Author: Brett Venter

In case you haven’t heard, there’s a global semiconductor shortage going on, affecting everything from the delivery of smartphones to the availability of games consoles. Partly the result of the ongoing pandemic, and partly because there are only two major sources for semiconductors on the planet (Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor, which is being besieged by drought, of all things), so chips are at a premium for basically everyone. And the increased reliance of motor vehicle manufactures on microchips means that the current shortage is also kicking the world’s automakers square in the nards — and a recent factory fire in…

When things are horrible on the ground, it’s unsurprising that people turn to the skies — things seem so much simpler up there. And, soon, there will be robots. Exploration robots, specifically. The European Space Agency (ESA) is working on a robot known as DAEDALUS, which is designed to explore caves on the lunar surface. Why? Well, to see what’s inside them, for one. And to see whether we could live inside them, for er… two. The thing about moon bases they don’t tell you in Austin Powers movies is that they’re susceptible to being punctured by micro-asteroids, which is…

Announced last night in SA and available today, Oppo’s stepping up its game in the South African market with the Oppo Reno 5. It’s not quite the company’s Find series — that’s going to have to wait — but it is a remarkably premium entry at a not-really-premium price point. We got a chance to sit down with Oppo today and explore the handset a little while discussing what’s coming next for the brand in South Africa. We haven’t had enough exposure for a proper review (that’ll have to wait a few days) but we did go hands-on with its…

So you’ve been waiting for more from the Chinese smartphone brand Oppo, have you? You’re in luck, because the Oppo Reno 5 has just dropped in South Africa and we’ve got pricing for the handset (it’s now available from both MTN and Vodacom), starting at R15,000. Meet the Oppo Reno 5 So what are you getting with Oppo’s first higher-end smartphone available in SA? It’s not quite a flagship (that role is reserved for Oppo’s Find X series of devices) but it’s mighty close. This particular handset features a 6.43in display running at 90Hz with a peak brightness of 700…

Internet users of a certain age will remember Yahoo!, one of the earliest internet properties (which has almost been run into the ground in recent years). It is, amazingly, still around, though its influence is largely confined to the States where owner Verizon Media Group resides. But the service is looking for a resurgence, with the introduction of a new subscription service called Yahoo!+, or Yahoo! Plus. Yahoo!? Which is all a little energetic for us, what with the exclamation points and all. But that’s what the American public (and eventually, the world!) has in store. Verizon plans to rebrand…

There have been far too many reports for Apple’s rumoured mixed-reality headset to be just a rumour. Yes, even though we’ve said as much about Apple’s reported motor vehicle (and we’re still right about that, by the way). The newest rumours claim that Apple’s looking to keep the headset’s weight down to a very manageable level, and it may also perform some very fancy functions using your eyes. Because Apple doesn’t do anything by half-measures. Mixed-reality madness Both of the most recent rumours come by way of Apple-centric analyst and all-round correct person Ming-Chi Kuo. One, via a research note…

Last year we saw a human fighter jet pilot take on an AI system in a series of simulated dogfights that… didn’t end well for the human. DARPA’s ACE (Air Combat Evolution) program has moved on since, furthering the agency’s goal of putting an AI system in control of a fighter jet and sending it into a real-world dogfight. And now, more detail has emerged about how the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency intends to stick an artificial intelligence system into an actual jet and let it… you know, fly and fight. ACE’s high https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd8ryTWOjBg Which is, objectively, a very…

We’ve been expecting OnePlus to announce its OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro handsets, alongside some fancy Hasselblad camera tech, for some time now. The launch event took place last night and saw the handsets revealed, as well as the brand’s very first smartwatch with a robust set of features. But we’re not here for the smartwatch, as cool as it undoubtedly is. We’re here for the camera tech, which isn’t jealous of Huawei’s close relationship with Leica at all. And the OnePlus 9 range… well, we wouldn’t kick that camera out of bed. +1 OnePlus 9 Odds are you’ll be…

The strength of LG’s smartphone business has been in doubt since the beginning of this year, despite the company going all-in on some aggressively-innovative smartphone designs. A memo circulated in January that pointed to extreme changes at the company, and the possible loss of its smartphone division. That loss is looking more likely than ever now. Loss looming for LG A new report from the Korea Herald claims that matters are looking direr than we’d expected. The company was reportedly looking at spinning off its smartphone division to another company, but the report claims that the South Korean outfit is…

We’ve been exited about NASA flying a helicopter on Mars since before Perseverance, its newest rover, left Earth. And now we’re finally in the home stretch, as the Ingenuity helicopter, which is stored underneath the rover itself, has finally been revealed. By which we mean that the debris shield covering NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter has been discarded and the helicopter itself is now visible (in the header image above). It’s a tiny little thing, but there’s not much atmosphere for it to play in. You’re not going to get a Bell UH-1 off the ground on Mars, after all. Might as…