Author: Brett Venter

Come on, how often are we going to get the chance to use ‘Florida man’ correctly in a headline? Donald Trump, former US president and declarer of multiple bankruptcies, has announced a new social media platform, TRUTH Social. Because that other thing he did was totally not the social media platform he promised, guys. Really. Florida man tries again What form TRUTH Social will eventually take isn’t known, because at the moment it’s just a landing page where potential users can register their interest and pre-order the app on Apple’s App Store. The platform will function as “…America’s “Big Tent”…

Oppo might be relatively new in South Africa, and we still don’t have access to the company’s high-end smartphones, but it’s just possible that the devices may become even more affordable than they are right now. A new report claims that the Chinese tech-maker is investigating making its own smartphone chips, joining the likes of Apple, Huawei, and Samsung in making more of its own hardware. Taking the Oppo-tunity A report out to Nikkei claims that the company is developing its own high-end smartphone processors, “…in a bid to gain control over core components and reduce its reliance on foreign…

Lego does whatever it can to appeal to as many people as possible and this new Lego Fender Stratocaster, part of the company’s user-created Idea range, certainly has the ‘appealing’ part right. Newly revealed for South Africa, this 1,074-piece set will have fans building a scaled-down version of the iconic axe, with options for either a classic red or black body, depending on whether you’re rock or metal. It launched in SA from 25 October and it’ll set you back R1,900. Yes, you need a Lego Fender Stratocaster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0YEWjpHtzQ Which is almost reasonable for what you’re getting. Rocksmiths who build…

Facebook may not be Facebook for too much longer, according to a report from The Verge. The social network has a name change incoming, according to the website, citing a source familiar with the company’s plans. Facebook will, according to “…a source with direct knowledge of the matter,” be changing its name as soon as next week. The name change will supposedly turn up on 28 October at the company’s annual Connect conference and will have a focus on the company’s so-called metaverse aims. What’s in a name, Facebook? This doesn’t mean that the social network’s initial platform will rebrand,…

Facebook is either doing awfully or it’s performing really well in the eyes of the world. But it’s what the social network gets up to behind closed doors that are worth keeping an eye on — because the company is cooking up some seriously scary tech in there. Perhaps the scariest bit about it is just how unaware Facebook appears to be of the potential of its technologies. The company recently announced its new Ego4D project, which hopes to one day teach artificial intelligence systems to see. This isn’t unusual for the company — they’re already using machine learning to…

Ransomware is the hottest new crime right now for people who can’t find a job in government, and another high-profile entity has just had their data handed to them. Wait, no, the opposite. Sinclair Broadcast Group, one of the major broadcast companies in the States, has come under attack by folks who have locked their systems up as tight as… well, as something really tight. Sinclair’s cybersecurity sucks, apparently The company was a little vague on what has happened but said that it first identified issues on 16 October. Subsequently, Sinclair noted that “…certain servers and workstations in its environment…

If you’d told us in 2018 that the next emerging trend in tech would be sunglasses concealing little speakers… we’d probably have believed you. But we’re actually seeing the product category take off, with Anker the latest to get into the act with their upcoming Soundcore Frames. The Soundcore Frames, in case the name doesn’t immediately smack you between the eyes, are a pair of glasses with audio gear packed into the bows. You stick ’em on and, according to Anker, you stand to benefit from “surround” sound, thanks to their design. Spiffy Soundcore Frames One of Anker’s selling points…

For a change, pretty much all of the Apple rumours were true. The company took the wraps off new 14in and 16in MacBook Pros — and yes, they’re powered by Apple Silicon. Both models of MacBook Pro will launch with up to the M1 Max processor, though it’s not known at this time which options will be available in South Africa. That’ll come later. For now, though… Serious displays Let’s talk notebook displays. Both the 14in and 16in Pros feature Apple’s Liquid Retina XDR displays, with the 14in model measuring 14.2in across the diagonal. That screen clocks in at a…

Apple’s processor news was a little spoiled this morning when we got a look at the company’s M1 Pro and M1 Max processors. Though, if we’re being fair, it was only the name that was spoiled just before Apple’s event kicked off. What they consisted of…? Yeah, that was known at the beginning of this month. Here are the M1 Pro and M1 Max Apple’s newest MacBook Pros are set to carry the company’s second-ever processor set made for notebooks. They’re also the fastest notebook chips Apple’s ever made — which doesn’t sound like much of an achievement but it…

Tonight, if you’re paying attention, is when Apple is widely expected to take the wraps off its new MacBook Pro models. And, because nothing happens when companies want it to anymore, many of those details have leaked already. Well, get ready for a few more. Apple’s M1 Pro and M1 Max processors have turned up online. Maxing out the M1 Pro One of the more specific leaks in recent weeks was the processor information for Apple’s new MacBooks. These machines are expected to include two distinct processor variants — both with ten CPU cores (two efficiencies and eight performance) but…