Author: Brett Venter

Humanity’s return to the moon starts with a single rocket journey. Artemis 1 was supposed to blast off earlier this week, on 29 August. That launch was scrubbed partway into the launch window. It has since been rescheduled. According to NASA, the new launch window for the first Artemis mission opens on 3 September, at 14:17 EDT. Here in South Africa, that’s 20:17 on Saturday morning. If you’re just getting up, or getting home, it’s the perfect time to tune into the live stream. Artemis rising The launch window for the mission is still two hours. Liftoff will hopefully take…

The company formerly known as Facebook, Meta, has plans afoot to create paid-for features for its most popular platforms. Those platforms, in case you’re not aware, are Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. This information comes via Meta’s vice president of monetisation (they have one of those), John Hegeman. Speaking in an interview with The Verge, Hegeman confirmed that the company is exploring new ways to charge its user base for access to some features. Changing the Meta Hegeman’s interview followed The Verge receiving an internal memo discussing the establishment of a group within Meta to investigate “possible paid features”. “I think…

Folding smartphones are the up-and-coming thing. Flexible notebooks, like the Asus Zenbook 17 Fold, are something else entirely. Based on our brief time with Asus’ computational oddity so far, we can see the attraction. But, on the other hand, it also feels a little gimmicky. This might be unfair, and it’s something we’re keeping in mind. Samsung’s original Fold smartphone felt much the same when it launched. In more ways than one, but we’ll get to that shortly. We’ve spent a couple of hours in the company of the Zenbook 17 Fold so far. Initial impressions are that it’s a…

Earlier this month, Meta rolled out support for NFTs to Instagram users around the world. And there was much rejoicing. Now, the same thing goes for users who want to show off those NFTs on Facebook. According to the company, NFT owners who have connected their wallets on either Facebook or Instagram can now proudly display them on both platforms. As usual, it’s mostly avoiding using the term NFT. Instead, users are receiving “…the ability to post digital collectables that they own across both Facebook and Instagram”. See? Totally different thing. Does anyone like my NFTs? You can now post…

Streaming service Netflix doesn’t see a future in just remaining a streaming platform. That’s why the company has bought up a studio and released a game or two. It doesn’t appear to be gaining the traction Netflix would like, but that isn’t slowing anything down. The company is testing out so-called “game handles”, otherwise known as gamertags. If you’ve ever owned an Xbox, PlayStation, or PC, a gamertag is the (usually) pseudonymous title you’re known by when playing a game online. Generally, these have some deeper meaning, refer to a cannabis habit, or are auto-generated. Either way, Netflix is trialling…

Vodacom isn’t just a mobile service provider anymore. The rise of the super-app has spawned services like VodaLend, a financial service that offers South Africans unsecured loans (among other functions). Now there’s something more: VodaLend Cash Advance. It’s a little like Vodacom’s Airtime Advance feature, which lets you take a little extra airtime with the promise to pay it back later. Only, the stakes are a little higher here. But just a little. Cash advances are for between R50 and R500 a pop, so it won’t fund a wild weekend that unfortunately doesn’t kill you before you have to pay…

Streaming app Netflix has, years after promising it would never include ads, almost completed the job of including ads. The company’s new ad-supported tier, as it stands, offers several drawbacks beyond just including ads. Turns out, there’s a fresh one of those. Netflix isn’t looking to lose even the slightest amount of money with its ‘Netflix with ads’ version. In addition to taking money from advertisers, the platform intends to take money from subscribers. It’ll take less… but it’s still asking for some cash to use its service. Maybe chill a bit, Netflix According to the folks over at Bloomberg,…

UPDATE: Today’s Artemis 1 launch has been scrubbed. While a new launch date hasn’t yet been set, the NASA live stream page briefly offered a new date for the stream of 2 September, at 18:00 South African Standard Time. The launch of #Artemis I is no longer happening today as teams work through an issue with an engine bleed. Teams will continue to gather data, and we will keep you posted on the timing of the next launch attempt. https://t.co/tQ0lp6Ruhv pic.twitter.com/u6Uiim2mom — NASA (@NASA) August 29, 2022 NASA’s Artemis 1 launch has finally arrived. From 14:33 today, South African time,…

Apple trademarks ‘Reality One’ and ‘Reality Pro’, because what else were we expecting? Apple’s step into the world of virtual reality promises to be a massive one. Massive tech, massive influence, probably a massive price too. One of the most curious questions about it, though, is what Apple would call its devices. It seems that this particular mystery has been cleared up. According to Bloomberg, it’ll all be about Reality. Apple has filed for trademarks on the terms Reality Processor, Reality One, and Reality Pro. Since the company’s VR framework is called RealityKit and the operating system is apparently called rOS…

If you’re looking for the very best Android tablet, Samsung makes it. But, as with its smartphones, you’ll wind up paying for what you get. The Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite, the most affordable tablet from the South Korean company, occupies the exact opposite end of the scale. You can expect to pay around R3,000 — often less — for one of these. Any budget tablet will offer lower specs than you might find in products with a larger price tag. Samsung’s A7 Lite is no exception. The screen is sub-HD (but offers more than a 720p resolution). It’s not…