Author: Brett Venter

Logistics is big business, and nobody knows that better than Amazon. But like everything else, you eventually run out of ways to increase efficiency. When that happens, you hit a wall but there are ways to stave off the impact. The retail giant is reported to be working on a way to make its deliveries just that much faster. How? Smart glasses are supposedly the answer, according to a report by Reuters. Delivery drivers will wear these and, in theory, speed up deliveries in the one place where a computer isn’t already involved. Augmented Amazon The project’s existence was confirmed…

You didn’t think consoles like the Xbox and PlayStation would escape the artificial intelligence assimilation, did you? Actually, Sony’s console might remain pure for a bit longer than Microsoft’s gaming hardware. The American company has gone all-in on AI and that involves cramming the technology into everything. The Xbox’s first encounter with the ‘future’ is a new AI-powered chatbot that will handle the platform’s tech support queries. Yup. That’s it. Except it’ll have a personality. So… totally unlike all those humans who used to handle the function for Microsoft. Xbox of tricks The Support Virtual Agent, as Microsoft is calling…

It’s almost inevitable that details of Samsung’s new phones will spill out long before launch but for once there’s something novel about the ‘leaks’. Talk of a Slim version of Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S25 smartphone is bouncing around various online sources, starting in South Korea. In case you’ve neglected your South Korean language studies, website SmartPrix — which has a record of sharing Samsung stuff ahead of official reveals — has the details of the rumoured S25 Slim in English. Slim, neh? Or you could keep reading without bothering to click away. The handset is thought to be a fourth…

When you think of space-age materials, the same product that allowed the Phoenicians to dominate maritime culture more than 6,000 years ago doesn’t come to mind. And yet that’s the main component of the LignoSat, a new CubeSat from the Kyoto University that has just launched toward orbit. LignoSat’s name is based on lignum, the Latin name for ‘wood’. It’s a collaboration between Kyoto University and Sumitomo Forestry, a Japanese company focused on sustainable wood products. The point of the project isn’t just to promote what Sumitomo does, though it’s also that. It’s also to test just how effective wood…

Amazon’s Kindle is a fantastic device, no matter which of them you select, but unless you have sizable pockets, they’re not super-portable. The Mudita Kompakt, an eReader making the rounds on the crowdfunding circuit, hopes to be the reader you slip into your hip pocket. The Kompakt is more than ‘just’ an eReader. It performs a dual role by also functioning as a phone, albeit one with an e-Ink display. Those exist, of course, but they tend to be rather pricey. And unavailable in South Africa. Backing the Mudita Kompakt The smartphone/eReader will feature a 4.3in 800 x 480 e-ink…

Around the middle of 2024, there was talk about Canon’s upcoming EOS R7 lens. First previewed at Apple’s WWDC event, it’s finally more than a glint in the camera maker’s eye. It’s also a pricy option for a single-purpose lens that is only compatible with a single camera. American pricing puts the hardware’s cost at R8,000 or so ($450 before tax), so locals looking to shoot virtual reality with their Canon camera can expect to pay over R10,000. Virtually improves the EOS R7 Having the hardware official means it’s now possible to assign Canon’s lens a searchable name. Being Canon,…

You’ll want to head down to the video showing Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot at work sorting machine parts. A static image doesn’t do the event justice. Atlas, the redesigned robot that has terrified us for years, has just shown off its new autonomous capability by getting to work sorting car parts. It doesn’t look far from being offered a contract to continue working 24/7 and (possibly) setting us all up for a real-world Feet of Clay. Atlas plugged https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_7IPm7f1vI The video above, shared by Boston Dynamics on YouTube, shows fully autonomous operation by the robotic entity. In case its little…

First National Bank (FNB) eBucks and Pick n Pay (PnP) have teamed up to provide a range of discounts to customers who use both services regularly. You’ll already have seen one of these discounts out in the wild: FNB’s R0.99 loaves of bread, available up to four times a month. At an online event in Johannesburg today, both companies announced further discounts for PnP/FNB customers, which take in the various eBucks tiers. As usual, the higher your eBuck tier, the better your rewards. Economical FNB FNB’s entry-level clients, meaning anyone with a bank account, can take advantage of affordable bread…

Meta Platforms, the group behind Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and most of the other time-wasters that try to convince you to buy things, has a new target. Mark Zuckerberg’s suite of companies is exploring the search market. The stated reason for this, according to The Information, is to reduce Meta’s reliance on Google and Microsoft. Given how the largest search platform on the planet is decaying in real time, that’s not the worst idea the social media giant has come up with. A new Meta Whether Meta’s take on search is any better than the decaying husks of once-useful services we…

Amazon recently announced four new e-readers in its stable of devices. One of these, the updated Scribe, will launch with access to generative AI features. If you already laid out money for the older model, never fear. You’ll still get your totally necessary AI fix. The Scribe, “our fastest-growing Kindle since it launched in 2022”, will see the addition of on-device generative AI when it launches later this year. The catch? You’re supplying most of the data it’s working with. Shorter Scribe scribbles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqv2Jin16Pg One of the functions of Amazon’s scribble-able e-reader is the ability to use it as a…