Author: Brett Venter

The last time a meeting app update was interesting was the beginning of South Africa’s lockdown. But when Mercedes-Benz is letting drivers conduct on-camera meetings in their cars, it’s worth taking a second look. Even when that look involves using the travesty that is Microsoft Teams. It’s never been impossible to have a meeting in your car. The catch has been to have your device camera on instead of dialling in as part of a conference call. Having the feature natively possible is something new. Merc’s newest feature allows that, but the German automaker has also considered driver safety. Supporting…

Science fiction and venture capitalists around the world have promised the world self-driving cars for ages. Uber and Baidu have announced a partnership that might make that happen in “multiple global markets” outside of the US and China. Chinese companies have leaned hard into the notion that your car might one day drive itself, but Uber and Baidu’s team-up could well put wheels on tarmac. Whether those wheels venture out on South African roads in the near future isn’t certain. Uber robots Since the plan involves putting loads of Baidu’s Apollo Go self-driving cars, EV taxis already on the road…

It’s been a long wait for Sony’s new RX1R III compact camera — almost a decade has passed since the RX1R II was launched — but it’s finally here. And by ‘here’, we mean Sony has announced the thing. A compact full-frame 35mm camera with a massive 61MP sensor, the shooter “combines Sony’s design savvy with the latest innovations in imaging technology”. An RX1R III snapshot Sony just announced the long-awaited update, with company vice president of Imaging Solutions Yang Cheng saying, “The RX1R series has resonated greatly among discerning photographers, and we’re proud to now deliver the next generation…

Artificial intelligence (AI) is unavoidable in 2025. It pops up everywhere, making entry into smartphones, computers, services, and… bird feeders? This is despite the technology being little more than an advanced chatbot, offering little practical utility beyond a few functions you don’t actually need. Generally, the reason AI’s functions are needed is because the previous thing that used to work has been hamstrung so you’ll use the shiny new thing that will drive profits for corporate giants and their shareholders. It’s not about making your life easier. It never has been. Nobody currently developing artificial intelligence is doing it for…

It’s rarely a good idea to hand your identity document over to a website, but that’s just what Reddit users in the UK will have to do to view “certain mature content”. The company announced that, as a result of the UK Online Safety Act, it would be checking the identification of its UK-based users via either a selfie or a government-issued identity document. The company is quick to point out that it won’t be using that identification method to find out who its users are — just how old they are. The process will be handled externally, by a…

Someone should go and check on Jack Dorsey. The Twitter co-founder and former head has launched Sun Day, his second app in as many weeks. Either he’s doing exceedingly well or struggling just a little bit. Either way, it’d be a great idea to find out what’s going on (and, if needed, his productivity secrets). Sun Day is an app that lets you “track your vitamin d from the sun”. You’d think that would be obvious, but it could just as easily be a church activity scheduling application. Still, sunlight is the main focus of the still-in-beta app. What a…

Vivo has been on the folding smartphone bandwagon for a while now, with the new X Fold 5 representing the latest of that product lineup. It’s no longer confined to China, either, with an international release for the handset scheduled for right about now. ‘International’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘South African’, so don’t get too excited yet. But folks who are okay with grey imports — an increasingly popular option for nabbing under-supported tech in SA — will find that their handsets will be easier to purchase — and understand, since they won’t default to China’s tech rules. That’s my X…

Dubai can always be counted on to do something wacky in search of attention. The newest craze that the city with far too much money is hopping on board is artificial intelligence. Specifically, the city will see the launch of a restaurant headed up by an AI. Dubai-ous utility The restaurant, called WooHoo (or WOOHOO, if you’re overly attached to branding), will open in Dubai in September this year. The reason for going, aside from snapping shots for Instagram with other rich people, is that the menu will be set by a cooking-inclined artificial intelligence called Chef Aiman. AI-man. Get…

If you’re a Kindle user who, like many, opted for the ‘ad-supported’ model to get your reading device just that much cheaper, you’ll be interested to learn that the latest software update has made that portion of your ereader a tiny bit better. The 5.18.3 software update for the Amazon Kindle Scribe, Colorsoft, and the 11th and 12th-generation standard models (as well as version 5.18.1 on the 10th-generation model), released in May this year, quietly added an option to tweak the ads shown on the device’s lock screen when not in use. A better budget Kindle It may not seem…

If you think back over the history of the iPhone SE, you’ll notice there were large gaps in between releases. Since Apple started numbering them, it seems the budget-conscious handsets are becoming part of the annual cycle. That’s the word according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who has details on Apple’s plans for early 2026. This year’s iPhone 16e was the start of the change in release cycle for Apple. A successor, appropriately numbered the iPhone 17e, will launch in the first half of 2026, according to Gurman. A speedier processor will be the main upgrade, with the handset remaining physically…