Author: Brett Venter

It doesn’t get douchier than that guy who hauls out an acoustic guitar at the beach at sundown. Or does it? The Melo-D, a guitar made by TemPolor, is billed as the “world’s first AI guitar”. If you can’t guess what that means, you haven’t been paying attention. The guitar is a musical instrument in much the same way as your old Guitar Hero controller is. In other words, it’s got the shape right but the rest of it…? Not so much. Its creators reckon the Melo-D can be used to create music using generative AI. It’s also supposed to…

Orbit Robotics, a Swiss company, has unveiled Helios. Nominally a humanoid, at least in general shape, the robot has one large difference compared to the likes of Unitree’s stable. That would be its arms, which make the ‘bot more similar to a chimpanzee than an actual human. See, Helios has limbs at all of the correct points. The catch is that its ‘legs’ are actually just another pair of arms. It’s a bit useless here on Earth, but that’s not where the robot is supposed to operate. Instead, it’s intended for work in space — specifically, space stations, but we…

Rocket League trailer previews Unreal Engine 6 upgrade, but don’t expect it any time soon The Unreal Engine has powered decades of video games, with Unreal Engine 6 just around the corner. The first game to get it, according to Epic, will be the company’s own Rocket League. Or, at the very least, it’s the first game to demo the new tech. The demonstration isn’t terribly long, and there’s no further detail about what UE 6 will bring to the table, but the brief seconds of gameplay are pretty enough. There are new lighting systems and particle physics on display,…

Artificial intelligence is coming for everything, including your bank account. Eventually, in South Africa’s case, but ChatGPT users in the States (who give Sam Altman’s company money) have the option to start right now. The AI chatbot shouldn’t wind up making payments for you — that’s a custom option, if you’re brave enough — but giving OpenAI’s AI access to your financial accounts will apparently result in better financial advice from ChatGPT. Show ChatGPT the money Of course, you probably shouldn’t treat any AI’s financial advice as… well, financial advice, but giving it access to your balances, transactions, investments, and…

If you’re after an alternative to the hellscape that is Reddit, Meta’s newly-launched Forum might be the fresh hellscape you’re looking for. The social media giant has quietly launched its newest app, first discovered by one Matt Navarra. The app is designed around Facebook Groups, offering similar functionality to Reddit, Quora, and other places that may or may not answer your questions seriously. It’s currently available for iOS users, with an Android version still missing in action. Forum poster Forum describes itself as “a dedicated space built for deeper discussions, real answers, and the communities you care about.” Call us…

Soundcore makes some pretty cool tech, but the upcoming Liberty 5 Pro and 5 Pro Max headphones have outdone any earbuds the company has launched before. Both sets of buds come standard with displays in their cases, an increasingly trendy addition to the product type. We can probably expect more brands to follow suit in the coming months. But if you can’t wait that long, the Liberty 5 Pro family will give you all manner of updates on your earbuds case in the meantime. There are also AI features coming. You can’t launch anything in 2026 without artificial intelligence. Google…

The odds of ever being a successful writer are astronomical. At least with the Zerowriter Fold, you’ll have some fun while making your own attempt. At least, that’s the theory behind this new dedicated writing appliance currently being funded on Kickstarter. It’s far from your only option if a modernised word processor is something you desperately need in your life. The FreeWrite is readily available to South African writers, if a touch expensive. The Auteur is also coming, but we’ve got no idea when. Zerowriter’s Fold, on the other hand, will almost certainly release. Zerowriter’s will succeed That’s because the…

Exoskeleton systems are becoming more popular, with a company called Hypershell launching a refreshed version of its X-series frames for general purchase. But, if you happen to work in search and rescue (SAR), units are available (to the SAR agency, presumably) free of charge. The Hypershell X Pro S, X Max S, and X Ultra S range in price from R16,600 to R33,200, with their features scaled accordingly. The units are designed to drive power to a user’s legs and hips, with terrain adaptation possible over distances of at least 17.5km. Hypershell game The X Pro S is the least…

It’s increasingly likely that a ChatGPT smartphone prototype is on the way, at the very least. Previously, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo listed the device’s development and some of the proposed specs. The same source now details pretty much everything the phone will include, hardware-wise. The only thing missing from the roster is camera and microphone hardware, both of which are likely to be fairly advanced. They’re also probably not going to be standard fare, since an AI-focused phone would hew closer toward giving the device eyes and ears rather than capturing mundane human memories. Calling ChatGPT The proposed hardware includes a…

Insta360’s Go 3S is a decent compact video camera, but the company’s new Retro Bundle version makes it an altogether stranger beast. It’s the latest in a series of unusual choices by the Chinese brand, which have included a magnetic screen and a very, very small storage device. This release harks back to a time when the Polaroid was an actual product and not just a way to develop photos. It uses the same (older) camera from Insta360, so anyone familiar with its performance shouldn’t see much difference. It’s all about the chassis. Okay, and a few extras. Go 3S…