The other, slightly more exciting update is the launch of an iOS mobile app for Claude 3 similar to what ChatGPT offers. Previously, Claude was only accessible through Anthropic’s website, by using its API, or via other apps that had already integrated the AI chatbot. While the new mobile app is only available on iPhones for now, Anthropic says an Android version is also in the works.…

Fans of Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham video game series probably thought they finally had something to look forward to with the recent announcement of Batman: Arkham Shadow. Until they saw it would be a VR-exclusive title for the Meta Quest 3. Now they know how Diablo fans feel. Unlike the last Batman VR game, Batman: Arkham VR, Arkham Shadow isn’t being developed by Rocksteady, although it will still be set in the same universe. Oculus Studios-owned Camouflaj is handling development and says it has been “[c]ollaborating closely with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC” with the hopes to “deliver an authentic new…

Google has just announced that applications for its African startup accelerator programme have officially opened. If you’re ready to take your big idea to the next level, what better way to do it than with the help of one of the biggest companies in the world? To no one’s surprise, the eighth Google for Startups Accelerator Africa programme features a strong focus on fast-growing startups that use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to overcome challenges and create new opportunities in Africa. “Startups are the lifeblood of innovation, driving economic growth, creating jobs, and solving some of society’s most…

Qualcomm has officially unveiled its Snapdragon X Plus computing platform, following recent rumours of its launch. It lands six months after the company announced its flagship chipset, the Snapdragon X Elite, in October last year. As the name implies, the SD X Plus is a small step down from the SD X Elite. It features a 10-core Oryon CPU which, if our math is correct, is two fewer than the 12-core X Elite. It supports up to 64GB of LPDDR5x system memory and boasts a 135GB/s bandwidth. It’s supposed to be 37% faster than competitors, although Qualcomm didn’t say which…

Across the seas in China, Huawei Technologies Co. recently released a quartet of new ‘Pura’ smartphone models that seem to replace the company’s long-standing P-series devices. Other than the name change, Huawei presumably hopes its new line will maintain the momentum it has built after a somewhat surprising (at least for most folks around the world) resurgence in 2023 owing to the launch of the Mate 60 range and its Chinese-manufactured Kirin 9000s 5G-capable chipset. Pura leads the wei Huawei made little fuss about its latest launch, with an announcement post on WeChat doing the heavy lifting. That appears to…

The handful of you who still subscribe to DStv might’ve already noticed the new ‘1max’ channel among the tens of others you hardly watch. MultiChoice quietly launched 1max on channel 103 at the start of April for Premium and Compact Plus subscribers which turned out not to be a weird joke. The new channel is home to select content from the newly relaunched Showmax streaming service — which explains how the creative folks at MultiChoice arrived at the name. So, just the 1max, then? “The content on 1max gives viewers only a sample of what’s available on the streaming service…

Ever since the Vision Pro was first unveiled at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference on 5 June 2023, the fruit company has made a big deal about it being the next step in the evolution of how we use technology. The company even came up with a fancy new term for its fancy new device: ‘spatial computing’ – because now you’ll be doing your work in the space around you. Ignoring the fact that similar devices have existed for more than ten years already, Apple’s presumably well-paid marketing team managed to make a computer you strap to your face seem appealing.…

After three years of lossless audio edging, Spotify could finally give fans the release they’ve been begging for. Once again, lossless audio streaming on the platform could be right around the corner. That’s if new strings of code uncovered by a Reddit user are anything to go by. Spotify’s lossless audio streaming ambitions were first announced in 2021 as ‘Spotify HiFi’. But, as recently as last year, the company seemed to change direction with hints that hi-res streaming would form part of a more expensive, internally-named ‘Supremium’ tier. Now it seems like the streaming giant has changed direction again. HiFi…