Author: Brett Venter

Have you ever looked at a tech company and thought, ‘Damn, I wish I’d invested in that’? Well stop, because unless you’ve invented time-travel, it’s never going to happen that way. Besides, your first stop is to warn everyone about 2020, and possibly travel to 2016 to help defeat Biff Tannen in the US elections. But it’s still possible to own bits of high-end tech companies now, and FNB’s giving South Africans their crack at it. What’s more, it may not cost all that much. Trust me, I know what I’m doing FNB is offering its customers (and people it…

South Africans love many things — sports, biltong, cooking meat over fire, beer, South Africa… and those are just the dudes. But perhaps none of these is as venerated at the bakkie, a useful vehicle whether you’re transporting garden refuse, large amounts of groceries, actual farm animals, construction materials or… anything you can fit in the back, really. The point is, South Africa loves its bakkies and, of those, there is none more iconic than the Toyota Hilux. Which is a handy way to introduce the fact that Toyota’s just dropped pricing for its new range. What does a workhorse…

Sony announced its new Alpha-series camera with the A7S III in September this year. It is a video-focused mirrorless thats to take over the vlogging world (there’s a lot of that about). But, in the finest tradition of the late Billy Mays, “But WAIT, there’s more!” The Sony A7C, a full-frame mirrorless from the Japanese company, hopes to redefine what you think of when you hear the word ‘compact’. Making light of it Sony claims that the A7C is the smallest and lightest camera of its type (full-frame mirrorless, in case you forgot) in the world and at 124 x…

It’s that time of year again… again. Apple split its event this year, unveiling the new Apple Watch Series 6 and revamped tablets last month. We’ve been waiting on news on the smartphone front and it’s finally here. 13 October is the day we’ll finally get to see the new iPhone 12. Speed 2 There’s an official invitation and everything, giving the time and date for the event. It’s also got a tagline which should tell us a little about what Apple’s got in store. The tagline this year is ‘Hi, Speed’ which likely refers to a few things. The…

Need for Speed, as a series, has been around since 1994. Out of the many games the series has fielded, a few stand out. Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed, Need for Speed Underground (1 & 2 — remasters please, EA. Thank you), Need for Speed: Most Wanted and then Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. Both of them — the PS1-era original and the 2010 version were fantastic titles. But there can be only one and it’s the Criterion-made Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit that’s back. Well, it will be back, in just a few short weeks.  A good year for…

It may upset you to learn that some people make money destroying phones on camera. One of the best of these, a chap who goes by JerryRigEverything, took on Samsung’s Galaxy Fold back when the upgraded version of the phone was launched. The results… weren’t pretty. Well, friend Jerry is back to try and do the same to Samsung’s Galaxy Fold 2. By jamming some sand into the thing. Well, trying to. Expect the unexpected https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYQ7A6wjH5Q&feature=emb_logo JerryRigEverything (the chap’s name is Zack Nelson, in case you were wondering) took the Fold 2 and subjected it to quite the torture test…

Despite being named like an electric-green motorcycle, the Zeiss ZX1 is an incoming piece of camera equipment. Or, at least, that’s the theory. The Android-powered camera was first announced a few years back before parent company Zeiss went dark about its development. But now, it seems, the unusual camera is actually hitting the market. But it’s not going to be cheap. So it’s quick, then? Zeiss, if you’ve been paying attention, often sees its tech turning up in Sony cameras and Nokia smartphones so they’re at least familiar with Android and camera lenses being in the same place. But the…

Say what you like about Huawei, the Chinese tech-maker has no idea how to stop going in the face of…. well, just look at everything. A new handset has hit South African shores in the shape of Huawei’s P Smart S. That would be a mid-range handset that has landed here at R6,000. So what do you get for your six grand? Well… We could do with a P The spec for the Huawei P Smart S is actually not bad at all. The company’s own Kirin 710F octa-core processor is inside, with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage…

Microsoft’s Surface hardware is finally in South Africa, which means that every new Surface announcement is now a call for excitement, rather than sadness and longing. This is the newest, and perhaps the most exciting, announcement we could possibly get from Microsoft — but only if it makes its way to South Africa. This is the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go. Gotta gotta gotta Go The Surface Laptop Go is a 12.4in version of the company’s existing 13in and 15in Surface Laptop range, but with a focus on affordability in addition to features. The smaller screen size, obviously, means a smaller…

We’re not sure if Nissan’s been keeping a closer eye on the general Eskom situation or if they’re just with us in watching the rest of the world burn in 2020. But the auto-maker has opted to turn its Leaf electric vehicle into a disaster recovery specialist. Its new title? The Nissan Re-Leaf, if you can be-leaf it. Turning over a new Leaf The Nissan Re-Leaf is designed to “…to provide a mobile power supply following natural disasters or extreme weather”, according to the company. Nissan unveiled the vehicle that it hopes to use as a disaster response vehicle in…